Welcome! In this article we will be discussing the following issues:

1. How to bring inventions and business ideas to the marketplace;
2. Filing for patents; and
3. Pricing your products and inventions for the marketplace.

Let's get started!

As I started to write this article, I had a flashback... Back to the past, when when I first started working in the web design business, many years ago. Little did I know what a life-altering experience it would be for me, and how it would completely reshape my own business future.

During the early '90s, when the Internet was still in its infancy, we (meaning myself, my then-soon-to-be-husband, and our core group of geeks and crazies) were making websites! Big, funny looking, creative, clunky-yet-exciting, fun, and promising websites that were... by today's standards... pretty scary looking! Big giant text boxes and buttons, huge images, gaudy backgrounds, and tons of text links filled the 15" barely color screen. There were no mentors to look to or gurus to listen to. It was the western frontier! I remember when we all learned how to make this cutting-edge creation known as "the an animated.GIF!" Wow! That was amazing! Long before the days of Flash and Java integration, Web 2.0 or a slew of other technologies, we had parted the Red Sea with our bag of tricks. The Internet was the wave of the future and the future had arrived!

Back in the day, people from all walks of life would line up in droves at our Internet provider location - our "ISP" - with some of the craziest ideas and "inventions" I had ever seen in my life! And when a customer wanted a website built, I would excitedly ask them, "do you have a sketch or idea of what you would like designed?" Proudly, out would come the infamous wrinkled napkin from the previous day's lunch, filled with crazy doodles, drawings and food stains. THAT was the client's business plan - THAT as their business "blueprint." They say necessity is the mother of invention and I knew this "napkin thing" wasn't gonna work for long.

Alas, I was soon introduced to a "great new program" back in the day, which had just hit the marketplace. A really unique software program called Quark Xpress, and it was all the rave! You could draw cool lines and squares and make flow charts and even create newsletters with it. Wow! How exciting was this? The rest was history for our group; creating layouts and websites, teaching people the finer points of business creation and management, and learning as we went along. Suddenly, business "consulting" became a snap. Computer technology was more amazing than sliced bread, and we were in the thick of it! No mentors, no gurus, just us and the "Information Superhighway" as they had attempted to label this new technology. It was so much fun!

I look back fondly on those days. They were fun, exciting and much simpler times. The Internet has changed dramatically since the early 1990s. In fact, the world has drastically changed. Today, when someone has an idea for an invention, a product, a service, or a business, there is far more at stake than in the days of yesteryear. Gone are the days of handshake deals, where your word was your merit badge of honor and you kept your word. Unfortunately, this has become a day of cynicism, theft and fraud and the dire need for protection. We all trade youth for experience in life. However, at any stage in life you find yourself in, you can still create a fantastic career and a successful business with the proper understanding and planning. For those of you who are new to the entrepreneurial world, my hope is that you can learn something from my (our) past mistakes, and boy did we make a lot of them!

Let's talk about how you, as an entrepreneur, can protect your dream: Your inventions, ideas, products, services, and business model belong to you so you must protect everything you do. While there isn't enough room in this article to teach you everything you need to know, at least I can offer you some important insights.

1. Bringing Your Inventions, Products, Services and Ideas to the Marketplace:

First you must define a few things:

• You must define your product: What is it? Is it a product or a service? Do you know the difference? That may sound silly, but you'd be surprised at how the overlap.
• You must define your business model: What are you selling? Goods? Services? Both?
• You must define your market: Who is your target audience or purchasing demographic?
• You must define your market longevity: Will this product remain popular within a year? Five year? Twenty years? It is a passing fancy? Does it have potential to grow into something prosperous? Does it have the potential to go mass market?
• You must definite your competition: How long have they been around? What makes them better or worse than you? Be honest with yourself in your assessment.

Then address these questions and issues:

• Understanding your own product/service: If my mother can't understand it, will the product or service actually sell? Now don't laugh at this concept! You must begin to think about who the has spending dollars in your target market. That could include my mother, or your mother, or our grandmothers. Not to sound flippant, but to get you thinking. You must ask the questions: What is my target market's education level? What is their technology level? Will my target market order online? What are their needs? How do they shop?
  
