6 Ways to Profit From Your Patent

You had a great idea for an invention, and after spending months brainstorming, filing, (waiting) and discussing the details with your patent attorney, your patent is granted.

Filing for a patent isn’t cheap, so it makes sense that if you went to the trouble of protecting your idea, the next step is to figure out how to profit from it.

According to Forbes, in 2014, 95 percent of the 2.1 million active patents weren’t licensed or commercialized: they didn’t generate any money.

The value of your invention is completely in your hands. Here are six ways to make money from your patents.

1. Start a business: Product conversion

One of the best ways to make money from your patent is to create and sell the product you invented. If you’re thinking about manufacturing and retail opportunities, start by yourself the following questions:

• Does your invention solve a real-world problem?
• Does it do its job better than existing products in the market?
• Have you done an assessment to find if your consumers are going to like it?
• Do you have funds for manufacturing and promoting the product?
• Can you sell it at a competitive price?

Keep in mind that developing and selling a product—starting a business—requires different skills than creating a product idea and going through the patenting process.   

There are plenty of independent inventors that have chosen to travel the path of entrepreneurship. Dan Brown, the inventor of Bionic Wrench and founder of Logger Head Tools, is a prime example.

You can read the bright side of Dan’s story here. Dan did face some challenges, though, so make sure you think it through so you’ve accounted for potential risks before you get in too deep.  

Start by writing a business plan—they’re required by bank lenders and investors. But even if you don’t need outside funding to get started, business planning will help you make sure you’ve considered every aspect of your business.

2. License your patent

If starting your own business isn’t the best approach for you, you can still earn a handsome amount by licensing your patent.

Patent licensing is a practice that lets you transfer your patent rights to a party that can use it for making or selling a product or service.

There are two types of patent licensing:

• Exclusive Licensing: The patent owner transfers all the ownership rights to the licensee.
• Non- Exclusive Licensing: The patent owner/licensor can also produce the invention along with the licensee.

The benefits of licensing your patent rights

• Your brainchild, your invention, sees the light of a day in form of a product.
• Lack of resources or funding won’t stop your invention from going to market.
• The trust and brand value of the licensee could help you build a legacy.  
• Your licensee may sell your product worldwide faster than you would have been able.

Patent licensing as a number of complexities and intricacies. I recommend reading this article—it’s a guide to patent licensing. It will help you start developing solid understanding of what it entails, including scenarios where licensing may become less profitable than your initial expectations.

3. Use a patent licensing company

If you’re not interested in doing all the licensing legwork yourself, there are patent licensing companies, (some of them are publicly traded) like Acacia Research Corporation, that help individual inventors monetize their patent assets. Often these companies serve as a middleman, connecting an inventor with a company that could help them with expertise or capital.

Acacia Research Corporation, based in Newport Beach, has been one of the biggest supporters of individual inventors and small companies. They work with patent-holders to help them unlock the financial potential of their patent. It partners with many companies/inventors and splits the licensing revenue 50-50.

 Intellectual Ventures is another such company. It is one of the top five owners of US patents.  It acquires patents from almost every domain. It has more than 40,000 patents in its portfolio.

“The set of incentives that go around patents, that’s part of how the system works. Inventors should get rich. We should have more inventors. It’s good for everybody.”

― Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures

It’s worth mentioning that companies like Acacia Research and Intellectual Venture are considered Non-Practising Entities (NPEs). NPEs are entities that own patent(s) but don’t use them to develop a product/process. Some of the NPEs have earned the moniker of “patent troll” because they use their patent(s) for filing frivolous lawsuits against renowned companies and startups.

4. Use it as collateral for a bank loan

Did you know that sometimes you can use your patent as collateral when seeking a bank loan? You might be surprised that this is a fairly common practice and something even major players like General Motors, Alcatel Lucent, and Kodak have done. Between 2011 and 2016, leading banks like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America made 947,907 transactions for patent loans.

It has another benefit. If you mortgage your patent, there’s a fairly high chance that it could be acquired by a big company that wants to avoid litigation or to maintain its competitive edge. Often when patent owners mortgage patents, they’re more interested in leveraging the value of their resource, than licensing it or spinning up a business with it.

So, if a bank agrees that you can use a patent as collateral, they essentially agree that it has significant value, based on their due diligence. This can actually be a positive signal for companies looking to acquire patents.

