tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101765772024-02-08T12:59:32.177-05:00This Invention: A Family Content NetworkA journal, information and resources for establishing a <a href="http://www.familycontentnetworks.com">Family Content Network</a>, as I am doing - essentially a framework for managing all your Family's online assets and inventions for maximum exposure and revenue. This blog began as an inventor's journal, and retains the overall parent inventor's context and mindset.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-7158842023645525642018-03-30T08:50:00.001-04:002018-03-30T08:52:27.538-04:00Quick UpdateIt's been a long road since the last post, over a decade ago. Where are we now? The original invention is now manifested as a vibrant digital marketing agency with up to 20 employees and interns at times, a business in Fairfax City VA at https://kme.digital. We are Loudoun, Fairfax and Northern Virginia's most prominent and experienced source of deep digital marketing expertise for local businesses and agencies. Through all the stops, starts, turns, successes and failures - the original intent to develop interest in something new using the Internet, persists as the core thread of our business to this day. Most amazing is that I can actually still blog on this platform, under my original "hotmail" ID...Lots have certainly changed with digital marketing and Google since then - evidence is in the 100+ spam linkbait comments in the last posting of 2007; this practice is all but gone now.<br />
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This year looks to be an amazing one for growth, thanks not only to our fantastic employees, customers (some still with us for 10 years!) and partners, but mostly to the dramatic acceleration in our local, regional and national economy.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-68024084017845571442007-12-13T09:34:00.000-05:002007-12-13T09:37:12.772-05:00RenewalSo it's now been a full year since our last post on the topics herein....it seems we'll refocus this blog again back to inventions - it appears at least one of our kids is becoming consumed with "inventing", now that their Daddy's patent has been actually granted. Coming up - kid inventions...<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com131tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1167498959451152682006-12-30T12:07:00.000-05:002006-12-30T12:17:56.006-05:00What's to come in 20072006 ended with a lot of online projects queued up and ready to take off, for 2007. Our own family content network's latest addition "Dulles South Online" at <a href="http://www.dullessouthonline.com">http://www.dullessouthonline.com</a> reflects all we've developed and learned over the past year. It's totally optimized for SEO/SEM purposes, and acts as a central vehicle to advertise and promote all our family businesses, along with related community and business listings. <br /><br />KME Web Design (our business we started to focus on helping others with their websites and Internet Marketing) has had its first customers at the end of this year. <a href="http://www.kmewebdesign.com"> http://www.kmewebdesign.com</a><br /><br />Our real estate site was significantly enhanced with listings now automatically fed (via XML/RSS) to Googlebase, Trulia, Oodle, Edgeio, Propsmart and other listing aggregators - pretty surprising there's not yet an accepted real estate XML standard that everyone subscribes to. <a href="http://www.ingridmyers.com">http://www.ingridmyers.com</a><br /><br />The "invention" (Slingwheels!) that started this all off is on indefinite hiatus, as our funds have been shifted from investing in it, to investing in our children and the online businesses that will provide more immediate return. It'll have to be a back-burner project, but like everything else, a little bit at a time should eventually produce some kind of productive results.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1157739222659862972006-09-08T14:13:00.000-04:002006-09-08T14:15:08.280-04:00FCN RolesThis week’s post begins a discussion about roles. For a Family Content Network (FCN) to be successful, there’s a certain art to practice in harnessing, marshalling and persuading your family to operate as a well-managed unit. If you family’s like my family, it certainly doesn’t act like a business, nor might you actually hire everyone. On the other hand, your family members are just as valuable to your FCN as customers, as they might be as true partners. I see the FCN family member profiles as four major types, along two axis: the “activity” axis, and the “subject-matter” axis.<br /><BR><BR><br /><img src="http://www.familycontentnetworks.com/images/FCNRoles.gif" align=middle><BR><BR><br />Along the activity axis, your family members range from fully passive to active with respect to helping grow the business. Fully passive members don’t participate at all, or merely stay informed – these can actually be your best “customers”, from the perspective they provide objective feedback and perhaps refer the “business” to other people. Fully active members are typing away, contributing business or technical skills, involved online, and otherwise truly busy.<br /><br />Along the subject-matter axis, family members range from having nothing really unique, interesting or complimentary to add to the collective knowledgebase (if you’ve got someone like that in your family, you might not have a good enough relationship with them), to persons with deep, valuable expertise.