PitchIt List

09/13/2021

You need more than smarts to invent...
Which is your strongest attribute - and your dominant motivation?

05/07/2021

There are 5 primary paths to launching a consumer product:

Retail distribution, Licensing, E-commerce, Crowdfunding, and Televised retail.

And no matter what your ultimate goal is, understanding these 5 primary paths is the key to successfully launching your product.

It doesn’t matter which path you’re thinking of choosing, or maybe you’ve already picked one…now is the time to stop and ask directions before you get caught in a traffic jam that will hold you back.

You need to ask the right questions in order to get the right directions.

Because if you aren’t asking the right questions it’s impossible for you to get the answers you need to launch your product or to get back on track.

This is something that almost every one of our clients gets wrong the first time they launch a new product.

To successfully launch your product you need to figure out what roadblock stands in your way.

Until you can isolate that problem, you won’t be able to find a solution, and you will never be able to have a successful product launch.

When it comes to launching your product, you need to get to your destination successfully.

So it makes the most sense to choose the correct path.
When you ask for a road map for your product launch, here is the one thing that no-one is going to tell you-

You are focusing on the wrong question.

Because there is no way to predict what the right road is going to be.

Now, don’t get me wrong. When you ask that question, you’ll certainly get a ton of responses from specialists promising that their road or method is the right one.

But the thing with specialists is they look at everything through the lens of their one tool, and the problem with that is “if all you have is a hammer, everything gets treated like a nail”.

So what these specialists are actually doing is sending you and your product off on a one-lane country road, uncertain of if you are going to get stuck in traffic, or if there’s an accident up ahead, or potholes that are going to leave you with a flat tire and stop you from reaching your destination.

As you can see, this is a very unstable and dangerous road to be on.

Now, what happens after you’ve committed to go down that one road, and it turns out to be a dead end?

Not only have you wasted valuable time and money, but you only get one chance to make a first impression. You screw that up, it’s next to impossible to recover.

Now by nature, inventors are problem solvers.

That is what sets you apart – it’s what drives you to create, but it also creates a kind of tunnel vision that can keep you from your ultimate goal - and that is to get your product into as many hands as possible.

You’ve been so focused on choosing the right path, you’ve neglected the real problem.

It’s not about the path at all.

The real problem is that you don’t have the right vehicle!

Now, what do I mean by that?

We just touched on all the different paths that you can take to deliver your product to market - and for each of those paths there is a vehicle best suited for travel on it.

You wouldn’t take your Ferrari on an off-road camping trip – or race your minivan at the Indy 500.

So, if you can determine what the right path is, then you build a vehicle best suited for it, right?

Wrong.

Ok, this is the part that I love - the part where the lightbulb goes off in everyone’s head.

It never gets old for me ; )

The most important thing you need to understand is that you must create a vehicle that is capable of travelling down any and all of the paths to market.

This is the shift in thinking that you need to make.

The shift that has made the difference for our clients – and until you make this fundamental shift, I promise you that you will be stuck spinning your wheels.

Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, by choosing which one path to take, the best choice is to prepare your product from the start, and create the vehicle that will allow you to navigate any and all of the 5 paths to market.

This is the key to every successful product launch.

Next up, how to create that vehicle...

03/06/2021

02/03/2021

20 Inexpensive Ways to Successfully Promote Your Product Launch

You have a new product that’s ready to launch, but something’s holding you back. You’re not sure that your product launch marketing ideas are going to be effective enough. But you’re concerned that other, “better,” marketing strategies are beyond your budget. You’re scared that if you’re not able to generate enough buzz for your new product, that it’ll fail before it ever really has a chance.

You’re right to be afraid. According to the Insights Association, 60% of new products never even make it to market. Of the 40% that do, only 60% are able to generate enough revenue to become commercially viable. Other studies found that between 30% and 80% of new products fail, depending on the industry.
Pretty scary stats, right? Don’t let them prevent you from putting your new product out into the world. I’m here to tell you that it is possible to effectively promote your product launch without spending a huge chunk of your marketing budget.

In this post, you’ll learn ten effective and inexpensive strategies for marketing your product launch. There are other elements that can cause new products to fail, such as insufficient audience research, or poor product quality. But with the product launch marketing ideas below, you’ll be prepared to address two of the most important elements – budget and promotion.

1. Start a Blog
A blog can be a valuable resource for your product launch. It’s a great way to educate your target audience. You can provide useful details about the new product, what it can do, and why people need it. It’s also an effective platform for building buzz about your product launch, as you can also publish useful updates, and milestones about the launch.

