Stars Turning into Captains of Industry

As more celebrities become entrepreneurs, their efforts offer business lessons for the rest of us.

By Mike Drummond

Anson Williams was directing an episode of Melrose Place when he heard the buzz.

Anson Williams

It wasn’t coming from rabid fans of the ’90s soap opera, the must-see, prime-time show of its day. The excitement was humming from the

makeup trailer. The cast, which included Heather Locklear, Marcia Cross and Andrew Shue, was raving about the handmade cosmetics that makeup artist JoAnna Connell had concocted.

Williams, who cut his TV chops as Warren “Potsie” Weber on the ’70s hit Happy Days, experienced an entrepreneurial epiphany – produce and market StarMaker, a line of Hollywood beauty and health products for the masses.

“You should always look for opportunities,” Williams says. “I don’t care if you’re a dishwasher. And if you are, there’s opportunity to develop unique soap.”

Living his credo, Williams and Connell are expanding product lines for health-conscious boomers. These include aids to keep sweaty palms dry without the type of aluminum used in deodorants, and an eco-friendly spray to reduce shoe-borne germs.

“At a time when healthcare expenses are rising, it’s great to have products that you don’t need prescriptions, FDA approval and a lot of money for,” he says. “There are other options.”

Williams is among current and former celebrities who have parlayed their public cachet to reinvent themselves as entrepreneurs.

Oprah Winfrey

Paul Newman founded his all-natural line of Newman’s Own foods. Sean “Diddy” Combs has built a mini-empire with his Sean John clothing and new fragrance lines. And, of course, the queen of entrepreneurs, Oprah Winfrey, has morphed from mere talk show host to founder of Harpo Inc., which encompasses television and film production, magazine publishing and online media.

Stars possess key advantages over less famous entrepreneurs. Most have tons of start-up capital to begin with – and can afford to prop up struggling ventures until they become profitable. They typically already have ties to upper rungs of the entertainment world. And their celebrity status imbues their businesses with built-in sizzle.

Celebrities also can be glorious train wrecks – who would buy hair products from, say, Nick Nolte or children’s books from the likes of Lindsay Lohan? Then again, you can’t help but watch train wrecks. That’s why AT&T employed profane, verbally challenged rocker Ozzy Osbourne to shill text-messaging phones.

Clearly, when it comes to launching a start-up, celebrities have a leg up. Yet setting aside the octane of fame, celebrity entrepreneurs offer a variety of accessible, universal business lessons for the rest of us. These include the value of networking, the importance of brand management, the need to maintain customer satisfaction and the power of marketing.

Stars are masters of networking, which typically takes the form of club and party hopping. But you don’t need VIP lounge access to conduct business outreach. Consider joining a service club such as Rotary or take part in community mixers. Checking with your local chamber of commerce is a good place to start.

Astute celebrities know how to manage their image. Oprah has maintained strict control of her brand, spurning requests for her to lend her name to a wide variety of products. Everything with her name on it is put out by her company under her direct supervision. Moreover, her magazine (not to mention her personal/professional on-camera demeanor) allows her to dictate largely how she’s portrayed, rather than letting the tabloids hijack her narrative.

Paul Newman, meanwhile, was a great example of a famous philanthropist who knew how to treat customers. He left us last year, but his company is going strong. Not only are Newman’s Own products competitively priced, they maintain high quality across the board. His customers demand nothing less, and the company consistently meets and exceeds those demands.

And then there’s marketing.

Aaron Walton, co-founder of branding firm Walton | Isaacson, has created some of the most successful celebrity/business partnerships in the industry. When you think of Britney Spears and Pepsi, Reba McIntire and Whirlpool, and Led Zeppelin and Cadillac, think of Walton.

“Sometimes,” says Walton, “the best entrepreneurs are not the best marketers. Yes, they’re passionate about their service or product, but they may not have the necessary skill set to really market it to an audience.

