Friday, October 24, 2008

Business is the Mother of Invention - Not the other way around!




Two of the most famous inventors in history were diametrically opposed. Tesla was an inventor but Edison was an Inventor/Businessman. Telsa died virtually penniless despite huge contributions to society and Edison's fortune is still there today. The two men actually knew each other when Tesla first came to America. Why the history lesson?

I am well known for my opinion on patents and how they relate to business. In a nutshell, I do not believe simply inventing/patenting something is going to get you rich and spending money on expensive patent attorneys, prototypes and studies is only going to make someone else rich. Ideas are a dime a dozen and do not sell themselves. That takes a solid business system and brilliant marketing. Almost any decent invention can make you rich with the system/marketing combo. You don't even have to invent something to sell it.

Check out the father of patent licensing at: http://www.cossman.net/ This is the guy that made millions from ant farms and fly cakes.

Having said that, I am going outside my usual thoughts and giving some good videos and patent resources.

US Patent and Trademark Office where you can search patents. I use it to get ideas for new products. You can actually search a specific company and see their devices before they are even released to the public. Click here for an example of APPLE.

http://inventors.about.com/

http://www.blogger.com/www.Inventnow.org





Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Info! Gimme More Info. Don't Tease Me!

I ABSOLUTELY HATE ads that do not give any info. What's worse is an ad you have to call to even get a price or to see a photo.

I recently passed a sign while driving to a park. It said, "Lot for Sale. 555-5555". It was huge! Someone probably spent a ton of money having it made. Mind as well given that money to charity as it would have did more good.

Why?

It had none of the information a potential buyer would be looking for. Here are the questions that should have been answered for me.
  • Who is selling it?
  • What exactly are they selling?
  • What size is the property?
  • What comes with it?
  • HOW MUCH? (if you can't put it on a sign, it's too much!).
  • Is there a way for me to get further information?
Here is what the sign should have said: "70FTX120FT empty builder lot for sale. $150,000. Contact John at 555-5555 or visit http://www.xyzproperty.com/ for further details and photos."

The thing is, people don't want to call someone just to get info these days. They don't want to talk to a live person and waste their valuable time for information that should have been on the sign. We live in the age of instance information gratification so don't handicap your business by not answering people's questions and wasting their valuable time.