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316 | Patent it YOURSELF
won’t be too interested if your invention has already been
disseminated to the public.
If you’re going to make and sell it yourself, I believe you
should wait until you’ve got the product out before you try
to publicize it. Why? The public’s memory span is short, so
they’ll be likely to forget about your product by the time
you get it on sale. My advice is to not seek publicity until
a product with your invention is almost or actually on the
market, unless you’ve tried unsuccessfully, after substantial
efforts, to get it on the market.
Assuming you’re ready for publicity, one way to get it (at
a price) is to hire a public-relations or marketing research
firm to promote your invention for you. There are many
reputable firms that can come up with many creative and
valuable ideas for a fee. However, since the cost of publicrelations
services is very high, I don’t recommend it unless
you can bear the cost without difficulty.
Many magazines will feature new ideas free if you
send them a clear, understandable, professional-quality
photo or drawing of your invention, plus a brief, clear,
and understandable description of it. They may even write
a full-length feature about your invention if they think it’s
interesting enough. Suitable magazines are Popular Science,
Mechanics Illustrated, Popular Electronics, Better Homes
and Gardens, Pageant, Parade, Playboy, This Week, True
Story, Jet, Outdoor Life, House and Garden, House Beautiful,
Outdoor Living, Changing Times, McCall’s, Apartment Life,
Argosy, and Sunset. You can obtain the addresses of those
you think are relevant from Ulrich’s International Periodicals
Directory in your local library.
The magazine Advertising Age has a feature called “Idea
Marketplace” in each issue in which they publicize new
inventions gratis. Write to them at Crown Communications,
Inc., 740 Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611, sending a picture
and brief description of your invention. Thomas Publications,
1 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10119, has a bimonthly
called Technology Mart that offers a similar service, as does
Dental X Change, http://dentalXchange.com, and the “Form
+ Function” column of the Wall Street Journal, by John
Pierson.
Review the trade magazines in the field of your invention
for other ideas.
Nolo also publishes an excellent book, Marketing Without
Advertising, by Michael Phillips and Salli Rasberry; its title
is self- explanatory.
Other sources of publicity and possible sale or licensing
opportunities are exhibits, trade fairs, and business shows.
I don’t recommend that you use these, since I’ve heard only
a few success stories from exhibitors. On the other hand, I
have heard of many more cases where foreign or domestic
manufacturers copy good inventions and hope to make
a quick killing or avoid any pertinent patents. But if you
feel that you may get a bite from this type of exposure, try
one—the cost is usually a few hundred dollars. You’ll be
given a table or booth, or equivalent space to demonstrate
your invention at the fair or show. Naturally, your exhibit
should be attractive and interesting, and it is preferable
to have a working model or very good literature available
in connection with your invention. There are exhibitionservice
companies that will prepare a display exhibit for
you for a fee. Also, several of the Contingent-Fee Invention
Brokers listed above have exhibition areas. The following
site lists over 50,000 trade shows held annually in the U.S.:
www.tscentral.com.
Don’t overlook the media (radio, TV, newspapers, and
magazines) as an excellent source of free publicity, which
most experts say is the best kind. Many local radio and TV
stations feature talk shows whose hosts are always looking
for interesting guests; some stations even have shows in
which new inventors can demonstrate or discuss their
inventions. One syndicated show is Million Dollar Idea
(www.milliondollarideashow.com). To find other shows and
get on them, call your local stations, ask what talk shows
they have and which might be interested in interviewing an
inventor with a hot new product, and who the appropriate
producers are. Then send the producers a press kit or letter
describing your invention and why it and you would be of
interest to the show’s listeners.
One of the best ways to get media publicity (and concomitant
interviews) is to dream up or pull a stunt. For
example, if you’ve invented a new bicycle drive mechanism,
you might enter and win a local bike race, or sponsor some
type of contest (which you can win!).
Lastly, don’t overlook a new phenomenon—invention
stores that sell newly invented products at retail. One is the
New Products Showcase at the Irving Mall in Irving, Texas.
Also, there are a number of Sharper Image- and Nature
Co.-like stores that sell dozens of new gadgets and are
always looking for new ones to scoop their competition.
6. The Premium Marketing Route
If you can’t get a manufacturer or distributor to take your
invention, try offering it as a premium to accompany a
related product that is already on the market. For example,
one television magazine show featured a girl, Abbey Mae
Fleck, 8, of St. Paul, Minnesota, who invented a great plastic
hanger to suspend bacon in a microwave oven so that the
grease dripped away while it cooked. However, none of the
manufacturers of plastic microwave accessories would bite
(their loss!). So ingenious Abbey approached a bacon com-