Advice

Wade Sun, inventor of the Disc Eraser™, a top 30 finalist on the American Inventor TV show and a relatively new father (congratulations Wade), has written an article for us sharing the wealth of knowledge he's accumulated while bringing his product to market.

Here's part 3 of a 3 part series on Bringing Your Product to Market - Selling on the Internet.

Part 3: Selling on the Internet

Setting up a product website is vital in this day and age, but you will have to put in the time, set up links and advertisements to drive traffic to your site, which can quickly add up in cost. read more »

Wade Sun, inventor of the Disc Eraser™, a top 30 finalist on the American Inventor TV show and a relatively new father (congradulations Wade), has written an article for us sharing the wealth of knowledge he's accumulated while bringing his product to market.

Here's part 2 of a 3 part series on Bringing Your Product to Market - Selling on the Internet.

Part 2: Marketing and Sales

Unlike inventing, marketing is not an exact science. If you have followed my previous inventor’s article, the “13 Rules of Invention Success ”, you will greatly increase your chances in developing a great product. Using my product as a first-hand example, I have shared how to go from an idea, patenting, prototyping, and manufacturing in those articles. But exactly HOW do you sell a great product? read more »

Wade Sun, inventor of the Disc Eraser™, a top 30 finalist on the American Inventor TV show and a relatively new father (congradulations Wade), has written an article for us sharing the wealth of knowledge he's accumulated while bringing his product to market.

Here's part 1 of a 3 part series on Bringing Your Product to Market - Selling on the Internet.

Part 1: Manufacturing and Production

First of all, bringing your own invention/product to market isn't for everyone. Most inventors choose to license out their patents and inventions rather than venturing their product through manufacturing, packaging, and then marketing. There are trade-offs and benefits of both approaches

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SherlockIf you dread the idea of doing a patent search, playing the detective extraordinaire might prove a resourceful and fun persona for the task. Always looking for new ways to approach life’s drudge, Myra Per-Lee offers some advice on attacking the preliminary patent search. read more »

Have a great invention? Do you know how to package it?

Our Guest Blogger, JoAnn Hines, is a packaging diva with 30+ years of experience in the industry including her work as the packaging expert to the U.S. Small Business Administration, traveling to China leading a packaging delegation and showcased on NBC TV program "Can You Open It?" If you can invent it, she can package it. JoAnn is here today to let us know how to avoid major packaging mistakes. You can reach her at http://www.packagingdiva.com

Here is her article:

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Did you think Thomas Edison was a great inventor? He wasn't.

Our Guest Bloggers, Peter P. Roosen and Tatsuya Nakagawa, are the co-founders of Atomica Creative . Atomica Creative is a strategic product marketing company that has been involved in many successful product launches in North America and Asia in several industries. Roosen and Nakagawa have recently released a book titled "Overcoming Inventoritis - Lessons from Thomas Edison, the world's greatest product marketer". They have some valuable advice that they wanted to share with readers of AmericanInventorSpot.com.

Here's their article:

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There are many stories of inventors who ended up broke, even if their inventions were first class world-beaters. read more »

Have you started to question whether you next great idea is really great? Need to bounce your ideas off someone?

Myra Per-Lee developed, manufactured, and marketed about a dozen products in a ten year period, most on her own with very little start-up capital. The most successful of her inventions, massage tools for adults, animals and infants, known as Nukkles®, Nuzzles®, and Snukkles®, is still going strong after eight years on the market. Myra lets us in on where inventors go to get an honest opinion.

Here's her article:

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Why does everyone call us paranoid just because we don't want to talk about our ideas? I'm mum because I don't want to spend my energy describing projects, when I could be working on them. And more than fear of theft, I fear others hounding me to death about what I'm doing. read more »

Roger Brown's Super SleeverDo you know if the great idea that you have is yours or not? If you're not careful, it may be the property of the company you work for.

Our guest blogger Roger Brown is a freelance Inventor who has successfully marketed tools, toys and a kitchen utensil. You can see some of his inventions at rogerbrown.net. He shares his valuable advice with readers of AmericanInventorSpot.com some valuable advice.

Here's his article:

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The majority of Inventors work at regular jobs and invent during their time off hoping to come up with that million dollar idea. What they neglect to find out is if their company has an invention policy. read more »

In case you haven’t been to Target or WalMart lately, Halloween is the new Christmas.

In this article, I take a look at the opportunities for inventors created through the ridiculous over-commercialization of holidays. read more »

Did you just come up with a great idea? What do you do next?

Myra Per-Lee developed, manufactured, and marketed about a dozen products in a ten year period, most on her own with very little start-up capital. The most successful of her inventions, massage tools for adults, animals and infants, known as Nukkles®, Nuzzles®, and Snukkles®, is still going strong after eight years on the market. Myra lets us in on the secret of what to do after you've come up with the next best idea.

Here's her article:

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When you get a brilliant idea for a new product, don't you wish you could just write it down and drop it into Wal-Mart's suggestion box and, then in a week, receive a big fat check? Boy, I do! read more »

Access Inventor logoDo you know how to protect yourself from being ripped off by the bad guys?

Our Guest Blogger, Terri Phillips, is an inventor of numerous products. She has worked at an Invention Promotion Firm. She now works in marketing, packaging, and product development for an inventor service company that provides a means of distribution for inventors to sell their products through AccessInventors.com. Terri's goal is to educate inventors from the inside out, so she wrote this article exclusively for the readers of AmericanInventorSpot.com.