  
• Refining and streamlining what you have: You have to work out all the kinks... and there are always kinks! You will need to ask yourself: What can I do to refine, simplify or streamline my invention, product or service? Is it really a unique creation? If you are "reinventing the wheel," is it a superior wheel with a cool, unique design? Is it better than the competition's wheel? What can I do to perfect my creation and how do I protect my wheel from theft?
  
  
• Protect Protect Protect! Do you have help protecting your assets? (In legalese it's referred to as the "C.Y.A." or "Cover Your Assets" method. LOL: ) Do you have a business attorney or legal service who can assist you with your business needs?
  
  
• Get a Marketing Plan, Man! You must begin to ask the hard questions: Do I really know what marketing is? Do I know the difference between marketing and sales? (Don't smirk! Many business people really don't know the answer to that question). Do I have a marketing plan in place? Do I need to learn about marketing first? Do I know the current market trends? Am I prepared to conduct market research? Do I need to hire help? If so, do so.

2. Filing Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents: How does a trademark differ from a copyright or a patent? Many people are confused over the differences, which is very understandable because.... well... it's really confusing!

In short, a copyright protects original works of expression such as novels and books, graphic and/or fine art, music, photography, software, video, cinema based materials, choreography, and a whole bunch of other creative expressions. The copyright generally prevents others from copying, stealing or commercially exploiting the artist or creator's work. But, a copyright doesn't necessarily protect every aspect of expression. For example: titles, names, phrases, even aspects of art or graphic design may not be covered, depending on the nature of the work, the original creation and what it involves.

This is where a trademark comes in to play. A trademark protects distinctive, what I'll coin, "commercial-esque" creations such as names, phrases, specially used words, logos, symbols, slogans, or any anything used to identify and distinguish products or services in the marketplace. Make a mental note that U.S. protections are different than global protections and involve even greater detail on a worldwide stage.

Now, there are many cases where a copyright and a trademark will be used together (in conjunction) to protect different aspects of a particular product. For example, a copyright will protect the artistic creation of a graphic or logo, used to identify a particular business or company, while the trademark serves to stop others from illegally using it in the marketplace (illegally, meaning without the express permission of the company or creators). This approach is commonly used by large corporations, advertising agencies and creatives. So in short, a copyright helps identify and lock in the expression and the brand, while the trademark serves to protect it by blocking others from infringing on it. Phew! Hope that gets the point across to some degree!

• The Difference Between a Trademark and a Patent: Here's a whole other kettle of fish to ponder. Patents protect specific inventions. For example, Joe Schmoe invents a new type of socket wrench that's incredibly easy to use, and can remove any old socket head out any old fitting. It's made with some fancy engineering technology and Joe is going to be a happy camper. Not only can he block others from making, selling, or using his fabulous socket wrench invention, but he may also be able to obtain monopoly rights, preventing others from making commercial use of his invention without licensing or permission, and that patent may last for 15 or 20 years.
  
  Generally, patents and trademarks don't overlap exactly the same way as copyrights and trademarks do. Patents are a slightly different animal with their own set of issues and conditions. When it comes to a unique product design or invention, you are protecting a "thing" versus a mere "design," which has other legal ramifications such as functionality, style, materials used, etc.
  
  
• Hiring a Patent Attorney or Patent Service: If you have invented a product or a unique invention, I highly recommend you find a good patent attorney. There are specialists in the field that know exactly how it all works, and what exactly is involved. There are also many online services available that can assist you. My service of choice for these important necessities is LegalZoom (LegalZoom.com). I've used them before and I am very pleased with their service and performance. They are cost effective and I found them incredibly easy to deal with. Feel free to shop around online, or consult your local yellow pages directory for someone local and in person. You may also go directly to the various U.S. government websites for these services, but I don't recommend going through the government directly, as it is very complicated and confusing without professional help. Do one tiny thing wrong and you have to completely start over from the beginning, which isn't fun. When it comes to your creations, don't skimp on what is important to you. You've worked too hard to get to this point, so make sure to protect your work properly. Hire help. You'll be very glad you did!

