Kleen Slate in Africa

I am always looking for opportunities to promote good will and give to those less fortunate than I. So when my friend Rosemary introduced me to Max and Kathryn who work with a school in Ethiopia, I offered to give them several cases of KleenSlate paddles and dry erase markers for the school.

They were excited to get the donation but explained that it was not easy to get things like this to the school. Airfreight is expensive and there is always the danger of customs duties, so they best way to get donations of any kind to the school is to take them in their luggage when they visit the school. As it turned out, they sent the paddles and markers with a colleague, so it was several months before they found out if they teachers had put them to good use.

Kathryn wrote the following message when she arrived at the school and also sent the picture accompanying this post:

I went over to Mekele and took our volunteer teacher, Lynn around the school on her first day there. The teachers were not expecting the tour and we went into a few classrooms at random. Imagine my
delight to see the paddles in action in a genuine, unrehearsed lesson!

The students were learning Amharic. This is not an easy language as instead of having an alphabet like ours, they have symbols which represent sound combinations, and they have to learn about 130 in all.
This class was learning the symbols for ha hi he ho hu h etc. The children were holding up the symbols representing these sounds, and then one would hide their symbol and then the other children would have to say which one was missing. Also the teacher was moving the children into different places in the line so that they could spell out some short words!

This was really excellent. The children were enjoying their classes and all participating well and showing learning is fun!

News like this is incredibly satisfying, and of course a picture is worth a 1000 words.

5 Trade Show Tips

KleenSlate just spent 17 days on the road at four separate trade shows. Early on in my inventor journey, I learned the value of getting to industry specific trade shows. In my case, that meant educational and office supply shows. The most recent round of shows were educational, which brings me to the focus of this post: 5 trade show tips.

You see, it's simply not enough to get to the shows which in some cases cost a bundle to attend. You need to make them profitable. Here are my suggestions for making the most of your time at a trade show.

1. Do your homework. Find out who will be attending the show and what they need. In these tough economic times, it also pays to find out who has money to spend. For example, most schools are taking drastic measures to cut costs, so when I decided to go to these educational trade shows, I needed to find out who had money to spend. With a little investigation, I discovered that there was money in Title I programs, so I made these people my target audience at each trade show.
2. Where comfortable shoes. You are going to be on your feet for hours at a trade show, so invest in the most comfortable shoes possible. It will be money well spent. You need to happy feet to stay upbeat while promoting your product.
3. Give a KISS presentation and then listen: Keep your presentation simple, a maximum of 3 talking points aimed at the target customer(s) you identified by doing your homework. Give your presentation, quickly and smoothly. Then stop and listen to the customer. Ask them questions. Find out what problems they are trying to solve. I asked questions and learned that teachers hated the smell of dry erase markers; they frequently threw them away because the tips collapsed into the marker, and they wanted an eraser on the end. So I created such a marker for my customer.
4. Close the deal. Don't let a potential sale get away. Develop a practiced phrase or two that gets customers to place an order on the spot. If necessary, offer a deal they can't pass up. Keep the ordering process easy.
5. Follow-up. Have someone in place when you get home who can follow-up on every contact you made at the trade show and do it promptly.

Trade shows are one of the best options to show customers our products, but we have to make them work to our advantage.

Innovative Customers

When I invented the Kwik Chek paddles, I envisioned them being put to use in classrooms across the country. Back then I wasn't aware of customer innovations. Since that time, the paddle has been used in a myriad of contexts including with hospital patients who are temporarily unable to speak, to prompt kids about chores, and at least one time to facilitate a date.

I recently learned that the paddles have made it all the way to Afghanistan to take part in the war there. Here is an email message that explains:

I heard about your company through a Google search for white board paddles. I am a Crew Chief on Chinook helicopters for the US Army currently deployed to Afghanistan. These paddles come in handy when you are trying to communicate with ground personnel and passengers over the loud noise of the helicopter. I appreciate your services and will definitely pass on your name when other crew members ask me where I got them.

Thanks!
Tyler Parsons

Recognition Revisited

Late in the month of May, I was selected as the the 2010 Central California Small Business Person of the Year. Family, friends, and fellow small business owners gathered at the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors' Office for the award presentation.

This blog post, however, is not an announcement about the award which was posted previously on Inventor Mentor. Instead I want to write about the mileage we inventors and entrepreneurs get from awards such as these.

I am a tremendously self-motivated person who can go, go, go under the duress of disgruntled customers, flawed product, employee turn-over, 100s of email messages every day, and phone calls that divert my attention from even the best laid plans. Even without recognition, I am purposeful and goal oriented, and though I may have a low moment or even a down day, I generally wake up raring to go.

But I just have to say, that getting the Small Business Person of the Year award has fanned the fire that propels me. Two months later, I am still feeling the momentum created by receiving not only the recognition of the Small Business Administration but also the hugs, handshakes and well wishes of the family and friends who gathered to celebrate this accomplishment. Every single congratulatory email and Facebook post ignited another ember of satisfaction.

I am grateful to everyone who has said "Good job!" and "Congratulations!" Recognition is truly an energizing force! I intend to let it drive me as far as it will take me.

Protect Your Ideas!

When I first launched KleenSlate Concepts, many people tried to discourage me from seeking a patent, saying the process was time consuming and of little value. So, why did I pursue this protection and what did I protect?

First and foremost, as an inventor with little capital but a great idea, I knew that trademarks and patents would clearly demonstrate my claim to the ideas I had developed. Without that protection, anyone could watch to see if I achieved market success with my product, and then produce it in competition with me without fearing my legal claim to the idea.

In my case, I protected my name, KleenSlate, with a trademark and my first product, an attachable eraser for dry-erase markers, with a patent.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of protecting your ideas through trademarks and patents.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office website offers a wealth of information and resources to guide this part of your inventor journey. In addition to FAQ pages, online chats and special programs to lower filing fees, they publish a monthly newsletter, InventorsEye, a great publication for aspiring and accomplished inventors alike.

I am delighted to be the featured inventor in the "Flash of Genius" column in the July 2010 issue of the InventorsEye. Take a look at the article and the rest of the issue for advice and support for independent inventors.