5. Sell off your patent rights

What if you aren’t interested in licensing your patent? Maybe the market for your intellectual property is diminishing or the technology is becoming less relevant. It might be time to sell the patent.

Before you sell, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is there any way to further develop your invention that might your intellectual property worth more down the road?  
• Is patent pooling possible?
• Are you running out of ways to make licensing profitable?

The next big question is—where will you sell it? Check out this list of 22 patent marketplaces to get started.  

6. Sell to a business that’s expanding to your country

Some patent owners make a point to research and keep tabs on overseas companies that are expanding their operations internationally.

Patents are location-based, meaning that you’ll need a patent in each country where you want to protect your idea. So when a company expands its operations to new countries, it will often try to acquire patents in the new country to help mitigate their risk of being sued for patent infringement.

Often, the expanding companies are openly looking for individual patent owners who are willing to sell. Xiaomi is one example of a company that acquired a lot of patent assets through its global expansion process.

Conclusion

Getting a patent isn’t a walk in the park. It is a complex, expensive, and slow process. Make sure your patent results in financial reward, whether you use it to launch a product, license it to someone else, or sell it. Don’t let your patent sit around!

from Bplans Articles http://bit.ly/2Rj7yk6

First Look: Tommy Armour ATOMIC Driver

Add one more to the growing list of 2019 drivers. The 2019 Tommy Armour Atomic has been added to the USGA’s conforming clubs list.

It’s reasonable to assume that the Dick’s house brand won’t get the kind of attention in the driver space that Callaway and TaylorMade will over the coming months, but we were pleasantly and repeatedly surprised by the performance of the Tommy Armour brand throughout this year’s Most Wanted testing.

Here’s the quick rundown.

• The TA Impact Series #3 Alignment tied 1st in our Mallet Test
• The TA1 Driver had a surprisingly strong showing in our Driver Test
• The Tommy Armour Over N’ Out Wedge was our Best Value in the 2018 Most Wanted Wedge Test

That’s not a bad showing for a brand whose products typically retail for significantly less than mainstream offerings. For golfers seeking performance on a budget, across the board, Tommy Armour is tough to beat.

The USGA photos suggest the Atomic will be hosel adjustable, and will again feature multi-material construction (e.g., carbon fiber crown).

More details to come, but we certainly expect Tommy Armour will be fully represented in 2019 Most Wanted.

from MyGolfSpy http://bit.ly/2V9sJ7o

4 Quotes From Successful Small Business Founders

Bruce Carr, left, of Web Ninja.

Are you ready to start your business this year? Sometimes it can help to hear from small business founders who were able to breathe life into their business idea and make it go.

These four founders shared their success stories with our LivePlan team over the past year. Here’s a little insight into what helped them take their businesses from an idea on a napkin to a reality.

Allison Reitz with one of Good Elephant’s community yoga classes.

Finding the right business idea

“It’s so easy to promote yoga because it’s so pure—I’m not promoting myself or even the business. All we are promoting is mindfulness. So there’s never any qualms or anything about what we’re doing. It just feels like it’s more like service rather than entrepreneurship.” ― Allison Reitz, founder of Good Elephant

For some entrepreneurs and small business founders, business ideas seem to just appear—it’s about taking a skill or interest to the next level. For Allison, Good Elephant’s potential to be a profitable, sustainable business started with exploring different business models, and testing out new ideas as the business grows.

Joanna Stanford and the Trots Dogs team.

Using data and metrics to make nimble business decisions

“The most important metric I look at is how much each individual service is bringing in, and how much it makes us on a monthly basis,” she says. “So, if one certain training program isn’t doing very well or isn’t working for people or making enough money, we can adjust it accordingly.” ― Joanna Stanford, founder of Trots Dogs

The easier it is to see how your business financials are doing, the more often you’re likely to review them, and the quicker you can respond to problems and opportunities. As Joanna works to grow and scale her dog walking, boarding, and training business, she’s been able to mitigate some of the risks every business faces, simply by staying on top of the numbers.

Bruce Carr of Web Ninja.

