April 2017
For creative individuals who hope to profit from their
ideas, invention is only a small part of the story. Consumers buy products (material realities),
not inventions (ideas). John
Ritchison (intellectual property attorney from Anderson, IN) offered us advice on how to best
market our products: be patient, stay focused, and don’t get frustrated. Bottom line—be bold. Go big or go home.
An inventor typically has 3 marketing options: make and sell
a product or method, sell the invention to others who will use it to make and
sell a product or method, or license (rent) the invention to others who will use
it to make and sell a product or method.
For all 3 options, learn all you can about your product’s market, study
your business opportunities, and draft a basic business plan that can take you
from point A to point B.
Here are some useful steps for learning how to take your product
to market.
Find out how others have marketed a
product similar to yours. For example:
Identify companies that can market
your product.
Look in stores and online for
products similar to yours. Look at the
packaging to see who the manufacturers and distributors are. Then go to the library and use SIC (standard
industrial classification), NAICS (North American industrial classification
system), or ICC (International Code Council) classification numbers to find
similar manufacturers and distributors.
These companies can either buy or license your invention or help you
take your product to market.
Learn whether it would be
profitable to market your product.
Find out how much it would cost to
mass-produce your product, then look in stores and online to find the prices of
products similar to yours. Form a few
focus groups of 2-3 people who would use your product and get their detailed
opinions of your product and its cost.
Join online marketing forums (eg, The Marketing Forum USA) to learn
what other people think about your product.
Join groups online or in-person
(like the Indiana Inventors Association) and ask people to share their experiences,
information, and resources with you. University-related engineering blogs often
offer the opportunity to ask technical questions.
Learn about the tools that can
help you market your product.
Price ladders, costs of
intellectual property, size and nature of your product’s market. If you plan to protect your invention with
intellectual property (patent, trademark, or copyright), consider doing so
early in the marketing process so that you get the full benefit of
protection. Find out what, if any,
government regulations your product must satisfy. Forming an LLC company to hold your
intellectual property can be helpful.
Develop the best prototype of your
product that you can afford.
Depending on your product, the
prototype can range from a drawing to a professionally made product. Send a well-crafted outreachletter (requesting a reply) to companies to arrange meetings in which you
can pitch your product.
Remember—you are the best person to
market your product.
Be highly skeptical of anyone who claims
to have unique access and ability to successfully market your product. A few companies, Edison Nation or Invention City for example, might be
helpful.
If you want to avoid the high costs (and high profits) of
marketing your product, consider selling or licensing your invention.
Approach companies that:
Own less than 15% of your product’s
market;
Don’t have a strong in-house
product development program;
Have previously bought or licensed
inventions;
Have internally influential
marketing and sales departments. Don’t
try to persuade a company’s product and development department (ie, your
competitor) to invest in your invention; and
Have the money to introduce your
product into the market.
You need help from 2 kinds of
people.
External
Advocates
End users of your product,
important retailers, and decision-makers in product distribution provide
evidence to companies that buying or licensing your invention will be
profitable.
Internal
Advocates
A company’s executives, sales
managers (regional or national), or marketer can help persuade the company’s
decision makers to buy or license your invention.
Prepare a 10-15 minute show-and-tell
presentation to sell your invention to a company. Provide evidence that your invention will be
successful and that it aligns with the company’s present goals and strategies.
Ask one of your internal advocates
to say why s/he likes your invention.
Demonstrate your invention. Maybe side-by-side with competing
products. Show a chart listing competing
products, their prices, and their strong and weak points.
Describe your experience with
making or marketing your product.
Give a short history of your idea:
how you got it; why you designed a product as you did; why you think your
product will sell well; a categorized list of people who like your product.
Summarize results of any previous attempts
to sell your product.
Explain why you chose this company
for your invention—how your product will increase sales of existing company
products; how the company can afford to promote sales of your product.
Thank you for sharing your expertise with us, Mr. Ritchison!