“What celebrities understand in ways maybe other entrepreneurs don’t is how to market themselves and how to sell themselves,” Walton adds. “For most celebrities, marketing is part of their DNA. They have a sense of wanting to be out in the public on certain things. I don’t think that’s bad, by the way.”

Smart entrepreneurs will recognize their own marketing weaknesses, Walton says, and seek to align themselves with those who know “how to fill in the voids.”

Some celebs seem to “run” their businesses on autopilot or as a diversionary afterthought. This would be the kiss of death for mortal entrepreneurs, who need to keep their hands on the business throttle and their eyes focused on needs of customers.

Paris Hilton sells a line of jewelry, fragrances and clothes, among other things. She’s listed as president of three businesses, Paris Hilton Entertainment, Paris Hilton Enterprises and Heiress Records. Her Web site says, “Paris Hilton takes an active role by overseeing product development, design, marketing, and promotions for Paris Hilton Entertainment.”

Yet it’s hard to conceive she has the same aggressive oversight and command of her enterprises that Oprah has over her empire.

Hard for the Money

While converting fame into another career as an entrepreneur is seemingly a rote process by now, there are pitfalls. Namely, credibility.

Celebrities – and ordinary folks, for that matter – can ill afford to back bad, dangerous or poorly made products.

“You don’t want to become the Milli Vanilli of entrepreneurship,” says Walton.

When it comes to working with stars who are looking to pursue business interests, Walton prefers to deal with those who have “skin in the game,”

“There’s much more incentive for them to participate in all the things needed to do to sell the product,” he says, “like meet with customers, do interviews, meet with business partners.”

This isn’t even a choice for non-famous entrepreneurs. Tending to the demands of the business is mandatory for survival.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson

When Walton evokes the name of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, he speaks with a reverence for the former Los Angeles Lakers point guard. Not for the ex-NBA’s prowess on the court, but for the keen understanding of his market.

Magic Johnson Enterprises forges alliances with corporations to drive economic development in ethnic, urban areas. Walton recalls the time Johnson and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz were talking about locating the high-end coffee stores in urban cores.

“I know scones make a lot of sense for some markets,” Johnson told Schultz, “but in urban settings those won’t sell. We need to replace them with sweet potato pies.”

Johnson also had noticed lines out the door at Starbucks stores in certain Hispanic markets. It’s because most were waiting for iced drinks, but the Starbucks template usually called for only two blenders. He recommended more blenders to improve traffic flow and boost customer satisfaction.

“Here’s a guy who understands his market,” Walton says. “Magic is someone who not only understands what his celebrity can do for enterprises, but what his celebrity can do for philanthropic causes. He helps provide jobs and a bigger tax base. I’ve been blown away by what he’s done.”

The subtext of Walton’s message is no matter where you stand in the velvet rope hierarchy, being an entrepreneur takes hard work.

Former Good Morning America host Joan Lunden discovered this when she set out to produce and market her KinderKord, a new wrist tether that keeps parents connected with their small children.

“I thought that knowing how other companies had used me to sell their products would be significant for getting me in the door,” she says. “But as I went through the process of making and designing the product, I came to realize if it didn’t meet the market need and quality and safety standards, then it wouldn’t fly. The (famous) name only goes so far.”

Dayna Steele, author of Rock to the Top: What I Learned about Success from the World’s Greatest Rock Stars,

Sammy Hagar

is a former Texas radio jockey who now works the speaking circuit. She cites Sammy Hagar, ex-frontman for Van Halen, as an example of hard work and determination.

Hagar initially struggled to get consumers to take his Cabo Wabo tequila seriously. Yet he persevered and in 2007 he sold 80 percent of the business to Gruppo Campari for $80 million.

“You have to be sure it’s a quality product and you better be involved,” she says. “Sammy was very much a part of the development and marketing.

