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We are overwhelmed with the images and new content that appears every day. People can create unique ideas from other existing ideas, so nowadays, inventions are something very important for their owners. Most inventors like the idea of being protected and choose to ensure that their intellectual property is safe by registering with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Some people might try to obtain money by stealing other’s inventions and using them as their own.

Some people suffered because their inventions were stolen and couldn’t obtain any profit, so this is why acquiring protection is very important. There are laws that will help you protect the things you invented from plagiarism and make everything more profitable for you. The design and the innovation will be protected by these laws, so the main thing is to know how it works and how you obtain that security.

The institution that deals with protecting intellectual property is known as States Patent and Trademark Office. Acting as a subdivision of the US government, this institution will make sure that your intellectual property is verified and protected. So, if you need something patented, you can do it with the help of the USPTO. The disadvantage of the whole process is the fact that it needs a lot of time and it’s a bit complicated for a newbie. But if you really want to patent something easier, you should find a lawyer who is interested in such matters; there are many lawyers out there who are specialized with laws regarding intellectual property.

The lawyer will assist you during the process and will explain the whole procedure to you before starting. The process is tricky and hiring a lawyer may prove to be a good solution, since you need somebody who will be there for you at any stage and make sure that everything is correctly done. You will need a pattern of your innovation to validate the fact that you are the true inventor and give it to the lawyer.

The lawyer will then prepare all the legal documents and all the paperwork you have to sign to get your invention patented. By fulfilling all the requirements of the US Patent and Trademark Office, your invention will be examined by the personnel in the USPTO. They will conduct several examinations to your inventions and determine if it is qualified for patenting. They will also search if your idea has already been invented, which is a ground for disqualification.

You have to certify that your invention works well. If everything turns out ok and the USPTO approves that it qualifies, you will be sent to the patent exam. This next exam is also known as the United States Patent and Registration Office registration examination.

Some people might choose to be alone during the process. If you don’t want to hire a lawyer, first you have to make sure that you understand the whole process and can represent yourself. Making everything on your own means that you fill a patent pro se. People who have no idea about the USPTO shouldn’t try this, because it tends to get complicated and they will feel overwhelmed at some point.

Being mentally prepared is not enough because registering also means that you will spend a lot of money. Especially on the lawyer fees, which will cost you over US$20, 000. So you have to think good before making this step, otherwise you could lose a lot of money and time. Also, knowing about the system of patenting will help you a lot so make sure you understand everything that is involved in the process.

The process described above is what everybody, who is looking to obtain a patent, should know. Just make sure that you willing and able to spend a big amount of time and money for your patent, otherwise it will prove to be more unprofitable than beneficial.

Only if you are sure that your invention will succeed start this hard and long process, otherwise you risk losing a big amount of time and money for something that brings you no profit.

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Filed under: Business

Here’s a bold statement, but one I’m willing to stand behind: forget about appealing to your prospect or client logically. In sales, appealing to logic comes a (way) distant second to appealing to their emotions. To illustrate this, I’m going to tell you a story about some college kids who learned this and put it to the test.

Before class the students all got together and agreed that if the professor moved to the right of the classroom, to the student’s right as they were facing the classroom, the students would sit up and pay close attention. They would be attentive, quiet, smile, and nod approvingly at the professor. But if the professor moved to the left of the classroom, the farther left he went, the students would cut up, act out, throw things, look away from the professor and act disinterested.

When class began they followed through with their plan. It didn’t take but half an hour before the professor was pegged into the right side of the room, standing there for the rest of the class with the students absolutely gobbling up everything he said, excitedly listening, nodding, smiling and showing their approval of all that he was doing.

The next day, they decided that they would do the exact same thing but just reverse it. So class began and what they did is as the professor would move to the right, which he started right off towards the right of the room, they immediately would cut up and act up and act disinterested and as the professor would go to the left of the room, they would act interested and they would do what they should. It took not too long and the professor was pegged over into the left of the room.

