Inventors Council of Central Florida


Marketing Resources

Marketing makes inventing look easy but marketing itself is not.  The greatest idea is useless if nobody knows about it.  Once you have a new idea it is your job to find out if anybody else wants to use it and what they will pay for it.  If you cannot find enough people to buy your idea at a price that will make you money it is time to find another idea.

Here we provide links where you can learn about marketing, get marketing materials made, or submit your idea to an organization who will do the marketing for you.   If you have contributions to this list please contact us with a link and a brief description of the service including why you found it helpful to you and we will get it posted for you.

Please be aware that downloading Power Point files is done immediately when you click on the link.  You will find your own copy in your downloads directory on your computer.  That is usually  \My Documents\Downloads on Windows machines.

Learn About Marketing

In our May 2013 meeting Delores A. Edelen of SCORE gave a great presentation on how to prepare a market survey.  You can download a self running copy of the Power Point presentation by clicking on How Much Would You Pay for a Banana?  Delores is currently a professor of Sociology at South University Online and, formerly, a researcher and instructor of Sociology at University of Central Florida.  She has been actively involved in market research for a long time and has boiled down the gobledygook to something that is useful for us mere mortals.  After determining your invention is unique it is of utmost importance to determine if anyone else cares about it and, more importantly, are there enough people out there willing to pay enough for your product to make money.  A simple market survey of at least 100 qualified respondents can help you find that out.  Delores' presentation looks at why we do research, what your goal should be, how to create the survey, and how to use the results.  We all thank Delores' for her great information.

In a crunch and want the basics fast?  Take a look at this presentation by David Woods PE of TECreation Development.  He put together a down and dirty summary on "Composing Market Survey Questions."  Learn what to ask, how to ask it, and how to present it in a few minutes with this downloadable power point presentation.

Now do yourself a favor - learn it, and use it.  You can find more in depth information about preparing surveys in our bookstore.

Jan Mangos of SCORE gave a presentation to us on Nov. 5, 2011.  To download a self running Power Point  presentation called Strategic Marketing for Your Business click on the underlined title.  It outlined how marketing decisions effectively assist in building a business plan.  Be sure to check out the Marketing Tool and Instructions to assist in defining your market and strategy to penetrate that market.  Click on the links above to get to these resources.

Here is a great video called "How Great Leaders Inspire Action" on how to think about your project and your business and how to present yourself to the world.  It was presented at a TED conference and is well worth the 18 minutes viewing time.

Sell Sheets are a primary tool for marketing your invention to manufacturers, financiers, vendors, and even consumers.  This Power Point presentation covers the basics on how to put one together.  Clicking on the underlined title of this paragraph will start a download of the Power Point show file.

Business Cards are a must if you are in the business of sales and all inventors have to be in the business of sales.  To download a short tutorial on how to make business cards click on the title of this paragraph.

With Trade Shows, Preparation is a must.  Learn why and how to benefit from your presence at a trade show.  This Power point includes complete instructions on how to build an inexpensive PVC pipe banner holder to help you get noticed. 


General Assistance 

Here are organizations who provide support to new businesses.  While we have reason to believe these are resources that will not take you for a ride you must always use appropriate caution.

Brian Fried portrait Brian Fried, the Inventor Coach, author, speaker and host. Brian is an inventor with over a dozen patents and has licensed and manufactured his own inventions and has done the same working with inventors for over 15+ years representing their invention ideas representing others as an invention licensing agent or helping turn inventors ideas into products with manufacturing. He has had products on QVC home shopping channels, as seen on TV, catalogs and online retailers and has built relationships in many industries/categories. Brian founded the National Inventor Club, Inventor Smart, Got Invention Show host and has an online e-learning course Inventor Class.

Brian gave a great presentation to ICCF in January 2022 where he showed he has the experience, contacts, and willingness to help fellow inventors. He says he is not here to stroke your ego but to help you make smart decisions.

InsideHeads Logo InsideHeads Marketing Research - designs and conducts custom marketing research studies online.
Decades of diverse experience and proprietary, user-friendly interview platforms make InsideHeads the best choice for your online marketing research studies. Jennifer Dale, the CEO, gave us a great presentation on the many online methods available for market research in december 2020. She can definitely set up a program to meet your needs.

