I spent this past weekend re-reading the past few months of Inventors Digest. A lot of great ideas for blogs popped into my head, but this one article made me stop and check it out immediately. 5 Questions with Charles McCarthy is an interview of a blogger who writes about ideas that he has on his blog Ideas By Chuck. His premise for the blog is faciniating and logical:
“I will be giving away some of my best ideas for inventions, businesses, stories, and marketing ploys. I don’t have the resources or passion to make these ideas reality, but I know that you might. If you use any of my ideas to make tons of money, please let me know and think about sending me a small percentage of your profits. I hope this blog makes the world a better place.”
One lesson might be the free flow of ideas to promote innovation, but I feel that the more prevalent is the way he communicates his ideas. His blogs are a few paragraphs, but he is able to “pitch” the idea effectively. He never starts off with so this is my idea and that is it, like so many inventors do.
Tactics:
Experience, he starts off talking about his background… “Most of you, my millions of readers, would probably be surprised to find out that I have worked for no less than four ice cream franchises in varying capacities. Yes, I have a lot of ice cream experience under my belt.”
Targeting, focusing the pitch on who he wants to hear it… “Do you work for Willy Wonka, Hasbro, Jelly Belly, Tonka, Wham-O, Slam-O, Jack-O, Wack-O, or any other candy/toy company that I didn’t mention? Do you want to bring joy and cavities to millions of boys and girls, while making millions? Are you excited yet?”
Humor, a little joke (not a gut buster) to get people hooked… “Whenever I eat Chinese food, I use chopsticks. Guess what. Billions of Chinese people also use chopsticks when they eat Chinese food. Of course, they just call it food.”
You might notice that there is no mention of his product in the opener. These are hooks showing the market, problem, experience etc. Work some of these techniques into your pitches and marketing materials. Getting the attention of the reader is encredibly important when looking for investment, licensing and everything else.
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