Quirky
Quirky.com
is a site that many inventors know about, but many more may not. As
such today we will be starting regular coverage of this very useful tool
for innovators, and in this article we will see what the site is all
about, and how you can best utilize it for your own inventions. If you
have ideas for products or inventions that you hope to bring to market
somehow, but you may not have the business or marketing skills needed to
see that project through, Quirky might be the tool you have been
waiting for.
First,
let’s see what exactly Quirky is. This is a company that was founded in
2009 to help inventors get passed the initial hurdles and help them
bring products to market. Located in New York City, Quirky already has
over 370,000 inventors in their community and has helped hundreds of
products get to market. If you know about Kickstarter.com, Quirky is similar
in some ways but also different. Here, you also collect popular votes
in order to see whether your project will see the light of day, but you
don’t have to handle the actual production process for that product.
Instead, Quirky handles the actual manufacturing and selling through
their own site, and you get a percentage of each sale.
The
way it works is fairly simple. First, you submit your idea to the site,
and then a crowdsourced curation process starts. Here anyone who goes
to the site can see your blurb and decide whether they want to support
you or not. If you get a lot of support, then your idea has merits and
the evaluation process goes forward. If you cannot gain this type of
support then your idea is rejected and you can submit another one. If
your idea is chosen, then a process of design and branding goes on in
cooperation between you, the inventor, and Quirky. When that’s done, the
actual product takes shape, and manufacturing starts. This is handled
completely by Quirky and you do not have to take care of this industrial
process.
After
that’s done, the resulting product is finally put on sale through the
Quirky site and that same community of users can buy. You can also use
social marketing to advertise your product and drive up sales. You get a
percentage of each sale, and you can then move on to your next idea or
invention, providing yet another new product to the world.
How can you maximize the chance that your idea will get accepted?
So
now that you know how Quirky works, you have to realize that submitting
ideas is really easy. There are many ideas but few products, so how can
you increase the chance that your particular invention will see the
light of day?
The first key is inspiration. You need to have an idea
that is truly new and unique. Most of the products that end up being
created are things that have that ‘wow’ factor, where people look at the
title or concept image and right away are intrigued. But it still needs
to be a practical product. Many ideas touch on concepts that are cool,
but few people would actually want to pay for that.
Market
research is something Quirky can help you with, but before you ever
submit your own idea, you should do your own research and find out
whether your product is something people want to buy. Does it answer a
need? Is it worth the cost of production? If there is no market, then
you will make no money from it. One good place is to look at Google and
find out if people search for solutions to that particular problem. If
there are a lot of people looking for ways to solve a particular need,
and they can’t find something that fits their requirements, then maybe
there is a market. Look and make sure that something similar is not being sold on Amazon.com. If your item is related to a specific industry, look at stores that would likely carry the product and on online catalogs. Of course, make sure to search Quirky using as many words that apply as you can think of so you can make sure no one has already submitted something similar. (For more tips, look at our Doing Market Research For Your Invention page.)
You
should also search if there are any patents taken that look like your
idea. (See tips here on How To Do A Patent Search and Patenting Your Invention Idea.)
If someone else already invented the same thing, and it had no
market appeal, then that may be a sign that you should think of
something else.
Make sure your idea is not only cool, but it is also a
viable business. Can the resulting product be sold and shipped easily
through an online store? If it’s too big, then shipping costs may be way
too high for people to buy it online through the Quirky store. What would the likely cost of materials and manufacturing be? If the raw costs are really high, it is unlikely you can sell your product at an attractive price to buyers. Will making, storing and handling the product be difficult?
Finally,
take enough time to submit your idea. Enter exactly what problem that
your research showed people have, and how your idea would provide a
solution. Get high quality images or a video made that clearly
illustrates your idea. If you are going to be using drawings, spent the little bit of extra money to get really good drawings done for you. There are a ton of online sources for getting high quality drawings done for you for cheap. If it would be helpful, try to have several images to explain vividly various aspects of your invention product idea.
Most importantly, remember that this is a community
process. Once the submission is done, keep going back and interacting
with the community, answering questions and providing updates. Make the most of social sharing sites and do whatever you can to spread the word about your idea to friends and family and the incredible networks available to you through social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, etc. (Of course, make sure that if you are using these sites, that you follow all the shoulds and should nots of promoting your ideas on those sites.) Also, make sure to send your invention idea to us here at InventorSpot.com and let them know about your invention. Getting the word out and creating interest for your idea is
your best bet for making sure your idea becomes a product.
So I hope this article was helpful to you. Submitting your ideas to Quirky and other crowdfunding sites is very much the same as the steps you take in the overall invention process. So for more tips on how to get your invention ideas onto store shelves, take a look at all the tips and resources we’ve collected for inventors.
Good luck and happy inventing!
SEE ALSO:
Quality Crowdfunding Your Idea Via Seedinvest
Originally published March 2013 and updated May 2015.
