I forgot to put in the list of whose Sell Sheet was whose. My bad. : ) Great work everyone!

1 Dave Crampton
2 Roger Brown
3 Sherri English
4 Frank White
5 Lisa Lee
6 Ralph Machesky
7 Chris Campbell

OH poo …..I was out of town and didn’t see the Sell Sheet Challenge.. How fun!! Neat to see all the different views from everyone. : )

Julie, That will be in my follow-up call. : ) Any other comments on the Sell Sheets? Anyone have a Sell Sheet they aren’t going to use they would like to use as a challenge?

Good for you, Roger! (You didn’t happen to mention the pillowcase to them, did you? Hmmmm?)

You GO Roger!!!

Wish I could hear back from the things I have out… until then…
<:-)

Just goes to show you that some companies are very flexible. Today is a good example. I contacted a person for the first time at a company that makes aftermarket products. I got his voice mail and left a message about my interest in submitting products to them. I left my name, phone number and told him if he wanted to see other products I had licensed and on the market here is my website. He did not bother to call me back. He obviously went to my website saw items he liked and decided based on that to send me their NDA. I did not leave my email address so he had to get it from my website. He also wrote me a nice note about the products he saw and how he looked forward to seeing my products directed towards their company.
Now, the ball is in my court to put my best foot forward with the Sell Sheet.

What can be said? It worked!

Frank I love your sell sheet. That is a true definition of overkill. I agree with you that everyone is getting better at getting their point across in the limited area they have to work with.

Chappy, I was interested in seeing your comments on the Quick Clip sell Sheet post I wrote above.

So that’s why i never get feedback oops. LOL Lights on but no one’s at home. I enjoyed that Rodger good bit of fun.

Got it. Sent you a request about a NDA before I read the attachment.

The last message was sent @ 10:56am and shows delivered. I just sent it again @ 12:19pm.

Chappy, I have not received any email from you. Make sure you are sending it to rbrown@rogerbrown.net

Roger, please confirm that you received my last email. my connection is pathetic and it went very slowly.

nice Frank :)

Frank – that is too funny! Mine was funny but this one takes the cake! Kind of explains the ‘gets it vs doesn’t get enough’…..
Thanks…..

Why it’s important to KISS!

I think #4 is the easiest to understand; HOWEVER, Roger, I see that you did not include MY submission! Perhaps you didn’t take me seriously? Hmmmmm?
;-)

As Patricia, I think ALL of them have merit! (your lessons must be working, Roger!!) <;-)

The only thing that stands out is that #1 doesn’t have their contact info listed (or else it’s too small to see)…

Great job everyone!!

Wow !! These are awesome entries .. Congratulations everyone .. Its a hard to choose because they are all so well done. They each cover the basic concepts nicely but yet everyone has pin pointed an advantage that makes the puzzle that much clearer … I think all combined would make a great sell sheet !

Here you go. Take a look at the enteries and give your comments.

1. 1
   

1. 2
   

1. 3
   

1. 4
   

1. 5
   

1. 6
   

1. 7
   

Looking forward to seeing all the Sell Sheets, Roger! <:-)

Chappy, I know you are having a hard time grasping using only a Sell Sheet and an NDA works when everything you understand of how the other processes for grants, investments, business plans, etc work your mind says this should not happen this way. I am proof that it does. What I am about to tell you and show you will probably cause you to blow a fuse on how can this actually happen.

I approached this company for the first time and cold called them about sending them a lanyard idea for sunglasses. I spoke to the company owner over the phone. He told me their policy for submission and he looked at my website and saw the other products I had out on the market at that time. He sent me their NDA, I read it, signed it and called him back about a question I had on the lanyards I saw they currently sold.
I sent him my idea. He reviewed it and two days later emailed me back saying he liked the idea but it wasn’t unique enough for him to drop one of the one he currently had out and replace it with mine. He said they were lookiing for anything that could be used as a sunglass accessory and if I had anything send it his way.
I went to the Mall later that day and looked at the various sunglasses and accessories they had. One was the sunglass visor clip for sunglasses. I remembered having them and how they were cheaply made and broke easily and would not hold large styles of sunglasses. I know I had bought two of them and they lasted about 2 months before they broke. So, I started thinking of a new design that worked differently and would not break easily.
A couple of days later I had a rough idea of what I had in mind and hand drew it out. Before working on it further I decided to call the company owner back and ask if he would be interested in this type of product. We talked for about 5 minutes. I told him I had a design for a sunglass clip that would hold any size sunglasses and did not need a locking pin like the current models and could be operated with one hand. The current model took two hands to operate. He was very excited and said to send it to him that day. I told him it was a very rough drawing and I had not even made a sell sheet for it yet.
He told me that was okay he was sure he would be able to GET the idea from what I had. I sent him a new signed NDA for the product. So, I said okay and quickly slapped what you see below together and sent it to him. Two days later he was asking me for my home mailing address so he could FEDEX me a contract. What you see below is what he got other than when he sent me a CAD drawing his engineer had done of the product based on my phone conversation with him to see if I had any other suggestions.
Granted this was unusual even for me but this is a product that went from that drawing to a national chain in 8 months time. It does happen.