“Sammy was up at 6 doing morning radio, and then he’s on stage and then he’s on a bus or a plane for the next city,” Steele adds. “People would ask him, What’s your secret? He’d say, ‘Call me in my office at 10 o’clock at night and I’ll tell you.’ It’s about working. There is no magic pill.”

Anson Williams – TV star in the ’70s, TV director in the ’90s and an entrepreneur of beauty and health products today – can relate.

He says he didn’t realize how hard it would be to get their StarMaker products into mass production. But the hard work paid off.

“The first time we saw our product going down the production line,” he says, “I never felt so American.”

Williams notes that fame is a “nice marketing tool” to open doors and get initial meetings. “But after that, there’s so much more you have to go through to solidify everything. Fame helped, but it didn’t sell the product.

“You have to work the spark and push ahead,” he adds. “But in the end, there’s so much opportunity for inventors – big and small.”

Editor’s Note: Devin White is our resident youth blogger.

On Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy of Massachusetts passed away ending a courageous lifetime of service to our great

Devin White

nation. As I watched a lot of coverage on CNN, Fox News, and other stations, all of them were recapping the Kennedy family legacy and all that has been accomplished by their family. There was John, a WWII hero and president, tragically assassinated, Robert “Bobby” a U.S. Attorney General and presidential candidate who also was tragically assassinated just before taking the Democratic nomination for president. The news also noted that Ted Kennedy had his personal flaws. But he also leaves a huge legacy of accomplishments.

Ted Kennedy’s passing marks a point in history, which today has inspired me to go through a brief history of innovation. Some of the following will be common knowledge and others might seem vague, but I’ll think you’ll enjoy this brief innovation history. I believe that every invention has its own mark on history and therefore every invention is a part of history.

This is the “Edison JR.” blog so one of these inventions was invented by a 15 year old. Take a crack and write a comment at what invention was made by a teenager.

• 1182- The Magnetic Compass was invented
• 1565- The Graphite Pencil was invented
• 1675- The pocket watch was first invented
• 1780- Bi-focal eyeglasses were invented
• 1794- The Cotton Gin was invented
• 1799- The Battery was invented
• 1810- The tin Can was invented
• 1827- Modern Matches were invented
• 1838- Morse Code was invented
• 1839- The bicycle was ridden (I wonder if it had training wheels???)
• 1853- Manned hang glider was invented
• 1873- Earmuffs were invented in the cold winter months in Maine
• 1881- The Metal Detector, and thank goodness we have it today
• 1886- Coca Cola was invented
• 1893- the zipper was invented
• 1903- crayons were invented
• 1905- E=mc2,
• 1918- the fortune cookie was invented
• 1928- Bubble Gum
• 1934- Some guy claims he created the board game Monopoly
• 1946- the Microwave oven was invented
• 1956- The hovercraft was invented
• 1967- Handheld Calculator entered its first digits
• 1974- Post-it notes believe it or not
• 1979- Cell Phones were invented
• 1985- Windows by Microsoft
• 1990- The dreaded internet was invented
• 2001- The Segway was invented
• 2001- The iPod
• 2005- Youtube

There’s the list, 30 inventions, which one was invented by a teenager?

Let’s Show the World… Don’t Stop Thinking

Devin White

Ohio State examines why some refuse to read the writing on the wall.

Editor’s note: While there’s a certain cruelty in the methodology of this study – duping student guinea pigs -  we thought it had salient lessons for inventor-entrepreneurs.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study shows just what it takes to convince a person that he isn’t qualified to achieve the career of his dreams.

Researchers found that it’s not enough to tell people they don’t have the skills or the grades to make their goal a reality.

People will cling to their dreams until they’re clearly shown not only why they’re not qualified, but also what bad things can happen if they pursue their goals and fail.

“Most people don’t give up easily on the dreams. They have to be given a graphic picture of what failure will look like if they don’t make it,” said Patrick Carroll, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University at Lima.

The findings are especially relevant now as students prepare for an uncertain job market and they, along with their teachers and guidance counselors, try to find the best career choices for them.