The professor was totally in the dark throughout the experiment. And he was massively affected by what they did.

How did this shake out? We are very approval oriented. We love to be smiled at and encouraged and loved. We really like knowing that we are having a good impact on people. We like it when people are interested in what we’re saying. These are all emotional responses.

How would you like to be able to affect people in that same way and get them doing things and responding to you in ways that up to now has been happenstance?

Here’s something to remember: first and foremost, people are led to the decisions they make based on their emotions. Emotions bring people to decisions and logic cements or breaks the decision. In the scheme of things, logic plays a very minor part. Of course, every person is different, but generally, 80-85 percent of decision making is based on emotion and only 15-20 percent is based on logic.

If you are making your living persuading but aren’t using emotions well, you will most likely never make much money, at least the cards are stacked strongly against you. A person who can make strong logical arguments but is not adept at utilizing emotion has the cards strongly stacked against them.

So how do we do this? Well, stay tuned for an upcoming article for more information about getting to your prospect’s and client’s emotions.

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Filed under: Business

“It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.” — Pablo Picasso

Let’s get provocative. Persuasion sometimes requires this. By no means am I suggesting that we act inappropriately, overtly sexual in contexts where this is wrong, however I am suggesting you access your prospect’s core drives. The core drives are primal and link each and every one of us as humans, as animals, and the drive I’m thinking of right now, is the core drive to reproduce.

Seduction need not be limited to the realm of mating or luring someone away from accepted principles or proper conduct. Being seductive in all aspects of your life is really a very deeply persuasive attribute. Being seductive is to win over and attract, enticing someone into our desired mindset or position.

A heterosexual male friend once told me that they flirt with everyone — men, women, grandmas, grandpas, all nationalities, ages, shapes, sizes. At first I found this incredibly odd until I thought about it. They weren’t ‘flirting’ in the way that people flirt with each other to “hook up” (I have teenagers, so in the parlance of our time) with someone. They were flirting to charm and flatter. This was a radical reframe in my mind and a fantastic way to be in the world. When are you at your best? When you’re trying to impress someone with the deeply charming version of yourself which is usually reserved for attracting a mate, right?

Here’s another way to view this: it’s rapport with a twist.

Women have to be particularly careful if utilizing this technique. Men are incredibly susceptible to being flirted with. Maintain clear boundaries at all times while still allowing for that special attention and charm to come through. Everyone loves that special attention and this form of rapport gives that feeling very powerfully.

Here’s another way to access this powerful motivator. Insert into your conversation words of a titillating variety. This is a roundabout way of stimulating these drives that will give sometimes vague, sometimes intense triggers of that core drive.

Phew. . . did you catch that? I was just giving an example and got a little carried away, but now you get the idea.

If you overdo this one, you will appear creepy and/or dangerous or worse! But these little additions can really expose a powerful way to persuade.

So while I may not exactly admit to being a flirt, I will say that I do enjoy the process of charming as a way to persuade and, in general, a way to make people feel good.

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Filed under: Business

Many people today are now considering starting their own business. You have to consider that you don’t have to slave for a company you don’t even own just to earn some money. There are lots of people today who work in companies to earn enough capital to start their own business. With your own business, you will be the boss and have much more freedom instead of working at specific hours. By having your own business, you can go in and out of your office as often as you like without anyone telling you that you are arrived at work late and you are leaving early.

At first you will need to come up with a name for your business and, of course, a trademark which should represent the name. Keep in mind that you should use a unique name, which must meet all the requirements at the registration office. The business trademark needs to be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark office if you want ensure the protection of your business and trademark.

The trademark registration process is the same as the business name registration: it has to be unique and meet some standards. You can choose to use your business name as a trademark; as long as it has a unique lettering and name, it will be accepted.

