Beyond the big idea: you've got a million-dollar idea; now art you need is a strategy to make it marketable. These inventors brought their ideas to life—and hit it big. Find out how they made it happen

Entrepreneur, Oct, 2004 by Karen E. Spaeder

Brilliant ideas don't get shelf space in big retail stores or airtime on TV shopping channels. They don't have legions of screaming teens coveting them. They don't have dozens of VCs writing big checks, nor do they demand a high price on eBay.

The fact is, brilliant ideas are just that--ideas--until they get turned into salable products. And the difference between an idea and a salable product is extreme--just ask an inventor who tried and failed to get his product to market, then ask an inventor who determined the proper recipe for turning a brilliant idea into a must-have in the minds of consumers.

"A lot of inventors assume people will flock [to them]," says Robert Smith, president of Rockton, Illinois-based Robert Smith & Associates PR, whose expertise has landed clients' products in the likes of Wal-Mart and Walgreens, and on home shopping channel QVC. "They find they're in for a rude awakening, lust because you created the product doesn't mean people will buy it."

That's something John Abdo learned when he fast attempted to bring his invention, The AB-DOer midsection aerobic machine, to market. Granted, the odds were against him: In 1999, he was $100,000 in debt and near bankruptcy, in spite of a successful stint from 1985 to ]997 hosting his own weekly syndicated TV series Training & Nutrition 2000. Chronic back pain caused by a cracked vertebra often made it hard for Abdo, 49, to exercise, and in between tapings of his show, he would frequently gain weight. He invented The AB-DOer to help him exercise without putting undue stress on his back.

When Abdo first began seeking interest in The AB-DOer in 1994, he met with stony-faced VCs who were less than amused by his unorthodox investor presentation. Clad in workout gear and toting an "old, funky gym bag" which contained his invention, the Marina del Rey, California, inventor would say: "Gentlemen, guess what's in the bag. There's a hundred million dollars sitting [there].

"Needless to say, they kicked me out every time," he continues, adding that one such investor had also turned down Tae Bo the year before. "I wasn't being arrogant; I was just so confident [in my product]."

Fortunately, one investor happened to be a fan of Abdo's TV show, which was popular in Chicago at the time. The investor funded Abdo's product engineering as well as legal costs in exchange for a percentage of his business. After some success with self-producing an infomercial (in partnership with marketing and production companies), in 2001, Abdo was eventually able to secure a slot on home shopping channel HSN. Acting as his own product spokesperson, he sold 21,500 units his first day on HSN, for a grand total of $2.5 million in sales.

"I made sure I was secured as a spokesperson," notes Abdo. "I nursed the idea and gave birth to it, and I'm a living testimonial to it." Continued sales and success on HSN brought first-year sales to $22 million. Abdo's current sales volume? He's now sold nearly 3 million units of The AB-DOer to date, and sales have surpassed $320 million.

So I've Got This Great Idea ...

If you think you may have a winning product like The AB-DOer on your hands, you'll want to know how to get it into the right hands. Abdo advises new inventors to study the process of bringing a product to market, from start to finish. Remember, just having a good idea doesn't necessarily mean you've got a good seller.

"You might have a good idea, but [if] it costs hundreds of dollars to manufacture, or it weighs too much [to be shipped], it's not a [direct-response] TV product," notes Abdo. "You have to know your product, how your product is going where, how to secure your intellectual property, how to teach people to use your product and teach them in a fun way."

Developing a prototype is one surefire way to determine whether your product will sell. You can hire someone to do this for you, but developing it yourself--or at least having a sharp understanding of how your product is put together--has many benefits. Not only will you have a better knowledge of how your product works, but you'll also uncover any glitches in product design. "Build the best functional prototype you can, not a duct-tape prototype that you whip together in your garage," says Abdo. "People only understand what you're showing them."

Also check in with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), an excellent place to begin your self-education. Browse the USPTO Web site (www. uspto.gov), and read up on how to obtain patent-pending status, trademarks and other protections. The USPTO also holds an annual Independent Inventors Conference with me National Inventors Hall of Fame, where top USPTO officials, successful inventors and other experts will advise you on marketing and intellectual property protection.

Hiring a patent attorney like Abdo did is also a good idea. That was just one of many steps that Kelsey Wirth, 35, and Zia Chishti, 33, took when fast starting Align Technology in midwinter 1997, the year they were completing their MBAs at Stanford Business School. Using Chishti's background in computer graphics, and aided by some Stanford computer graphics majors who ditched their Ph.D. programs to work for Align, the co-founders created Invisalign, a product that combines 3-D computer imaging technology with orthodontic science. The Santa Clara, California, company appeals to adult consumers who want to straighten their teeth discreetly using the company's "aligners," a series of removable, clear plastic orthodontic appliances.