Regular business plan reviews increase your transparency

“The plan gets people talking,” he says. “You say, ‘I’ll commit to do this, this, and this.’ Or, ‘Have we thought about that? Let’s have a discussion. Put a milestone. Put someone responsible to it.’ It’s wonderful.” ― Bruce Carr founder of Web Ninja

This year, how will you make sure you’re on track to meet your business goals? Having a regular business plan review—monthly or quarterly—creates time and space for you to review your numbers and adjust your strategy regularly. It’s made a big difference for Bruce and his team at Web Ninja.

Even if you’re a team of one, reviewing your plan with a business mentor, or someone you trust, shines a light on how your actual results compare to what you forecast. You can make adjustments quickly, set new milestones and goals, and avoid roadblocks like a cash flow crisis.

Jared Fackrell of Capitol Cider.

A healthy business is never done planning

“There’s a great Eisenhower quote: ‘Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable,’” says Jared Fackrell. “I think that’s very true. Everything changes so much. We’re not going to really know till we have doors open which direction we’re going to take it in.” ― Jared Fackrell, founder of Capitol Cider

When our LivePlan team talked to Jared, he was just about to open the doors of his brand new Capitol Cider location. He wrote a business plan, in part to help him explain his vision to supporters, but also to help him validate his idea—to figure out if the vision he had, an unpretentious, locally sourced cider house, could be a profitable, successful business.

But that initial business planning phase is just the start. A healthy, growing business is always coming back to and refining their strategic roadmap—we call it Lean Planning.

from Bplans Articles http://bit.ly/2QSUvX2

The Perfect Pitch: A Pixar Storyteller’s Secret

For 25 years, it’s been my job to craft heartwarming and sometimes heart-wrenching stories about rats that want to cook, fish that become better parents, and toys that learn to get along. Stories can transport us to unique (and imaginary) worlds, transforming the way we think and feel by placing us in the paws, fins, or cowboy boots of the heroes going through life-changing events.

The principles of great storytelling, which I used at Pixar, can also be leveraged by entrepreneurs wanting to seal the deal at their next pitch or presentation.

Great stories help us feel more connected with information. This is why Pixar films resonate so deeply with us and we remember the characters and moments so vividly. When you transform data and statistics into a story, memory increases dramatically. The late cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner found that facts are 22 times more likely to be remembered if they are part of a story.

The 8-second countdown

One key fact: You have eight seconds to convince investors or customers that you’ve got something worth hearing about before they zone out, tune out, or check out.

So how do you create a great hook that holds someone’s attention? Start with something unusual, unexpected, action-driven, or in conflict.

Start with a “what if?” scenario.

“What if superheroes were banned from saving people?” That was the hook for “The Incredibles,” which took the day-to-day world of superheroes saving people and turned it into an unusual situation. Your audience is now hooked and asking, “Why and how did they get banned?”

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, his hook was: “What if you could put a thousand songs in your pocket?” This was unheard of. At the time, the only way you could listen to music on the go was with a cassette tape stuffed in a Walkman. Steve shared something unusual and unexpected in eight seconds that grabbed his audience’s attention.

Entrepreneurs, take notice. Look at your product or service as if it were a movie. Develop that eight-second “elevator pitch” that grabs clients by the lapels. Tell a compelling story that shows how their lives will be changed.

Inside the brain: Why storytelling works

Storytelling is the most effective way to change minds, behaviors, and philosophies. When characters go through a believable transformation, the audience is changed as well. This “neural coupling” occurs when the brain activity of the storyteller and the person listening mirror each other.

Neural coupling actually affects our bodies on a chemical level. When people—or even animated toys, robots, or rats—are laughing, smiling, or sharing stories of suspense, dopamine and endorphins are released in our bodies. When the story is sad or somber, oxytocin is released. When we place these sad and happy moments next to each other in a story, we build an amusement park ride for people’s hearts and minds.

Wouldn’t you love to deliver a sales pitch to an investor or customer and have that same can’t-leave-your-seat effect on your audience?

Build a stronger relationship with your audience by inviting them to an experience, not a mission statement. Share authentic stories that are personal, vulnerable, and honest.

Stories deliver smart lessons

After “Toy Story” came out in 1995 and was declared a huge success, employees wondered if Pixar would try its hand at making live-action movies as well. What about TV shows? Video games? Pixar employees were prepared to make the leap from startup to a worldwide media company, like Disney.

To keep us grounded, Steve Jobs shared a cautionary tale that kept us focused as a company and safe from going bankrupt. It went like this: “When Apple was just getting started, the team and I loved to go eat at one particular sandwich shop in Silicon Valley. Although it was a small shop, owned and operated by a family, it served the very best sandwiches in town.

