Bringing good people together is always rewarding; and to have the pleasure of being together on the set of a TV show with one of our clients who had an idea for a new product, along with the president of the company that manufactured and brought it to market, was extremely exciting. Our host was wonderful at asking great questions and bringing out the story of how a new product comes to be from three different perspectives.

From the perspective of the producers of “The Balancing Act,” their goal is to tell a good, interesting story for their viewers. From ours, it’s trying to communicate to the world about a methodology that I’ve invented that brings idea people, the inventing process, the manufacturer and the sales process all together to create something that will benefit the end consumer

Our methodology is an invention itself, and trying to educate and inform the world as to how it works is nothing short of a great challenge. The old methods may work sometimes, but they’re old school now.

It was wonderful to hear the president of the company go on and on about the value of how Davison puts together real, packaged product samples that can be walked right into their major retail buyers so they can make decisions. It was a great moment for me to watch something I invented (my methodology) being so highly touted by the people it benefits – my inventor and my corporate customer. The word’s getting out, and that’s exciting!

The interview can be seen on July 28 and Aug. 11 on Lifetime TV’s The Balancing Act, which airs at 7 a.m.

I can’t describe to you how it feels for us to go to stores today and see all these clients’ ideas and our ideas right there on the shelves, again and again, proving that every idea and pursuit of an idea is worthwhile. I know and study the history of how things came to be in this country, and it doesn’t matter if it’s an idea about our political system, or for a new movie or a new product; it’s that entrepreneurial spirit of people willing to chase an idea that makes this country great. So when I see 500-plus stores have carried our new items over the past 20 years, I am filled with optimism about the future because we as a people have what it takes to chase it.

I never expected my clients to inspire me the way they do, but with each and every item on the store shelf, I reflect on that very first thought of where that new idea came from and the story of what drove that person to want to do something about it. Today, to be able to look back at the 500 stores and see what has been created from all these ideas is just beyond belief for me.

I know we will accomplish our mission . . . 500 stores is just a drop in the bucket – we won’t stop there. I know our team, and we will chase higher and greater numbers. We won’t rest until that “D” on the back of packages is a brand that everyone in the country recognizes.

Our country’s history is built around turning ideas into reality; and I think it’s pretty appropriate, especially in these challenging times, that we know there can be an even better future ahead of us. We want to continue to build ideas and inspire people to move their ideas from their mind to the real world. I hope seeing what we’ve created with Inventionland can in some small way inspire people to continue to create all sorts of good things for our future.

The book reveals the concept sketch in the front and then the end result on subsequent pages, some of which open out to reveal the scope of our unique design facility, including a 4 ½-foot-long, four-page centerfold! It’s important for people to understand that everything that exists started out as just an idea in the mind of an individual, as did my idea for Inventionland.

The methodology of idea to execution; to ultimately walk through your dream or idea, as we’re doing here, is consistent with some of our historical leaders who created and built everything around us today, such as Ford, Disney and Edison. As we stand on their shoulders and build a better world, we have the obligation to inspire the next generation to take what we’ve built and build something even better.

To see the book on Amazon, click here.

A new invention inside a corporation may start out as an idea from an engineer, who builds a prototype, then goes for additional funding and review by corporate executives until finally someone says, “This really looks like it could be a new product for our company.” At that point, some corporations look at patenting as an option. Others will actually send their sales people to meet with the buyers, who agree to confidentiality, and present the innovation to get feedback to see if there’s any market for this new creation. If, at either of these stages, the feedback doesn’t look promising, the corporations don’t bother wasting their money on attorneys and patent fees. A new invention by an everyday person, however, usually starts out differently than those of experienced corporations.

If you’re reading this blog, it probably means you’re into ideas, and you’ve probably been in a setting where someone said, “Oh, I’ve got an idea,” and someone else said, “You better get a patent first.” Well, this has happened to me recently, and as I sat there and listened to the dialogue between these two people who had no corporate experience, it dawned on me. Little did they know – the way it works is, in fact, the exact opposite. The idea in question hadn’t been developed at all. Anybody who does this work knows that every idea goes through many changes on its journey from a thought to a finished product that can be manufactured and packaged at a price point that the consumer is willing to pay.

The lesson is simple, folks: Patent like a corporation — after you have fully figured out the product and know if it’s wanted by the buyers. Don’t waste your money.

Click here for a free Confidentiality Agreement.

It’s not always easy to be positive because there’s always a critic around the corner; it may be a parent, a teacher, a spouse or a friend. And when we trust them with our deepest thoughts and ideas we expose so much of ourselves to criticism, and some creative people may never recover. This blog is for all of you out there who keep the faith and keep strong in the face of opposition when it confronts you or confronts your idea. Remember, those closest to you are one type of critic, and the other is the competition to your idea. They will use their political influence to criticize your idea in hopes that they will stop you or tire you out. By the way, if this is happening to you let me be the first to congratulate you. Your idea is becoming so successful that it threatens their position in the world. So, smile at their attempt to criticize and let it give you inner strength and more desire in your heart to succeed.

One of my mentors always said, “I never want to sail the open seas with a captain who has only had calm seas.” Experience in difficult and challenging situations is of more value than most people realize. The experienced creative people, like Edison, Ford and Disney, knew when they were becoming successful. Their ideas were forcing change and that’s never easy for those entrenched in the way things are currently done. The battles between Edison and Westinghouse, the zipper and Velcro, and more, are well documented. So know your history because it will guide you, and always believe in yourself and what you’re creating; it truly is the inventor’s secret ingredient.  