The significance of this process shouldn’t be underestimated. In fact, this is actually the most important thing when starting your own business, if you care about its protection. If you want to act as a unique company, register your trademark design and company name so that people will recognize your products.

The advantage, when registering your business and trademark, is the fact that every company which will try to copy it can be sued, because this action becomes illegal if you don’t give them your permission. If you want to ensure that your product is not copied, you can also obtain copyrights for it.

If you register your business name and trademark, you will have exclusive use for it and will not allow other companies to put in your trademark and business name in their products just to make it sell. Since no one will be able to use the business name and the trademark of your company, you can be sure that your company’s reputation is protected.

If you don’t want people to use your trademark or name, you should register right away. However, if you don’t have the means or the process takes too long, you can do it temporarily with the use of the “poor man’s copyright”. Put your name and trademark in an envelope and mail it to your own address. When the mail comes, it will have the date and stamps on it, so you practically legalize your name and trademark in case someone wants to steal it. If any copyrights problems occur, you will give the envelope to the registration office to prove that you own the trademark or name. The envelope, however, should be unopened, otherwise it will lose its purpose.

In order to make things faster and easier, you should hire a lawyer. A lawyer who is specialized in such matters, like intellectual property and trademark laws, will surely help you with the whole process. It can also help you with the design, if it needs changes in order to meet the criteria.

These are the things you need to consider when applying for a trademark registration with the Patent and Trademark Office.

Just take care of this matter to ensure a safe business and original products in the future.

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Filed under: Business

I decided it would be fun to interview 10 of the smartest marketing gurus I know, including 7 multi-millionaires, about the best ways to increase customer and cash flow for just about any business.

What I got were a variety of fresh, innovative ideas — and once you read them, you will know that they came from a group of folks who have already made it big in businesses of their own.

The following are the “15 Best” ideas for super charging your business, no matter what kind of business you are in.

1. “Same-Old” is out — Getting attention with something new is in. To get new business, you must strive to be innovative and dramatic. For example, an insurance agency, offered “the biggest steak dinner in town” if it couldn’t save any person money on their car insurance. This challenge was enough to make the telephone start ringing off the hook for days at a time. The customer flow was “absolutely crazy” for days. The bottom line: dozens of new insurance buyers and tons of new cash flow — and all they had to do was fork out the cost for a half dozen steak dinners!

2. Tight target marketing. The big job in marketing and sales is getting to the right people inside another company. Addressing mail to “Facilities Manager” or printing a “routing slip” on the outside of the envelope is ineffective. Hitting the target is the challenge. Scoring a bull’s eye means making contact with the right individuals and is the only way to make the sale. Taking time to be highly targeted in business communication is essential.

3. Be more creative. Pushing direct-mail pieces out the door or sending the newsletter to the mail room isn’t doing the job. Ask yourself: “Will anyone be intrigued enough to read the mailer–before tossing it in the wastebasket?” Ask the same question about the company newsletter. A highly creative approach is necessary to be different and distinctive. Creativity costs money. But, if more people read the ad, take time with the newsletter or decide that the offer in a mailer makes sense, you have accomplished the goal.

4. Focus on what customers care about. After listening to the admissions director talk about what should be shown in the school’s new recruiting video, the marketing consultant asked, “Is this what parents and prospective students are interested in knowing?” Suddenly, everyone became less confident. Someone suggested asking the student tour guides what questions the visiting parents and kids asked? Whether creating an ad, a brochure, or a sales presentation, knowing what the customer wants, needs and expects is what works.

5. Tell customers how to think about your company. We come to conclusions by making comparisons. If you don’t let customers and prospects know why it is in their best interests to do business with you or buy your product, they won’t. The rating of life insurance companies makes an impact on customers. The J.D. Powers’ customer-satisfaction survey on cars and personal computer manufacturers influences buying behavior. Wise companies spend time and effort consciously influencing the way they are perceived by customers, prospects, bankers and stockholders.

