-- Those who have retired will provide you with their expert advice through "SCORE" - S.C.O.R.E. - the Service Corps of Retired Executives.

-- "Five ways to earn money by blogging" - Kim's Columns - Reviews and Advice on All Things Digital - The Kim Komando Radio Show

---> MARKETING FOR BEGINNERS --->
-- You see a gorgeous girl at a party and you say to her, "Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me!" That's Direct Marketing.
-- You see a gorgeous girl at a party and you get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, "I'm very rich. Marry me." That's Telemarketing.
-- You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says, "You are very rich." That's Brand Recognition.
-- You see a gorgeous girl at a party and say to her, "I'm rich. Mary me." She slaps your face. That's Customer Feedback. -- From the Internet

-- A week later she calls to tell you, "I think I'm pregnant? I Love You." You'd call that Customer Satisfaction??

-- OHNOSECOND:
- That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an email by mistake).

-- -- R-e-a-l-l-y -- -- How to Double Your Sales

--> --> "Creating Successful Small Business Advertising"

--> --> "Bringing Your Product to Market" --> --> "Well begun is half done." - Aristotle, Politics --> -->

--> "How Important is Your Patent to the Marketing Effort?"

-- "UPDATE 1-Monsanto settles patent dispute with U.S. co-op | Markets | Markets News | Reuters" --

--- --> The Big Idea Marketing Group: --

-- -- I can only say that we get very good advice from our Guest Speakers. I can't give enough praise to those who have given of themselves to help our members. -- Read an example of what Mona L. Grelck can do for you through her Marketing XPerience, and what Judy Meador has produced through her St.Louis Small Business Monthly, -- The Source for Business Owners --

-- "What does your phone number spell?" Our IASL's phone number is: --> 314-432-1291 and spells --> 314-Ida-1-by-1 :-) Go to: --> "PhoneSpell"

--> Inventing, maybe is a Joke?? :-)) Think funny :-))

-- "My Way News - Demand for Video Reshaping Internet" --

-- Do the right thing. The decisions that you now make will charitably help others as well as yourself: -- Go to: --> "DigitalCharity.com- donate money by clicking on charity web sites"

-- -- Sidebar: This is a site that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about anything you couldn't dream to know: --> "Bottom Line Secrets" "Bootstrapping"
-- Insert key words: "Business Success"

--> "Lifeworks Business Center at Winghaven"

-- When visiting the website of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), i.e. www.uspto.gov - locate and click-on "Site Overview - New Users," to "Inventor Resources," -- Be aware that it will be YOU that may become rich and famous by the knowledge you gain from this research.

-- "Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." -- Werner von Braun

-- "How to Come Up With Innovative Ideas--By Sleeping on Them : Innovation :: American Express OPEN Forum" --

***********************************************************************
-- -- NineSigma: Accelerating the Innovation Cycle

-- -- Welcome Innovation Seekers --> >
-- "As a leader in open innovation, NineSigma drives innovation productivity by dramatically expanding your reach into the global innovation community. We engage your organization with scientists, researchers, and innovators worldwide to enable optimal execution of your innovation initiatives.

-- We offer the largest open global network of solution providers in the open innovation space and have completed more than 1,300 projects across all industries and technical disciplines. If you are interested in launching or advancing your open innovation initiatives, contact us at sales@ninesigma.com.
***********************************************************************
NineSigma: Accelerating the Innovation Cycle — Ninesigma, Inc. -- Nine Sigma will provide a goldmine of buyers for Inventors' Inventions --
***********************************************************************
-- " Guide to Writing a Nonconfidential Proposal.pdf" --
***********************************************************************
--> > To read other NineSigma publications, visit our Resource Library at http://www.ninesigma.com/ResourceLibrary.aspx
***********************************************************************
-- The most important resource you can have is knowledge.
-- You should be spending as much as possible on tasks that will move you ahead.

-- It will be hard work; -- nobody said it would be easy. --> "God gave burdens, also shoulders." - Yiddish proverb

-- -- Latest Patents issued in Missouri --
-- -- Latest Patents Issued in Illinois --

-- -- "Latest Patents Issued: Linkage" --

--> Read "Will It Sell?" -- How to Determine If Your Invention Is Profitably Marketable (Before Wasting Money on a Patent) by James E. White Then do buy or rent this book. The IASL's Number #1 recommendation.