“The sandwiches were so delicious; we would even wait 45 minutes in line just to get one. But as the sandwich shop grew in popularity, the owners began to serve coffee and pastries to compete with Starbucks and Krispy Kreme. Unfortunately, their coffee and pastries were mediocre, and the attention to detail on their trademark sandwiches lapsed. So we stopped eating there. Months later, I discovered the sandwich shop was gone. They had spread themselves too thin, and they went out of business.”

Steve’s story drove home the point loud and clear: Don’t over leverage yourself.

Even though “Toy Story” was a wild success, if we spread ourselves too thin, too fast, we would risk losing it all. We needed to focus on making really good animated family films. Steve knew the best way to communicate this message to us was by sharing a story about characters facing change and learning.

Include a beginning, middle, and end

One last tip: Make sure you include a beginning, middle, and end in your stories. Did you see how Steve included a setup, build, and payoff in his sandwich story?

Setup: Successful business.

Build: Business grows too quickly.

Payoff: Business goes bankrupt.

This structure keeps an audience from getting bored, confused, or distracted.

For thousands of years, the best writers (and savvy business leaders) have used these storytelling techniques to inspire their listeners to try something new. Now it’s your turn. How can you, the entrepreneur, use storytelling to create stronger authentic connections with your investors and customers?

from Bplans Articles http://bit.ly/2EJoKJ2

The Galway Bay Story: One Man’s Crusade Against Rain

Remember the Snuggie? It’s a freaking blanket with sleeves, but would it surprise you to learn the guy who invented the Snuggie sold over 200 million dollars’ worth?

Yep, there’s a fine line between innovative entrepreneur and crackpot inventor.

Today’s story is about a really innovative entrepreneur: a rain gear manufacturer who doesn’t want to be pigeonholed as a manufacturer of rain gear. Terry Prillaman founded Galway Bay apparel nearly 10 years ago with zero experience in the golf apparel business, armed only with a personal aversion to rain, sweat, and dropping his pants on the golf course – plus the testicular fortitude to believe he could come up with something better.

No Experience Required

Before 2009, Terry Prillaman’s only connection to golf apparel was wearing it.

“I manage people’s retirement plans,” he tells MyGolfSpy. “I started Galway Bay because nobody made a pair of slacks that would keep me warm and dry.”

We’ve all played golf in the rain and cold. And we’ve all come to accept the limitations of cold and wet weather gear: restricted movement, ill-fitting and uncomfortable. And, since we look silly golfing in the rain anyway, we don’t really care what it looks like. All we want is to stay reasonably warm and dry.

“I’m in Atlanta, we play golf year-round,” says Prillaman. “But today, it’s 38 degrees, and it might drizzle, so you could play. But you’d have to put on some long underwear, some warm pants and then some rain pants.”

“I’d go over to the golf course looking like I gained 30 pounds. You could hear me from a block away as I shooshed in with my pants dragging on the ground and I’m like, ‘I hate this.’ But that’s it, that’s what you do.”

That’s Atlanta. In the North, golf season can start in early March and run into late November. You’ll be wearing long johns and the warmest pants you can find for those early and late season rounds. If it’s at all drizzly, you’ll also have to pull on a pair of bulky rain pants.

“The simple question is why would you wear two pairs of pants in the rain when one pair will do the trick, and fit you properly?”

What Prillaman has done with Galway Bay is perhaps the very definition of niche product development: slacks you can wear in the rain, cold (without long johns) or in fair weather, and that wouldn’t look out of place on Casual Friday. And not for nothing, Galway Bay’s pants and jackets finished tied for first in MyGolfSpy’s 2018 Best Rain Gear shootout.

That’s quite an accomplishment for a 9-year-old company whose roots can be traced to Oscar Robertson, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and an entrepreneur’s insatiable curiosity.

Big O and The Mounties

“I’ve always paid attention to clothing, even as a kid,” says Prillaman. “Back then, everybody wore canvas Converse sneakers. When I saw Oscar Robertson wearing some leather basketball shoes, I went off the deep end trying to find out where I could get some.”

That same curiosity prompted Prillaman to seek out better rain gear.

