If you decided to manufacture your invention yourself, then one of the things you’ll need to do with the manufactured product is to sell it!

Welcome to the ninth part of our 10-part series, how to market your invention so that people will buy it.

Marketing encompasses lots of things: Brand, Identity, Packaging, Pricing, Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales. The one goal of marketing is to convince people to buy your product.

This is actually tougher than it sounds because people hear and see over 3,000 advertisements per day. How do you make your product stand out? Most people have limited money. How do you convince them that they should part with their hard-earned money in exchange for your product?

This is too much to talk about in one article, so instead we’ll hit the highlights and point you to resources for more information.

Building a brand and identity When you think of Starbucks, what does it bring to mind? I think comfy chairs, sugary caffeinated drinks, and relaxing atmosphere. That is there brand and identity that they worked hard to create. For your widget, you need to create a brand, a feel, an identity (this is more than just a trademark name). A great quick reference to brand building is Guerilla Marketing in 30 days, which actually hits many of the topics we’ll discuss about marketing.

Packaging Lucky for you, one of the members of IdeaTango is an expert in the field of packaging. “The Packaging Diva” recommends that inventors place a great amount of importance when designing a package for their product. Think about your shopping experience . . . you’re walking through an aisle; you glance at a single product for no more than half a second before deciding whether to purchase that product. All you see is the packaging. So your packaging has to convey to the consumer, what it offers and why they should buy it - all in under half a second. Read more advice on packaging your invention.

Pricing Pricing tells the consumer more than you think. It gives the impression if it is a high-quality item, or a bargain-basement deal. Pricing also tells the consumer the identity of the product, and how they can relate to that identity once they purchase it. Obviously it’s not smart to price your product below what it costs you to make it. But maybe you should consider establishing your invention as a high-quality item. That usually translates into less sales, but more profit.
At this point we should also explain that when you talk to a retailer, the retailer wants to mark up your product by 25-50%. So if your market research suggests consumers will purchase your widget for $10, then you need to sell it for 25-50% less to the retailer, or between $5-$7.50. QVC and Home Shopping Network like to mark up the product 600%. Each place is different, so research the places you plan on selling the product and make sure what you will get paid still covers the manufacturing cost.

Advertising Online, magazines, newspapers, direct mail, coupons, viral, trade shows. These are all forms of advertising you can use to sell your product. The type that you use really depends on your industry and your product. Jeff Dobkin wrote a great article on direct marketing for inventors, the advertising of choice for do-it-yourselfers. Research the different ways to get your product on the street, and then choose the ones that will give you the best return on your investment (ROI).

Also part of advertising is the message. Headlines, offers, and benefits make up any part of good advertising copy. The Guerilla Marketing book we recommended earlier has some good advice about how to write your copy so that it’s most compelling to the consumer - and so it stands out from the thousands of other messages we see daily.

Public Relations This part of marketing usually doesn’t directly translate into direct sales, but it can bring indirect sales and credibility to your product. Public relations is about getting people to NOTICE your product. Typically this is done through articles, interviews, and product placements. I’ve heard the best place for inventors to start is with their local newspaper. Talk to the journalists, who need good news, and sell them on why your product would be of interest to their readers. Hiring public relations firms can cost thousands of dollars per month, so we don’t recommend that starting out. Hire a freelance PR consultant that can help you write press releases, build brand awareness, and enhance your public image. Lisa Lloyd swears by PR as the most effective marketing tool she used.

Sales The holy grail of inventing is actually selling your product. Sales is a complicated process, sometimes best suited for certain personalities. The trick to sales is to figure out what the person wants, and then tailor your message and your product, to what that person wants. Sales require cold calls, meeting people for lunch, pitching your product to your contacts, and re-pitching your product to the bosses. There is a reason we receive telemarketing phone calls and junk mail, because it creates sales. Sales wraps up all the other marketing features we’ve talked about into a nice presentable package. In order to sell, tell the consumer what he wants is right there in your product.

Sales also have to do with distribution channels. Will you sell your widget on eBay, in Wal-Mart, through a catalog, over the phone, in your own boutique shop, QVC, or a combination?

There are lots of things to think about when it comes to marketing your invention. Like everything, the key is to bite off only what you can chew. Learn about each topic one by one using the references mentioned, our inventor education section, and other inventors.

Our final article will include insight from Lisa’s licensing experience, and advice she would like to pass along to first-time inventors.

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