Donteacia Seymore is the founder of Creation Nation, where she helps inventors build, fund, and launch their amazing ideas from all over the globe.
Now before you assume you’re not qualified to invent something, Donteacia’s got news for ya.
“Successful inventions are basically just good marketing, honestly,” she says. “You can sell anything if you have really good marketing, really good messaging around what you’re solving.”
Read on for my review.
Donteacia’s case in point: the Pet Rock. Remember that thing? It was literally a rock in a box. Did like $10 million a year in sales. How? Clever marketing.
“You don’t have to feed this thing. You don’t have to water it. But if you want some companionship, here ya go.”
Point being, if you can sell a Pet Rock, you can sell anything, right?
So whether you come up with something brand new or you take an existing product and make it better, easier, faster, whatever-er, surely, with some good marketing behind it, you can make sales.
Okay, once you have a product idea, then what? Go to China and start looking for moldings? No, not so fast.
First, you need to get this idea on paper, Donteacia says. Sketch it out. No manufacturer’s gonna be able to recreate what’s in your head. You have to show them exactly what you want. If you need to, you can hire a graphic designer to assist.
Bottom line, you wanna spend $1k to $2k to get the prototype made before you go and drop $20 grand on your first round of inventory.
Should you be worried someone’s gonna steal your great idea? Calm down, Donteacia says.
Nobody’s gonna copy it till it’s making money. Ideas are a dime a dozen. No one cares.
That said, sure, you can have your engineer or your manufacturer sign a non-disclosure agreement once you get into development.
And then you can go through the patent search process.
It’s always smart to build a legal wall around your intellectual property. Even if it’s not patentable, you can do a provisional patent that protects you for a year.
What mistakes do people make when they’re going through this process?
“I think people tend to focus on the branding of their products before their product is even made,” Donteacia says. “They wanna trademark stuff. They wanna get logos and designs and make a website.”
“And the thing about products is like they have their own voice, right? They speak to you when they’re developed. It may be heavier than you thought. Lighter. Harder to clip. And so your messaging and everything has to come after you develop it.”
What about money? Do ya just apply to get on Shark Tank and then cross your fingers? Do a Kickstarter? Hit up that rich uncle who’s hooked on painkillers?
Donteacia recommends doing whatever makes the most sense for you and where you’re at.
Like, look, if your product’s already made and you’re making sales? By all means, get on TV, boo. But if you’re pre-revenue, you definitely wanna crowdfund. In addition to the much needed capital, it’s great because it also serves as your launch. It’s basically free advertising.
How to sell this product? Depends on your appetite, Donteacia says.
Retail is tough. It’s tough to get in stores; and then, even if you do, they’re not gonna sell your product for ya. It’s gotta perform.
Ecom’s gonna be the way to go, at least initially, for most people. Easier, better profit margins. Plus, you can use those online sales stats as leverage to get into retail later on, if you so choose.
Want Donteacia to mentor you?
She’s got challenges and workshops and coaching programs you can check out at Creation Nation.