<br /><br />All types and variations on this role grid are important, though they need to be managed differently. For example, I’ve got a relative who wants to be active but doesn’t understand the Internet, and has very deep subject matter expertise (SME) in several areas. My job here is to facilitate his expression and exposure of his talents and information. Another relative doesn’t seem to have much to contribute, but is fairly active on the Internet – she needs some persuading and complimentary feedback to help coax out the nuggets of content value I know she must have, based on her lifestyle.<br /><br />Therefore, to effectively understand and manage these roles, your FCN needs a Knowledge Champion. Someone whose role is part coach, part subject classifier, part industry researcher, part knowledge harvester. To be truly effective at harvesting the knowledge, this person must learn to find and extract both tacit and explict knowledge from the family. Tacit knowledge is that which is inside your head, your experiences, your relationships; explicit knowledge is that which is published, listed or otherwise readily obtained. The Knowledge Champion needs to be as much an effective collaborator and communicator, as an effective information manager.<br /><br />In addition to the Knowledge Champion, other unique FCN roles, outside of the typical business roles, that we’ll explore over future articles include:<br /><br /> Content Manager;<br /> Security, Privacy and Intellectual Property advocate;<br /> Archivist; and<br /> Communications Specialist.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1156859974513503482006-08-29T09:15:00.000-04:002006-08-29T10:32:02.400-04:00FCN Methods and Starter MaterialsTo help others establish and grow their own Family Content Network (FCN), we've begun release of some of the material and methods. Note that this guidance is only one way of approaching the Internent "ContentSphere" for the purposes of monetizing your family's online assets; but it's based on sound practices and methods, constantly updated to reflect industry trends and tools, and reflects the growing success of similar online content networks. In short, it's a plan, and it works!<br /><br />The first article can be found under "New Articles" on our <a href="http://www.familycontentnetworks.com">Family Content Networks website.</a><br /><br />This first article simply sets the stage and explains a little about what an FCN is; future articles and resources will more fully cover things like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), using Del.icio.us and Technorati for links, distributing your content through Blogburst, etc. We will also explore the roles and responsibilities necessary for your family to adopt, in building this network - which is in fact a network of trusted people and trusting consumers.<br /><br />The methods we've built and are following can be summarily illustrated as follows; all the details underneath this picture are available and will be released gradually as we continue to build our network, and others begin theirs.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.familycontentnetworks.com"><br /><img src="http://www.familycontentnetworks.com/images/FCNmethods.gif" align=center></a><br /><br />The basic cycle of activity can be summarized by the numbers:<br /><br />(1) - What great, unique, in-demand content to you have and wish to share or monetize? (The Content and Brand)<br />(2) - Who wants or needs it, and where are similar items typically bought and sold? (The Customer)<br />(3) - How should it be packaged, for where it's going? (The Packaging)<br />(4) - How would someone most easily get it from you, pay for it, and see more? (The Distribution)<br />(5) - How do you know if you're successful or not? (The Back Office)<br /><br />The use of the word "Family" in this arena should be clarified - it doesn't specifically refer to the type and nature of the content (like, for example, content just for families and kids, like on the Disney Channel). It refers primarily to the fact that the content is being produced and managed by a Family; your wife, your sisters, cousins, parents, children.<br /><br />I will stress, however, that success is <strong>directly related to the level of trust achieved</strong> among your family and customers, i.e. the content managers, publishers and consumers. This means that if the people using your network expect to be producing and using legal, family-friendly, useful, non-threatening material, they are entitled to receive just that. So deal only with information that's acceptable to the general public, or risk marginalizing your network, and limiting its growth. <br /><br />Good luck, and get going!<br /><br /><strong><u>Tip of the Week: </u></strong>Notice that the image link in this post (if you examine the source code) leads back to a directory on my website...the image is managed there, for use in other sites or blogs, instead of being uploaded to Blogger where it's harder to reuse.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1156616311973676562006-08-26T14:14:00.000-04:002006-08-26T14:18:42.056-04:00Morph is CompleteThe morph in my focused activities from a physical creations to a virtual ones is complete....with the initial site page for "www.familycontentnetworks.com" launched today. In the coming weeks, volumes of material will be loaded into this site to catalogue the FCN discipline, and info for others to find their way. This blog will continue to be a news/journal site for all FCN-related activities, but will maintain an "inventor" flavor - who knows, perhaps the actual invention that started this all will stage a comeback! (meaning, I figure out an alternate way to approach the orginal problem).<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1156017873282846122006-08-19T15:58:00.000-04:002006-08-19T16:04:33.703-04:00(45) Another Content SiteThis is getting wacked - www.realestate-virginia.blogspot.com, another FCN site to add to the list, though this is primarily to drive traffic to ingridmyers.com, so won't have a lot of affiliate advertising on it.