The Top Ten Reasons You Can't Sell Ideas Over the Phone and [Maybe?] In-Person

[___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___][___]Follow The Yellow Brick Road

* * * Based on these facts ::
#One: You decide who wants your product and would pay you good money for it?
#Two: You find out how they are living and what they are doing today without your marvelous invention?
#Three: You find out what's available to satisfy their present needs that is offered by your competition?
#Four: You find out how much money they have and what kind of budget for Inventions they may have?
#Five: You locate their favorite watering holes and material supply line resources.
#Six: Reconnoiter. You scout-out their herd and try to blend in to learn all you can.
#Seven: You plan your attack and look over your own shoulder to be sure that someone isn't about to pounce on your own back.
#Eight: You have a written-out Plan B to fall back on to.
#Nine: You walk through your Plan A to discover the non-obvious flaws and to fine-tune improvements.
#Ten: You rest up for the ultimate confrontation, going over the script in your mind. Then proceed with determination.

-- You read the IASL's recommended preponderance of books.-->> Then Charge!!

-- "The loftier the building, the deeper must the foundation be laid." -- Thomas Kempis

-- "We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

-- "17 Mistakes Start Ups Make" -- --

-- --> > On the Other Hand: "There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go."
-- Richard Bach, The Bridge Across Forever

-- "The 3 P's of Inventing" --

-- "New Inventions - How To Dream Them Up" --

-- Inventors' Top Ten Most Common Mistakes and Tips to Avoid Those Mistakes by Don Kelly

-- #1 STUBBORNLY INDEPENDENT ~ Often, Inventors are too independent and isolated, unaware of resources and networks. They mustn't hesitate to seek advice, and never should ignore previous work of others in the same field. Networking may be the most important tool of all.

-- #2 BELIEVE SOMEONE ELSE WILL PAY ~ Inventors too often think they’ve done their part by dreaming up the solution to a problem. Others, they believe, will work tirelessly and without remuneration just to be part of the dream. Inventors must realize that the inventing step is often the easiest part of the innovation process. They'll need to take a team approach from that point forward.

-- #3 LACK INVENTION RECORDS ~ Inventors can be too lax about record keeping. In this business, the early dates of conception and invention development stages can be critical. Under present patent laws, inventors should have clear and witnessed journal entries. Keeping good records also helps the inventor stay organized and self-directed in terms of timelines and goals.

-- #4 WILL NOT LISTEN ~ Inventors commonly ignore feedback they don't like. That's why they talk only with friends and associates about their inventions. Those are the people who always will say "Your baby is beautiful." They must step outside of their safety nets and seek the opinions of non-friends/relatives who indeed may point out: "Hey, this baby is really somewhat ugly." If it's broken, they need to know it and need to fix it.

-- #5 EASY MARKS FOR SCAMS ~ Sadly, inventors are sitting targets for illicit businesses promising to patent and market any and all inventions (for a sizeable fee, of course). Invention Marketing Scammers are quick to profess: "Your baby is beautiful." With those four words, they rake in more than $200 Million each year from people who can least afford it. The best advice where scams are concerned is the old saying: "If it sounds too good to be true, don't believe it."

-- #6 DON'T COMPLETE THEIR INVENTIONS ~ Inventors are almost always too quick to believe the invention is finished and beyond any improvement. This is never true. Being reluctant to work on the invention’s next generation, the inventor paves the way for those who can, and will. They should back off from their "babies" and take a new perspective: How could it work better?

-- #7 TALK TOO MUCH ~ Premature public disclosures or sale offers may cause loss of patent rights and significant advantage to competitors. Inventors should secure their patent rights before talking to others, except under strict conditions of confidentiality.

-- #8 PROCRASTINATE ~ Just can't get around to taking action on an idea. They too often don't realize this until they've seen their invention on store shelves. This mistake can be avoided by good record keeping habits and by "doing" rather than "talking."

-- #9 WILL NOT PLAN ~ Most inventors recognize are late in recognizing they must have a plan. An invention is a business opportunity - - nothing more and nothing less. To seize the opportunity inventors need a technology development plan and a business plan; and they need an infrastructure to carry out these plans.

-- #10 IGNORE FAMILY ~ The Achilles heel for the ambitious inventor is inattentiveness to family and significant others who are, after all, their most important corporate assets. Friends and loved ones should be kept informed and involved in the dream. Life is what happens while great plans are made. At the end of the day, the memories we value are never about technical accomplishments or consummated deals.