“Educators are trying to lead students to the most realistic career options,” Carroll said. “You want to encourage students to pursue their dreams, but you don’t want to give them false hope about their abilities and talents. It’s a fine line.

“This research is important to understanding how students make revisions in their career goals and decide which career possibilities should be abandoned as unrealistic given their current qualifications. They can then zero in on more realistic possible selves that they actually are qualified to achieve,”  he said.

Carroll conducted the study with Robert Arkin, professor of psychology at Ohio State, and James Sheppard, professor of psychology at the University of Florida. Their results appear in the current issue of the journal Social Cognition.

The research included two similar studies involving separate groups of 64 and 70 upperclass business and psychology students at Ohio State.

The students signed up to meet with a career advisor to learn about a supposedly new master’s degree program in business psychology that would train them for “high-paying consulting positions as business psychologists.”

However, the program didn’t actually exist. The goal was to get the students interested in the program, and see how they reacted when faced with varying levels of threat to their new dreams of becoming a business psychologist.

All the students filled out information sheets which included their current grade point averages.

The students were then separated into four groups. Students in the control group were given an information sheet indicating no GPA requirement for the program.

The other three groups were given sheets indicating the GPA requirement was .10 above whatever they had listed as their own GPA.

In one of these groups, the “career advisor” – who actually worked with the researchers — simply pointed out that the students’ GPA was lower than the requirement.

In another group, the threat was raised slightly: the advisor told the participants that they weren’t what they were looking for in the program and that it was unlikely they would be admitted. But the advisor encouraged these participants to apply if they were interested, because they might be reviewed by a lenient admissions committee.

The last group received the strongest threat to their hopes of becoming a business psychologist: they were also told they were not qualified, but might sneak in with a lenient admission committee. But the advisor added that if that happened, the student would probably struggle with the high demands of the program and ultimately end up with no job prospects if he or she somehow managed to graduate.

To add to the threat, the advisor mentioned that he or she knew of cases at other schools where unqualified students couldn’t get placed in jobs after graduation and often ended up in low-paying office jobs unrelated to business psychology.

“In this case, the students were given a very vivid picture of what might happen if they failed,” Carroll said.

In both studies, the results were similar and striking. The students in the control group and those who were simply told their GPA was too low for the program didn’t give up the dream. In tests given after their meetings with the career advisor, these participants actually showed declines in the amount of self-doubt they had about their abilities and showed higher levels of commitment to pursing the degree.

“We have a brilliant ability to spin, deflect or outright dismiss undesired evidence that we can’t do something,” Carroll said. “We try to find reasons to believe.”

However, students given the most vivid threat had higher levels of self-doubt immediately after meeting with the advisor, lower expectations and lower commitment to pursuing a business psychology career.

Carroll said anxiety played the key role for getting these students to drop their interest in becoming business psychologists.

Those who received the strongest threat began with high levels of doubt about their abilities. But they then also experienced much higher anxiety levels as they considered the vivid prospects of failure presented to them.

This led them to lower expectations about getting in to the program, and finally lower anxiety when tested later as they dropped their dream and accepted the fact that they would not become business psychologists.

Carroll said he sees the relevance of this research nearly every day, as students seek his input about career plans or the possibility of graduate school. Sometimes these students have not gotten good enough grades or shown the work ethic they would need to succeed at higher levels, he said.

Still, Carroll said he doesn’t often use what he knows to bring these students back to reality.

“I’m very cautious about using what I know with students,” he said. “You’re dealing with people’s dreams and hopes, and with that awareness comes great responsibility.

“The dreams of who you could become are a very important part of how you define yourself, yet they are very vulnerable given that they exist only in our mind’s eye as the best possible guesses from current evidence of what we could become in the future,” he said. “We need to learn more about how those career dreams are constructed and revised.”

In new research, Carroll and his colleagues hope to do just that. The new focus is on what happens when people have to reject certain goals for the future, and whether this process hurts them or helps them find new goals.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Editor’s note: Devin White is our resident teen blogger.