Here's her article:

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Nukkles

Ever wonder how inventors come up with those great ideas?

Myra Per-Lee developed, manufactured, and marketed about a dozen products in a ten year period, most on her own with very little start-up capital. The most successful of her inventions, massage tools for adults, animals and infants, known as Nukkles®, Nuzzles®, and Snukkles®, is still going strong after eight years on the market. Myra lets us in on the secret of how to come up with our own ideas.

Here's her article:

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One day in 1990, as I was changing clothes after work, I noticed some scuff marks on the right heel of my new shoes. Miffed, as I couldn't recall rubbing them against anything, I got out my shoe polish and tried to cover up the marks on the shoe. While I was at it, I thought I'd check my closet for any other shoes that needed polishing. Funny thing, most every pair of shoes I owned showed the same pattern of wear on the right heel. read more »

Have a few hours on your hands? Why not enter an invention contest?

Our Guest Blogger, Tim Whitney, is a bit of a contest nut. He's the National Grand Prize Winner of the KeyCite Key to Good Law Contest, and a national finalist in both the 2005 Staples Invention Quest and Digital Innovations Design-Originality-Creativity Awards. Tim gives us three reasons why we should spend a free afternoon entering an invention contest instead of watching TV.

Here's his article:

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Every year, you'll find about a dozen opportunities to enter national invention (or other idea-related) contests. Some hold out the promise of bringing a product to market, some just financial incentives. read more »

ElevatorWonder what you would do if you were riding in an elevator with one of the judges from the American Inventor TV show?

Our Guest Blogger, Tim Whitney, is a bit of a contest nut. He's the National Grand Prize Winner of the KeyCite Key to Good Law Contest, and a national finalist in both the 2005 Staples Invention Quest and Digital Innovations Design-Originality-Creativity Awards. His background in law, marketing and design helps him bring a critical and analytical eye to the inner workings of these contests in an effort to advise and inform entrants and help them make the most of these and other opportunities to promote their ideas. Tim gives us some tips on how to pitch your invention in 30 seconds or less.

Here's his article:

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In the marketing/branding world, there's this thing called the "elevator pitch." read more »

Staples Invention QuestThere's an inventor inside everyone of us. I don't know of a single person that hasn't had at least one great idea. Ever wonder whether you should enter into the Staples Invention Quest contest with that great idea?

Our Guest Blogger, Tim Whitney, is a bit of a contest nut. He's the National Grand Prize Winner of the KeyCite Key to Good Law Contest, and a national finalist in both the 2005 Staples Invention Quest and Digital Innovations Design-Originality-Creativity Awards. His background in law, marketing and design helps him bring a critical and analytical eye to the inner workings of these contests in an effort to advise and inform entrants and help them make the most of these and other opportunities to promote their ideas. Tim gives us some of his thoughts about the Staples Invention Quest contest.

Here's his article:

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For as much fun as I had making it to the finals of the 2005 Staples Invention Quest, there was always an undercurrent of corporate agenda that made some of us finalists wonder if we were being naïve about Staples' true intentions for the contest. With some of those elements intact for the 2006 version of IQ (www.staples.com/iq), I think it merits some discussion so the naivete isn't passed to a new generation of entrants. read more »

Staples Invention QuestEver wish you had insider's guide to what's going on in an invention contest?

Our Guest Blogger, Tim Whitney, is a bit of a contest nut. He's the National Grand Prize Winner of the KeyCite Key to Good Law Contest, and a national finalist in both the 2005 Staples Invention Quest and Digital Innovations Design-Originality-Creativity Awards. His background in law, marketing and design helps him bring a critical and analytical eye to the inner workings of these contests in an effort to advise and inform entrants and help them make the most of these and other opportunities to promote their ideas. Tim gives us some tips for Staples Invention Quest contest.

Here's his article: read more »

Trying to decide whether you need a prototype of your invention?

Our Guest Blogger, Frank Morosky, is an Entrepreneur Consultant. He assists people with business ideas or inventions get their business started quickly and on a tight budget. His website is at fmorosky.home.mchsi.com. He wanted to share his experiences with prototyping with the readers of AmericanInventorSpot.com.

Here's his article: read more »

Did you ever wonder how some Invention Promotion Firms actually work?

Our Guest Blogger, Terri Phillips, is an inventor of numerous products. She has worked at an Invention Promotion Firm. She now works in marketing, packaging, and product development for an inventor service company that provides a means of distribution for inventors to sell their products through AccessInventors.com. Terri's goal is to educate inventors from the inside out, so she wrote this article exclusively for the readers of AmericanInventorSpot.com.

Here's her article: read more »

Eric & DanardPRESS RELEASE

ABC's American Inventor Finalist, Erik Thompson, Invests Winnings to help other Inventors

As most of America knows, Mr. Thompson was awarded $50,000 from the hit ABC show for the rights to his Catch Vest, but what might surprise you is what he did with the money. After saving his house from foreclosure, Mr. Thompson took the majority of his winnings and started a company, "Belykewater Productions." read more »

Invention: Power Pitch Horseshoes

Did you know you don't need to use an Invention Submission Firm to show your ideas to manufacturers?

Our guest blogger Roger Brown is a freelance Inventor who has successfully marketed tools,
toys and a kitchen utensil without the aid of an Invention Submission Firm. You can see some of his inventions at rogerbrown.net. He graciously agreed to share with readers of AmericanInventorSpot.com some valuable advice. Here's his article: read more »