Definitely explore the insider’s area. Some of the videos are really insightful, myself I was thrilled to have access to something like 10 years of Inventor’s Digest issues.

Welcome Jeff!

Good Luck!

Chappy!

Welcome Jeff and good luck to you!

Thanks everyone for the info. it’s exactly what I needed. I wasn’t sure what opt in meant and what benefits for being an insider really meant something to you. I am one now! I’m learning little by little, but you guys gave me some great first places to look and knowing the lingo helps. I had no idea what an R was for a while. Thanks again!!
Oh and I’m also curious…if you get a G8, does that mean someone picked your idea? Also, if you get your idea picked, do you have to do any press? I haven’t watched any of the episodes yet, so I’m not exactly sure what the tv show is all about. Is there a way to watch them from the beginning? Hulu or something?

Welcome, Jeff. Yes, it is a bit overwhelming at first, but if you start by reading the threads that are of interest to you and broaden out your reading to topics that may be beyond your current status, ypu will be amazed by how quickly you will begin to understand and incorporate the lingo with fluency. I too am a newbie and have had my share of asking all sorts of newbie questions, but everyone here has been wonderfully gracious and patient with me. Now I feel like an old hat welcoming you! :-)

I came to EN from Quirky by an unknown invitation. Because of the way things are there, I was very concerned with the issues of protecting my inventions that had not yet been patented but there is a very strict process in the way EN handles these things. You will find a great wealth of info by reading any thread by Roger Brown. He is very knowledgeable and yet will answer your direct questions quite patiently and compassionately.

There are 2 kinds of opportunities. The first is the Live Product Search or LP for short. It is where manufactures will come looking for a defined group of ideas. If you are an insider, you can submit for $20 otherwise you pay $25. The great part of indsiders club is if you would like to submit your idea to multiple LPs you can do that for free (called an Opt-In)

The second is a Innovative Fund Search (IF). It is where EN opens up to take ideas from inventors which don’t typically fit what manufacturers are looking for currently, but it could still be a great hit. Click the “Submit Your Idea” tab on the grey bar on your dashboard page for more details.

Again, welcome to this great community where thinking minds come to play! (And to get paid!)

Welcome Justin, Jeff….being an insider is a major plus! It’s nice that you get to opt in your ideas to other LPS for free. Keep an eye on the forums and you’ll be learning lots along the way from the veterans around here. Good luck!!

Take it slow, all the info will have you pulling at your hair..LOL it is a great place to be

Thomas, Does the LPS G8 under your avatar mean that you had one of your ideas picked up and sold by EN or one of their searches?

Welcome to EN! Make sure you read all the official threads and get to know who is on the ENteam (sdromms, for example!) so you can pay close attention to those posts. They really teach you about the process. Best of luck!!

Hello all- I am new to Edison nation as well. If you are reading this, you are serious and some would say delirious about being an inventor! What better way to help your muse than to create something from nothing. Even Harry potter would appreciate that. So- Here I am, up to my 40 or 50 invention concepts (7+ at Edison Nation) with 2 currently being sold in the market, and more on the way. And I have a “dream Job” of working at Art Center College of Design- ground zero for Product and Industrial design. What am I most excited about? My invention, Wonderweight. http://www.wonderweight.com. It is a hand held exercise device which is changing the world in sports and rehab fitness. Even in use by Major League baseball. How cool! And to think I was the one who was last picked to be on the baseball team in school. As an inventor, I am having the last laugh, and I hope you do too. Please feel to write, or correspond. Best Wishes- Justin

As a newbie myeslf, a big welcome Jeff. Its a bit overwhelming at first, theres a lot of jargon being bandied round but the process is pretty simple really. Firstly I would strongly advise becoming an Insider. I made 3 submissions to the Medical Innovation serach & saved $65 on each so paid for itself already.

Rather than worrying about “Opt In” its best to see your EN account as a database of your ideas. Once you have saved an Idea, you may submit this to a search of your choice. If this fits with any other searches, all you need to do is submit to the new search as you did initially, you will be prompted for New Idea or Submit Existing Idea so choose the latter and follow the prompts. For example, if you sumbitted a new game idea to the Bandai search, you can submit this to the ASOTV as well as the Skymall searches if it fits. As an insider you will pay for the initial sumbission, the additional submissions (Opt Ins) will be free.

Great system! Happy inventing!

Jeff, the very first thing you should do is catch up on all you’ve missed. You do that by reading old threads in the forums. Read threads from past searches, under “Live Product Search,” so you can see what to expect with SkyMall and other searches going forward, threads from “Other” for tips on how to improve your chances in searches, from from “just for fun” so you can see how many in the EN community passes the time while they wait, and under “Expert Q & A” for other assorted info. I’m sure there’s even a thread discussing the pros and cons of becoming an Insider, including free “opt-ins” which are free submissions once you’ve paid to submit a particular item once. You will also find many references to the little green search button on the top right. Throw in a couple key words and it will return a list the way Google returns a list, but much shorter, and you will learn a lot by scrolling through. Good luck, Jeff, and welcome to EN.

Hi Jeff and welcome aboard!

Being an Insider does carry special privledges, such as lower submission cost, priority reviews, Inventors Digest subscription, but best of all (I think) is the ability to “Opt-In” preveously submitted ideas to other searches (LPS’s). Let’s say you submit an idea to SkyMall today for $20…. then next week (or next year) the idea fits into another search; you can re-submit it to that search without having to pay another submission fee ($20). That would be a “Free” submission, and also after becoming an insider, once you accumulate 50,000 points you’ll earn a free submission.

You do not have to “protect” your idea before submitting to EN, besides having it well documented in your own records and not disclosing it or speaking/typing of it at all to ANYONE! If it is selected, EN will take care of the IP part, naming you as First Inventor.

If I were you, I would go ahead and sign up as an Insider, then just start browsing the forums…. you wouldn’t believe the amount of Inventor Education contained there!! If you have any questions, just asked; there’s always someone or several who will go out of their way to help you.

Take care, good luck, and again, welcome to the wildest ride of your life! <:-)