By Devin White

The contest that every kid has wished for has arrived. And it’s another great Live Product Search from Edison Nation.

Through a new relation with BestSweet and Edison Nation, you can now submit all the ideas you have for new ice cream and candy.  A little about BestSweet, straight from EN:

” BestSweet works with leading consumer goods companies – including one of the world’s largest chains of ice cream specialty shops – to develop and create candies that satiate anyone’s sweet tooth. They currently manufacture, market and handle the national sales for the candy version of this leading ice cream brand’s confectionary offerings in a variety of its premium ice cream flavors. In candy aisles across the country, you can scoop up your favorite ice cream flavors in sugar and sugar-free varieties to please any palate on the go.”

So, why should you enter into this LPS?

When I first got into innovation and entered into my local school’s innovation contest everything was quite complicated and I made things a lot more difficult for myself. I needed to simplify my idea, but I felt like I couldn’t.  This LPS with BestSweet is a great opportunity because you can be simple, and let the hundreds of ice cream candy ideas you’ve had in your head growing up work the magic.

This is the best LPS I’ve seen for kids simply because you are inventing something that your demographic would be using. There’s no need for complicated research into a technology or the pressure to compete against adults who can put a ton of money into an idea. This LPS requires the one thing that kids have and some adults don’t – creativity.

So, put your creativity to work, and make the world’s next greatest ice cream candy, with just a few requirements, once again straight from EN:

“What BestSweet is looking for:

BestSweet is now turning to our Edison Nation members to find this leading ice cream brand’s next hit candy item that will appeal to the lucrative ‘tween consumer (ages 8-13). For this Live Product Search, BestSweet wants you to think outside the box of established candy varieties, such as Junior Mints® or Milk Duds®, and go beyond the M&Ms® pouch of candy-coated chocolates.

BestSweet is looking for your product concept ideas in sweet new flavors and in any shape or size. Whether its minis or bite-size squares, consider the whole package concept and your buyer. What new candy would grab the hard-to-catch attention of ‘tweens” and teens – and turn the head of BestSweet’s leading ice cream client?

Requirements:

For this search, please submit your candy innovations to BestSweet’s Live Product Search. Formulas are not required. While not required, we highly encourage you to submit video of yourself demonstrating a prototype and explaining the features and benefits of your submission. Please be as detailed as possible in telling us about your innovation.

For this Live Product Search, you must note the following:

• Must retail in stores for less than $2
• Your candy idea should appeal to a specific audience. For this search, consider what candy would attract the “tween consumer (ages 8-13)”
• Your idea should fit within a leading ice cream manufacturer’s line of branded candy
• Your idea must be unique and protectable

Let’s Show the WORLD…Don’t Stop Thinking

Devin White

edisonjrblog@gmail.com

What to Know Before You Pitch Your Product

What happens when you send an unsolicited product idea to a company? Make sure you know the policy before you put your product in the mail.

By Diane Warren

Alan Kravetz, a licensing agent and intellectual property attorney based in the Boston area, says if you submit a product idea to a company without reading its submission policies, you’re wasting your time.

He should know. He develops unsolicited idea submission policies for businesses. These policies protect companies and inventors from conflict over idea ownership and compensation.

Before you send your product idea, call the company or visit its Web site for its submission guidelines.

Most policies require unsolicited submissions to be forwarded unopened to an employee who has nothing to do with the product development process, Kravetz says. That employee returns the idea to the sender along with the company policy and forms to complete.

Determining the policy can shortcut the process and allow you to send your idea with all the appropriate forms. You also may learn that the company is not the best target because of its requirements, Kravetz says.