“I never really thought about it until the winter of ’09, when I’d go play golf every weekend,” he says. “I’d have to wear all this stuff. So I started Googling for waterproof pants that were slacks that would also keep you warm, and there was nothing, and I mean nowhere. Not here, not overseas, not anywhere.”

It was at that moment Prillaman heard the sweet sound of opportunity’s knock.

“I started researching fabrics, and finally found a company in Canada that made fabric used for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I thought, okay, that’s what I want.”

Next came the first run of 1000 pairs of what were essentially waterproof slacks from a company no one had ever heard of. Now the challenge was to move them.

“I did a booth at the PGA Merchandise Show, and that was worthless,” he says. “But I did meet a guy that had a Sirius XM radio show. He had me on, and that just lit it up. I sold 800 pairs in about 4 months.”

Galway Bay’s offerings have evolved since those early days, with jackets, vests and half-sleeve tops since added, but always with the notion that it can’t be a me-too product.

“If I made over-pants and made them out of Gore-Tex, it’d be fine, but it’d be the same thing every over high-end company’s got,” he says. “Why would you buy mine when you could buy the same thing from a company you know about?”

“I have to think differently. I know people don’t like having to wear two or three pairs of pants just to play golf, so what if I make something that’s one pair, easy to wear and actually custom-hem them? They look good, you put ‘em on, and you’re good to go.”

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The Anti-Swamp Ass/Anti-Perversion Crusade

The difference between waterproof and water resistant is simple: waterproof means you won’t get wet at all, and water resistant means you won’t get wet right away.

Waterproof means all seams are sealed, and there’s a membrane in the fabric – usually a laminated polyester, sometimes Gore-Tex – that keeps water from penetrating. There’s also a topical chemical applied to the fabric to make water bead up so the fabric won’t soak it in and get heavy. Depending on how often you play in relatively serious rain, the question is: how waterproof does a garment need to be?

“If I make it to withstand four hours of solid rain, I have to shrink the pores in the membrane so small that I’ve just created a sweatsuit,” says Prillaman. “No water gets in, but no moisture gets out. You try to find that fine line between waterproof enough to keep you dry, but comfortable enough so you can wear it and not sweat.”

“If you go Gore-Tex, you’re going to sweat. If you go cheap laminated poly, you’re gonna get wet. I try to be above that level in waterproof, but not so non-breathable that it’s not comfortable.”

“Which is worse, swamp ass or getting wet? I don’t care who you are, and I don’t care what you do – swamp ass is not good.” – Terry Prillaman

Whatever you think you know about rain pants, toss it out. Instead of standard S, M, L or XL sizing, Galway Bay pants are sized like, you know, pants. You can buy 34-20, or 40-30, in either lined or unlined models (lined are for cold weather golf, unlined you can wear a good chunk of the season – both are waterproof). You can also buy an unhemmed model for a more custom length fit.

You’ll also find belt loops, a 7-inch zipper, and 9-inch pockets. You wouldn’t think stuff like that matters, but every detail – and inch – counts.

“Do they (other manufacturers) not understand that when men play golf, they sometimes drink?” says Prillaman. “Occasionally, you’ve got to pee. So I gotta go hide to drop trou so the cart girl won’t catch me. I’m standing there, peeing in the woods with my pants around my knees. I look like a perv, so I’m like, put a damn zipper on there!”

Yes, some other some rain pants do have zippers and pockets, but even those can come up short.

“This is kind of a Euro brand, maybe a Travis Matthews or a Puma or something,” says Prillaman. “But they put a 5-inch zipper in the front. I don’t know if their anatomy’s different, but 5-inches doesn’t work. You need a 7-inch zipper. Also, a lot of manufacturers put 7-inch pockets in their rain pants. I get in my golf cart and sit down, the next thing I know, my tees, ball markers, change, everything, is down on the seat. Put a 9-inch pocket in there!”

“It’s funny how when you go through competitors’ products and examine every little stitch; you find stuff that’s just common sense. Hell, I can do better than that.”

The Difference of Being Different

They say a camel is a horse designed by committee. It’s a clever line, but it illustrates why Prillaman and Galway Bay can go toe-to-toe with the Nike’s, FootJoy’s and Under Armours of the world.

“It’s me against a thousand people with unlimited money,” says Prillaman. “So I have to come up with something better or else I’d get marketed under the table. This is my baby, and I probably spend more time researching fabrics, looking at samples and trying to figure out new ways to make things different.”