Update your blog regularly, (at least once a week), with details about the product. You can share info and photos during the product’s development, and let folks know what stage you’ve reached. You can also write a post about one particular feature one week, and another feature the next week.
Be sure to share your blog posts with your mailing list, social media followers, and key influencers in your industry.

2. Write Guest Posts
How do you grab the attention of an audience that’s never heard of your brand? One of the most effective strategies is to reach out to them through a reputable website or blog related to your product niche. This is where guest posts come into the picture.
Many websites and blogs already have large, established audiences. And when you contribute to sites that are relevant to your niche, their audiences will be more likely than the average consumer to be interested in your product.

Come up with a list of relevant blog post ideas, and pitch them to the publishers and editors of those niche-specific sites.
Your guest posts can help you win over those target consumers with your expertise and knowledge. Don’t write guest posts that sound too salesly, or which are clearly just promoting your product. Write informative, entertaining posts people will read, learn something from, and hopefully even share.

Every now and then, you can mention your new product in a guest post, and entice readers with the features that they’ll find useful. But don’t go overboard! Guest posts should not sound like marketing content, (even when they are).

3. Attend Trade Shows
In addition to guest posting on reputable websites and blogs, another excellent method to reach an established and relevant audience is through industry publications. And the best way to get featured in notable industry publications is by attending trade shows. This can help you get maximum media coverage with a single effort.

Let’s say you’re launching a new tech product. Your aim should be to get featured in high-ranking online publications that cover technology and tech news, such as TechCrunch, WIRED, etc. Otherwise, you can aim for a feature in any top-ranking publication with a reputation for marketing and business-related news.

4. Get Influencers to Review Your Product
Before people decide to buy your new product, many of them will want some sort of proof that it’s really as awesome as you say it is. And they’re probably not going to take your word for it. Which means that there’s only so much you can do with traditional advertising.

What do people do when they’re thinking about buying a new product? They go online to find out what other people are saying about it. In fact, research suggests that up to 90% of consumers read online reviews. And 59% base their purchase decisions on recommendations from the people they know and trust – like friends, family members, and the people they follow online.

I’m going to assume that you don’t have enough time (or money) to reach out to the friends and families of your target audience to ask them to review your new product.
You can, however, partner with some of the influencers your target consumers follow, and ask them to review your product.

The important part is to work with influencers who have significant reach and impact in your target niche. You could give them an exclusive preview of your product, or send them some product samples. Ask them to share their honest reviews of, and experiences with your product.

Reviews from influencers in your niche can help you win the trust of your target consumers, many of whom may have never heard of your brand or product before. Ask the influencers to include info about your product launch in their posts as well to further help build buzz for the launch.

5. Promote Giveaways through Influencers
Another idea to build buzz for your product launch is with giveaways promoted with the help of influencers. Through giveaways, you can win over a small fraction of your target audience with free samples of your product.

And their reviews and posts about your new product can help convince other consumers to make a purchase. You can even help get people excited about your product launch date by announcing the winners of the giveaway on the same date.
Promoting a giveaway with the help of influencers is a perfect fit because they’re already experts at engaging their audiences.

When you partner with the right influencers, you can introduce your new product to a relevant audience of consumers more likely to be interested in participating in the giveaway.
If you’re looking to get the most bang out of your product marketing buck, focus your efforts on micro-influencers. They can often drive higher engagement rates and conversions than top influencers, and for a fraction of the cost.

6. Take Advantage of Crowdfunding Platforms
You may already have enough money to develop your product, and market your launch. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of crowdfunding platforms. A crowdfunding campaign can be an excellent way to generate buzz for your new product launch.

Crowdfunding can help you build a network of people who are not only interested in your product, but already invested in its development. They can make excellent brand advocates, and will often help promote your launch to their friends and followers, without you even having to ask.

If you offer rewards to people who help fund your project, make sure that they are appealing and useful to your backers, while also helping to promote your brand. For example, if you’re launching a new line of beauty products, a reward could include some of your new products, and a makeup bag with your brand name or logo on it.

7. Engage Regularly on Social Media
In preparation for your product launch marketing, focus on growing your social media presence. Then, during the product development stage, engage your fans and followers by sharing regular updates about your progress, and any exciting milestones you’ve achieved.

Even if you’ve already created a lot of buzz for your new product, and you have a long list of people just waiting to get their hands on it, that doesn’t mean you should stop promoting it. If you don’t keep prospects interested and engaged, they may forget about your product, or lose interest in it by the time you actually launch. Regular updates on social media can help keep your prospects engaged, and interested in your product.