-- Good luck, Don Kelly

>> You Need to Know > >
--> "Your customer is not the consumer -- your customer is the manufacturer. Worry should be in pleasing him -- and let him worry about the consumer. --> Learn the manufacturer’s problems and his needs -- and design products with that knowledge in mind." - Harvey Reese

-- "To Beginning Inventors" --
-- "Licensing To Large Companies" --
-- "Benefits of Licensing-In" --

-->> Actions to Take <<--

-- "Companies Don't Accept Confidential Idea or Invention Submission | IPWatchdog.com" --
-- > "Many companies require an issued patent, or at least a pending patent application. Over and over again they recommend that you at least file a patent application prior to submitting in order to preserve your rights, and recommend that you contact a patent attorney."

Partial Quote, as example:
"Therefore, please do not send to Benjamin Moore any creative or original materials such as ideas for products, or any other creative suggestions, ideas, concepts or other information. Our creative and marketing departments are continuously launching new product, packaging, and marketing ideas. Often, these ideas are in the developmental stage for years prior to actually being launched." ... "Benjamin Moore will, however, consider ideas that are covered by an issued patent. Please include specific information regarding your patent, including the patent number(s)."

-- Investing in the Power of Direct Response T.V. --
"www.lenfestmedia.com" -- Why Inventors & Product Owners Partner With Lenfest Media Group --

-- -- Thought of the day --
-- "Being defeated is only a temporary condition; giving up is what makes it permanent." -- Marilyn vos Savant, Author

-- What do most inventors wish for? They wish for reaching the Pot-of-Gold.
-- And where is that Pot-of-Gold? It's at the End-of-the-Rainbow. -- - "BooksForInventors" - --

-- Dr. Phil's Advice -- "Dr. Phil suggests that any inventor ask himself/herself these questions before pursuing an idea:"

-- -- Did I forget something? --

-- Who really said? ::
-- "You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do."
a)-Henry Ford b)-Mae West
c)-Bill Gates d)-Barack Obama

-- Aboard a late flight plane was a woman who was trying to get a little sleep before arriving at her new destination. -- Sitting next to her was this overly obnoxious man who kept her awake by talking and ignoring her apparent wishes to sleep.

-- "I'll tell you what?" he said, "Let's play the game, Riddles. - You tell me a riddle and if you stump me I'll give you $500.00 and then I'll ask you a riddle, and if you don't get it, you pay me only $5.00."

-- She thought for a moment and said, "What goes up the hill on four legs and goes down the hill on three legs?"

-- He sat there and looked puzzled. He couldn't think of an answer. He then googled the question on his laptop: There was no answer.

-- [She turned from him to take her needed 'shut-eye.']

-- He continued to explore the answer. He phoned his friends. No one had ever heard of that riddle. He called as many people as he thought could help him? -- Nothing!!

-- "All right, - here's your five hundred dollars. - What goes up the hill on four legs and comes down the hill on three legs?"

-- "I don't know? - And here's your five dollars.. And shut up and leave me alone!!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------> > -- "Small business - Small Business and Intellectual Property - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - USPTO Stopfakes.gov" --
--------------------------------------------------------------------> >

-- An Exception to the Rule --

-- "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Dwight D. Eisenhower

-- "How Fast Can You Learn? - Forbes.com" -- "If collective wisdom is what you want, Joy's Law covers that, too. Here's a great idea from Gary Hamel in his new book, The Future of Management. Why not create a prediction market and let your employees, suppliers and customers buy "shares" in new product offerings? Why let just your CEO or marketing VP decide which new products to launch? Prediction markets repeatedly beat the experts and polls in elections. Can they do the same for new products? Who is willing to try?

>--> Patent Search International

>--> Inventors Asistance Center

>--> All I Need is Money (AKA) "How to Finance Your Invention"
>--> Go to: -- "Shark Tank Questions" --

>--> "How the Little Guy Can Land Big Contracts"

>--> "Don't worry about the egg, worry about the chicken."

--> "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optomist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Sir Winston Churchill

-- "The point of all this is simple: Selling your invention to a company may require you to call a lot of companies, but all you need is one, if you hit their hot button. The more companies you call, the luckier you get!

***************************************************************
-- “The REAL cost of commercializing new products – for the manufacturer” --
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-- "One other thing – if you’ll set aside a certain part of every week to make those phone calls, such as a Tuesday afternoon, it will eliminate some of the natural tendency to procrastinate." -- Paul Niemann

-- "When you say Yes, say it quickly. But always take a half hour to say No, so you can understand the other fellow's side." -- Francis Cardinal Spellman

--- www.kimbabjak.com ---

-- “Can the Super Bowl Ads Benefit Inventors?” --
by Paul Niemann of MarketLaunchers.com -- -->

-- How many times have you heard of the “Not Invented Here” syndrome that seems to affect so many manufacturers? If you’re not familiar with it, it basically says that many companies feel that if the product was not invented by someone at their company, then it is either not worth pursuing or it’s not worth the (real or perceived) hassle of dealing with an outside inventor. Many companies still don’t deal with outside inventors at all.