<br /><br />The FCN business plan is shaping up; I should have (1) a "brand" page soon, (2) a process document regarding how it operates and steps to take to join and maintain the network, and (3) guidance regarding referral/link tracking and revenue-sharing. The local Women's business network actually has a pretty good referral system going, though it's focused on physical referral to offline business, vs. online referral to online OR offline business. Might mimic some of the governance around that.<br /><br />Now all we need IS actual revenue, to share. Made $10 this week...paid for this month's domain hosting charge, so we're officially in the black! (um, without considering our laptop investment, time spent, printer/paper/ink, etc.).<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1154895100585538552006-08-06T16:04:00.000-04:002006-08-06T16:11:40.933-04:00(44) The Family Content Network Keeps Growing!Two more content ideas blossomed this week, linked into everything else (but based on our family's expertise) - <a href="www.technicalresume.net">Technical Resume</a> reviews and comments (me and my wife, already underway), and <a href="www.pianoinstruction.blogspot.com">Classic Piano Instruction</a> information (my Dad - coming soon).<br /><br />It just doesn't stop, once the family vault of capability is opened!<br /><br />As of this post, I'm going to officially claim the term "Family Content Network" (FCN) as a "linked web of cross-referenced online properties and related content, woven together with a binding semantic theme (such as Family Services), and provided and managed through the efforts, expertise and knowledgebase of a Family Unit".<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1154724264197206192006-08-04T16:38:00.000-04:002006-09-12T07:05:44.666-04:00(43) Hack that Stroller!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1031/775/1600/hackedstroller.0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1031/775/320/hackedstroller.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Here's what our stroller's starting to look like, all pimped and hacked up, plus starting to benefit from the invention/business-building process...but not quite ready for "prime-time!"<br /><br />All the stroller accessories hanging off the stroller, plus many more, can be found at <a href="http://www.slingwheels.com">www.slingwheels.com.</a><br /><br />Growing List of Family Content Network sites, generated from this invention process!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.familycontentnetworks.com">- Family Content Networks</a><BR><br /><a href="http://www.securityscreens.com">- Security Screens</a><BR><br /><a href="http://www.dadministrator.blogspot.com">- Internet Safety for Parents</a><BR><br /><a href="http://www.ingridmyers.com">- Washington, DC-Area Real Estate</a><br><br /><a href="http://www.ingridmyers.com/erikaboehm.htm">- East German Paintings</a><br><br /><a href="http://www.technicalresume.net">- Technical Resume Reviews</a><br><br /><a href="http://www.whizkidsllc.com">- Computer Training and Online Safety for Children and Adults (developing franchise)</a><br><br /><a href="http://www.kmeshop.com">- eBay Affiliate shopping and information</a><br><br /><a href="http://www.braddocksouthonline.com">- Northern Virginia Development and Transportation Issues</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1153683488064435652006-07-23T15:29:00.000-04:002006-07-23T15:38:08.770-04:00(42) Summer HiatusJuly seems to be a very evil month - sucking up every last bit of energy you've got, in non-stop fun, swim meets, cook-outs, birthday parties, etc...not much left over for inventing. Having been doing this now for 2 years, it's true - much more work is accomplished in the cold months, than the warm. At least the cerebral type.<br /><br />So I'm basically spending time eliminating all the force vectors from the invention as it is...it's initial failure was due to the fact that I assumed far fewer force vectors than actually existed. I basically assumed the stroller platform would generally be more robust, uniform and rigid than it actually turned out to be. So, either need to fix the platform, create my own, or essentially make sure the invention stands pretty much on its own, with no assumptions to take into account with respect to the stroller. This is thinking, fiddling, experimenting time, both with the initial prototypes I have (that turned out to be really brittle, at $500 a pop - one's broken already!), and with pieces of wood, nuts and bolts.<br /><br />I can see the invention evolving before my eyes - either into something fairly different than the patent I applied for (but solving the same problem), or into a whole new process approach, with existing parts and products, for which I can't get a patent. I'm pretty determined, though, to make something work, and solve the issue for most people - hopefully it turns out to be in a way where I can recoup my investment.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1150996170382996022006-06-22T13:09:00.000-04:002006-06-22T13:09:30.800-04:00(41) And one invention begets other stuffSo, with my invention capital investment funds appropriated (for the kid's private school), the invention prototype in need of a major mechanical redesign, and summer activities rampaging, the actual invention process is a bit stalled. However, the invention process and energy certainly kicked off or otherwise fostered a number of other, related-in-strange-ways revenue stream-generating adventures...which are making the "diversified family services conglomerate" strategy really begin to take shape.