Companies increasingly are seeking product and technology ideas from outside their own walls. That’s good news for inventors. Proctor & Gamble and Netflix seek ideas from consumers and inventors and are open to partnership opportunities. Kraft encourages idea submissions and rewards adopted ideas. For those more interested in bragging rights than compensation, Dell encourages open innovation through its Ideastorm Web site. Users can post ideas, promote or demote ideas by others, and see which ideas the company adopts.

Apple and Microsoft don’t accept unsolicited ideas – says so right on their Web sites. If you send unsolicited ideas to a company that does not accept them, your submissions may not be returned to you, and the ideas may become the property of the company.

Some companies have no submission policies. In this case, it’s best to send ideas directly to a top-level product marketing or product development manager. When there is no policy, it’s more critical to ensure that you have protected your concept and design idea with a patent or provisional patent application.

Once you have figured out the policy and your idea is on its way, it helps to understand corporate attitudes towards unsolicited ideas.

“Companies have teams of people trying to figure out ways to make (their products) better,” says Ruth Levy, a product development executive in the Philadelphia area and owner of 27 patents.

It’s likely your target company already has considered or developed an idea similar to yours. This is especially true for consumer products companies, which can receive hundreds if not thousands of unsolicited ideas each year.

Your chances of developing a unique or novel concept may be better if you focus on business-to-business products or in an area where you have deep knowledge.

“Companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical industry often go looking for startups with a unique product idea that is partially developed,” says Levy, “and then partner with the startup to take the product the rest of the way through commercialization.”

You can make connections at industry events such as trade shows or conferences, Levy adds, so stay informed about events in your target industry to increase your chance of being “found.”

When submitting your idea, focus on making a business case, says Frank Glaug, a senior research and development executive at Energizer in Dover, Del.

“You need a business plan approach,” he says, “to show that it’s not just a concept, but has been researched and has some potential.”

Try This

• Phone and ask for a copy of the company’s idea submission policy. Ask to be routed to the product development or legal department if the initial contact can’t help.
• If you get an automated phone tree, opt for the legal department.
• Can’t get a human on the phone? Send your request for information via the “contact us” e-mail option on the Web site.

Shoes often make a statement.

Shoes from Environmentally Neutral Design or END say “responsible design and innovation.”

Andrew Estey left a cush job at Nike to found his Portland, Ore., company and reinvent the way running and athletic shoes are made.

For starters, the durable, lightweight shoes are made from other shoe manufacturers’ waste and ground into raw material. The company uses far fewer pieces, requiring far less glue. Even the shoe boxes are eco-friendly, made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled waste and printed with soy-based ink.

Estey says the company is working on making a shoe without glue, reducing exposure to his overseas workforce.

“Our stated goal,” he tells Inventors Digest, “is to one day make a shoe that could be tossed into your compost pile.”

The Chicago Toy and Game Fair (www.chitag.com) is hosting a design competition for Rio Grande Games. Jay Tummelson, owner of Rio Grande Games, will be sitting down privately with each finalist selected and reviewing their prototypes at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. Mr. Tummelson has committed to publishing at least one of the games presented to him. He will also provide each designer with his advice and expertise on improving their designs for publication. For more information, visit http://chitag.com/ctgg/RG_contest_09.htm

Also, look for the 2009 Young Inventor Challenge entry form here.

USPTO errors often shortchange patent holders; months or years of additional protection can be worth millions.

Op-Ed

By MaryDilys Anderson

We at Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.,  estimate that more than one-fourth of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) patent term adjustment (PTA) calculations may be wrong.

Errors can be procedural or substantive.  The USPTO draws information from its database in order to calculate PTA.  If such information is incorrect, then the PTA will likely be incorrect.  Examples include miscoded or mislabeled documents and incorrect dates.

Substantive errors arise from the USPTO’s flawed interpretation of federal laws and its own rules relating to PTA.  These results may result in days, months, or even years of lost patent term.

Patents last 20 years from their filing date, so delays in getting a patent granted can cut into actual patent life.  If a patent is granted more than three years after filing date because of USPTO delays, lost patent life can be regained through PTA.