Meaningful innovation is what separates the entrepreneurial visionary from the crackpot inventor, and it’s what gives them a fighting chance against an industry’s establishment. The big players, even with all their R&D might, are process and committee-driven, investing time in what they know will sell. Rocking the boat is not in their DNA.

“When I first started, I’m thinking this is way too rational, why hasn’t anybody else thought of it?” admit Prillaman. “But take an Under Armour. What percentage of their business is golf rainwear? Maybe a tenth of one percent? It’s not enough for them to really spend time or money to capture the market.”

“FootJoy can put out a mediocre product and market it to success. If I don’t put out the best or most innovative product out there, I got no chance.”

Instead of design committees, sourcing committees and production committees, it’s pretty much Prillaman himself, his samples and his drawings. Working with his manufacturers, he can bring an innovative product to market within six months.

Galway Bay’s half-sleeve rain jacket is a good example. Lots of people make very good ones, but Prillaman adds a unique twist to his.

“There are times you need a long sleeve, maybe it gets a little chillier or starts raining harder,” he says. “You either deal with it, change jackets in mid-stream, or you make a jacket with zip-on or snap-on sleeves. But you have to take the jacket off, lay it on the seat of the cart, get the sleeves out, set them out and start snapping or zipping. I thought hey, I can do better than that.”

What Prillaman did was find a pair of Nike thermal pull-on sleeves, soak them with a water repellant chemical, and give it a whirl. It turns out it worked like a champ.

“So I took these sleeves to China and told them I wanted them cured in Teflon,” he says. “Now I make a Teflon-coated thermal sleeve that’s water repellant. You keep them in your bag, and if it gets colder or rains harder, you pull the sleeves on. You don’t have to change jackets. Water rolls off like it’s a duck’s back.”

“It’s just little things, little innovations, trying to be creative and all of a sudden you create something that nobody’s got. If you don’t think you can improve on what’s already out there, you just leave it alone.”

This is also the first year Galway Bay has offered unlined pants, thanks to a new, more breathable fabric.

“My concept was originally for cold weather, but I figured people from Southern California, Texas, Florida don’t need that much cold protection,” says Prillaman. “The unlined pants – the coldest you could wear them without long underwear is about 45 degrees, but you could wear them up to 75 degrees and feel no hotter than if you wore a regular pair of golf pants. The unlined are good from about freezing to 55 degrees.”

“The unlined have a little bit of stretch in the fabric, so it’s like wearing a nice pair of regular pants, they just happen to be waterproof, they block the wind, they stretch and are breathable.”

What’s Next?

You won’t find Galway Bay at many retailers, and you won’t find them at many Pro Shops. That may change, but in order to keep pricing where it is (below other premium rain gear), distribution will likely remain online.

“If I was selling my product today in a retail outlet, it would be $400 bucks for a jacket and $280, maybe $300 for a pair of pants,” says Prillaman. “That’s a price that retail can’t stand in the U.S.”

For now, the company relies on limited advertising and word-of-mouth, although Prillaman agrees seeing is believing.

“If you’ve never heard of it and someone tells you about it, you’d be 50% inclined to buy. If you saw someone wearing it and talked with them, it’d go to maybe 75%. If you put it on and realize what it feels like and how it fits, I would say I’ll make a sale 95% of the time.”

“You have to put it on and compare it with what else is out there, then you can tell the difference. Little things like it doesn’t shoosh as much, it fits better, it doesn’t drag on the ground – all the little features you kinda get once you put it on.” – Terry Prillaman

Prillaman did sell a piece of his company a few years ago to an investor and admits the investor’s idea is to ramp up the company and sell it off. He says the idea of a nice, big check is appealing, but there’d have to be a bunch of zeroes and a few commas for him to think twice.

“I’m 65, I still play a lot of golf and this is still enjoyable,” he says. “I like creating, I like traveling, I just like doing it. If I did get approached by someone like a Callaway who said we’d like to buy it, I’d consider it, but I’d want a job. I still want to be involved, otherwise, I wouldn’t want to sell and walk away. Unless, of course, the check is really, really big. But that’s not going to happen this year.”

Better rain gear probably isn’t at the top of anyone’s mind, and you could say Prillaman has a solution in search of a problem. But that’s if you look at his stuff as something to wear only when it’s raining. If you play golf in the spring or fall in cold weather parts of the world, how many layers do you really want to wear?