-- "Amazon.com: Will It Sell? How to Determine If Your Invention Is Profitably Marketable (Before Wasting Money on a Patent): Books: James E. White" --

-- "PUSH MARKETING is when you fill the channel and people see the product in the store, then buy it."
-- "PULL MARKETING is when you get consumers interested in your product through advertising, etc. and they ask their retailer for it."
-- "PULL MARKETING is expensive but big guys do it all the time to try to unseat their competitors." -- Jim White

-- (I like this guy, so, tongue-in-cheek, when ordering your books from him, tell Jim White that the IASL sent you. And even though he gives you the best discounts possible, he'll kick-back a little to our IASL kitty. ;-)although Jim hasn't done so so-far in eight years :-(

-- Go to: --> "Inventors' Library" -->

-- "How to Finance Your Invention of Great Idea Review Page"

http://www.willitsell.com/categref.asp

Dear Inventor --

Long-time readers of my newsletters know how I'm always touting the benefits of attending a trade show in your industry. Well, that can get expensive, and here are a few of the costs:

1. Flying to the trade show(s)
2. Paying the entrance fee or booth fee
3. Hotel and meals

It can easily add up to a $1,000 or much more, plus you still have to work the show and make those personal contacts.

I'd like to introduce you to our newest advertiser, Ron Docie. - Ron is a successful inventor who licensed his first product 32 years ago. - Knowing what it takes to license a good product, he now works with inventors to help get your product to market. He has also written several articles for our humble little newsletter in the past. And he is the author of “The Inventor’s Bible.” (By the way, the articles in this newsletter were taken from his book.)

One of the things that Ron does is attend 3 of the largest trade shows in the country:

1. The International Housewares Trade Show (in Chicago)

2. The National Hardware Show (in Las Vegas). That includes Hardware, Lawn and Garden, Paint and Decor, and most anything else that you would find in a Home Depot, except appliances and lumber.

3. The Automotive Aftermarket trade show (in Las Vegas).

On behalf of his inventor clients, Ron talks to the show's participants, finding out if there is a market for your type of product.

While I am a firm believer in your attending specialized trade shows in industry, you can do this for yourself or you can have Ron do it for you. - Below is a message from Ron, and my question to you is: Why not take full advantage of his expertise, especially if you were not planning on attending the trade show yourself?

Best Regards,
Paul Niemann
www.MarketLaunchers.com
800-337-5758 217-224-8194

INVENTORS – Now here’s the message from Ron …

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

How to Recognize and Fight a Terrorist on a Plane

by Randy Plante

01/05/2010

The attempted bombing of Delta/Northwest 253 on Christmas Day was not the first from the Islamic terrorists nor will it be the last. Since I am a pilot, I have had people ask what can a passenger do onboard an airplane to help thwart a terrorist attack. Having personal experience with a few events myself, as well as reading articles and hearing stories from other crewmembers, I can give you some information which might assist you in dealing with a suspicious passenger or situation.

The first thing to realize is that there are a few different scenarios which the terrorists could be using on your particular flight. (Also realize that it could happen on any flight, not just one originating from a non U.S. location.) Options include testing TSA and law enforcement personnel, testing passengers and crewmembers, observation, dry run/practice, and actual execution of an attack. Of course it is hard to differentiate which scenario is playing out until after your flight lands, but it might assist you in recognizing the threat and knowing how serious your reaction should be if you know all of the options. In most of these instances, their job is to also scare you. Terrorists create terror. If you stop flying, they win. So be pro-active. Maybe something you do will cause them to call off the attack.

As a passenger you must be observant and vigilant. Most often someone notices some unusual activity or behavior. It doesn’t have to be just a person either. Suspicious bags, luggage, packages, notes, pillows, and electronic devices have been found on planes. One of the biggest advantages you have is the ability to profile. TSA refuses to do the obvious thanks to political correctness. Everyone knows who is committing these attacks -- Muslim, Middle-Eastern men between 18 and 40. Maybe al Qaeda is trying to recruit others than don’t fit this profile but it sure fits the mold right now.

Some things to look for: groups or pairs of men, a passenger talking to themselves, speaking Arabic, watching crewmembers (this is different than looking), staring at the cockpit door, long stays or multiple trips to the lavatory, reading a book but not turning any pages, nervousness, being unusual by trying to fit in, taking pictures/videos, not making eye contact. When you are at the boarding area and on the plane if you notice a suspicious passenger, look for others. How many? If it is one or two then they could be planning on bombing the aircraft or just making observations of crew procedures. 6 or more? Then this cell’s objective would be hijacking the plane by brute force. Also remember that there are sleepers that try to blend in with the other passengers and could be very hard to notice. A website reports a well-dressed man in custody that was also a passenger on Delta Flight 253. After an incident, your entire plane might be delayed for security and they will treat everyone as suspects. Also expect the government and airline to try to cover up parts or all of an event.