<br /><br /><strong>www.slingwheels.com </strong>- I've become a stroller accessories expert, in creating my own - and now will sell stroller accessories. In particular, I think a collection of accessories for Moms or Dads (which will have different things in them) to use as gifts would really make the stroller community happy (read, yahoo stroller group). Should begin selling in July.<br /><br /><strong>www.ingridmyers.com </strong> - Through developing the slingwheels website, I've become a good enough webmaster to redo the family real estate website (wife's mother), with linkages to all the rest of our stuff. As we pick up help in this venue, by getting our own real estate licenses, this should become a great cross-selling opportunity.<br /><br /><strong>www.ingridmyers.com/erikaboehm.htm</strong> - speaking of cross-selling, it so happens we've had an entire lifetime collection of paintings available to sell for some time - now that we're getting busy on ebay and slingwheels selling things, why not sell reproduction prints? We've started listing a few - who knows, maybe good baby shower presents in addition to stroller accessories!<br /><br /><strong>www.dadministrator.blogspot.com</strong> - the Internet Safety kick, generated out of our Whizkids business, is poking along. Some progress generating interest at work, and about 20 downloads so far of the (free for now) eBook (volume 1) generated, from the Whizkids site. Still looking at this as a cross sell with Whizkids.<br /><br /><strong>www.whizkidsllc.com </strong>- Our computer training business for kids and adults - the website's been improved with more upselling stuff (affiliate advertising), but activity is down for the Summer, while we plan for all the new class activity this Fall in the county community centers. Should get real busy in August.<br /><br /><strong>Drop-shipping</strong> - looking for more opportunities to drop-ship stuff from online advertising; will probably mean an aggregation of ecommerce activity across our sites into one. I've established a domain www.kmeshop.com for this; right now just some drop-shipping advertising and junk on it - to be developed.<br /><br /><strong>Computer consulting and recruiting</strong> - new development, where we actually assist in technical recruiting and consulting. Right now in limited partnership, I suppose eventually we can do a full partnership and establish some business of our own.<br /><br /><strong>www.nationalsecurityscreens.com</strong> - a relative's business, has truly been stale for a long time from an Internet perspective; I'm taking steps to take over site maintenance and support, and therefore bring it into the conglomerate fold, and perhaps generate more cross-selling opportunities.<br /><br />This blog - continues to be an archive/journal of an invention, and that which was spawned.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1149166022142405382006-06-01T08:34:00.000-04:002006-06-01T08:48:20.623-04:00(40) Buggers!As everyone says, the invention process is 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Here on our vacation, I've had time to really test out the full-blown prototype, and a significant mechanical issue has developed. I've suspected the need for an extra part for some time to provide a particular kind of stability and directional alighnment, now those suspicions are realized. The invention looks good, but doesn't actually work (yet). So it's back to the drawing board to (1) re-engineer the primary part for additional fit and stability, and (2) create the new part and its attachment points. What started out in my mind as a very simple and hopefully cheap product, is rapidly becoming more complex and expensive (with more metal parts) to design and manufacture. And harder to use, as a consumer. This is not really the direction I intended. So, time to buckle down, and rework the design.<br /><br />This state of affairs does come at a bad time, from a working capital perspective. It's really important, obviously, to have a decent pot of funds to keep the design, testing and prototyping going, and then launch the product. Mine have been diminishing steadily, and it's just become apparent to us that we need to "borrow" from the invention fund, to cover expenses on the kid's education and our own retirement front. This makes it all the more urgent to get a subsidiary revenue stream up and running (i.e. online reselling of stroller accessories), to cover R&D of the invention. So, the product launch keeps getting pushed back - being ready this Fall looks like it won't happen, without some considerable help and perhaps some kind of cash infusion from a partner or investor. The Catch-22 is that I can't yet demonstrate the product actually works, just its potential.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1148559089541239972006-05-25T07:59:00.000-04:002006-05-25T08:13:33.556-04:00(39) Desert ConditionsWe're off to the beach! Vacation time, finally. It's also a good opportunity to test the invention in "desert conditions", as well as "beach conditions". Lots of sand, salt, bad terrain, greasy suntan lotion, wet kids, packing/unpacking, loads of beach accessories; in short, all kinds of variables to throw into the stroller and strolling equation. I don't think our stroller fleet will be happy with us, getting put through the grueling "boot camp" for this invention; thankfully, though, we've still got 1 kid small enough to warrant a stroller, and therefore serve as spokesmodel (she's on the front of slingwheels.com).