September 2007 Summary

Marketing strategist Ms. Judy Knafel of Element Three helped us understand one of the most challenging topics with which an inventor must deal - the basics of marketing an invention - with a presentation entitled "Marketing in the Mix". Sooner or later, nearly every inventor must learn how to persuade a client to part with hard earned funds for a product that may seem far less valuable to the client than it does to the inventor. As defined by the American Marketing Association, "marketing is the process of planning and then executing the product, pricing, promotion, and place of ideas, goods, or services to create exchanges and satisfy individual and organizational NEEDs." Start with a business plan, which reveals opportunities a marketing plan can then exploit. In developing your marketing plan, think about:
  1. the end users of your product. Who are they? Where are they? How many are they? How will your product benefit them and improve their lives? Realize that most people base their decision to buy on emotion, which they later justify with reason. If you can't answer these questions, you may need to return to your workshop and improve your invention.
  2. your specific marketing goals and strategies. Do you want more customers? Better customers? More loyal customers? More customer awareness of your product? Better employees? Do you want your message to be distributed by radio, TV, newspaper, mail, cell phone, website (becoming more popular, and gives you information about your target group), in person?
  3. your competitors. Who are they? Don't forget about indirect competition.
  4. your marketing budget, based on a sales forecast. Do you have the money for this, or do you need financial help?
  5. your place in the market, based on a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
  6. your product and its life cycle, design, branding, packaging and distribution, production strategies, pricing, and customer service.
If you are short on marketing dollars, imagine ways to attract attention to your company. Become recognized as an expert in your field, network online (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, blogs), do "buzz marketing" (word of mouth), personal canvassing, or put a sign on your truck, car, or T-shirt. Read "Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days" (ISBN-10: 1932531297). When you begin marketing, focus on the one thing you do best. One market, one feature, one message, one audience. If you are successful - great! If not, study and build on your partial successes. How? Get help from: Marketing isn't perfect - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You can't wait for perfection. We certainly appreciate Ms. Knafel's sharing this informative evening with us.