3. Properly Pricing Your Invention or Services for the Market: There isn't enough room in this article to fully address the details that go into pricing goods for the marketplace. Setting the magic price on something can prove to be a bit overwhelming and the challenge for nearly any business owner. Whether you're setting prices for the first time, raising or lowering existing prices, or trying to keep up with varying economic trends, it can be difficult. Overprice your products and services and you risk losing business to competitors. Underprice it and you may drastically hurt your bottom line. What to do? I'll try to give it to you short and sweet:

• You can't base everything off of price alone, especially services: Yes, there is the competition. And yes, you need to keep prices lower in challenging economic times. However, "cheapest" rarely means "best." I have come to find you usually get what you pay for. In many cases, rock bottom prices usually means rock bottom service. For example, my local auto mechanic is an awesome guy. He is not the cheapest or the most expensive mechanic in our local area. What he is, is fabulous. He's local, he's fair, he's reliable, and he's available. If I need help with my car, he shows me everything he's doing. He uses the best parts and his entire staff takes great pride in their work. I never have to second-guess anything and that matters a lot to me.
  
  
• Now, let's address purchasing vs. selling products: Pricing services and products are very different. Why? Because, using my mechanic as the example, he is not a reproduced "thing." He's not a razor blade, or a 9-volt battery, or a package of paper towels. I can purchase those things anywhere at a super discounted rate, in bulk. With those everyday products such as batteries, razor blades, food, clothing, cleaning products, etc., I am going to price match and look for the best bargains for my household. After all, Windex window washing liquid is pretty much the same product anywhere it's purchased. It's a pre-fab "thing" being purchased; not a person. With that in mind, you have to price products for a bigger market.
  
  
• Your bottom business dollar for pricing products: In order to set a good product price, you will need to do the homework on your manufacturing or development costs. What is your product (or products)? Are you the manufacturer of your product(s)? What does it cost to produce it? Can you afford to offer price matching? Will you offer wholesale pricing to distributors? What is your overhead? How much do you need to net out per item? There are countless programs such as QuickBooks and other software applications to assist you. If that isn't an option for you, don't be afraid to consult your financial advisor or your CPA to help you do the math. You may be surprised at how quickly you will find that right price with a little guidance. That person can help diffuse the fear out of the situation.
  
  
• Don't sacrifice quality if at all possible: This can be tough during inflationary times for many companies. If you produce a food or beverage product that uses, we'll say, sugar or flour, and those wholesale costs begin to dramatically rise, that directly affects your expenses, your gross and your net earnings. But here is the hook: Switch that ingredient to something inferior such as a low-grade genetically modified corn syrup, and there's a good chance your customers will begin to taste the difference, even if it's subtle. Certain things cannot be "faked," so beware of quality cutting. That can be a real killer.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to offer discounts and coupons, but do so intelligently: I will use the example of a popular restaurant, especially out here in California, T.G.I.Fridays. Whether you personally like this restaurant or not, I consider this to be a role-model company to be watched and admired, at least from a business and marketing perspective. Restaurants are definitely a service business, but they also happen to product seller. In fact, restaurants in general, are one of the few business models that are both product and service providers.
  
  (Back to our T.G I. Friday's example).... This restaurant has bent over backwards to help all kinds of communities that are struggling with a difficult economy (as of this writing). They offer more discounts and bargains than just about any company I've ever seen. They offer:

• A Fantastic "2 for $20" Deal, which is a full meal-for-two with all the trimmings, including appetizer and dessert;
• Boatloads of "Buy-one-get-one-free" deals and "Percentage-Off" deals;
• A Fantastic Super-discounted Happy Hour, which runs nearly double the amount of hours of most restaurants including all day on Sunday;
• Excellent service (at least in our area);
• And some pretty tasty cuisine and drinks for the type of restaurant it is.

Obviously, Friday's is not a five-star resort experience. It's not Spago, nor is it intended to be. It is a successful mainstream marketplace geared for families, parties and sports events. Our locations are almost always standing-room-only, even during tough economic times. This company knows its current and future market, its product line, and its bottom line. They know how to drive in the traffic, offer the goods and they do it right.

How many large chains do you see following this philosophy, especially during a tough economy? Those restaurants are dying on the vine and they won't make it through these tough times, with a poverty consciousness. You've got to give a little in order to receive.

When it comes to creating your business, and offering your invention or product to the market, what kind of business proprietor will you be? There is an art, a science and a balance to building a successful business. Get too greedy and you will fail. Become too giving and you give the store away. Become complacent or cut too many corners and your sales will be drab. For those of us who love the art of the deal - the excellence of business creation - it's an ongoing journey to strive for that perfect hit - that perfect home run.

Stay tuned for our last article of this series where we will discuss: raising capital, buying a franchise, and then briefly recapping all the topics from this article series.

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