So You Wanna Be A Millionaire by Producing or Selling Your Idea?

Prior to Amazon the means for inventors to distribute their new product was, in quasi-historical order:

• HSN/QVC
• Home Parties (Tupperware, Cutco, etc)
• Door-to-Door sales
• Mail Order Catalogs (Lillian Vernon, Vermont Country)
• Sears & Roebuck
• 5&10 stores (Woolworths, Newberry's)
• Wells Fargo Wagon (think "Music Man" as an example)

Today the opportunity to pitch your idea, your products, is as simple as setting up a shopping cart on your own website, and/or partnering with Etsy, Ebay, or similar pre-formatted website.  Or as costly as the Amazon vortex.  However, there are still other means:

• QVC/HSN Product Pitch — QVC.com
• About Shark Tank TV Show Series (abc.com)
• Trade Shows fitting your product type or market
  • E3 - Gamers Los Angeles June 2023
  • CosmoProf - Beauty - Las Vegas July 2023
  • Pack Expo - Packaging & Processing - Las Vegas September 2023
    • Consumer Electronics Show - Las Vegas January 2023
    • Impressions & Imprinted Sportswear Expo - Decorated Apparel Long Beach January 2023
    • ExpoWest - health food March 2023
    • Inpex - Invention Expo - on hold.

• Local Markets
• Farmers Markets for food & health/beauty products
• Holiday Boutiques
• Chamber of Commerce
• Consignment or Space Renting from an established local retailer
• Independently owned stores, hotels, or food establishments
• Municipal or Education Sector contracts (tedious)

While catalog/mail-order opportunities are predominantly online there are still companies who cater to a generation or demographic that prefers to turn the pages as they browse.

Then there are the numerous online formats which give you TIME to present, curate an interest from the audience, with your own visual presentation:

• YouTube
• Etsy
• Shopify
• Facebook Marketplace
• Craigslist (once a powerful resource but replaced by those who use Facebook)
• Swappa
• Gazella
• Rubylane (collectibles - not a expected source for new products)

Don't forget to protect your investment, your creativity, with a copyright, patent, or trademark and maybe consult with legal counsel to review contracts you sign.

Did you know at one time the downtown Los Angeles Public Library had the largest inventory of patent, intellectual property, records! While they are an excellent resource the need for tangible visibility of patent records has long been replaced by online depictions.  Intellectual Property - Patents | Los Angeles Public Library (lapl.org)

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