<br /><br />In support of the eventual ecommerce element of this journey, I've now applied for a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), plus registered as an LLC retail business for tax and tradename purposes in the state of VA. Very easy, all forms online, and nice telephone support. Have also collected the wholesale information on select accessories we think we could resell, that are related to the invention, and started to adjust the site (in our development environment) to accommodate a shopping cart/catalogue feature. I'm investigating two different kinds - one offered by my ISP (aplus.net), and one that seems pretty good another mom-operated stroller site uses. <a href="http://www.Letsgostrolling.com">Letsgostrolling.com</A> is a nice shopping experience, easy and clean - I did a "view source" on the web pages, found references to "aitsafe", and tracked it down to Mal's ecommerce server/shopping cart service. Looks pretty good.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1147567102411743882006-05-13T20:38:00.000-04:002006-05-13T20:38:26.743-04:00(38) Back from JPMA!Did a fly-by down in Orlando this week, at the Juvenile Products Manufacturer's Association convention (JPMA). Since this is my first foray into the world of manufacturing such things, I was eager to see whether (1) my particular invention had any up-and-coming competition, (2) what other parent-inventors like myself were up to lately in this arena, (3) what other stroller accessories were available that might be cross-selling opportunities, and (4) what the stroller industry in general was up to, such that my invention was still relevant and workable with their new offerings. It turned out to be a very positive trip.<br /><br />I found many other stroller accessories, several by Mom and Pop inventors (highlighted on www.slingwheels.com/products.htm), and many as adjuncts to particular stroller lines. Funny the major stroller manufacturers really didn't want to chat with me, as an "Independent Buyer/Inventor"; must-of thought I was some kind of spy (got this understanding from reflections of the "strollerqueen" when she visited similar shows). Things like the MommyHook, Strollometer, Plate Pal, Pacifeeder, Frubi Shades....all kinds of neat stuff, from persons who really enjoyed telling me their story, and were eager to share information. Perhaps I'll one day have a table-top or booth exhibit. The tabletop exhibits were a new feature this year, just $600 for a table in the main area; Brad from Mominventors really seemed to think this was a great idea, especially for other Parent inventors.<br /><br />The strollers themselves; mostly more of the same (this evidently isn't the real big new stroller venue each year), but some really neat things were the Nascar/Pro Sports licensing, new colors and mechanisms for folding, and stylings in the wheels and handles. But, basically, the stroller market is unchanged with respect to the need for my invention - this is good news, likely keeps me in business another few years.<br /><br />The invention itself - it's amazing how many minor issues crop up, the more pieces your product contains. I've had two separate shipments of accessories for my product, and each shipment had errors, handling damage or otherwise were unusable. The manufacturers are very responsive, sending replacement parts etc., but it all adds up to more and more time lost. One particular area of the invention may have to go to market as "Plan B"; i.e. the way I would've like to have done it (and the better way) will have to wait a while and continue with tinkering and testing; meanwhile, I go to market with an easier, but not as elegant or truly useful part. But it still solves the fundamental issue, and reason for purchasing the product. I wonder how many inventions do well on first release to the market, where the maker doesn't really intend the ultimate product (though it accomplishes its basic purpose, to solve immediate problems and capture market share) to be available until release 4 or so (sounds like the software market, doesn't it).<br /><br />So that's what I'll do - get "release 1.0" out there quickly, and let the public help test/revise for releases 2 and 3. Can't be utterly perfect, the first time out, but the point is to get something out.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1146312739905309342006-04-29T07:59:00.000-04:002006-04-29T08:12:19.916-04:00(37) It's Alive!My designer and I met and reviewed the first fully-assembled prototype - complete with mismatched screws, a nail and sawed-off rivet acting as a pin, and several of the parts slightly off, not long or short enough, and overall looking very much like a prototype. But it works, the fundamental design and load/stress-accommodating characteristics are right, things "snap and lock" when they should, and the whole assembly looks pretty cool. It'll look really cool once it gets the right metal connectors, and is all nicely polished up, colored (SLA prototypes are this off-white color), with logo. And, after a year and a half, there's still nothing remotely like it on the market, though the groups and forums I monitor obviously still need it. Patent-pending: 6 months and counting.<br /><br />One of those Yahoo groups is really active; I posted a helpful "lure" (a post with some nice, helpful information, directing those who want more info back to my site; this is called "fishing for natural links", where you establish links to your site over time from relevant, willing online associates or contacts - search engines really like this). This posting, in 2 days time, generated nearly 50 unique visits to my site! Too bad I'm not ready to sell anything, or have affiliate referrals set up yet for me to earn income from. What's most important, though, is to establish genuine credibility and a good reputation within the online communities you hope to generate business from - first, before trying to sell, second.