Women In Toys Logo Women In Toys - Our global community is made up of successful, motivated and dynamic women at all stages of their careers. Meet the thought leaders, executives, entrepreneurs and changemakers who are making things happen in toys, licensing and entertainment.
We help women succeed professionally and personally by providing opportunities to network, learn, collaborate and advance their career. WIT is a powerful forum for like-minded women who want to build relationships with one another.

Product Submission 

The web sites below are places you can submit your invention for evaluation or for exposure to investors.  While we have reason to believe these are resources that will not take you for a ride you must always use appropriate caution.

Buckminster Challenge Logo Buckminster Challenge - The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is an annual international design Challenge awarding $100,000 to support the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity's most pressing problems. Named "Socially-Responsible Design's Highest Award" by Metropolis Magazine, it attracts bold, visionary, tangible initiatives focused on a well-defined need of critical importance. Winning solutions are regionally specific yet globally applicable and present a truly comprehensive, anticipatory, integrated approach to solving the world's complex problems.


Challenge.Gov Logo Challenge.gov - This is a US Government sponsored site where challenges are posted with criteria. You choose which you want to work on and you could get a prize of some form for your successful work.


Edison Nation Logo Edison Nation - They bring new product ideas to market through their vast network of retailers and manufacturers. If your idea is selected, you'll be paid a $2,500 advance plus a percentage of sales.


Everyday Edisons Logo Everyday Edisons - Do you want to try the reality show approach? Here you can compete for a slot on PBS television. This group is closely associated with Edison Nation and also has support from the Department of Commerce.




Innovative Technologies, Inc. Logo Innovative Product Technologies, Inc. helps independent inventors get their products licensed amungst other things. Dr. Pamela Riddle Bird is the founder and gave a very informative engaging talk to us at our October 2010 meeting.



Inventing Daily Logo Inventing Daily, Here is a website, operated by the inventor of PaintSmart Trayz, designed to operate similar to Amazon where you can list a production version of your invention for resale. It is for consumer sale not licensing so you need to have shippable inventory and will be responsible for delivering it. Listing fees start at around $20 per month and a 5% commission is collected for each sale.


Inventive Ideas Logo Inventive Ideas, Carrie Jeske visited us in early 2018 with an invention pitch fest for products which would be appropriate for As Seen on TV (ASOTV) products. Her company is searching for the next big mass market product for infomercials and Walmart shelves. They are seeking products which have mass appeal, demonstrate well, are relatively small, and will retail for less than $50. In this industry only about 5% of the products which are actually marketed in this fashion are big hits. They feel they have a selection process which improves on that so they are very specific about what they will accept. If you decide to submit they will quickly review your at a very low cost, low risk to you and operate with non disclosure agreements. If selected they will develop your product at no cost to you and provide you with a reasonable royalty. They will also provide finders fee royalties for those who make them aware of someone else's product that they ultimately market (Of course the product owner gets their royalty too.) It is recommended you have at least a provisional patent application but it is not necessary. They will review a product based on your presentation of a concept and quickly let you know if it is of any interest to them. Take a look at the ASOTV section of Walmart and decide if what you have will sell well there. If you think it will be a big seller contact them. They will also assist with other types of product development for negotiable fees.

InventRight Logo InventRight's mission is simple: To help inventors license their ideas.
For the past 20+ years, they have been helping inventors bring their ideas to market. They love teaching creative people how to profit from their ingenuity through licensing, including how to find companies that will want to license their ideas, how to protect their ownership of said ideas, and how to negotiate the best licensing deals possible. When you become their student, they coach you every step of the way.
Stephen Key has been helping inventors for a long time and is also the organizer of IGA (Inventors Groups of America) which is combining resources for all of the inventor groups in the US.


Inventor Mentor Logo Inventor Mentor, Jack Lander, a frequent contributer to Inventor's Digest, will review your project and provide you with a document full of specific methods and contacts to move your project forward.  His services are not free but very reasonable and guarenteed.