Social media platforms are also a great place to collect useful information for your product launch. Start a poll, and ask your followers questions that will be useful for your launch. For example, you could ask if people would prefer to buy your product exclusively on your brand website, or if they’d also like the option of purchasing it through ecommerce retailers.

8. Go Big with Social Media Teasers and Countdowns
Social media is one of the most effective, yet inexpensive channels for promoting a product launch. And they’re the perfect platforms for providing your audience with teasers about your launch.

You could provide your followers with sneak peeks, and exclusive previews of the product, or behind-the-scenes updates about the product being made. Try updating them with cryptic images related to the product, and ask them to guess what the images mean.

When it’s just a few days away, update your profile and cover photos with numbers counting down to the day of the product launch. These countdowns can help build buzz for the launch, and remind your audience of the launch date.

9. Create Eye-Catching Visual Content
If you’re familiar with marketing, you already know that visual content plays a huge role in audience engagement. In fact, Social Media Examiner found that visuals are the second most important form of content, next to blogging.

Visual content should be a key component of your product launch marketing plan. A few ideas for promoting your launch with visuals include:
• Explainer videos – Create a video to explain what your product is, what it does, and why it’s better than the competition.
• Infographics – Transform detailed descriptions of your product’s features and benefits into a stunning, easy-to-digest infographic.
• Images – Create product updates, and countdown timers with the help of eye-catching images.
• Custom graphics – Promote special offers, discount codes, and contests on social media with custom graphics.

In addition to the ideas mentioned above, there are many other ways to use visual content to promote your product launch. And there are many free, easy-to-use tools for creating custom visuals for social media, email marketing, blog posts, etc. Canva, for example, includes more than 8,000 free templates, making it super simple to create a wide range of visual content, including posters, brochures, social media ads, and infographics.

10. Reach Out to Online Communities
For your product to be successful, you need the support of consumers who are willing to spend their money on it. The challenge lies in reaching those consumers.

While you may be able to reach out to a significant number of people through influencers, online publications, and social media; it may not be enough. To effectively promote your product launch, reach out to online communities, and introduce them to your new product.

Some excellent examples are the New Products and Startups subreddits on Reddit. As their respective names suggest, these subreddits can help you reach an active community of individuals who might be interested in your new product or startup. Share your ideas, and updates with them, and collect their valuable opinions to help you make improvements.

11. Invite Influencers to Your Launch Event
If you’re going to work with influencers to promote your product launch, you could organize an event just for them. Try hosting a product launch event attended by relevant influencers who can share the news with a relevant audience.

The goal is to have them share photos and videos from the event with their followers, helping you in your marketing efforts.
When they share their experience at your event, influencers can help build hype for your launch. Not only will their fans be engaged by the content, they’ll be intrigued to find out what all the buzz is about. They can either share their experience through live feeds, photos, or videos.

12. Go Live on Facebook and Instagram
You can also make the most of the Live feature on Facebook and Instagram to engage your fans and get them excited for your launch. You could use Live to showcase what’s going on behind the scenes. or to share your launch event with your followers.
Whatever the case may be, it should help you stir the curiosity of your audience, and market your launch effectively.

13. Accept Pre-Orders
Another excellent and inexpensive way to build hype for your product launch is by offering pre-order options. This may not have occurred to you because you were highly focused on the marketing campaign for your launch. But what you need to know is that offering a pre-order could be an excellent marketing tactic in itself.

First of all, when you let your existing fans pre-order your upcoming product, you’re making an easy sale. But when you make them wait till the launch so they can start buying, you’re providing them with an opportunity to change their minds.
Additionally, seeing lots of people pre-ordering your product could build excitement and compel others to check it out too.

14. Use Visual Countdowns on Social Media
Visual content is crucial if you want to attract an audience. And even when you’re announcing your launch or providing an update about it, you should try implementing it as much as you possibly can.

This means even when you’re counting down to the date of your launch, try using visuals creatively in a way that would suit the product you’re launching.

15. Have Leading News Outlets Share Your Story
Leading media outlets are the perfect channel for marketing your product launch. In one of the earlier tips, you learned that participating in trade shows can be an effective way to get featured in these outlets.

While this may seem like it’s already good enough, there’s no harm in taking an extra step to get yourself promoted by these outlets.

Try getting some reputable online publications to talk about your product launch by sharing your story with them. Share with them the story of how your product came about and how it will help solve certain issues. You’ll be giving them the opportunity to present a unique news story to their audience, helping them enrich their content.

