How do you Sell an Idea?
When a person comes up with a new idea, it is probably only a matter of seconds before the thought arises: “how can I sell my idea?” Since most ideas come from what a person might find useful in their life or would help them solve a common problem they experience everyday, it seems logical that if such an idea were put on the market, it could help others as well.
In order to sell an idea, it is important that the idea have value. No matter what you try to sell - whether it is a used car, a home, or an old comic book, for something to have value there needs to be other people who would want to buy it. None of these things are worth anything if there is no one to buy it! So then how do you make your idea valuable? You make an idea valuable by properly presenting it to the right people at the right company: people who can see the value in your idea right away. Such a company would usually be in the same industry as your invention so that they can both appreciate the value of the improvements you have made to what already exists, and are also in a position to rapidly get your product idea out onto the market. Most likely they already have contacts in suitable distribution channels for your idea.
Finding such companies and presenting them with your idea is not always easy. A creative approach will usually help get your invention viewed by the right set of eyes. It is for this reason that Invention Resources International (IRI) created the Sellidea.com and Virtual-prototype.com websites. These websites are tools for describing, illustrating, and demonstrating the inventions of our clients to companies who might be interested in further developing and marketing these ideas.
Regardless of whether you work with IRI or attempt to contact companies on your own, before ever approaching any company it is important to protect your idea. It makes sense that you need to establish ownership of your idea first. Of course you can’t sell a car or home that you don’t own. When it comes to an idea, if you haven’t established protection for your idea under the law, then you don’t have anything to sell!
Different types of ideas are protected in different ways. Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights are the most common forms of protection in the field of law known as “Intellectual Property” law. Several articles on the Invention Resource International website discuss in detail how to obtain intellectual property protection for your idea. It is useful to work with legal professionals who can properly advise you how to effectively protect your idea.
Once you have established protection for your idea, the next step is to prepare an effective presentation to show to the companies you target. Consider that you ordinarily only have a few seconds to attract and hold their attention. Therefore, the presentation must be clear, concise, and eye catching, or it will not be given the proper review. The best way to have your idea given the review it deserves is to prepare a product brochure. The product brochure should contain both drawings and a description that are carefully crafted to illustrate to a company what makes this idea special and distinct from what others have already done, and that it is worthy of their further consideration. A good sample product brochure created by IRI is found on the Sellidea.com website. Also, creating a prototype or virtual prototype further helpful for demonstrating your idea to a company that would potentially be interested in your idea. A good sample virtual prototype created by IRI is found on the Virtual-prototype.com website.
With a concise presentation in hand, the next step is to begin contacting companies as discussed above. It is typically the case that many companies must be contacted in order to find one ready and willing to move forward with your idea.
Once a company is located that is interested in your idea, the next step is to begin negotiating for a “licensing agreement”. A licensing agreement is one in which you are paid a royalty in exchange for allowing a company to use your idea. Look for an upcoming article about obtaining royalties for an idea – coming soon!
