How to Market Your Invention and Earn Millions

The hardest part of the invention process is marketing your product. If we could all apply for a patent and watch the phone ring and win millions, everyone would jump into the game of invention. But the sad truth of the invention process is that your phone won’t ring just because it’s patented.

So as your patent gathers dust, you realize you better do something to let people know about it. This is called marketing. If you don’t market your product, all the rest of your efforts will be wasted. The longer you wait to market your invention, the longer your precious patent expires. And if your patent solves a common problem, you can bet someone else has that problem and is also thinking of a solution. If they come up with one, it could be completely different from yours, so they could get a patent as well. This is called competition.

If your competition understands or has experience in marketing and they get your product successfully placed in stores, television, catalogs, and the Internet before you, this is called being first and fastest to market. They will gain what is called market share.

The solution: find the fastest and cheapest way to present your product to the masses.

A quick look at your marketing options would yield these possibilities: exhibit at a trade show, send flyers to store buyers, advertise in a magazine, create a website, do an infomercial, license your product to a large company, get a home shopping channel.

Of the above ways to market your invention, the fastest way to reach the masses is to get your product on a home shopping channel. And the best part about selling on QVC or HSN, the top two home shopping channels, is that the airtime is free and the exposure your product can get is tremendous. (QVC reaches 166 million viewers worldwide and HSN 89 million).

Ten minutes in one of these stations can not only generate sales and income for your business, but can also attract the attention of store buyers, large companies looking to license products, large companies looking to partner with others. Getting into QVC can make the difference between being the first and fastest to market or seeing someone else do it before you.

Spanx Pantyhose sold 8,000 units in 8 minutes on its first broadcast on QVC. Sabatino’s Sausage company’s sales increased from $ 1 million to more than $ 6 million thanks to QVC. Deco Wrap, a window treatment product, sold more than 80,000 units in one day at QVC on multiple occasions when it was the featured product of the day. There are countless success stories.

The fastest way to access QVC or HSN is to find someone with connections

Start by contacting your local SCORE chapter to see if anyone has connections to a QVC agent or representative. You can also exhibit at invention conventions and industry trade shows. They often attract buyers and QVC agents and you will be able to get a list of attendees once you become an exhibitor.

Ways to find competent people who can help you are everywhere, you just have to start somewhere, even if it’s Google. But be sure to do your due diligence before signing a contract of any kind.