After the initial positive reaction at local 7-Elevens, I wrote and sent a press release to our local paper, the Modesto Bee. A small article was written in the business section shortly thereafter, detailing the basic events.

I’m under the impression that freelance journalists are able to use a tool that allows them to pick up articles that use specific key words. It’s really the only explanation I can come by for what happened next. A woman from Convenience Store News contacted me, asking for an interview. Sure thing!

If I’ve learned one thing about the media, it’s that every story must have an angle. A hook. Something personal, something funny, something tragic. An element that makes the story interesting. It seems obvious, but maybe it’s not. Most of your stories are interesting – sell them! It pays to be honest. And so I told her the story I’ve just written for you. How I hung my tail between my legs and expected the worst, how I received help from the local field representative. And sure enough, she used those details in her article, which focused on the theme of “switching it up”.

She advised convenience stores to switch up their product line, that there was a benefit in injecting something fresh or different or unexpected into their distribution. One of the products she recommended was Hot Picks. It wasn’t long after the article hit that the phone started ringing.

“Convenience Store News” is popular in its own specific industry. I received calls from distributors who had read the article and were curious about the picks. That little story created a huge response! I now work with about four of the distributors that contacted us from the story. And these convenience store distributors have even further connections – they’ve opened up the door to sell in other markets, such as drug and grocery stores. They’re helping to push our product.

We’re currently running new tests in Blockbuster. Because it's obviously not a convenience store, we need to retest if it is a good fit for Hot Picks. But we’re there. And that’s exciting. And has definitely been made possible by a single, small press release. The media has the power to help you in ways you might never even imagine – use it!

This article is courtesy of Stephen Key’s “Invention And Product Ideas” blog on allbusiness.com. Also note that Stephen¹s inventRight.com  web site gives free tele-seminars every other week teaching inventors how to sell their ideas.

Stephen Key is a successful inventor who has licensed his ideas for over 25 years. Several of his products have been endorsed by celebrities such as Michael Jordan and Alex Trebek, and sold in retailing giants such as WalMart, Walgreens and Disney stores and theme parks worldwide.

You can read more about Stephen at inventright.com/about.html and view some of the products he has worked on by visiting inventRight.com.

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