Logo of the Inventors Association of St. Louis

Inventors Connection
Inventors Association
of Saint Louis

Logo of the Inventors Association of St. Louis

Inventors Association of St. Louis (IASL) - Marketeers
PO Box 410111
St. Louis, MO   63141
Tel: 314-432-1291
Fax:
Contact: Robert Scheinkman, Director
E-mail: Director@inventorsconnection.org
Web Page: www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/05-40.htm

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>>> Succesful Inventing Equals Successful Marketing
"And managers don't realize that consumers won't buy certain innovations unless others in their business or social circles do." -- "Ninety percent of new products fail in the marketplace. Why? Companies focus so much on acquiring new customers that they don't address resolve shortfalls in the product--such as flawed features. Firms also get so enamored with their offering that they drastically underestimate resistance to the behavioral changes the new product requires. For instance, few consumers relish mastering new software to edit digital photos. And managers don't realize that consumers won't buy certain innovations unless others in their business or social circles do. A bank, for instance, won't adopt a faster transaction processing system unless other banks with which it communicates also do. To avoid these mistakes, find out how early customers will use your new offering--then adapt the product and start taking orders. Limit the behavioral changes required by new products. And convince other members of your target customers' network that they'll benefit by adopting your innovation. The payoff? New products that score smashing successes in the marketplace. The three Harvard Business Review articles in this collection: "The Sales Learning Curve" (HBR reprint R0607J) by Mark Leslie and Charles A. Holloway; "Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers: Understanding the Psychology of New-Product Adoption" (HBR reprint R0606F) by John T. Gourville; and "The New Rules for Bringing Innovations to Market" (HBR reprint R0403D) by Bhaskar Chakravorti."

-- When you need to know the right things to do for your product idea, you might want to order Coaching.

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-- "Make Noise--Even Shout--To Win Sales- Entrepreneur.com" --

-- "It’s counter-intuitive, but your price should substantiate your value claims. It not only allows you to get higher prices for your offerings, it enhances your buyers’ experience. So the next time you establish your price, ask yourself this question “Does this price accurately reflect the value I provide?”
-- Dale Furtwengler

-- "AbsolutelyNew: Helping Inventors Succeed" -- "AbsolutelyNew, Inc. is the consumer goods company that partners with inventors to launch innovative products—into stores, catalogs, online retailers, and television shopping channels." ==========================================

-- "Inventor Mentors - Karla and Jack" --
-- Eventually, your sell-sheet is used to convince your potential licensee, or your distributors, retailers, and catalogs that they can profit from selling your product.

What do you mean by success?

Is it working less hours so you can spend time with your family and your interests?
Is it having more energy to tackle your tasks?
Is it growing in confidence so you can communicate your business and product better to others?
Is it increasing your volume of sales?

-- "Next-Step-Up Communications :: Logo | Website | Banner Ads | Custom Graphics" --
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-- "SmartBiz.com: Small Business Resources - Optimize Email Deliverability with Best Practice Strategies" --
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-- "Angels Den Blog: Three Minutes Of Fame - Video Pitching With Angels Den" --
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-- "Creating the Longest Marketing Idea Chain in the World" --

-- Virtual Office Programs create an immediate corporate image with space, products and services on an as-needed basis. The Virtual Office provides a professional presence on your terms with the least financial risk. --

-- "Online Market Research - Directory of Databases Useful for Online Market Research" --

-- "SBTV - Small Business Television Network" --

-- "Program helps small manufacturers make big ideas" --
-- "Originally designed for big businesses, the program, called "Eureka! Winning Ways," has been retooled to help smaller manufacturers develop new ideas."