Here is the final product

Chappy look at this webpage http://www.rogerbrown.net/help/ The Sell Sheets you see and then the final product you see are the result of me sending them ONLY that Sell Sheet and a NDA to get the licensing deal. I have done it that way on all of my inventions that got licensed. The ones I have been using for these exercises are ones I would be sending out to companies.
Yes, I agree if you are writing a business plan, asking for a grant, looking for investment money you need more numbers up front. But if you are contacting a company to gauge interest in licensing your product you do not need all those things to land a deal. The same goes for face to face meetings if emailing the Sell Sheet is going to get you the same 5% royalty as meeting in person why bother with the expense? Especially, when I get a No it just cost me the time to email the presentation it did not cost me a hotel room, airline ticket and a day or two of my time.

http://www.edisonnation.com/posts?q=roger+brown...
Here is another reason I don’t ike doing face to face meetings. I wrote this a while back but it applies to this discussion.

Hi Rafael and Ron,

Sorry for the late response I have been out of contact for a while. The medium sized companies are more open to Inventors because they want to be a Mattel or Hasbro. The large companies need a toy to make mega bucks to make it worth their effort. A medium company has less overhead and can make a toy that sells 500 thousand units profitable. A toy with that sales size would be a medium to small seller for a Mattel sized company and they would be looking at dropping it.
The medium company wants more shelf space in a store. The way to accomplish that is to expand your line with good products that sell. So, they are more open to good ideas.
Sometimes a company can get so big that they have so many layers of management that they can’t make a decision quickly. A prime example of that is a company (that will remain nameless other than to say they are well known)that I was scheduled to give a presentation for my idea. I sat in this huge room as they had a weekly meeting, waiting for my turn to present. They were discussing the Coca-Cola machine I passed in the hallway. The discussion was their second time bringing it up at a meeting. They were trying to decide whether to move the machine 20 feet further down the hall from its present position. They could not decide and opted to bring it up at a future meeting.
Seeing this made me wonder how they would make a decision on my idea if a Coke machine brought them that much trouble. I was right. My idea stayed in limbo with them for 6 months with me finally telling them I was moving on to other companies. Sometimes BIG is not BETTER. : )

That was quite poetic. I am going to the franklin institute and the academy of natural sciences in philly next week. Are there any ENers in the area? Lunch is on me.

I remember your sell sheet, David. I learned about sell sheets from Joan Lefkowitz (she had an article in the last ID) after meeting her at the Yankee Inventors Convention in 1999. My last sell sheet was helped along, edited, re-done by Roger.

Glad you like the wedge bit Julie. I sent you a sell sheet a bit back proves I use them .

David wrote: “The Sell sheet The thin edge of the wedge…” what a brilliant and poetic comment – and he is “one of us”……

One of the things I have learned during this very long life is that I have only just so much time so I don’t spend time talking to a drunk, a wall, a rock or someone who can’t be talked to enough. It isn’t that the listener doesn’t ‘get it’, it is that the listener can’t get enough. (Sorry, Roger, I just had to tell you – finally, its out!)

I’m thinking that a nice-looking sell sheet would be a plus whether or not you are meeting someone in person or doing business strictly by e-mail—perhaps included in with any other material when meeting face-to-face.

Wouldn’t it be helpful to the perspective licensor to have that as a quick and easy reference to your product idea w/your contact info? Business cards are easily misplaced/lost and conversations can be forgotten and a sell sheet seems like it would make for a nice Cover Sheet/Front Sheet if making up a packet of other pertinent info?

Market analysis charts, pie graphs, statistics, lab studies, etc. etc. are all great but the sell sheet is what draws them in/attracts them to want to look at all those numbers and fine details of your project…no?

Chappy, grants and lenders are a huge process………..I have applied for a couple for various reasons…………..and yes I would agree, you have to have very detailed information to even be considered.

But yes, I am also saying, I know people (Stephen Key’s students) who had a simple sell sheet (with a cartoon like picture that are like the one’s in Rogers challenges), and they received a licensing deal. They didn’t make a prototype and had no knowledge on manufacturing cost. They didn’t even file for a ppa. They weren’t worried if someone would steal there idea b/c they would just move on to the next. They had no emotional attachment to it. Yet they negotiated a deal. Maybe being so cavalier is not the best way to go about it, but it worked!

Noteable Chris,
If it is a simple way of getting an entire deal done then fine. I have put together submissions for grants and pursued money from lenders. I have ALWAYS had to know my numbers with an entire project outline and sourcing data, projections, P&Ls, and milestone charts. Are you telling me that a single picture sheet and a description can get the job done?

