If there is anything to learn from this, it goes back to my earlier post about listening to your customer for feedback and ideas.

If you’d like to keep up with the latest Headset Buddy products, visit our new Headset Buddy Adapter blog.

V1.0

One habit I’ve started for myself is that whenever I show someone the Headset Buddy, before I tell them what it does, I ask them if they can tell me what it does. The point of the packaging is to quickly,clearly, and concisely communicate (not necessarily describe) what your product does.

What I found after asking a handful of business contacts, friends, and acquaintances, is that my insert card was doing a good job telling people what the Headset Buddy does. Just from the name people assumed it was for a headphone or a headset. Some people thought it was a splitter that allows two headsets to be used on an MP3 player. Others thought it was for a phone headset instead of a PC headset.

At first I thought that I was asking the wrong people, but almost everyone was not understanding, within a few seconds, the purpose of the Headset Buddy. So I went to radio shack and looked at other packaging to see what they were doing that I was not. One of the main things other packaging did was have a picture of someone using the product. Also, I realized that my icons on my first design weren’t clear that the adapter was for a PC headset to connect to a phone. I also noticed that most packaging left the detailed specs such as “Mic/Audio 3.5mm to 2.5mm” on the back of the packaging instead of the front.

So for my second design, here are the steps I took to quickly, clearly, and concisely communicate the intended use of the Headset Buddy:

1. Just like I saw on other examples of packaging, I added a picture of someone using a PC headset. Because of the small size of the card insert, unfortunately the picture is smaller than I would like.

2. I changed the icons from this:

to this:

3. I moved the technical specs of plug sizes to the back of the insert.

4. Although this seems like a small change, I modified the description from “Use One PC Headset With Computer & Phone” to “Use Your PC Headset With Phones”. The reason for the change is because people were confused by the dual use of “Computer & Phone.” It should be implied that the PC Headset can be used with your computer, so I just made the statement clear that it can now be used with phones.

5. I also added what the Headset Buddy is compatible with, and trademark/copyright statements to the back of the card.

I’m sure there’s more steps I can do to improve the design, and that will happen by continuing to survey customers. Continuous improvement is the life of an inventor and entrepreneur.

- Bryan Daigle

Dual 3.5mm to 2.5mm Headset to Phone Adapter

Our first shot at packaging the headset adapter

I asked a couple of people at potential retail stores about the packaging, and incorporated their ideas into round two of packaging the product.

So to beef up the look, I decided to put the adapter in a clamshell. That would not only help the perceived value, but just plain make it easier for consumers to understand its value and what it does. Once I have a photo, I’ll post it up here (just finished re-packaging some of them last night). Next step, time to talk to more retailers!

- Bryan Daigle
Inventor of The Headset Buddy – Use Your PC Headset With Phones

Instead, develop your product one step at a time. One of those steps, after you’ve started manufacturing your product, improved your packaging a few times, and tested it out online, is to approach brick and mortar stores and online retailers. The big retailers won’t want to see your product if it hasn’t been proven in a retail environment.

I finally reached the point with the Headset Buddy that I felt comfortable approaching some online and offline retailers. But how do I know what stores to contact?

Fortunately, ever since I started selling the product online, I’ve been getting customers to complete surveys. One question I ask them is “What retail store would you first look for this item?”

Based on their answers, I researched some of the companies selling headsets and contacted their purchasing department. I provided samples to at an independently owned Radio Shack, local computer store, and a local UPS store to see how sales would do in those markets. I also asked some chain retailers the best way to get into their system.

I’m still waiting for the results, but I’m hopefully that at least two of my traditional retail stores and several of the online stores will prove worthwhile. You just have to be patient because the turnover for small retail stores for a single SKU can be half a dozen to a few dozen units per year. So it can take anywhere from a few weeks or a few months for that store to determine if it’s worthwhile to carry your product.

Remember, you’re competing with other products on their shelf, so your product has to make more money for the retailer than something else on their shelf. If you keep in mind these tips, you’ll do much better when your product is ready to be introduced to the retail market.

- Bryan Daigle

So how can Billy get away with selling all these products and not protecting them? Here is his philosophy…

So many inventors think they are out to make millions of dollars. However, studies have shown that only 3% of patents are commercially viable (MIT study). So the number of products that are both commercially viable and make millions of dollars, is a very, VERY small number. For most inventors, you’re lucky to make a profit, and really lucky to earn an full-time income from a product.

That’s where Billy’s philosophy really kicks in. If you assume your product will only make at most $200,000 or less in sales per year (what 99.9999% of inventions make), then why spend $20,000-$40,000 applying for, protecting, and litigating for a patent? In fact, if you are like most inventors who sell their product in small quantities to niche markets, then you don’t necessarily need a patent. Why would a Chinese company or an American company want to make your product if you’re only selling less than $200,000 of it per year? It is not worth it for them to copy it.

Copycats and big companies only want blockbuster products with potential sales in the millions. So what may be a treasure to you, making $100,000 selling your product, is peanuts to a corporation. The trick to creating a successful product that sells well enough for you to earn a living is this . . . create a product in a niche big enough for you, but too small for anyone larger. For example, Billy spun off a line of metal detectors for hunters, so they can detect bird shot in their catch of the day. That’s a niche. That’s a product that sells well, but doesn’t need a patent.

I think it’s calming to know that if you create a good, niche product, then you don’t have to worry about all the money, time, and energy you would be wasting on a patent.

Using this philosophy, Billy has created 59 products that sell well enough for him to live the good life, but not well enough for it to be worth it for companies to copy his products.

- Bryan Daigle

Back on topic, I’ve been hearing more good things about Amazon’s
Kindle 2. I have yet to go out on a limb and shell out the $359 for the Kindle 2 because right now I don’t have a problem carrying one book around at a time. My best reading (and thinking time) is on airplanes, and unless I’m reading Garfield, I probably won’t finish the book on one trip.

But I could definitely see the benefit for people backpacking around Europe, or living in a foreign country, where books in English might be as difficult to get as a fair taxi price. Downloading all your books and having them in one place might also free up a corner of my office.

Now if I could only turn all my old college textbooks that I don’t have the guts/willpower to throw away into downloadable PDFs. That would save a couple more cubic feet in the storage closet. I’ve already started saving storage space by converting pictures to digital images through a Photo Scanning Service.

But realistically, I think I’ll always have paper books. The Kindle, although it has it’s benefits, might be more challenging to consult on a time-to-time basis as I can’t quickly flip through the pages to a particular section. I do this with my business reference books all the time, and I think it would be tough getting use to the Kindle. Although on the other hand, the search feature might come in handy if I’m just searching for a particular topic.

In a way, the Kindle is like the Google Book Search is to Libraries. Yea, it’s nice to be able to search and read stuff with ease, but sometimes nothing beats a trip to a good ole fashioned library.

- Daigle