This information is for you, even if your invention is not yet patented or patent-pending.
Although the following information about Trade Shows pertains to most any invention, if you have an Invention relating to Home, Housewares, Cooking, Hardware, Lawn and Garden, and related categories, then please respond quickly, if you want to take full advantage of the trade show service offered by Docie Marketing. The Housewares show is coming up soon, in March, and the Hardware and Lawn and Garden show is just around the corner in May. The following information will explain how you may benefit from these shows:
“HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM TRADE SHOWS” --
It may be cheaper than you think, by Ron Docie
Hello, I'm Ron Docie, inventor and author of the book, “The Inventor's Bible: How to Market and License Your Brilliant Ideas,” by Ten Speed Press, 2nd Edition 2004. - Thirty-two years ago I conceived and marketed my first invention, a blindspot mirror for vehicles, sold in Wal-Mart, AutoZone, NAPA and many outlets worldwide. Other inventors asked me for help with their inventions, and I've made a business of helping independent inventors ever since.
I offer a very special service that you probably won't find elsewhere. It's my brand of exclusive Trade Show representation. To really understand the great value of this service, you need to know what it is not, as much as what it is.
Each year I attend several of the world’s largest annual trade shows for different product categories: The International Home and Housewares Trade Show, Chicago, March 16-18, 2008, and the National Hardware Show, and Lawn and Garden World, Las Vegas, May 6-8, 2008, for example (links and more info about both, below).
However, I do not have a booth at these trade shows and I do not exhibit products, per se. So, what good is this, you may ask? Many people misunderstand how trade shows work, so I'll explain. Occupying the 2,000 to 3,000 exhibit booths at these trade show are the manufacturers of just about every product you can imagine for that product category (more about the categories below). If you are a manufacturer, and if you are ready to ship container loads of products next month to location all across America (and be prepared to take the inventory back if something goes wrong), then you should be in one of these exhibit booths ready to take orders. You should also budget no less than $30,000 for the three-day effort.
If you are an independent inventor, and not ready to perform the above feats, then you need something different. Most people assume that if you have a booth at one of these massive trade shows then the right manufacturer will see you and make a wonderful offer for your great product. They'll end up licensing it, pay you a royalty, and you'll live happily ever after. Well, this 'might' happen. The problem is, I find it to be very common for key executives of any given manufacturing company to not even have time to walk through the trade show and visit your very important 10 feet of exhibit space amongst the 18 miles of trade show floor space. In other words, you have a very good chance of being missed by exactly who it is that you want to see you.
I have a remedy for this, and luckily this solution is more effective, much cheaper, and less risky. What I do is simply attend these shows and walk through all the isles, scrutinizing each manufacturer and exhibitor there. To do it right can take up to two days of a three-day show. I'll have in my briefcase a summary description of each client’s invention, just in case I need to show it to an executive, assuming that it's appropriate to do so.
If your invention is a trash bag receptacle, for example, then I target all manufacturers who offer these types of products to either the bed and bath, and/or kitchen sections of the trade show. I find out their market position, and determine if an invention like yours (without necessarily revealing the exact invention) is one that would fit in their product line. Usually I deal with top company executives, so they know exactly what's what with their company. I continue to pre-qualify each potential manufacturer by determining if they have any track record for paying outside inventors, their level of interest in considering outside inventions, identify the key decision maker(s), and so forth.
In the course of doing this I search for complimentary and competitive products, ones that may do something similar as that of the inventor's invention, but in a different way. I may also learn about potential retail price points, sales volume potential, market positioning, distribution choices, competitive activity by both US and foreign manufacturers, development or marketing obstacles, market trends, category sales history, and personal experiences of executives in this field.
I may speak with the very person who makes the final licensing decision, usually on the level of Vice President, President, or owner of the company, at least one or more of whom are normally at these most major trade shows. Why are these VIP's there? Because the orders written at one of these shows may represent 50% or more of the company's entire new business for the coming year. Single orders may amount to millions of dollars.
Through this process I learn what protocol the executive wants to use to advance the invention submission process to the next step. Sometimes they ask for more information. Sometimes they ask that a disclosure agreement be signed first. It's not uncommon for me to set a meeting between the executive and the inventor for a later date after the show.
In many cases I learn that the invention is not worth pursuing further because of the experiences of the executives or information learned. This information alone can be quite valuable because at least the inventor doesn't end up pouring more money into something that will hit a dead end, and for a good and verifiable reason. At every one of these shows I run into a situation whereby a company has already tried to market a product identical or very similar to my client's invention, and none of us ever knew about it. It was never advertised, and never patented. Of course, the patent office and a patent search would have not uncovered this either. I mean to tell you, this is very common.
The bottom line is, regardless of whether your invention is patented or not, or just an idea, you can get loads of valuable information and potentially even a business deal, all from just one major trade show, if done right. Docie Invention Services leverages its three decades of experience to help you maximize your chance for success.
Generally, the cost for attending these trade shows is a reasonable fee to offset expenses. You receive a full written report of all the findings and business cards and contact information for each person I speak with. You can read a sample of one such report by simply sending me an e-mail to docie@docie.com or check out my web site at
http://www.docie.com
When I walk through the show, I carry a recorder and I dictate, so the report you get is like being right there at the show. I'm your eyes and ears. I collect catalogs and industry directories of every registered manufacturer in the US and most of the World. Essentially, you are paying me to leverage the vast expertise of these extremely experienced and knowledgeable industry executives in a special forum where such incredible information would not otherwise be available to you. And, all this for a cost probably less then it would cost you to attend the show for yourself.
Interested in having me represent your invention? Well then, let me know soon because there is a limit of how many inventors I can sanely represent at any one of these shows.
If e-mailing, please put "Trade Show" in the subject line, and phone my office if you don't get an initial response. My address is docie@docie.com
Thank you, and I look forward to helping you!
Ron
Ronald L. Docie, Sr.,
President
Docie Invention Services
73 Maplewood Dr.
Athens, OH 45701
USA
Phone (740) 594-5200
Website http://docie.com
Email docie@docie.com