Better yet, reach out to one of the top publications relevant to your industry and give them an exclusive scoop – something no other media outlet knows or has reported. If they decide to share the news, it could reach plenty of relevant people. And other smaller media outlets may decide to cover the story too.

16. Provide Updates via Email
Email is easily the cheapest way you can get through to relevant audiences and market your product launch to them. Even if they don’t have the time to check their social media accounts they may still have time to check their emails especially for work. So if you can send them email updates about your launch, you could keep them engaged.

If you’re an existing brand, you may easily have the opportunity to send out these emails to all your best customers. But if you’re a startup or a fairly unknown brand you could create a founder’s list and provide email updates to everyone that’s interested in the product launch.

Your founder’s list will be comprised of an exclusive group of people who are interested about the product. You can try sharing news about the list on your social media and in any post marketing the launch even if it’s on third-party websites.

17. Start a Hashtag Campaign
You might have seen hashtags like and making the rounds on social media. These have been popular hashtags for a few years yet people still continue using them. These hashtags have been use to start and maintain conversations on social media.

Similarly, you can start a conversation around your product launch by launching a hashtag campaign.
You can come up with a unique (and preferably branded) hashtag that’s catchy and easy to remember. And whenever you post updates about your product launch, you can include the hashtag.

This can be a great way to ensure that people remember your upcoming product and possibly even join in on the conversation using the hashtag.

18. Get Influencers to Tell a Story
We’ve talked about how influencers can be effective in marketing your launch by reviewing the product or promoting your contest. You can also market your launch by inviting influencers to your launch event and having them share their experiences with their followers.

However, these aren’t the only options available for you. You can also effectively promote your product launch by having influencers tell a story around the product.

They can share their experience using the product without the content being explicitly about a product review. They can showcase themselves using the product or posing with the product strategically, for instance.

19. Share Behind-the-Scenes Teasers
You can also get your followers hyped up for your launch by showcasing what’s happening behind the scenes.
• What’s your team currently working on?
• How do they spend their time?
• What are some of the elements involved in your production?

These are all excellent ideas for marketing your product launch and build excitement well ahead of time.

20. Ask Questions to Engage
When you post to social media as a way of marketing your product launch, one of your main goals is to engage your audience.

But when you simply share post after post simply giving information about the upcoming product, the conversation or interaction may seem one-sided. People may enjoy seeing the photos and/or videos but they may not be too keen to engage with you.

So try to ask questions that will engage your audience when you share news or posts about the upcoming product. This opens up an opportunity for your fans to share their thoughts with you and engage with your brand. This high engagement rate may be a sign that your product launch marketing campaign is working.

But it can also have other indirect effects.
When they have the opportunity to answer your questions, your potential customers may feel more involved in the launch. This can build excitement and may compel them to keep looking out for more information on the launch.

Conclusion
The ideas above can help you get started promoting your next product launch without breaking the bank. Which of these will you try first?

01/28/2021

The Inventor’s Dilemma: Manufacturing vs. Licensing

“I have a new invention that I’ve been working on. I’ve done my research, I’ve met with a patent attorney to discuss patent options and I have investigated prototype and design options.

However, I’m just not sure how to actually go about producing and marketing my invention. Do I need to arrange for manufacturing on my own, which seems like a challenging process in itself, or are there other options that I can explore for producing and marketing my invention?”

Manufacturing vs. Licensing
Does this line of thinking seem familiar? Ultimately, every inventor reaches the point where they need to decide on how they are going to proceed with commercializing their invention.

They must choose how to develop, manufacture and market the product. Many inventors are interested in facilitating and managing the process on their own, while many others would prefer to find a company to handle the process for them.

Whatever the case, after the idea has been protected with a patent, the inventor must weigh these options and decide which one is the right choice for his or her specific situation.

Oftentimes, inventors are either unaware of the options for taking their inventions to market or they automatically assume that inventing requires them to manufacture and market their invention on their own. As a result of not being familiar with the options for commercializing their inventions, many inventors end up pursuing a less suitable approach for their particular situation, which can cost them a lot of time and money.

If you are new to the business of inventing or are not really sure how an inventor actually makes money from an invention, consider the following options.

Licensing the Invention for Royalties
When you are trying to license your invention for royalties, the end result of all your hard work is to secure a license agreement. A license agreement is when the inventor [licensor] agrees to let a third party [licensee] commercially use his invention for a period of time.