<br /><br />Protype re-runs next week, then we'll be seriously testing - I think we'll have to do one more prototype run, with the work being colored and polished, to get an idea of the final product look and feel, and how stickers, labels and/or logos would be attached. I think the initial packaging will have to be pretty plain; I simply don't have enough working capital left to do much in this area right now.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1146058602221067592006-04-26T09:16:00.000-04:002006-04-26T09:42:43.740-04:00(36) Live Animal TestingNow that I'm on the brink of actually prototype testing, it's time to start considering product liability. As my invention has to do with children and strollers, any testing I do needs to be sure and consider all dangers to children and their parents - so I'll do live animal testing.<br /><br />It's a pretty strange coincidence of the marketplace, actually, where I'm on the verge of producing a product with very broad appeal to the human stroller set, and here comes a product from the folks at "Kittywalk", strollers for pets. No, my invention isn't dangerous or anything, but I'd certainly looking forward more to doing the first bunch of extreme obstacle course testing with "Puffy", than with "Meghan". Cats don't need juice boxes, nosewipes or timeouts. Also, little chance of product liability concerns from the Focus Group, or the eventual customers. Very funny advertising, to be sure, is in store.<br /><br />It's all a bit tongue-in-cheek, of course, but I actually have a whole new market (albeit not necessarily as large) for the product, with few liability concerns...after I hook up with a product liability lawyer (which is coming soon, because I really do need to test and sell the product for kids), I'll have more information with which to gauge how soon I target the kiddie parents vs. the kittie parents.<br /><br />Note to animal-lovers: relax, no animals have been or will be harmed or mistreated in the filming of this episode - unless Meghan drops her lolly on them, and somebody gets a haircut.<br /><br />I will have the first completely assembled, working prototype this weekend! However, a couple of tweaks are still necessary to satisfy the final testing platform - so it'll take another week for the prototype manufacturer to run a new set of the prototypes, with the CAD changes. Then me, Meghan AND Puffy will be stylin' with our pimped-out strollers (see her un-stylin' stroller at www.slingwheels.com). You'll be able to watch the action, live, down in Corolla in a couple of weeks (our annual beach trip); perfect testing environment for the product. Photos and complete product description/benefits will still not be generally available (outside the focus group), until I'm satisfied I have a product that will sell, and am ready to sell an initial limited run - perhaps by the end of the Summer.<br /><br />Look for my report from the JPMA exposition in a couple of weeks; I'm not showing, just scoping the "pimp my stroller" competition (and possible partners/distributors)!<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1145130353923264142006-04-15T15:37:00.000-04:002006-04-15T15:45:53.933-04:00(35) Modern Marvels resultsOk, the results are in for the Modern Marvels InventNow! contest. The top 25 are very certainly really good ideas, with scientific merit and lots of expense in developing for the most part. The 100 "honorable mentions", at <a href="http://www.historychannel.com/invent/?page=honorable">Honorable Mentions</A> are pretty good, too, but I'd like to know more about the judging criteria. In this blog, way back in entry (17) and before, I was working through the decision of whether to enter or not. I still feel it was good not to enter, even now, as I'm not yet ready to finance a production run or get totally caught up in publicity and attention - it's just too soon. I do feel, however, that this invention would certainly have made an honorable mention, after reviewing those - it's certainly on par with most from a uniqueness and global need perspective. Perhaps next year, as I think I'll have started to really market and sell a few, and will know whether they're truly useful or not.<br /><br />This invention would certainly have kicked the stuffing out of most of the American Inventor junk!<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1145021565150474832006-04-14T09:09:00.000-04:002006-04-14T09:32:45.163-04:00(34) We need a new American InventorLast night's American Inventor show was abysmal - 2 hours of disgusting slobbering and teary confessionals (from both the contestants and the judges) about bad financial decisions. To boot, the inventions that made it through aren't much to speak of, plus they didn't really show half of them. A doll that speaks 3 languages? How is that an "invention"? Ugh. At their core, these people appear to be truly committed people with interesting ideas and inventive merit; too bad the show focuses so much on them, vs. their work. <br /><br />I've officially posted a redacted front page of the website for my invention, at www.slingwheels.com - it gives some little hints as to what the invention is, but continues to avoid actually spelling it out. Checking the statcounter statistics about its traffic and visits to this site is pretty interesting; I get random hits from some very random places, as people do MSN or Google searches and this blog (or my other sites) pop up, with links to it. Here are some of the keywords people've used, that led them here:<br /><br />- invention contest April<br />- children's safety<br />- invention making<br />- what invention can a kid make on his own with construction paper<br />- my 4th grade science project