Roger, I don’t think some people fully realize how important a sell sheet truly can be. I know many instances where a licensing deal has been signed with a sell sheet alone. No patent or ppa, no knowledge of manufacturing or retail cost, no numbers at all. Just negotiating a deal after the company viewed the sell sheet.

I do not see this as a sell sheet i an trying to improve my creative talent and get the mesage across first time. If my effort is not as good as the rest i can only take notes and learn . I am not infallible and It took me less time to do mine than bother to say what is the point in the sell sheet. I totally understand the size of the Us compared to little Britain and think it is the first stage to getting a bite. Rodger you are a savy person hat off to you . I do like to be in the dragons den and stand my ground but you have to get in the door first and that is where the sell sheet comes in . The Sell sheet The thin edge of the wedge most cost efficient way to do it . If you have successful products on the market doors will open faster and with less effort. Chappy this is the last time i ask you to have a go it’s not going to wreck your street cred or is it. Come on have some fun. I have a lot of time for En and i have made and lost friends here but the friends i have i class as quality friends. They know who they are.

I believe the intent of the Sell Sheet challenges is to put your mind into that creative gear, on demand… and see where it takes you! The Kite challenge was fairly simple (or so I thought) but it turned into some neat things for me that I never would have thought of. Even though there are obvious (and some not-so obvious) safety issues with this particular challenge, many products or activities come with risks that were obvious, yet the product made it to market and sold for quite awile. Anyone remember ’Jarts’’ ? (metal, heavy lawn darts).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_darts#Controv...

Look forward to seeing it. Most people don’t have the time or resources to do a in-person meeting for every company they contact. I sent out 5 presentations this week to Canada, California, New York, and Virginia. That would not be feasible if I had to get a meeting scheduled with each company in one week. I have been albe to get mine licensed via the phone and email using the NDA and Sell Sheet. A lot less expensive and less time consuming.

Okay I am on the plane updating… Roger, there is no better way to present to a company than in person and in front of them. However, getting your point across in the shortest period of time and in the least amount of space is critical. It is non productive because I have a million things to do in getting ready to go and this exercise for me is nonproductive to achieve my end means.

I am a very technical person and if you saw my projects you would see that. A visual representation is a part of every one of my business plans. I have an obsolete non proprietary plan with an NDA I will send you.

Chappy, you didn’t answer the question aboe. How is it not productive to do the sell sheet excercise? And how do you plan on approaching companies if not with a sell sheet?

.

Sorry, I’m going off-topic here but does anyone know of a run-down apartment building for sale in the Naples area? I’m thinking of investing and relocating. Really!

LOL… Happy Travels… Stay Safe

Stay Thirsty, Stay Green…

….Still laughing about that one…

Chappy!

Come on Chappy have a go we will let you win.

So long as that is Maker’s Mark in that Jug… We will get along just fine. Last time I saw Granny she was peddling some pasteurized chicken house litter, organic moonshine. She had a well labeled sell sheet too!!!

David – “Dutch Courage” LOLOLOLOL!!!!

Sherri – So that’s where that “X” came from!! <;-)

Will do, David..it really works great for anything! He-he..in fact, Granny has an exclusive contract with FedEx. You see, they used to just be “FedE” until they started adding Granny’s magic tonic in their gas tanks…yup, changed their name to FedEx after that! ;-)

Sherri chappy may need a bit of Granny’s XXX for Dutch courage. In fact send me a bottle i have some paint i need to remove .

Chappy, How is it not productive? Unless you have already learned the process of Sell Sheets it is something you will need to know how to do to get a company’s interest. How do you plan to present your ideas to a company?

David..LOL, wish I was related to Granny and had her secret “good for anything that ails you” tonic recipes, too!!

You’re awesome, Roger—multi-talented!

LOL… That defines our difference precisely. Before I look at a car, I get prequalified for a loan. When I negotiate, I have all the numbers first. Then I get emotionally involved with what I like. Good though.

Not beneath me but it is not productive either.

Sherri you can send me your revised version with the corrections prior to me posting them Monday. I do most of the drawings and also work with some comic book Artist friends of mine where we swap out work with each other. I will write comic book scripts for them and help them design new comic book characters in exchange for some of the design work.

Done Sherri
I like to keep my word. Like your avitar of old mother ryley are you related.

Chappy numbers are not important until you have your foot in the door. When you are looking for a new car and drive by a car lot the first thing that gets your attention is the car. You can’t see the sticker price from the road. Once you are interested in the car and pul into the car lot is when you start looking at cost versus what you get for that cost.
The same goes for Sell Sheets. You get the reviewer to see the value of the product, its benefits to the consumer and then they look at the cost to produce versus the return on investment.
Sorry you feel this is beneath you to do and a waste of your time since it is a fictious product. I could put the sell sheet for my Pizza Scissors up for you to do. That is a real product and you could show how you would have pitched it. You always seem to have time to make comments on the process, but never seem to be able to participate.