-- "Tutorials - Eric Von Hippel's Homepage" --

-- -- Sooner or later you may hear about submarine patents. -- [Wooo, shudder,] --
I guess about now will do? -- This is a very 'insider deal/tactic/gambit' that arises when a previous inventor claims rights from his patent-claims over yours and bites into your technology that is emerging into the marketplace. This brief explaination is sort of murky, so I leave it to an article that explains how deep it has gotten and will get. -- I told you that inventing is exciting! -->

-- "Inventor Paranoia" --

-- "New Product Launch: Evaluating Your Freedom to Operate" -- Patent litigation can be an expensive, uncertain and risky affair, and, as the saying goes, prevention is always better than cure." --

-- "Joseph Hosteny - Intellectual Property Attorney"

-- "Expert Witness and Litigation Consultant Search Firm - IMS Expert Services" --

-- "ILRG Legal Forms Archive - 2,000+ Free Legal Forms and Documents" --

-- "Free Legal Forms FormsGuru.com - Power of Attorney, Wills, Name Change Free Forms" --

-- "IPFrontline(tm) Intellectual Property Law Business Technology Magazine" --

-- You know how you read and read, and pretty soon the words swim in your muddled brain and you don't realize what-the-hell you are reading? - Well, I'm going to wake you up with a 'tested' joke. - Shhh, don't tell anybody. Let it be between you and me.
-- A mother was bathing her 3-1/2 year old son. - Her son was curious about his body and looked down at his testicles and said, "Mommy, are these my brains? - "No, dear," she said, "Not yet."
-- "Did you wake up?" ;-))

"The spark of a multimillion-dollar idea" -- NOW YOU SEE IT - NOW YOU DON'T --

-- "To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on You - New York Times"

-- "You'll buy more from web ads that know how you think - tech - 07 December 2009 - New Scientist" --

-- "Did you know that licensing generates billions of dollars worldwide? See some interesting licensing statistics...

-- -- -- -- # I'VE LEFT THIS PAGE -- -- -- -- INTENTIONALLY BLANK -- -- -- --

-- I've reallized that there is a time when I want to clear my mind and let my brain rest.- I'll let the challenges be. - The hell with it. - Bills and nonsense will wait and still be there when I come back..when I awake refreshed to challenge.

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-- "Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop." -- Ovid

-- "There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking." -- Thomas A. Edison

-- -- "The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation." -- Auguste Rodin

-- -- "Internet economy has created 1.2M jobs" --

-- Many people don’t realize that there is a big difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web, since the two terms are often used interchangeably.

-- The Internet is a network of computers all linked together through phone lines, while the Web is connected by hypertext links. It is the Web that people are talking about when they refer to the “Information Superhighway.”

-- -- O.K. Let's start up again
-- -- Technology of the Week Detail"

-- -- "The spark of a multimillion-dollar idea"

-- -- "Getting Financing for Your Business" -- --

-- --> "More info What Makes Us Different | Eureka! Ranch" -- More info

"Learn To Make Measurably Smarter Choices For Top-Line Growth and Bottom Line Profit" -- YOU'RE THE SALESMAN - Focus on selling your product effectively:
-- "Memory is like an orgasm. It is a lot better if you don't have to fake it."-- David Letterman
That is -- know your product like you know the palm of your hand. Test it beforehand."

-- "The most vigorous part of sex life is negotiating the price." -- David Letterman
-- ".. she spread her legs .. "Gosh, is that what I think it is?!!" -- "Isn't friction what it's all about?" -- "David,.. foreplay is important." -- Sue Johansen :: "and the bartender says to the Leprechaun, "A 12-inch pianist isn't what I asked for!!"

-- Picture this scene: It's the Recovery Room with a man in bed, completely covered from head to foot with bandages. His wife at his side. -- The Surgeon comes in.
-- "Mr. Smith, you are a very lucky man to be alive. That accident could have killed you! I have both bad news and some very good news to tell you: The car accident tore at your body and cut off your private part, your penis. .. I'm sorry, ... it wasn't found..."
-- Mr. Smith, in anguish: "Oh, no-o-o, .. I am still a young man, only 32, and my wife and I had wanted more kids.. Oh, no-o.. And no more sex!?? Ohhhh..!"
-- "But that is why I am here. You see, I can make you another member, as good and possibly even better than your old lost one. The Insurance Company will give you $9,000 for the loss of your penis. -- I will be further compensated by the Hospital and will only charge you $1,000 an inch-- You can have a large nine-inch penis or a bit smaller one.. and pocket the difference.. A 5-inch smaller penis, for instance, would give you back your penis and $4,000 extra for you to spend as you please.. Think it over."
-- Mr. Smith and his wife awkwardly huddled for a few minutes. The Doctor waits patiently aside in the ward background.. The Doctor then walks over..
Mr. Smith sheepishly says, -- "WE thought it over, Doctor, my wife and myself, and..and we, eh, decided to get a new kitchen!!!" :-))