-- Here’s one way to combat the “Not Invented Here” syndrome – and they won’t have any choice but to agree with you (but it doesn’t guarantee that it will change their way of doing business).

-- One set of Super Bowl ads relied on non-company personnel – “amateurs” – to create their ads. Do you remember which company that was?

-- It was Doritos. At a cost of $2.6 million, that’s not cheap. More than 1,200 entries were sent in, and 5 finalists competed for the chance to have their ad run during the Super Bowl.

-- If a company is willing to trust $2.6 million to an unproven outsider, then doesn’t it make sense to at least consider looking at products that were created by outsiders? I think it does!

-- In my opinion, the Doritos ads can have a huge benefit to inventors who pitch their new products to companies. It will help you make your case more effectively. Market Launchers

-- -- Thought of the day: --

-- "Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still." -- Chinese Proverb

-- Members and Associates of the
Inventors Association of Saint Louis --
-- -->> Imagine that you have a great idea and want to share it with the world. How would you go about it? --

-- The Inventors Association of St. Louis, Illinois Innovators and Inventors Assoc'n, and Innoventors, Inc., are fully committed. Together, bringing forward "Invention" to our forsighted young public. -- We were invited by the world renown Saint Louis Science Center to advance a "Young Inventors Day" into the creative limelight. -- How about that?

-- The key word was "Free." This didn't cost us anything but our time and the display and hand-out materials that we brought along with us. The tables, chairs and electrical extensions were provided by the Saint Louis Science Center. --

-- We premiered our inventions right there on the main floor. -- A tremendous open showcase of activity, with as many as 3,000-4,000 visitors at the Center, -- Saturday, August 14th, 2004. --> Read on -->

-- Whereas other inventor organizations are having planned conferences and charging for their services, we were providing you with a golden opportunity.

-- A "First Time" for everyone. And we were told to plan to do this every year - even before our initial effort. [Footnote: However, we found that they decided to do this 'internally' in 2005.]

INVENTORS: PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE FUTURE>

-- 07/28/2008 * * LOL * *
-- Sad to say, I called-off the Keystone Inventors Day. I received no positive response for having it.

-- I guess I don't know my members thinking? I should have headed the advice of the cowboy: - "If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there."

-- I fell-back to Plan B, the running of the Inventors Association of St. Louis.. Planning and offering other great opportunities. :: Robert Scheinkman

-- "Ice cream craving? Treats to feel good about New light desserts allow you to indulge while watching your waistline"
-- HAVE A BOWL OF ICE-CREAM ON US :-))

-- > My Story Writing Pet Peeves < --

-- I hate it when I read something and the author gives his paragraphs those cutesy undeciferable acronyms. It isn't exactly the acronyms that irk me, it's his way of surprising me on his second page into his story, by using those 'barbed acronyms.' - For by then, I have forgoten what those awful @#% acronyms stand for. I need to go back. Grrr! --

Example: *"What I'm going to point to is the fact that consistently we have urged all countries to become members of the NPT," he added." {Said by President Obama} Definition, *NPT = Non-Proliferation Treaty

-- I'm trying to be different; I spell it all out clearly for you, over-and-over again.

-- The next thing that irritates me is that smart-alec that inflates his paragraphs to enormous non-understandable pompous proportions. Let this act as my example: "In all the works on view, our IASL conjures a sempiternal relm that exists parallel to mundane reality and which is accessible through art, reverie and the imagination." And according to the company, the name ‘Yahoo’ stands for ‘Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.’

-- [I don't understand this either. I should have quit while I was ahead. Short, choppy sentences will do. {:-]

-- And one more peeve: I detest that geek who ends every one of those statements he writes with an "LOL." - They should die the same death as that one where they raised both arms and tweaked their thumb and fingers, as if adding quotation marks to their live story. (Die, you "warm filliping fuzzies.") Thanks for reading.

-- "Patent Prospector: Bifurcate the Patent System?" -- "The main reason I support patent reform is this: Some new technologies get developed without the extra incentive of patents. For these "fully-incented" technologies, the patent system can be more like a tax than a credit. In the worst case scenario, the inventor who already had incentives to develop new technology does not apply for patents, but then has to pay the other later inventors or copyists whose only incentive was patents."