invention<br />- i want cash for my invention or idea<br />- modern marvels honorable mentions<br />- invention of the boomerang<br />- invent now honorable mentions<br />- invention already created sites<br />- children's online computer games<br />- lawfirm letterhead designs<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1144427538610253312006-04-07T12:17:00.000-04:002006-04-07T12:35:38.720-04:00(33) Focus GroupsOne of the most important parts of winning the invention-to-market race, is market research. I've spent a whole lot of time research online, in bike stores, in baby/toy stores, out in the community, etc., trying to understand if this invention makes sense, people might buy it, and what kind of cost thresholds and design considerations I need to consider. Now comes the hardest, and potentially most vulnerable part of the market research - actually telling real people about it (beyond my own family and friends!), and getting candid opinions. I've delayed doing this, of course, to keep the invention "under wraps" as long as possible (so the knock-off agents don't get a head start!), but it's time to unveil it in a limited public forum. The prototype is about as complete as it can get without external review, and it's really time to get moving and market/sell this thing!<br /><br />I plan to execute a series of focus group activities as follows:<br /><br />1 - assemble a group, representing the target market with relevant background, probably no more than 20-30 persons.<br />2 - execute an NDA (not that this will stop the spread of information, but it might stall it a bit)<br />3 - do an online disclosure and survey to the focus group (through the site, www.slingwheels.com)<br />4 - after gauging the interest and feedback, do an in-person demo and hands-on tryout of the prototypes with a portion of the focus group.<br />5 - analyze and report the results.<br /><br />The in-person focus group needs to be local; the online group can be fairly widespread, but I'm going to prefer to keep it somewhat local. What's important is I get a good cross-section of the target market, including those who might use the product in different ways.<br /><br />From a focus group participant perspective, the benefits might include; fun, being part of a local "movement", potential local publicity or business exchange, discounts on future stuff, other potential giveaways.<br /><br />I've put out the word on two local portals, am seeing a pretty quick turnaround in "click-throughs" to check it out.<br /><br />On another topic, I saw the fourth installment of "American Inventor" yesterday; this show really isn't very good right now, as they weed through all the sob stories and junk that aren't inventions at all. They do show glimpses of some neat things that made it through; hopefully they'll spend more time analyzing the good stuff in weeks to come. I'd be interested in assembling a list of persons in my community who are in some stage of inventing; there's a lot of inventing going on around DC (my area), but far more never makes it past the "I've got an idea" stage.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1144006211151696192006-04-02T15:19:00.000-04:002006-04-02T15:51:51.513-04:00(32) Track Blog VisitorsAs I've kept this "journal", and pointed it out in other discussion groups or blogs, it became apparent that I should know how many people are in fact looking at/reading this - in order to better tailor the content or discussion. So I poked around, and found that "Statcounter.com" is a great, easy, free and ad-free (you don't see their ad on my site!) service to get statistics on your blog visitors. This is especially helpful, as my network of blogs and sites evolves, to understand whether references and links or doing the trick. Ultimately, this network of blogs and sites will be the marketing and selling machine for this invention, so it's good to get an early view into what kind of online exposure works, and what doesn't.<br /><br />Met with the designer yesterday, to review the first prototype together - agreed on a list of 5 or 6 things to modify, and then get a full prototype run done (12 pieces). It's very helpful that this designer really knows and has good relations with the local manufacturer doing the prototypes; between them, they're able to make tweaks, corrections and suggestions for an overall better product, that's easier to manufacture, than I could ever do. Make sure your designer has good contacts with the manufacturing industry.<br /><br />Speaking of the manufacturing industry, a fellow I work with appears to have a good contact network in India for "offshoring" the high-volume manufacturing (should it ever get to that). I will begin exploring this, if only to truly learn the ins and outs, as well as the costs and investments I'd need to make to see this happen. Didn't actually know there was a lot of offshore manufacturing going on in India; all the press seems to point to China right now...<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1143659273120015452006-03-29T14:01:00.000-05:002006-04-02T15:30:52.760-04:00(31) Tip of the week - parts and piecesSimply the best online service for parts and pieces to create your invention - McMaster-Carr, at www. mcmaster.com. They've got all your bushings, bearings, shaft sleeves and axle hubs (which incidentally, all sort of solve the same problems, I've now learned), and 500,000 other hard-to-find (read: not in Lowe's) products. Quick shipments, too.