And if you’re thinking if this was such a good idea, why didn’t the big guys think of it already, you may need a lesson in how R&D in big companies really works.

“I guess the bigger companies figure it’s not that big of a market, so why would we want to do anything different?” says Prillaman. “We’ll just do what everyone else does and make old shusshy, baggy rain pants.”

“I’ve gotten calls from Callaway reps, TaylorMade reps, PXG reps,” he adds. “They’ve bought apparel from me even though they have their own because theirs is crappy and mine is better.”

“It’s very validating, very gratifying to be able to go head to head with anybody, no matter their size or resources, and do it better than they do.”

from MyGolfSpy https://ift.tt/2SaWL8L

11 Effective Offline Marketing Ideas for Startups in 2019

Most of us believe that these days, digital marketing is the only way to get results. While this may be true for a specific target market, some of the best marketing ideas happen offline. Great marketing strategies are those that combine both online and offline ideas seamlessly, in one complete package. 

If you haven’t been putting much effort into your offline marketing tactics, then it’s time that you give your business a boost with the following offline marketing ideas.

Inspiration has always been within your reach—you just need to know where to look.

1. Get creative with your business cards

Investing in well-made business cards is one of the most effective ways to get your business out there. Set your brand apart by choosing a unique design that reflects your brand values and creativity.

Always ensure that everyone who is anyone in your company has their own to give away, because you never know when they’ll need to share your business details with a prospective client.

As with all print design, weigh what you want against what it costs. There are plenty of cheap, templated business plan generators out there. But if you have something special in mind, or you want to have the opportunity to pick (and feel) a specific type of business card paper, you might want to look for a local designer and print shop.

Keep in mind that your business card is an extension of your brand, so it’s helpful if you’re consistent. Don’t use a different logo, font style, or colors than the ones you use on your website or on the rest of your (on and offline) marketing materials.

Quick tips to make your business cards stand out:

• Use colored cardboard instead of the usual white
• Change the orientation from landscape to portrait
• Here’s a guide to designing a great business card that will help

2. Make the most out of your printed marketing material

Another way to get your brand message out to your target market is to give away printed marketing material. Flyer printing may seem like an old tactic, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get results, especially if you’re heading to a trade show, or trying to gain some visibility in your local area.

Go the extra mile and innovate beyond the standard template. There are a lot of creative ways you can get your target market’s attention using flyers and pamphlets, so make sure yours are practical for reading, keeping, and saving. Here’s a guide to making great flyers with some beautiful examples.

Quick tips to make flyers and pamphlets worth keeping:

• Print out informative infographics and turn those into flyers
• Add discount coupons at the bottom of your flyers
• Make sure to include your contact information

3. Go big with billboards

Go for innovative design if you want your billboards to stand out. There’s so much you can do with outdoor advertising, especially if your billboards are located in high traffic areas.

It may seem like a big expense since billboard space doesn’t necessarily come cheap, but the exposure can be worth it. Make sure your call to action and contact information is printed clearly to make the most out of your small investment. Less is more when you need your message to be digestible in a single glance.

Quick tips to save money on billboards:

• Have your vehicles wrapped and turn them into mobile billboards, or look into advertising on buses or public transit that travel through your target market’s area
• Partner up with a vertical business for a joint campaign and share the costs for a premium billboard
• Don’t just put your billboard anywhere—make sure you do research about demographics of your target market so that you know your billboard will actually be seen by people who might buy your product or service

4. Package your products differently

If you’re selling physical goods with a lot of competition, you need to make sure that your product packaging is well thought out. There are many ways you can boost your brand’s exposure on the shelves just by packaging your products differently.

You can also give away stickers or branded knick knacks with every purchase of your product so that fans of your brand can help spread the word.

Quick tips to update your product packaging:

• Incorporate recycled material into your packaging (make sure to include a humble brag about it on there too)
• Change the orientation from landscape to portrait
• Make sure you (or your designer) understand the basics of color and design psychology and function; The Design of Everyday Things is a great, eye-opening resource
• Test a few different design prototypes to see what resonates more with customers

5. Offer group specific discounts

There’s no better way to foster brand loyalty and get your message out there than by throwing a sale.

