Avoiding The Patent Expense; Eight Proven Ideas For Taking An Idea To Market

Acclaimed marketing whiz Don Debelak is the presenter for these two seminars aimed at inventors. Following a 5-minute extraneous opening filled with testimonials (on both tapes), Debelak is finally introduced by former L.A. Lakers star Keith Erickson, and addresses a group of inventors looking to bring their products to market. In Eight Proven Ideas for Taking an Idea to Market, based on Debelak's bestselling book How to Bring a Product to Market for Less Than $5,000, Debelak explains his eight steps to success, which includes evening up the odds against the major corporations, avoiding the patent expense, obtaining cheap market research, making inexpensive prototypes, finding investors, manufacturing a product with no upfront money (by finding a manufacturer whose volume is currently down and is willing to negotiate terms), and successfully selling a product without a big promotional budget. Though presented as a talking-head lecture, the program is almost all protein and very little fat. Prospective tinkerers looking to cash in on the American Dream will find a little inspiration here, but more importantly they'll receive oodles of practical advice.The second tape, Avoiding the Patent Expense, covers some of the same ground as the first program, only it goes into much greater detail on determining the "when" and "why" and "how" of obtaining a patent.Libraries with larger small business collections will want both, but for those who can only afford one, the more comprehensive Eight Proven Ideas for Taking an Idea to Market is highly recommended. (Available from: MDIS, Inc., 888 W. County Road "D," #102, New Brighton, MN 55112; (800) 864-3814.)