6. Make your offers outstanding. Customers are cautious. They don’t like being put on the spot; they don’t want to make a mistake. This is why offers are essential. “Try it for 30 days…free.” “We won’t deposit your credit card slip for a month.” “Your satisfaction is guaranteed.” “Take the car for the weekend and drive it all you want.” The goal is to overcome the customer’s reluctance.

7. Be in the right place at the right time. “Why didn’t I think of you last week when we bought the new…” Some salespeople simply shrug off such comments. Oh, well. I can’t be in the right place every time.” Wrong. Being in front of the customer is today’s assignment. Developing a consistent program for staying in front of customers regularly is the challenge. A mix of seminars, newsletters, bulletins, fact sheets, special events and informative articles will keep you in the customers’ minds. Ponder these tips for a week, and next week I’ll give you the remaining 8. Your business should shine after that!

8. Name your product or service. One of the best ways to differentiate your products or services from all the rest is to give them distinctive names. A building contractor with expertise in remodeling during off-hours calls himself the “stealth” remodeler. A fuel oil dealer doesn’t talk about service–he emphasizes “ComfortCare Service.” The idea is to imbue ordinary ideas with new meaning thereby separating your com-pany from your competitors. Make sure, however, that the name appeals to your customers and not just to you.

9. Be relentless. Persistence is power in marketing and sales. Far too many firms fail in their efforts because they don’t follow through long enough to produce proper results. Marketing momentum comes from a consistent effort. Once you start a newsletter, issue it on schedule. It takes time for customers to comprehend what you are doing and for prospects to get acquainted–and comfortable–with a business.

10. Get rid of the self-serving nonsense. Most company publications, ads, letters, brochures, and other sales materials are filled with words, photographs and information that do nothing more than toot the company’s horn. No one cares that the business says it is the “best,” “oldest” or the “biggest.” Pictures of the staff are only interesting to the staff. A better approach is to ask prospects what they want to know about your company. We doubt anyone will be anxious to see pictures of the CEO, chairman of the board or the executive vice president.

11. Tell them everything you know. Spill the beans, so to speak. Since today’s customers want information, knowledge and helpful ideas, do everything you can to share everything you know. This is the only way to become a valued resource to your customers. When people use your ideas, they will buy what you sell.

12. Be generous. No one wants to do business with firms operating on a one-way street. Buy a new car and the dealer hands you a 20-cent plastic key holder! It sends a message that this dealer doesn’t under-stand his customers. You may forget the car, but you will never forget the lousy key ring! Another auto dealer delivers the new car to your office. What a difference. This dealer sends a powerful message–our customers are important.

13. Make prospect identification your mission. The single most important daily activity in any business is prospect identification. By making prospecting a continuing process, companies produce a steady flow of new sales leads. They never stop asking, “Who do we want to do business with if we have the chance?” Then make sure all prospects are entered into a database so they can be cultivated over a period of time.

14. Scrutinize your corporate identity. Yes, how a company presents itself makes a difference. Is the logo appropriate? Is it dated? Does it communicate the right message and the correct image? Is the president the only one who understands it? What about the company colors? Are they reminiscent of the late ’50s? Do the letterhead, mailing labels and business cards convey a strong, positive message? Or, are they dull and ordinary looking? If you don’t think this is important, your competitors will be thrilled. Corporate identity is the face you put on your company.

15. Write customer-centered letters. Most business letters have cold, impersonal words. “As per our conversation…” “Pursuant to our agreement…” When was the last time you heard anyone talk this way at lunch (other than perhaps a lawyer)? Yet, give the same executives a pen and they become stilted. There is no reason why business letters should not be warm, friendly, conversational, interesting–and customer-centered. Write as if you were the one reading it. Should a letter end at the bottom of the first page? Yes, if that’s what it takes to tell the story? But it may take two, four or six pages. A letter should be as long as necessary and always interesting to the reader.

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Filed under: Ecommerce