If you have the money it's easy to get a patent and make a prototype. The big question is how to make people aware of your new invention idea without going bankrupt.

Creating and launching a new invention has never been easier. Suppliers can be found online for everything from app creation, industrial design and prototyping to injection molding, metal stamping and more. Warehousing facilities are just a click away. Need money to get started? Kickstarter and Indiegogo are there for you. And once you get your product made you can easily create an Amazon listing to make it available for purchase by everyone on the planet.

BUT...

How do you affordably make people aware that your product exists? That is the massively important question for all inventors and new product creators. Advertising on Google and Facebook and Amazon, making deals with bloggers and Youtube influencers will buy you traffic for online sales, but unless your profit margins are fat AND your price point high AND your conversion rate excellent (numbers of visitors it takes to make a sale), you will lose money and not be able to sustain a business.

Getting into bricks and mortar distribution at places like Wal Mart, Home Depot and CVS is virtually impossible for a new company with a single item.

So what do you do?

Our solution is to seek licensing deals with companies that have established distribution channels. And that works. But only sometimes. Many good and great products get launched and then die because the cost of advertising them is simply too high. I'd like to better the batting average, I'd like to give more good products a chance.

If you have ideas on the subject and want to share, please send it to me at mike@inventioncity.com. I'll post your ideas here and give you credit and a link.

- Mike Marks