USPTO uses a complex set of rules to calculate PTA.  Essentially, these rules amount to adding up delays by the USPTO and subtracting delays caused by the patent applicant.  If the result is greater than zero, the difference is added to the term of the issued patent in the form of PTA.

A proactive approach can increase your PTA and also help reduce the chance of PTA errors.

First, your patent attorney should make sure all documents and dates relating to your patent application are correctly entered and identified in the USPTO database.  Reviewing entries and requesting correction during prosecution can avoid miscalculations later.

Second, minimizing applicant delays will reduce any time that might ultimately be deducted from your PTA.

Third, document examiners’ requests in writing.  If the patent examiner asks for a replacement document or other filing, reference the examiner’s request in the filing papers.  That way, the submission should not be categorized as contributing to applicant delay.

And it’s not just corporations that need to be vigilant-universities and hospitals should scrutinize PTA to maximize the value that potential licensees place on a patent. There can be significant value added by getting as much PTA as you’re entitled to.

After PTA has been granted, make sure it’s correct, especially if a covered product or technology will have a long commercial lifespan.  With products like pharmaceuticals and some medical devices, additional PTA can mean millions of additional value.

If the PTA calculated by the USPTO is incorrect, the error can be challenged.  A request for reconsideration can be filed with the USPTO only during two specific time periods.  If you miss the deadline, you can file suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia within 180 days after the issue date of the patent.

Numerous such suits challenging the PTO’s method of calculating PTA are pending, including the Wyeth v. Dudas case.  Currently, the USPTO does not count certain delay time periods it interprets as double-dipping.  The Wyeth court disagreed with the USPTO interpretation, and the USPTO has appealed to the Federal Circuit.

If the appeals court upholds the district court’s ruling in favor of Wyeth, some patent holders would be entitled to over a year of additional PTA.

Patent applicants should be vigilant now in order to preserve their rights to additional PTA should Wyeth prevail.

MaryDilys Anderson, PhD, is attorney specializing in biotech and pharmaceutical patents with Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C., a Boston intellectual property law firm.  She can be reached at manderson@wolfgreenfield.com.  Wolf Greenfield, the largest law firm in New England devoted exclusively to intellectual property law, counsels clients in the areas of patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs, trade secrets, and related licensing and litigation.   Web:  www.wolfgreenfield.com.

Fatten Profits with Online Sales Partners

By Eva Winger

Editor’s note: This story appears in our August 2009 edition.

The sound of a 53-foot tractor trailer beep-beeping as it backed up into the office driveway will forever resonate with inventor Diana York.

As York personally off-loaded her first delivery of Slow Cooker Mates, a three-chambered stainless steel cooker, her mind focused on accomplishments rather than the physical strain of lifting hundreds of 19-pound boxes.

Putting her hands and arms around each box confirmed that her invention was no longer a dream. York felt proud of surviving 18 challenging months developing a prototype, dealing with her Chinese factory and solving freight and shipping problems.

After finishing the tedious task of stacking one box on top of another, York took a deep breath and stood victorious, like an army general who just defeated the enemy.

“The neat columns of cases in my warehouse were like trophies to me,” says York. “They quickly justified all the effort I put into this project.”

However, York’s feeling of triumph as short-lived. She soon began to teeter towards a new-found anxiety – paying bills. She knew the real test of her dreams was selling 1,600 Slow Cooker Mates, which sat quietly, seemingly staring right back at her and patiently waiting for marching orders.

With no extra money to hire help, York had to rely on herself and her Web site to facilitate marketing, public relations and sales. But before York could embark on these initiatives, she had to put out yet another unsettling fire.

When York opened one of her Slow Mate Cookers in its retail box, she found three spelling mistakes in the packaging copy.

“I was in utter disbelief that in this day and age of spell check, my designer could make such a mistake,” says York.

After the initial shock tempered, York realized that she also was to blame. She could have caught the errors in a last read-over before approving the final box layout files that she sent to the Chinese factory.