A recent example of a possible test occurred on Nov 17 with an Airtran flight from Atlanta to Houston. Eleven Muslim men got on the plane and caused a big disturbance and ended with passengers assisting the flight attendants in the commotion. TSA was called, they took the men off, talked to them, and put them back on. The crewmembers walked off the plane refusing to fly it, and then passengers walked off as well. The terrorists tested the TSA and passengers but probably also threatened lawsuits to the government and Airtran. This could be setting up a later mission with hopes the TSA and airline would be afraid to take them off the plane. Just like the Delta flight, the final layer of security, the crewmembers and passengers, are the ones who might have prevented an attack, nothing the government did was successful.

The best time to do something is prior to boarding and before the aircraft pushes back from the gate while the door is still open. This is when you have some control in the situation and easier for the captain to get involved. Before you board you can talk to a TSA employee or gate agent and explain your concerns. The gate agents are usually very busy and might give you the brush off. Talk to other passengers. While on the plane you will have to find a flight attendant, which could prove difficult because at times the boarding process can be quite chaotic. If one flight attendant seems to ignore you then talk to the other one. Maybe ask to see the captain. Write a note. If you are really scared, grab your bags, say you are sick, and get off the plane. Some crewmembers can be just as ignorant about the serious nature of the threat as our government officials. One time after a flight years ago a flight attendant asked me what the captain did about the suspicious passenger. She had called the cockpit inflight to report the behavior to the captain (since retired) and he neglected to tell me anything and did nothing.

While seated look for able-bodied men, military personnel, or deadheading crew to assist you. Maybe you notice a suspicious passenger but do not feel it warrants a visit with TSA/Flight Attendant or it happens inflight . Volunteer yourself or change seats on your own to sit next to or right behind any suspicious passengers. A recent crew moved a soldier to sit next to a nervous Middle-Eastern passenger before pushback. Once while I was deadheading in coach during a flight, the captain told the flight attendant to move me next to a suspicious passenger.

Once airborne there are limited options. Talking to the flight attendants and moving seats is basically all you can do. A divert takes time and would be a major emergency. On the flight I diverted for security issues we had an F-16 on our tail, ready to shoot us down if we didn’t immediately land.

If an actual attack occurs, then all bets are off. Take Action! DO NOT wait for crewmember instruction! This is a life or death situation. The terrorists will be hoping for the element of surprise. You will probably die anyways if the terrorists are successful so you might as well die giving them a fight. If it is a hijacking, block the aisles and do not let them get to the cockpit. For a bombing, jump on the passenger and separate him from the ignition source. For a suspicious package, box, etc. there is a place on the plane to move it to, but do not move it until necessary and with guidance from the crew.

The airlines are doing their best just to stay in business with the recession, bad weather, tough competition, and low fares. The employees are very frustrated with pay cuts, long hours, full planes, grumpy customers and poor morale. The commercial aviation system wasn’t designed to fight terrorists. And don’t necessarily blame the TSA and law enforcement agencies. They have some really hard working personnel trying to protect us. It is the policies implemented by people working in the U.S. government that is the problem, and amazing enough, it is the federal government that is required by law to defend us by the U.S. constitution. So what do they do? President Obama decides to take legal action against CIA employees for using special interrogation techniques to obtain information from terrorists to keep us safe. It was an obvious emotional, liberal, political decision. This will only make it much more difficult for the intelligence agencies to do their jobs and recruit/retain top talent, as well as lowering morale.

Another government employee, the DHS Secretary herself, said after the 12/25 attempted bombing, “the system worked” when it was obvious to the world that it did not. The news media gave President Bush an amazing amount of grief for not connecting the dots with 9/11. Regarding the underwear bomber on Flight 253; his father warned the government, was on a watch list, paid cash for his ticket, no passport, no luggage. A third grader could have connected these dots. The Republicans had to undo the laws and policies enacted by the Clinton Administration that impeded communication between intelligence and law enforcement agencies while President Bush implemented new ones to protect us after September 11. Now Democrats are acting like it is September 10 again.

Government by definition is a bureaucratic monopoly. It is managed by politicians and career bureaucrats. Slow, inefficient, unaccountable. Lots of finger pointing, blame games, commissions, hearings, conferences, meetings, and reports, but do you know anybody that got fired after 9/11, Fort Hood, or any other government blunder? Deja vous with this security lapse? It feels like we are on a team that wants to lose. And I don’t like being on a team that likes losing and neither does millions of people across the United States.

Unfortunately, until the Obama administration, Congress, and our government officials get serious with national security and the war on terrorism, then what we will lose is more of our freedoms and the lives of more American citizens.
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Randy Plante is a former Air Force Captain and F-111 pilot. He flew a C-130 with the Air National Guard and served two tours in the Bosnian War. Currently Mr. Plante is a Captain with 19 years at a major airline.
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