As a result of the agreement, the inventor would receive either an ongoing payment called a royalty, which would normally be calculated as a percentage of sales of the invention or a one-time lump-sum payment.

Typically, the company that licenses the invention would manufacture and market the invention. The likelihood of an inventor striking a license agreement would depend on the premise that the inventor has “rights” to the invention (i.e., a patent). Without patent protection, any individual or company could make or sell the invention; therefore, it would be less likely that a company would license or buy the invention.

Developing & Manufacturing the Invention
When developing and manufacturing on your own, you are taking on the responsibility of facilitating and managing the process of setting up manufacturing either through domestic or overseas manufacturers. You hire a manufacturing company to produce your product. While you maintain control of your invention, you also assume the risks and costs that are associated with the process.

Keep in mind that if you manufacture your invention overseas you should also develop an understanding of how you will import, warehouse and distribute the product.
Remember that every invention is different in terms of its complexity and structure. This should be taken into account when deciding whether to license the idea or manufacture.

For some inventions, little development and setup is required, which can simplify the manufacturing process. However, other inventions may be much more complex requiring in-depth research, engineering, tooling, molds etc. for mass production.

As a result, manufacturing can be very expensive and usually involves a large set-up fee for tooling, molds, etc., and once the invention is ready, there may be a minimum order requirement to pay for inventory.

Some manufacturers can offer short-run production where they’ll make a small order in hopes that the larger orders will come later, but many require the inventor to pay for a large number of units that can result in unsold product and loss of money if the invention does not sell. Overseas manufacturing can have added frustrations associated with the difficulties of finding and communicating with a foreign company.

For the inventor who finds these aspects of manufacturing to be too costly, too difficult or too much of a hassle, seeking a licensing agreement could be a more suitable solution. If the invention is licensed, usually the company that licenses the invention will handle the manufacturing, which allows the inventor to shift the cost and risks to the company that licenses the invention. With licensing, the inventor can rely on the company’s experience and established business to develop and market the product.

Typically, entrepreneurs with aspirations of turning their inventions into a business where they would sell their product would be the best candidates for manufacturing. Manufacturing and marketing an invention can be an exciting and rewarding approach for some inventors.

However, the process should be looked at more as a business venture, as it requires the inventor to have substantial capital and a well thought-out plan on how to develop, manufacture and market their idea.

Manufacturing is very different than finding a company to license the invention, and should not be jumped into without examining the risks and carefully planning the best route for success.

Thinking through Your Options
Now that you have a better understanding of the options for commercializing your invention, it is easier to see why it’s important to think through the options and determine what makes sense for your situation. It doesn’t make sense to select one approach such as manufacturing your invention when licensing may have been a better solution for your situation.

For example, suppose you invented a new, innovative pet-grooming device and after completing the patent process you decide that you are going to develop and manufacture the invention on your own. You jump on the Internet and spend the next few weeks researching overseas manufacturers to develop and produce your invention.

Let’s assume that everything goes smoothly and quickly, which it usually doesn’t, and four to six months later you end up with a finished product and a shipment of inventory sitting in your garage. More than likely, at this point, you would have invested tens of thousands of dollars in your invention and it’s likely that you may not have even secured buyer interest or a purchase order.

Most established product companies and manufacturers don’t pull the trigger on manufacturing until they have done exhaustive market research and testing (i.e., due diligence) and ideally have secured purchase orders or commitments from their customers. However, as a new inventor, you may not have thought about securing interest or purchase orders before paying to have your product manufactured.

As a result, you’re now looking to sell your product either directly to consumers via a website that you will develop, or you begin to look for another company to wholesale your invention. As the example continues, you later realize that having a website to sell your product to consumers is only as good as the marketing behind the website (i.e., no one knows about your website) and eventually you begin looking for a larger pet company to license your invention.

Let’s say that you succeed in finding a company and they agree to license the product from you. While negotiating the agreement you discover that they manufacture all their product in Taiwan, whereas your factory is in China, so they will take over production and scrap your manufacturing setup. At this point, you begin to ask yourself if you could have reached the same license agreement without going through all the hassles and costs associated with setting up the manufacturing.

Although this scenario is just an example, it should highlight the need to think through not just the manufacturing aspect of the process, but what strategies are needed to market the invention after inventory has been produced.

It is important to remember that while neither licensing nor manufacturing is a guaranteed path to success, taking the time to understand the options for taking your invention to market and thinking through what your goals are prior to leaping into either option will help you take the path that’s right for you as you continue along the road of inventing.