Agreeing they both goofed, York and her designer agreed to share in the cost to fix the situation, which required either re-printing the boxes or using stickers to cover the mistakes. Both costs were high. They went with stickers.

“Four hundred boxes were going to cost $4,000 and one hundred stickers $200″ says York. “It was a no brainer.”

York assumed she and the designer would split the new sticker costs 50/50. She felt deflated to receive a bill from the designer, who only took off 20 percent of the bill for the stickers.

“At this point I had no more energy to squabble over money, so I decided to let it go,” says York, who was eager to officially launch her Slow Cooker Mate.

After putting the spelling issue to bed, York was free to continue re-designing her Web site to include ecommerce features like a shopping cart and an affiliate program.

“I already had a simple Web site established for the first-run 20 units that were supposed to be delivered before the holidays,” says York. “The Web site would have been quite effective if I received the order on time.”

York handed over all creative license to her Web designer, who proved her merit by creating a lay-out that was simple and easy to navigate. York’s only requirement was that the designer included motion images of the three ceramic compartments being placed into the stainless steel cooker.

“Since my product is more dynamic than the existing slow cookers on the market, it was crucial to demonstrate how the Slow Cooker Mate assembled,” she says.

Although pleased with the design of her Web site, York had yet to contend with the shopping cart, which functioned in its basic application, but did not allow for a customer to input discount codes or the ability to incorporate affiliate links.

To integrate both programs into her site, York hired Web designer Jill Caren of 2dogsdesign.com to remedy the incompatibility issues with Zencart, which also offers features such as multiple sales and discounts, ad banner controller, shipping and payment options and gift certificates.

New to affiliate marketing, York learned that this concept relies on a network of popular Web sites, such as blogs and shopping sites, which can drive and capitalize on the traffic via a simple link to other merchant sites.

“Think of affiliates as commission sales people,” says York. “They find the prospect and deliver it to the merchant, which then converts the prospect into a sale.”

Likening affiliates as part of her sales team, York joined ShareASale.com. It puts merchants and affiliates together, manages her program by making sure all affiliates get paid, and administers IRS reporting.

Although paying ShareASale.com the one-time fee of $500 and a percentage of commissions paid to the affiliate may look expensive to some small business owners, York contends that for her business, these services will take away tedious administrative record keeping and allow her more time to work on the most important thing – sales.

“Yes, looking at the fees at face value can look a bit much,” says York. “But when you look at the value of all the marketing, PR and sales you could potentially get through affiliate market, I believe this is a great bang for my buck.”

York already has been able to place Slow Cooker Mate Web site links on slowcooker.biz, couponcraze.com and couponsnapshot.com.

“Slow Cooker Mate sells itself,” says York. “I just need to get people to my Web site.”

Admitting she still has tons to learn, York cites ABestWeb.com where merchants and affiliates can discuss issues on a forum and get answers to many questions.

“I think it will be awhile before I wrap my mind around this affiliate marketing concept,” says York. “This is more complicated than it seems at first, but if I can figure it out, I see promising sales for me.”

Inventors looking for global markets can take their products for a walkabout Down Under.

Log on to Australian-based International Inventors at www.international-inventors.com

Company president David Wollage and operations director Andrea Conte phoned the ID office not too long ago to inform us of the new online marketplace. Wollage and Conte were making merry and having a few drinks at 10 a.m. – then again, it was 10 p.m. their time. No foul with that, as far as we’re concerned.

International Inventors offers a “virtual” meeting room for inventors and commerce. It “facilitates discussions, idea generation and communication between parties that might otherwise never get to meet,” says Wollage.

The peripatetic Wollage held several positions at IT companies in the UK before settling in Perth, Australia.

“My passion is to connect industry with the vast pool of creativity that exists in the world,” he says, “thereby helping to bring to market potentially life-changing products that will benefit individuals and help boost the economy.”

Well said, mate.