-- "Lab-grown penis lets rabbits mate like bunnies" --

-- -- "Members' New Inventions and Patents"

-- -- -- "Professional PR Services" -- -- --
-- -- -- Spread The News - Clients -- -- --

-- -- "The John Walsh Show" -- --

-- -- "AbsolutelyNew : News" --

-- -- You have been given ample opportunity to make your mind up to become an IASL Member. -- Earlier I advised you to keep your purse and wallet closed. -- Please now go and write-out a $55.00 check from your checkbook to the IASL and send it in. - Sorry to point out that we cannot honor your credit cards. :-) The Library also advised us to not take cash donations at our meetings because of their bi-laws. (Slip it to us in an envelope :-))

-- "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." -- "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." -- Lou Holtz

-- It was only a few short years ago when "The Big Idea" newsletter was mailed out and our mailing list kept to seven-hundred active names. - Twenty+ new names were added weekly and we had mailings to all over our country. - With the advent of the Internet the IASL now reaches throughout the whole wide world.

-- "The Better Mousetrap People - Invention and New Product Development Consulting" --

-- I have respected the privacy of our IASL Membership by not allowing your personal names misused; sold off to speculators selling products or dubious services. Your rights to privacy.

-- -- "How can I be sure you won't steal my idea?" -- -- "Don't worry about what other people think; they don't do it very often."

-- -- Cool Math Trick -- --
1. Grab a calculator (You won't be able to do this one in your head)
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2
Do you recognize the answer?

"Imagin-ation is more important than knowledge." -- How do you find a trade association in your primary industry? -- You do a Google search for trade associations in your industry, or you go to the reference section of your local public library and look it up in the "Encyclopedia of Associations" located in the reference section. -- Remember, every industry has a trade association; it makes sense to learn more about yours.

-- -- "Twenty Inducted into Inventors Hall of Fame"

-- -- "Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- [Now, the rest of this Quote:] -- -- --
"For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." -- Albert Einstein

-- "Time magazine named the computer its "Man of the Year" in 1982."

-- Inventing the moment in photography. -- Satire, parody, political commentary, examples of unrest.. The artifacts of civilization that were left for you to find and define.

-- Let's face it! We are the best game in town, -- we toot our own horn and beat our own drum. -- FOLLOW US! -- We are the light at the end of your tunnel.

--> "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." -- William Shakespear

-- A grocer put up a sign that read "Eggplants, 25¢ ea. or three for a dollar."
-- All day long, customers came in exclaiming "Don't be ridiculous! I should get four for a dollar!"
-- Meekly the grocer capitulated and packaged four eggplants.
-- The tailor next door had been watching these antics and finally asked the grocer, "Aren't you going to fix the mistake on your sign?"
-- "What mistake?" the grocer asked. "Before I put up that sign no one ever bought more than one eggplant."

-- "On the other hand - Where intelligent solutions are possible, you are tempting your ill-fate by remaining unconcerned." -- Robert Scheinkman

-- "Drug-name mix-ups getting worse" --

PUNCHLINE: Lost driver asking directions: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" -- "Practice, practice, practice."
;-}

-- -- -- -- Services Offered -- -- -- --
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Product Life Cycle, or PLC, explained” by Paul Niemann of MarketLaunchers.com

-- Manufacturers refer to something called the Product Life Cycle. It shows how a new product goes through various stages from the time it is introduced onto the market until the time it is taken off the market.

-- Why is this important to you as a Product Developer (formerly referred to in this newsletter as an inventor)?

-- If you pitch your new products to manufacturers, then you have probably faced a lot of rejection. The reality, though, is that companies need new products as much as you need them.

-- In the September, 2008 issue, I explained how expensive it is for companies to create and commercialize new products on their own. The Product Life Cycle provides yet another example of why it is in a company’s best interest to sometimes license in products that were developed OUTSIDE of their own companies, by Product Developers like you.

