InventionHome DRTV Product Summit a Huge Success
October 3rd, 2011 by InventionHome | 6 Comments
Question: If you are an inventor with an invention destined to be sold on TV, what could possibly be better than pitching your invention in person to a top executive at one of the major direct response companies in the industry?
Answer: Presenting your invention to SIX top executives at SIX major direct response companies in ONE place!
That’s exactly the opportunity 24 lucky inventors chosen from over 800 submissions had on September 28th at InventionHome’s inaugural DRTV Product Summit at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA. Inventors were given 10 minutes to pitch their product in private sessions with six companies with the intent of landing a licensing or distribution deal. The DRTV companies, always on the lookout for new products, listened attentively and offered expert advice to the inventors.
Learning “How to Effectively Pitch Your Product”
Scott Hynd from Proformance Marketing, who has years of experience in pitching products on QVC, kicked off the morning and afternoon sessions with a short seminar, “How to Effectively Pitch Your Product.” Mark Reyland, Executive Director of the non-profit United Inventors Association (UIA) was on hand throughout the day as well to mingle with inventors and offer advice.
Making the Pitch of their Lives
At their appointed times, the inventors—armed with their prototypes, samples and props—descended upon the conference rooms ready to give it their best shot. The seasoned product executives were hardly phased by the 12 foot window wheeled in for a drapery invention or the bikini model posing for a tanning product. However, their eyes did light up the minute they recognized a potential hit TV product, which happened many times throughout the course of the day.
All of the companies agreed that the pitches and products were of the highest caliber and all departed at day’s end with a list of products that interested them and merited further consideration. Did they find the next Snuggie, Pajama Jeans or Total Gym? Only time will tell, but there is one thing we know for sure right now… the inventors increased their chances of getting their products on TV six-fold!
Marinela Dragan
October 6, 2011
I would like to know if any invention was chosen by any DRTV Company?
InventionHome
October 11, 2011
Hi Marinela. Our marketing team is very busy following up on the strong interest that has resulted from our Product Summit. We currently are pursuing no less than 40 interests, meaning the various companies with interest on one or more of the inventions presented to them at the Summit. Of those 40 interests, one has already culminated in a signed Term Sheet and 2 other Term Sheets are in the works. Those term sheets should quickly convert to license agreements. Without any doubt, this event was a major success. Both inventors and companies agreed it was an amazing event, and we hope to do it again soon.
Bob Nofi
October 12, 2011
I would love an opportunity to make a pitch if you ever do another DRTV Product Summit. I do have a question for you. Is your income stream or annual sale revenue based on successfully marketed inventions or on the $2,000. that each inventor invests trying to get their product sold? Can we see your total sales report including the percentages of successfully marketed products, royalties, people giving $2000. to get the patent and market the invention? I appreciated your help and honesty.
Thanks,
Bob Nofi
InventionHome
October 13, 2011
Hi Bob, Thank you for your email. It’s good to hear of your interest with our next DRTV Product Summit. The summit turned out to be a big success for us. We brought in 6 top infomercial companies and invited 24 inventors to attend in person. Each inventor was given the opportunity to pitch their product [privately] to each of the 6 companies for 10 minutes (60 minutes total). There was no charge for the inventors to attend, we only asked for a commission if a deal was made. The great news is we are expected signed deals on several of the inventions, although we have interest on 20 of the inventions presented (i.e.: we don’t expect all of the interest to pan out).
We do not charge an upfront fee for our marketing & licensing program, we ask for 20% of the royalty. Additionally, we do offer fee-based services as well such as, patent searching, provisional patent applications, design, virtual prototypes, and website portfolios.
Any cost would be for the completion of a service, not for the marketing. Furthermore, we do not lock up your invention in a contract thus limiting your ability to market the invention on your own. We can market the invention and if you also market and you land a deal on your own, we do not get a commission. All of our services, costs, process, etc. our outlined on our website for your review.
* Our services – http://inventionhome.com/inventor-services/
* Our marketing program – http://inventionhome.com/marketing/
Finally, please understand that inventing is risky and there is no guarantee of success. Our goal is to provide you with an opportunity to succeed and to try to minimize your costs and risks.
Donald Palmer
November 30, 2011
When are you going to have another Product Summit. What kind of patent protection do you require to submit an idea for the summit?
InventionHome
December 1, 2011
@Donald – We are already planning the next Product Summit for the first half of 2012 and we’ll update the blog as soon as we have a firm date. As for patent protection, we recommend you at least have a provisional patent before publicly disclosing your invention at the summit or anywhere else. A provisional patent is a quick, low-cost way to protect your invention for one full year. Check out the Provisional Patent page and give us a call if you need any help! 1-866-844-6512