By offering discounts to a specific target market, you’re making clients feel privileged while boosting leads and sales. Advertise the incentives and you’ll even get the attention of prospective clients who have never heard of you before.

Quick tips to give away great discounts:

• Pick out a specific demographic (freshmen, moms, newlyweds) and give them their own sale week
• Partner with other stores in your area to offer discounts that work together; for example, some smaller movie theaters offer discounts on dinner at a local restaurant if you show your ticket stub 

6. Celebrate holidays with your clients

Love the holidays? Send out cards and small gifts to clients and use special occasions and milestones to make your presence known. And you don’t have to spend a lot of money celebrating with your customers.

A well-designed, well-thought-out, personalized greeting or small token can show clients that you care and that they mean something to your brand.

Quick tips to make the holidays memorable for clients:

• Offer unique discounts for every appropriate holiday in your calendar; make it easy for customers to remember with in-store signs and even reminders on their receipts
• Send out “Happy Anniversary” cards with special discounts to your clients on your store anniversary
• A few months before the holidays, give away a coupon book that your clients can use for their holiday shopping at your store

7. Get your own PR team

There’s really no need to put together an in-house PR team for your company; you just need to create relationships with relevant media to get favorable coverage from the local journalists in your area. Go out of your way to get to know them and show them what your brand is about.

Get your brand story ready and make sure that it’s newsworthy. To be fair, the days when you circulated print copies of press releases to news organizations are gone. So this strategy is offline in that good, genuine PR, like good marketing, is about creating relationships with reporters and others who can help spread (hopefully good) news about your company.

Quick tips to get extra PR power:

• Invite the press over for an official meet and greet
• Invite public officials to your office to comment about a top of mind issue that pertains to your business and invite the press
• If it makes sense for your business, look into offline publications that your target market is most likely to read (maybe it’s the Wall Street Journal, maybe it’s Backpacker’s magazine) and get familiar with their publication protocols

8. Network your way to success

Even with a small business, you can network your way to success. There are countless opportunities to build a business network even in a small town, so make sure that you attend all relevant business activities in your area.

Look for your area’s chamber of commerce, a Toastmaster’s club, Rotary, or other professional associations.

Quick tips to create a strong business network:

• If your area still doesn’t have a business group, round up some interested business owners and meet up to start a small network
• Read up on how to get the most out of networking, even if you’re an introvert
• Don’t forget to bring your business cards everywhere!
• Practice your elevator speech about your business so you’re never caught off guard

9. Participate in trade shows

Attending and participating in trade shows is another way to get more exposure for your business. Whether you’re displaying or selling, you’ll be able to generate quality leads in just a few short days.

Make sure that your promotional materials are well suited to your objectives so that you don’t waste valuable time or resources.

Quick tips to make the most out of trade shows:

• Have a gimmick so that your target market will flock to your booth
• Give away free product samples or discount codes for every lead you collect
• Be a speaker or offer a workshop at the conference: a built-in, captive audience
• Follow up with everyone who gives you their contact information within a week of the conference

10. Offer expert advice

As an expert in your chosen field, there are numerous opportunities where you can help people and at the same time get airtime for your business.

Try becoming a guest at a local radio show or morning TV show and offer consumer advice that is related to your brand and industry. See if you can get a regular column in your newspaper or other relevant publication. Be genuine and offer some valuable information.

If you use your platform to deliver a hard sales pitch, you’ll waste an opportunity to build real relationships and connections with peers and potential customers.

Quick tips to be the expert:

• Hold a “free consultation” day at your business; make it valuable and actionable
• Have a section for useful tips on your flyers
• Look for opportunities to share your skills and insights in the wider community

11. Be more visible

If you want to be more visible in your community, there are a few ways to help people start to recognize your brand.

One option: outfit your team (even if that’s just you) with quality clothing that features your branding. It’s good advertising and a good investment in your team. Also, Think about sponsoring or volunteering for a cause in your area. Most sponsorship opportunities come with some promotion (brand awareness) opportunities.

And if you do decide to volunteer, wear that branded shirt!

Quick tips to make your business more visible:

• Look for causes that are in line with your mission, when you’re thinking about volunteering or sponsorship opportunities
• Think of your logo wear as an investment that shines a light on the quality of your brand

Now, you’re ready to take your marketing offline and into the world. What’s your favorite offline marketing strategy?

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2015. It was updated in 2018.

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