-- Products go through the Product Life Cycle, and so do entire industries. The 4 stages of the Product Life Cycle are:

- 1. Intro
- 2. Growth
- 3. Maturity
- 4. Decline

- Here’s an example of the way a product goes through the Product Life Cycle, using cell phones as an example:

(continued after the break)
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-- In the Intro stage, there was only one cell phone company. I don’t remember which one, but let’s say it was Motorola. So, at one time Motorola had the entire cell phone market all to itself, but the only people who could afford to own a cell phone were businesspeople and employees of large companies and government agencies who were footing the bill. Since Motorola was the only company making cell phones, they had 100% market share – but it was a very small market.

-- This was followed by the Growth stage, when several other companies entered the market. (Remember, America is the land of copycats as much as it is the land of opportunity.) As more companies enter the market, Motorola has to lower their price in order to compete. Plus, as other companies enter the market, more and more consumers – and businesses – buy cell phones. This increase in sales drives the per unit manufacturing cost down, causing the market to grow even more.

-- In the Maturity stage, each company further lowers their prices and spends more on advertising in order to compete. Profits start to decline. Meanwhile, companies need to start developing new products because their cell phones will eventually be replaced by some newer, greater technology in the next stage – the decline stage. THERE ARE NO COMPANIES THAT I CAN THINK OF THAT HAVE HAD LONG-TERM SUCCESS BY REMAINING A ONE-PRODUCT COMPANY, meaning that all manufacturing companies need new products on a regular basis, and that is where you come in as an independent Product Developer.

-- Cell phones are currently in the Maturity stage.

-- Then in the Decline stage, cell phones will someday get replaced. Don’t believe me? You could have made the same argument for regular landline phones 10 years ago. Today, more and more people are ditching their landline phones for cell phones.

-- It is impossible to accurately predict how long a Product Life Cycle will last; for example, milk has been in the maturity stage for nearly a century. The same goes for the automobile.

-- Once cell phones (or any American product, for that matter) reach the maturity or decline stage, companies start moving into other markets. This usually means going overseas.

Manufacturers that plan for the future should have products in each stage of the Product Life Cycle, meaning that there is opportunity for you.
# # #
Paul Niemanfn runs MarketLaunchers.com, building web pages for inventors. Having your own web page allows you to show your invention to companies (potential licensees) when you’re unable to present it to them in person. It serves as your “online brochure.” Plus, it can be seen by companies who search the internet for new products.

Before you go to Asia,
THINK!!
From: SWFDAY@aol.com
Subject: [Inventors Council] Asian
Product Manufacture and Counterfeit Components
Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:39 AM

Counterfeit products and components are a growing problem. The rush of American businesses to setup joint ventures with manufacturing facilities in China and other Asia countries has created a large group of foreign companies with the technical ability to manufacture the products. Those foreign companies then manufacture the products and sell them direct to other distributors without the American company getting anything from those deals. There are no intellectual property rights in the environment of Asia. Those Asian companies and countries feel that if they have the ability to make something they have the right to make it and sell it to anyone with money. Too many are drawn by the low price of labor in Asia but ignore the fact that what they are really doing is paying to put their own competition in business.

Before you go to Asia, THINK!

Here is an article from EDN, Electronic Design News, on the problem mainly from the Electronics sector perspective, but it applies to the whole game. With Intel and other American companies investing billions in I.C. foundries in China, Vietnam and India, the occurrence of counterfeit I.C.s is growing fast. Some of these are just as good as the part made for the U.S. Company, because they are the same part, and some are not. Some counterfeit components are actually parts removed from old circuit boards and then sold as new. These are of very questionable functionality and reliability.

http://www.edn.com/article/CA6641177.html?nid=3357&rid=2347083

It is interesting that the article points out that some of the counterfeit parts are being produced by countries and terrorist groups. Note the mention of the Cisco Routers from Asia and the fact that the U.S. Military is having more problems buying components made in the U.S.A.. They are buying counterfeit components from Asian sources, frequently not knowing it. We had a presentation at the Miami Valley Joint Computer Societies dinner a few years ago about the security risk that this situation creates. The makers of these products, be it network router or individual I.C., can modify the product to do anything. At the low level changes would not be detectable to the users but could be used by bad people to sabotage computer systems and networks, to collect information and even modify information. China has invested more than any other country in this kind of warfare. The Chinese have already been caught collecting data from computers in the U.S. Congress.

As I have said before and above, "Before you go to Asia, THINK!".

Stephen W. Frey
President, Inventors Council of Dayton
swfday@aol.com