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Greetings!
This issue has our final article on choosing the
right distribution channel for your product. You
will want to read this one and if you haven't read
the other three, check the quick links section to go
right to the first three parts.
Also in this issue we have a fantastic article by
the Packaging Diva about packaging transforming an
industry. Remember, you need good packaging as much
as you need a good product so make sure you read
this article!
Our inventor story this month has a lot of great
lessons that we can all learn from so I encourage
you to read this story and see how you can learn
from Sara Blakely's success to succeed with your own
product.
Don't forget our note on Google's free patent search
service either.
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Which Distribution Channel is Your Product Best Suited For -- Part 4
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In this four-part series, we will discuss how to
choose the best distribution channel for your
product. Usually, your product limits your
realistic choices for a path to market and you must
learn the strengths and weaknesses of your product
to choose which distribution channel will give you
the best chances of success.
In this fourth and final part, we will look at how
to look at all of your product attributes and
determine which distribution channel your product is
really suited for.
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Inventor Story: Sara Blakely
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Spanx
Blakely was a national sales manager for a fax
machine company and an amateur comedian. One night
before going on stage, she decided she wanted to
wear cream colored pants with opened toe shoes, but
everything she put on under her pants showed lines,
so she cut the feet off of her panty hose. The
panty hose kept on rolling up her leg that night,
but she realized she was on to something.
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How Packaging Can Transform an Industry
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by JoAnn Hines Packaging Diva
Some industries are keeping current with innovative
packaging technologies better than others. Packaging
innovation can move your business from a commodity
driven product into a premium product category. Not
only that, it can build sales and create its own
unique niche with little or no competition. Entire
new categories of product have been created around a
single niche market that may not have existed a few
years ago.
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Free Patent Searches with Google
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Google's new patent search service
Interested in doing a patent search? You should
start with Google's new patent search service. This
free search has over 7 million patents to search
through to see if your idea remains unpatented. It
may take awhile to understand how the patents are
written, but if you read a few examples, which
appear randomly on the homepage, you can get a hang
of what terms to search for when looking for a
patent similar to what you have in mind.
The US Patent Office also has its own database, but
without the ease of use that Google can provide.
This search is not exhaustive, but it is a good
start. If you do not find your product patented, I
still recommend hiring a patent attorney to do the
search because they will have much more experience
and understand if existing patents prevent your
patent or not.
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