Lambert and Lambert Logo Lambert and Lambert - Here you can submit your idea for a small fee (in 2018 it was $199) and they will develop it at their cost. You end up with royalties. Of course you have to qualify according to their criteria which, understandably, is quite strict. They estimate about 98% of all submittals are rejected. That does not mean your product is not good; it is just not profitable enough using their method of development to get them excited. We have a self evaluation spreadsheet in our Members Only area based on their rubric if you would like to see if you have a shot.


Market Blast Logo MarketBlast: License, Wholesale, Retail or Sell Your Innovation. Marketblast is the premier Open Innovation platform where startups, professional developers, engineers, product manufacturers and innovators submit their innovation to companies who are actively looking for new, unique & innovative products. No sign-up costs, monthly fees or commissions!

My Cool Inventions Logo My Cool Inventions Radio - What do you do after you have retired from making millions selling inventions on TV? You give back on the radio. This is a combiniation radio show with informative presentations about invention marketing and a product submission company. The hosts of this show offer all their services to the independent inventor at no charge. They are truly here to help you move your invention forward. They make their money from advertizers not from us.

They are seeking new product / invention submissions in these categories:

  • Home Solutions
  • Kitchen
  • Beauty
  • Health and Fitness
  • Electronics
  • Nutrition and Diet
  • Crafts 

We recommend you listen to the radio show which is live on Saturdays at 4PM. You can also listen to past shows on line. To be sure, there is advertizing on the show but that is why it is free to you. They let you pitch your product then get social media votes for the best pitches. The one with the most votes at the end of the contest gets $50,000! They also have crowd sourcing where the pitch your product on the air with their 250,000 listeners. At this point no one from ICCF has used them as a marketing outlet but we should. If you choose to use them please be sure to read all of their agreements before signing up. Also let us know your experience.

One Million Cups Logo One Million Cups - Looking for a place to pitch your startup? Join us every Wednesday morning at Rollins College. Here you can give a 6 minute pitch for your startup followed by 20 minutes of Q and A. We thrive on what's new and the problems you are encountering or how you solved them. Everyone can listen but you must sign up at our website to present.


One Spark Logo One Spark Jacksonville - This innovation pitch fest in in the fall in Jacksonville. They focus on new business models and crowdfunding. in a 2 day event. You get to pitch your business plan to win $5000 or $20,000.

The SEB Logo The SEB Innovation - This is an open innovation group who caters to kitchen appliance manufacturers. They have a list of technologies they are seeking and offer an online portal for submission of your ideas. It is recommended you have your IP in place before contacting them. At this point we have no testimonials of anyone who has done business with them and they contacted us via our website.

The Shuuk Logo The Shuuk (Market) - Shuuk is Hebrew for market. It is a testing ground for the world's coolest new products. This is for those of you who actually have a product to sell. You can list it with The Shuuk and they handle the marketing, sales, fullfillment, and inventory. You get a monthly check for your sales. At the end of the test marketing period the remaining inventory is returned.

The SOFWERX Logo SOFWERX - This is a non-profit organization which is intended to find independent developers of technology which will benefit the Military. As they put it, "SOFWERX was created under a Partnership Intermediary Agreement between Doolittle Institute and the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Located in Tampa, FL, SOFWERX has a very dynamic environment designed to create a high rate of return on collision for all participants. Through the use of our growing ecosystem, promotion of divergent thought, and neutral facilitation, our goal is to bring the right minds together to solve challenging problems."
They have regular visitation days so you can tour their interesting facility and talk with real people face to face.

The SOFWERX Logo Tuttle Innovation - Warren Tuttle is the president of UIA and has made a fortune in the invention business. He now wants to help you. His company will review your idea at no charge and determine if there is a potential market for it. You can submit online.

Marketing Materials

Orlando Tech Logo Orlando Tech - Is operated by Orange County Public Schools. It is a High School and Continuing Education facility. Some of their specialities are Audio and Video production. In the course of their teaching the students work on projects to produce short audio and video segments. They are always in need of projects for the students. Your marketing video is a perfect fit for them. They have numerous computers and audio and 3D video production software. They can even print real 3D mockups of your invention. This is a great way to get a quality marketing piece for your project at minimal cost. Depending on what you want the cost can be from nothing to a reasonable amount to cover expenses. For more information contact Phil Tillary at 407-246-7060 ex. 4839.


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