Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #731113 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .65" h x 5.96" w x 9.12" l, .97 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 303 pages

From the Publisher
Stand Alone, Inventor! is a book that provides aspiring inventors with a fast-track agenda. Successful inventor and entrepreneur, Robert Merrick starts off with needed basics: what to invent, how to test it cheaply to see if it will sell, and how to protect and distribute it, while avoiding partners, venture capital firms, and marketing scams. But it is his first-hand knowledge of manufacturing and merchandising products from the ground up that readers will find most valuable. In true marketing fashion, Merrick uses many photographs and illustrations to clarify his points.
Merrick proffers inside information as to who you must contact to gain store acceptance; what your press releases must say to get free ink in newspapers and trade magazines; what your sales materials must look like to be accepted by buyers; where you must go to get printing and other services for less than what the big guys pay; how to determine what price your product must sell for to make a profit; how to locate the right manufacturer in the USA and offshore; and, why you are the best person to oversee the marketing of your own invention!
The book includes a 43-page Resource Section that lists contact details on more than 800 hard-to-find sources and services for inventors. Here the reader is able to locate such things as low-cost manufacturers, color printers and package designers, along with contact information on key retailers and trade publications in given industries. Also listed are data on free-assistance non-profit inventor support groups, and much more.
Unlike many authors of books on inventing, Merrick suggests that inventors wait before trying to license or sell their ideas to others. Meanwhile, he advocates that inventors learn to use their ideas to begin to grow a successful company. This process results in a developed product that can always be offered to licensees.
In addition to his own, he tells the stories of several other successful stand-alone inventors, who followed his formula. The reader gains not only the how-to of inventing and marketing new products, but also a feel for the excitement and personal rewards that being an inventor can bring.

From the Author
"The best inventions for individuals to develop are not those requiring high-tech skills and lots of money. They are the simple things that almost anyone can think up." So says Robert G. Merrick, who 25 years ago left a successful career in Silicon Valley and chose a path less followed to become what he calls, a stand-alone inventor. "I wanted to be CEO of my own life, work for myself, and earn directly from my own efforts. So I asked myself, 'what can I invent that will make this happen?' Eventually, I hit on a simple idea that became a million-dollar seller: a paperboard slide chart for figuring military pay. In the process I devised ten criteria for choosing the "right" invention to work on. Following a ten-point checklist for screening ideas, I went on to create three more million-dollar and multi-million-dollar successes with these simple products: a see-through calendar for watch crystals, a lint remover for hotel rooms, and a punch that makes business cards work like Rolodex cards.
In my book, I shares my time-tested tips for successful inventing, plus step-by-step lessons and real-life experiences. Readers learn how to take an idea from brainstorm to store-shelf without "betting the farm."

From the Back Cover
Why you should invest in this book: During his career as an independent inventor/entrepreneur, the author followed ten self-imposed rules that he writes about in this book. For him these rules paid off in a series of four winning inventions-each posting sales in the million. He characterizes these four innovations as "almost laughably simple," but because they proved useful, they produced serious sales and profits for long periods. In this book the author shares marketing secrets and insider know-how that will help you move ahead and succeed with your new product idea. Whether you plan to sell your idea, or venture it yourself, your should read this book!