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1143643812833144622006-03-29T09:49:00.000-05:002006-03-29T09:51:36.413-05:00(30) New BlogI've been dealing with Internet Safety for a while - check out the new blog at <a href="http://DADministrator.blogspot.com">http://DADministrator.blogspot.com</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1142567078241557772006-03-16T22:26:00.003-05:002006-03-17T07:52:13.190-05:00(29) American InventorsJust caught the new American Inventors show... on the one hand, it's pretty humbling to see how many people are working hard and long on their projects, and spending a bunch of money, with just an idea and dream to work with. On the other hand, people don't get out much, or do enough Googling. Look through product magazines, industry websites. Walk through Target, Walmart. Check out Hammacher Schlemmer, Lowes, places and catalogues with wide distribution. Things that sell (1) work, (2) have some aesthetic design input, (3) don't assault your common sense or moral compass, and (4) can't be simply recreated with stuff lying around the house. The show itself? Mildly entertaining, focused too much on the people vs. the inventions, and the bald judge was the only one who came up with relevant explanations for his decisions. I'd simply like to see a show that spent 5 minutes on each and every invention, and let us vote on them real time. There also were very few actual, original 'inventions', but a lot of existing products, ideas or designs modified in some manner for new use.<br /><br />Regarding this invention, here's a hint regarding the target market - (like that commercial on TV); I don't make strollers or carts, but I make them better! I am, in fact, now a self-proclaimed expert in all things quinny, inglesina, chicco, valco, mbud and zooper! (If you don't recognize this language, check out planet StrollerSWAP, at Yahoo groups).<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1142168999134524312006-03-12T07:43:00.000-05:002006-03-17T06:25:50.586-05:00(28) First Prototype RunThat's why they call it Rapid Prototyping - I sent the CAD files to the prototyping outfit, and I think they literally created a first run the day the files arrived, and overnighted to me! It's pretty damn cool to see the whole thing come together, and I took a lot of pictures with it in a semi-assembled state - my "customers" are really going to dig this! (If it doesn't hurt them, and then they sue me - need to start lining up some third-party safety testing, and product liability advice).<br /><br />The manufacturers did have a very good idea - it was suggested that they first do one of each part, and send those to me, in case I needed to tweak the files a bit, after which they'd complete the run. My product has four parts, I ordered 1 each to check them out. Good thing I did; each part had something slightly wrong with it, and a couple of them didn't quite line up right. Don't know whether the errors were in the original design, the transfer to CAD files, or execution of the prototype; but it's good to catch them before the whole run was done ($3K!). The parts would have been nearly useless as prototypes, and I intend to conduct some serious testing with them.<br /><br />Two of the parts require a connector, some kind of rivet. Until yesterday, I really didn't actually know how a rivet worked - got schooled online real quick. Turns out there are all kinds of nifty connectors, pins, hinges, in plastic or metal - but it's very difficult to find the right kind (especially if what you need is very small) if you don't know the variety of types and terms out there. Curious, every help desk person I end up emailing says something like "having built robotic assemblies before".... I ended up at <a href="http://www.plasticfasteners.com">www.plasticfasteners.com</a>, after trolling through thomasnet. They'll be able to send a package of samples of "adjustable mini-rivets".<br /><br />Made a reservation at the upcoming JPMA expo in Orlando, to become more familiar with the baby products industry, possible competitive manufacturers, and additional or expanded target markets for my product, or products that may end up as accessories. Should be fun! Also made a reservation on my Tivo to catch "American Inventor" this week - can't wait to see how all the inventions and inventors stack up to my story. I blogged earlier about possibly entering a contest, but with a lot of follow-up advice and research, it turns out that there's very few reasons for a serious inventor with a serious product to do that.<br /><br />Other activities that might be worth commenting on - our "Bay House" is coming together, architecture plans are nearly complete, got the last good, low mortgage around, now I'm spending time trolling "freecycle.com" and rummaging leftovers from my stepmom's real estate transactions for used furniture. This vacation house will end up looking like a Fraternity house, if we're not careful! The whizkidsllc.com business is getting noticed; we held a PTA meeting with the Sherriff's department on Internet Safety, and will be doing a lot more in that area soon.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10176577.post-1140885358996735922006-02-25T11:33:00.000-05:002006-02-25T11:35:59.006-05:00(27) Kid's InventionsBeen having lots of discussions with the Kids about the invention, the invention process, and how they can invent things. It's amazing, once you show them how, with an example underway, they'll start inventing all kinds of things. Every day, my kids tell me what they've invented, or want to invent. Therefore, we've come up with a couple of ideas, and I've told the kids to figure out how to solve the problem with an invention...perhaps this will lead to new inventions, or simply a great exercise in science, business, manufacturing, marketing, etc. for the kids.<div class="blogger-post-footer">....Slingwheels LLC, at <a href="www.slingwheels.com">Slingwheels.com</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0