You've Moved Well Through All Phases of Product Development, but Let's Face it--If Customers Don't Know Your Product Exists, You'll Never Sell Enough to Make a Profit. That's Where Marketing Comes In.

Marketing is the most crucial stage in a product's life. Products don't usually sell themselves. A marketing plan must be devised to show how the product will gain the attention of the buying public. There are many ways to market a product. Listed below are some of the major ones:

1. Public Relations Marketing--If your product is interesting enough, a public relations consultant may be able to obtain free coverage in print, radio or TV. This is a great way to promote a product because it seems non-biased. A publicist costs between $1,500 to $4,000/month and may generate publicity which would cost many times that amount if paid for as regular advertising.

2. Co-op Advertising--You prepare advertising materials, newspaper ads, magazine ads, radio spots and TV (a 30-second TV commercial cost about $30,000-$40,000 to produce). Then you offer an advertising allowance to stores who advertise your product using your ad materials. A five to 10 percent ad allowance is common (you deduct five to 10 percent of your wholesale selling price to the store when they prove that they used that amount of money for advertising).

3. Demonstrations--Many times a product must be demonstrated to really show what it can do. These can be in-store demonstrations or even door-to-door demonstrations. Videotaped demonstrations can also work well.

4. Catalog Sales--Mail-order catalogs are a great place to market new products. There is space to describe the benefits of the product fully and show a beautiful photo, as well. The percentage of products sold through catalogs is increasing every year. Usually the catalog will pay for all printing and mailing expenses, so your cost is only for the product that is delivered to the catalog company's warehouse. Also the packaging design can be simpler because the customer isn't buying based on the box (as he is in the store).

5. Telemarketing--Sales via the telephone. This is a statistics game. If you get the right list of phone numbers for your buying population, chances are that "X" percent of them will be interested in your product.

6. TV Marketing--"Infomercials," both short form (1-2 min.) and long form (30 min.) are a great vehicle for introducing a new exciting product. Credit card orders mean instant income. Producing the show and buying air time can be quite expensive, however. If you're interested in informercial, I suggest you subscribe to "Response TV."

7. Direct Mail Marketing--You buy a list of names and addresses of people who might be interested in your product. Again--this is a statistics game. Out of every thousand letters you send, maybe 10 or 20 will respond favorably.

8. Premiums--If your product is inexpensive enough, it may be purchased in volume as a premium by a company who sells a related product. Example: An inexpensive vitamin dispenser is given away with the purchase of six vitamin bottles.

9. Trade Shows--Every industry has a trade show. All the buyers and sellers are at these shows. Either you can take a booth at a show or walk the show and try to make deals with the right people.

In Conclusion--Marketing is an involved, multi-faceted area of knowledge. There have been many books written on the subject. You need to be able to take rejection and proceed in whatever direction yields results. Many cities have senior citizens groups in which veteran businessmen are willing to give you years worth of knowledge. It takes time to make the right connections and the person or group who does the marketing deserves about 10 to 35 percent of the wholesale selling price--depending on volume.

Good luck.

Ken Tarlow is president of Tarlow Design, a full-service product development company that helps independent inventors design, prototype, patent and license consumer product ideas. He has developed more than 300 consumer products worth over one billion dollars in retail sales. Tarlow's office is in San Rafael, CA. He may be reached at (415) 457-6428.

The above article was excerpted from Tarlow's MIND TO MONEY, a cassette tape/workbook package that can help you develop a new product from the idea stage to the marketplace. MIND TO MONEY may be ordered from the Dream Merchant for $59.95, plus $4.95 CA sales tax and $5 shipping and handling ($69.90 total). Send orders to the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501.

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