Pink: A Business Story

As I prepare to attend the Women's Conference 2010, the color pink comes to mind. Pink has long been associated with girls and women, but I'm not a traditional kind of woman so pink was never my color.

When I first invented the Kleen Slate Paddles, I wanted them to be in bold colors-- red, yellow, blue, and green. Pink was simply too pale for my product and the powerful image I wanted to convey. But then an interesting thing happened. First, my son hooked up with a gal who loves pink. Then, my granddaughter turned out to be a lover of pink. Both of them cajoled me in their own way: "Why isn't there a pink paddle?"

Which gave me pause. Why was I resisting this color when there were clearly those who adored it? My son's girlfriend and my granddaughter represented potential customers, and I wasn't giving them what they wanted.

I started thinking differently about pink. This was the color that represented princesses, royalty in the world if you will. And then I remembered that pink ribbons are the symbol for breast cancer awareness. Suddenly I realized that by making a pink paddle, I could develop my customer base AND support an important cause: Breast Cancer Awareness.


Today, KleenSlate Concepts sells pink paddles, and we donate 5% of the sales of these paddles to the National Breast Cancer Awareness fund. This weekend, I'm going to the Women's Conference, where I will promote my pink paddles in acknowledgment of Breast Cancer Awareness Month: October!

This story about PINK is a business story because it illustrates four essential business principles that I hold dear:

• listen to your customers;
• think outside of the box (especially outside of your personal preferences);
• look for connections between your product and larger more global issues;
• give, donate, contribute.

Next week, I'll tell you what the Women's Conference 2010 power house speakers--Michelle Obama, Maria Shriver, Erin Brocokvich, and others--had to tell us.

Entrepreneurial Advice on the Interent

I recently added The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur (TPE) to my Great Reading blog list on the side panel here at Inventor Mentor. Mike Michalowicz offers a wealth of information on entrepreneurship, and I highly recommend subscribing to and reading his blog regularly, especially if you are just getting started.

Mike writes practical as well as cutting edge articles related to staying alive and well in business. This week, for instance, he has a fabulous post about how to get free resources and services. Mike invited a number of entrepreneurs--including moi-- to offer suggestions about free resources and services. Check it out.

These entrepreneurs promote bartering, giving to get, and saying "thank you" to name a few. My blurb on TPE advises entrepreneurs to carry product with you where ever you go and give it away to promote good will and attract customers.

And let me add: Seek the free advice offered by others all over the Internet, especially on blogs.

Finding the Right Fit: Who Needs Your Product

I recently stumbled onto the blog Departing the Text written by Meryl Jaffe, a mom and a school psychologist who is exploring the edges between a child's learning profile and school demands. It doesn't take rocket science to get that one size does not fit all, but it does take a discerning mind like Jaffe's to understand the frequent ways in which children do not fit neatly into educational practices which are expected to work in the classroom. There are always exceptions, and it's disconcerting to teacher, parent AND student when the fit is not right.

Since I'm always looking for a fit for KleenSlate Paddles I was particularly interested in Jaffe's blog post: No Brainer: Handwriting Trains the Brain by Creating Multiple Paths. After discussing how handwriting engages the brain, Jaffe goes on to list non-traditional ways to get kids writing, such as making greeting cards, having a message center in the home, and writing notes to the tooth fairy. Next, she lists some products that teachers can use in the classroom to get students writing.

That's where I leaped to action. I left Meryl a comment describing the Kleen Slate Paddle as an ideal product for getting students writing frequently in the classroom. When students have a Paddle with dry erase marker with an attachable eraser at their desks, everyone can respond in writing to questions thereby building pathways in the brain all day long.

Meryl is no slacker. Not only did she shoot me an email message thanking me for the comment, she also included my comment in a post a few days later entitled: Ways Around Exceptions: Handwriting and Dysgraphia. In this post, Meryl responds to the difficulty some students have with forming letters and keeping track of the sequence of letters. One child had this to say about his problem, known as dysgraphis: "I can't think and write at the same time." So Meryl lists insights and alternatives to help kids with dysgraphia, and among them she mentions the KleenSlate Paddle.

Parents, educators, AND entrepreneurs can learn something from Meryl's blog Departing the Text. Keep your eyes open for the right fit for your child, your students, OR your product.

Water Issues Require Invention

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers around the world are writing about water as a global issue. In response to this topic, I want to put a call out to inventors reminding us of our role in solving problems.

Let's start with a little history.

In 1880, inventor Lester Allen Pelton applied for a patent for the Pelton water wheel. By 1890, Pelton turbines were generating thousands of horsepower to drive all kinds of equipment. By the time of his death in 1910, Pelton's turbines were in use at hydro-electric plants all over the country.

In almost every type of power plant today, water is a major cost. In fact, our power sources would be impotent without water. Plug your iPhone into an electric socket for charging and half a liter of water must flow through miles of pipes, pumps, and the heat exchangers of a power plant.

Two inventions arriving more than 100 years a part are intricately tied to one another by water. In terms of Blog Action Day, they can be connected to one of the biggest dilemmas in world history:

A human thirst for water is competing with a hunger for energy.

Nearly one billion people on our planet, many on the continent of Africa, lack access to clean water which causes untold struggle, including disease and death. On a single day in the US, more than 500 billion liters of water travel through power plants--that is more than twice the water flowing down the Nile River in a single day. The inequity is astounding.

Only radical new ideas can address this issue. Inventors, like Pelton, are needed to envision solutions. Even seemingly inconsequential inventions--such as those requiring limited technology or those made from recycled materials-- can be part of the solution.

Only by recognizing the problem can we take actions that will contribute to the solution.

Being A Winner: Kidlutions Product Award

I didn't invent the KleenSlate Paddle with the idea of getting awards, but each time my products win awards, a rush of pride and gratitude washes over me.

I was so excited when I got the Kidlutions: Preferred Product Award that I just wanted to shout it out. Kidlutions and founder Wendy Young recognize products that "enhance social-emotional development" in children and teens. To be sure, I wasn't thinking about social-emotional development when I came up with the idea of the paddle. I was responding to my fellow teachers who were asking for assistance.

That's what is exciting about awards. They catch you by surprise. I remember when I was at a trade show and the paddle won Best of Show. Conference-goers had voted my product the best thing they saw at that particular show. WHOA! How thrilling that was.

The Kidlutions award was equally thrilling. Recognition is always welcome, especially the kind of acknowledgment that underscores an inherent value in your product that extends beyond the scope of its original purpose. Wendy Young describes the paddle as empowering kids with confidence and a can-do attitude.

YES! I know this terrific aspect of my invention. And it feels great that others see it too.