Ha…

Got the ‘Jo’ right at least.

Apologies…

Who’s Josh? Just messin’ with ya, I know who you meant. Thanks for the links. some great info there! Just started looking around on those links! That’s the kind of info I’ve been lookin’ for!!! Thanks again man!

Hey Josh,

To complement Bob’s tips:

Google can be an underrated source of data, particularly if you familiarize yourself with advanced boolean search operators.

For product category sales, the US Census Bureau can be a good source of data. For ease of searching Census data, and Google-able data, you can visit http://www.criteriondynamics.com/statistics

For demographic data, try to find survey/study results that are publicly available. For an easier way to use Google to find such data, visit http://www.criteriondynamics.com/surveys

Factiva (factiva.com) tends to be a great source of survey data and more, sometimes they offer free trials. There may be free resources accessible through your public library which are less useful (like Ebscohost).

Of course, feel free to do conduct your own surveys/focus groups if you choose to. But if you ever bother to go that rout….remember that just like with secondary research, the idea is to find data that will help you identify what drives sales in a particular category – that is what allows you to predict future sales and what not. You can’t rely too much on what people tell you they would or wouldn’t buy.

I kinda figured that about your invention after I posted this.. wasn’t really sure if you had just the one or not. You being a Machinist and taking the time you did to develope it, it’s got to be a useful device; it will be a matter of getting it in front of the right set of eyes. Maybe one of the ones reviewing it has some contacts that will come through for you!

“Goodyear” actually used the helium concept in WWII, and it worked pretty good… the plane looked like a childs blow-up toy, but it was very airworthy.

I have a couple places pending on the ornaments and will have an answer after the 12th.

How’s that whole ornament thing going for you by the way? Have you heard back from any of the companies you approached with it?

Hi Scooter,

Back when I guaged the public’s reaction to my ornaments, I took twenty one of them to several small(private) retailers in a 100 mile radius, told the owner what I was doing. I ask if they would put a couple in a prominent location, price them as they see fit, and take notice of who seemed most interested in them. Surprisingly (and to my great relief), all were willing to help out!
Near the close of business on the second day I called each of them and was again pleasantly surprised to learn ALL of them had been sold! The owners related who seemed most attracted, how much they paid, and also expressed interest in stocking them due to their customers asking for more.

I’m not sure how practical doing something like that would be in your circumstances, but it provided excellent insight on how the public may react/respond when they come upon it.

btw: Did you happen to notice the “Helium Core Wing” design I put in the FLUGTAG thread?
**also, look over in the “evENing news” thread, as I made a special caricature just for you…

thanks biskit i’ll look into that.

John a guy on here (not sure how often he stops in) named Scott Thieman (Pegman) has, I believe , a warchest of research on tools/hardware stuff, and an equally large-sounding file of personal experiences. You may want to friend him re: that stuff…of course it may all be proprietary, I have no idea.

Go to several Home Depots, Lowes, and other HW stores (Ace, True Value, Sears, etc.) and ask to speak to the store- or department-manager ; go as high as you can get. Introduce yourself and explain you’re doing Market Research and that you’re working with a company that brings innovative products to market. Ask if they can help you.

I’ve done that and encountered some surprisingly helpful people. One HD Store Manager opened up his online sales records and gave me numbers for the year for several products.

For one type of tool I was able to extrapolate up from the number of stores in the chains (you can find that online) and the unit sale-price of related models to estimate an annual dollar volume for your field.

This was a bit of work over several weeks but it was worth it; A professional-looking Market Analysis can really boost your credibility.

Helpful Hints;

- Before asking, grab an item off the shelf for which you’re interested in sales-history. They can look up the SKU and tell you.
- Don’t take too much of their time, and be sure to express your appreciation.

On Technique; Asking people “Can you help me?” is far more effective than something like “Do you have this data?” For the former people like to help. For the latter, you open the door for “no” (nobody likes to admit they don’t have something) or worse “I’m not supposed to disclose that.”

Hey Jack thanks! I just shot you an email. Look forward to hearing from you.

Scooter, if you can e-mail me more info I’ll be happy to take a stab at it. If you need me to sign and NDA that’s fine too!

Jack