For example, someone who loves to make clay pots and is always creating them knows that over time their skills get better. Practice makes perfect, in other words. The act of inventing something also requires constant work at creating all the different facets of the invention in order to make it into a new product.

First, there’s the creation of the idea, and the more brainstorming you do, the better you get at it. Then, there’s the creation of concept models, and the more you do of that, the better you get at it. There’s the creation of best manufacturing methods to make the product, and the more you do, the better you get at it. The more you create engineering, photography and graphics for packaging, and packages to store shelf quality the better you get at those. But that’s not all – the more you negotiate with corporations and work at forming good relationships with companies, the better you get at those, as well.

If you take all those things and wrap them up into one big bundle, the better you get at inventing new products. The ABC’s of inventing is to be creating all the time in any of those areas. The skill sets required to become proficient in all of them are truly hard to find. It’s kind of like the famous artists of the world whose paintings hang in museums. After a lifetime of working on the ABCs, every work of art they’ve created is in demand.

Now that we have created more products that are in the stores than anyone else, we have broken new ground and made history; but we never take our eyes off the ABC’s. Each product we design – whether for ourselves, corporations or the individuals who hire us – gets treated like a work of art by skilled artisans with intense dedication who are always focusing on those ABC’s, project after project.

It’s so telling to sit down and listen to someone who has all these years of wisdom and watch people gather around just to hear her speak. Our ancestors really had it right when they put the oldest people into positions of leadership and teaching of the younger folks. The challenge is to find someone who’s older who has truly lived a compelling life.

For some reason I have always been drawn to people like this. It seems young people just want to get on with things, but don’t really understand all the ins and outs of how the human race operates; as a result they make more mistakes then necessary. Why is it most young people or people who are doing things for the first time don’t seek wisdom from those who are older or more experienced? Common sense says, if you can find a guide who’s been there before or had a life experience that can help you in some way before you start out on your new adventure, you should seek their counsel.

I enjoy being around older people; they’re not trying to prove something to the world, money is of no real importance, influence is of no real importance – they simply want to share with you, if you’re willing to listen … and their wisdom is wonderful.

Similarly, we don’t have all the answers, but we do have the experience. For over 20 years, inventing is all we’ve done; and when people are willing to listen and trust us, we do everything we can and use all of our experience to help.

“Innovation” and “new” keep companies fresh with something to sell that consumers can’t get anywhere else. It’s no wonder that we’re licensing so many new products nowadays.

Several friends of mine own large companies who have been juggling the impact of the Internet on the products they sell. One such company sells paintball guns. They’re the highest quality guns in the world, and yet sales have been declining because so many people are trading their paintball guns instead of buying new ones.

In an effort to have something to market, they’ve come out with their own line of less expensive paintball guns with variations on the same technology that is in more expensive guns – it has led to an expansion of their company’s business in the lower priced market.

The key is to come up with something new and better, so consumers demand it. And while there will always be a trader’s market for people who don’t mind buying used and dealing with the problems that come with used items, by focusing on innovation and new products, you protect your company’s vitality in the marketplace.

We’ve been hard at work for over a year developing a new curriculum to help high school students understand how things are made in this world. After running it by about 45 teachers, principals and superintendents during an in-service in Inventionland, we know we’re on the right track. The curriculum was well received, and getting their help and input to make additional improvements is invaluable.

It turns out that the process of developing a product is really very similar to developing curriculum. First, you do your pre-development work, identify the needs of the marketplace, brainstorm out a solution, then work through a series of concept models until you eventually get the direction that seems best. Then you put forth a great deal of effort to build the finished product, or curriculum in this case, which then gets reviewed and tested prior to product launch.

In today’s curriculum environment, teachers are finding it more and more difficult to capture the imaginations of young people. Our project-based curriculum will enable students to be actively involved in the process of developing new inventions.

By having students go through the sequence of successful products on store shelves, they can see how the development process works and can get an overall picture in their mind that functions as a “how to” map, which builds a belief system in young people. Once you see how a process can be applied to an idea you see it isn’t magic – it isn’t unorthodox guesswork; it is a process you can apply to any invention to get it developed.
 
Currently we’re working with state and local (and soon, federal) representatives on making sure the next generation grasps one of the most basic roots of our economy for the last 200 years – how inventors build the economic model of the U.S. I hope that we’re able to do our part, so that we can continue to lead the world toward the innovation frontier.

Well, it’s happened again – Just when I was getting over the shock of replacing all the helmets in Wal-Mart, another grand-slam homer gets smacked out of the ball park!

We did development work for the same company in the automotive seat cushion area. As a result, the company landed 12 more products in Wal-Mart and, once again, knocked its competitor off the retail giant’s shelves.

It just seems too good to be true – not only will we be collecting royalties on all the helmets Wal-Mart sells, now we will be collecting on all the seat cushions they sell, too. It’s a royalty bonanza!

Besides that, it’s just wonderful to go to stores and see our big, blue “D” on the products and packages that we have created. So, the next time you’re shopping, turn over some packages and look for the big, blue “D” – you’re sure to find it!