Hey people

Ivanna, check at your local college for computer graphics students to do your drawings on a work for hire situation. You can even find students who will do the work for beer money. Just make sure it is after you get your drawing. LOL

It was Eric Huber……an inventing machine……..and many others here have the gift as well.

Greg, thank you for the link. Regarding PPA – very interesting, really? I’ll check it out, too.

Sorry, didn’t mean the PPA can be picked up for the priority date; meant it can be completely ignored as if it never existed. Unless I’ve completely misunderstood the PPA system.

Site for Sketchupo:
http://sketchup.google.com/

Eric – way to go, congrats, awesome news. Is that right? Your 5X ideas went to G8? This is fantastic, thank you for sharing, Penster.
Michael, thank you:)

Good advice here. Great list Mark.
You said it Irene…baby steps. I’m sure that you will find yourself back in stride before you know it.

Smart product Alex…reminds me of the bandana that I kept tied at the knee with emergency cash (when traveling).

Irina: To learn some more great information, use the search button and look for Roger Brown’s lessons, he really share a great deal of experience to all here. Eric just got two R8’s (ouch) but they were opt ins that never made it passed 4………

Good luck to you.

Amy, great quote! Thanks

Andrea – I am too, aware of people who team up together. I had a phone conversation with a lovely lady here on EN regarding this matter, it was a couple of years ago. Not sure, may be I am too shy, or lacking communicating skills, but I cannot imaging how I just approach one. I am very glad that you have this type of support and way how the business is being done; good job!
When I started several years ago, I was full of energy and confidence, that melted away little by little.
I would never forget how I came to Chicago WTC hoping they will help me to find a manufacturer overseas. The man I talked to invited to his room few more people saying: listen to her, she has the guts. Anyway, that particular idea i was hoping to get through to the market, ended up no where; yet on EN I got 7G with it once, and two other times it was 5X.
After spending few years of trying, I gave up.
@Amy – I hear you, thank you. I had the same fire in me before i got totally frustrated getting nowhere. I always loved my ideas. They’d pup up in my head not b/c I was sitting thinking: let see.., let me come up with an idea today; but rather as a spontaneuos response of my mind on lack of something that I was in need. Sometimes I’d go online and see it, and something I don’t see it on the Internet or in stores, then I’d say: aha, I can go about it!
Eventually I started douting, if my ideas were good at all? Maybe they are all junk, and i just have an illusion that they are good? Love is blind, you know:))
@ Mark: Thank you for your imput, very helpful. My husband’s best friend is a marine store owner. I disclosed my idea to him, signing NDA. He gave me a good FB, and said he was not aware of that particular product at least in the form and shape and function like mine was. I thought that was a good sign.

I am looking to sell the lisence rather than doing it myself. I have no funds. And I don’t have that much confidence like some other people who I heard of, who sold their houses to get money to develop their beloved ideas- and got it all!
My ideas are not as big as Dyson vac. sigh.:)

@ Greg: I like the idea of finding local marine company, and I have already found one on Thomas net; it is only 20 miles away from my house. Now i am getting ready to represent myself. So Google scetchup sounds like a place to check out. Never heard of it, thank you.
Hmm, never heard of a PP that can be picked up aafter an exparation date. Probably something new; gotta check it up as well!

@Charlie – thank you for your kind words.
Maybe I am just a thin skin person, but each time I submilled idea to EN 9many times!) i was hoping and hoping and hopingm, and those red Xs were the killers! I am glad to see here same familiar names and people, so it was probably ne who gave up so easily.

My question: Do I need a pro drawing and a prototype done professioally to represent it to a manufacturer?

Andrea, That’s pretty interesting how you team up with others to get things done and share a percentage. I wonder how common this is on EN. Are there groups of individuals that submit as one and hope for the best? I can see this model working increasing your odds of success. Very intriguing!

Barter with someone who can draw…I do this now and then…I give them a cut of my profits if they do a great job and we work together to create an outstanding product…I pay for some drawings (I save and have a pot of “Zabber $$” for those projects ($10 here and there add up)…I put them in as a partner in my EN submissions if it’s a bigger project!! Everything in life is negotiable, you just have to find the right people!! :) Good luck!

Mark and Greg… great advice!
Amy… great quote! I’m gonna have to save that one.

Dear Irina,
Do you love and believe in your idea? Do you love and believe in yourself? It is about taking action and there are no obstacles. Sorry, if you are an entrepreneur you need to buck up, have patience and perseverance and get to it. If it means working and saving, then do that. It IS about doing the work, it IS about facing your fears, it IS about being persistent and sacrificing until you see a glimmer of light. There is a quote by Kierkegaard which hit home for me and that is:
Mans greatest fear is not knowing how truly much he is capable of doing and becoming

And, naturally, that goes for women as well. Why wait? Roll up your sleeves and get busy.
All the best and welcome to the ‘character building’ phase of your venture! Hahaha….
Alex Ivory
Dovetail travel in peace
dovetailtravelinpeace@live.com

Hi Irina, have fun here. I really like Mark’s advice. You may also want to try your hand at Google Sketchup for drawings.

You mentioned expired provisional patents as a problem. I’ve seen a few people talk along those lines: if your invention wasn’t publicly disclosed, the expired PPA has no effect. If you used NDAs to shop around and comission work, then your ideas are still solid and theoretically protectable.

You might get a local boating company to sign an NDA and discuss commercial potential of the item; maybe if they found it interesting they could help sponsor development or point you to their favorite supplier in that area.

Welcome Irina, Like Mark says..Time and Money.
Or Give it to EN. and take your time to smell the flowers. Bless you best of luck:)

Welcome Irina. I think you have found the right place.
There are a couple of things you can do first that don’t cost anything.
1) Go to the store and look where your product would be sold if it existed. Other items in the area
will help you get an idea of a selling price for your invention and how much similar competition there is.
Competition are also potential licensing partners, so write down some of their names and addresses.
If you find something already there that is nearly as good as your idea and less expensive, learn from it
and move on to other ideas. It hurts, but you will have saved yourself a lot of time and money.
2) Go online and do the same thing. Often you will be surprised what is actually out there if you just try
to buy it.
3) Go to the USPTO website and Google Patents and spend a few hours (not minutes) searching for
similar patents to your invention.
4) Consider the sales price you determined in step 1 and realize that you will need to manufacture your
product for roughly 25% of that to make a profit. Manufacturing is all about profit.
5) Do a search here at E.N. for “elevator pitch” and “Sell sheet”, read a lot, then make one for your idea.

Now a couple relatively inexpensive things you can do next.
6) Go online to dunn and bradstreet and look up market information on the market you are selling to. This
costs less than $15, I think.
7) Enter your idea in an Edison Nation search. It is one of the best ways to spend $25 ever. All of the
information you gathered in steps 1 thru 6 will be helpful.

I hope this helps.