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Casual Articles - Is there anything new under the sun? Here's how to find out if your bright idea is unique.
Business Mail Services That Can Help Your BusinessAre you a small to medium sized business owner? If so, are all of your duties and tasks performed by your own employees, under your own roof? If so, you may want to consider outsourcing a number of your business services. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to eliminate a portion of your staff, but it does mean that you can give them additional, more important tasks to focus on.One of the many services that you may want to consider outsourcing to another individual or company is your business mail. If you choose to do this, you will likely be seeking a business mail service. A business mail service specializes in handling your business mail for you. Depending on the type of business you run, this may help to eliminate a good portion of your work or the work of your employees.One of the most common business mail services offered, from a business mail forwarding service, is mail forwarding. Mail forward is most often used when a business owner, just like you, wants to acquire a well-known business address. See, most mail forwarding services give you an alternative business address. This address is where your incoming mail will first arrive. In most cases, your new, alternative business address will be located in a large, well-known city, such as New York City. After your mail has arrived at the mail forwarding service headquarters, your mail will then be shipped on to you, at your physical business address.Although mail forwarding is the most common type of service offered, there are additional business mail services that are commonly offered. One of these services includes mail sorting. If yo estions Your Ad Should Answer Web Copywriting- Breaking the AIDA Copywriting Rule by Adding Copy to your WritingRetractable Banner Stands Makes Your Business Stand A Class ApartIs Traditional Publicity Dead?Best Way To Fit Images On Vinyl BannersWeb Designers - Photos No Longer A Concern!Home Business LeadsPostcard Printing - What is the Color of Your Postcard 101?Postcard Printing - Top 5 Reasons It's an In-Demand Marketing ToolAttention Marketing Managers - Do You Make This Mistake in Your PR - Marketing or Advertising?The Four Questions That Can Help You Focus Your AdvertisingUsing Auto Responders and Squeeze Pages Accentuating Your Business Brochures
To accentuate your business brochures you need to think professionalism. Believe it or not if you are too professional and a small business and you have spent too much on your brochures making them look corporate and slick some customers are afraid to do business with you because they think the prices are too high.Isn't that funny how people think, however you may have thought the same thing your self. Now then, if you run a small business and you have super professional corporate looking brochures it might be wise to put a notation that you have free price quotes available or perhaps put some of your prices for some of your services or products actually on the brochures.There are ways to make your small business look professional and accentuate your business brochures without looking too glossy and corporate. It is smart to consider ways to make your small business look professional and humble, but also pleasing to the eye and friendly.Some corporations spend the millions of dollars with advertising agencies to come up with corporate slick brochures, but sometimes they need to be accentuate further to make them happy and friendly and so often large corporations miss the boat and many times the small businesses have a leg up on the competition because of this.When accentuating your business brochures you need to put your mind in side the head of your potential customer and consider what they're thinking and what they want and who better to ask than yourself. Think of this in 2006. “There’s nothing new under the sun” is probably the one phrase no inventor wants to hear, seldom believes, and is always trying to prove wrong.
However, moving too quickly to prototype stage and first disclosure can turn out to be costly for the inventor who doesn’t take the time to find out if his or her invention is already patented.
Yet, with over 3000 utility patents being issued each week in the United States, that can seem like a daunting if not downright impossible task.
So, what can the inventor do to get the information – and assurance – he needs to proceed with his work?
The first thing to do is conduct a preliminary search of patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Public Patent Search Room, which contains U.S. patents arranged according to the U.S. Patent Classification System of over 460 classes and over 136,000 subclasses. The Patent Search Room, located in Arlington, Virginia, is open to the public from 8 AM to 8 PM, Monday to Friday, except on federal holidays.
If you don’t live near Arlington, you don’t need to make travel reservations. Instead, you can access the searchable database containing patent information for all U.S. patents granted since 1976 and all patent application publications (first published in March 2001), on the USPTO web site at http://www.uspto.gov/go/pats.
Inventors can also perform a preliminary search of patents at one of the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) established throughout the United States. These libraries have copies of patents in microfilm and/or optical disc format arranged in numerical order. They have classification search tools, automated search aids, and photocopy facilities available to the public. For information on your nearest PTDL, you may visit the PTDL web site at http://www.uspto.gov/go/ptdl.
Another option is to use specialized software like Patent Hunter™, a program which is designed to simplify the search process and to allow you to conduct a more complete search. For information about Patent Hunter, go to www.patenthunter.com.
You can also have a patent attorney or agent conduct a complete search for you. If you do not yet know a patent attorney or agent and would like to retain one, there are several ways to do so.
If you are a member of an inventors’ organization, networking with other inventors to learn which attorneys in your area get rave reviews can be one of the easiest and most effective ways to find good counsel. And, if you don’t find using the Yellow Pages appealing, you might also want to contact your state the law association for a list of attorneys practicing IP law. Finally, if you choose to conduct an internet search, you will want to check out the USPTO listing of registered patent attorneys aand agents by going to http://www.uspto.gov/do/oed,.
Whatever method you use to verify that your invention is unique and hasn’t been patented, acting early in the invention process can save you significant time and money. Or, if you discover someone already holds the patent, reviewing their design may inspire your creativity and lead you to add some “bells and whistles” that takes the idea to the “next level” and allows you to secure a patent on a superior product.
© 2004. All rights reserved. Impact Coaching International™
You may copy or distribute this article free of charge as long as it is kept intact and sent in its entirety including copyright notice and full information about contacting the author, Rosemary Hauschild.
Rosemary Hauschild is a business coach serving creative individuals developing intellectual property. Impact Coaching International™ offers a year-long program showing creative individuals how to protect, promote and profit from their innovative ideas in less time and with more profits. This coaching program is delivered through quarterly workshops, teleconference calls, web casts, fax and email. Individual coaching services are also available. To learn more about how to protect and promote your intellectual property, you are invited to subscribe to the free e-zine, Creations Of The Mind™, by sending an email to impactcoaching@msn.com with the following phrase in the subject line of your e-mail: subscribe creations list. | |
Another option is to use specialized software like Patent Hunter™, a program which is designed to simplify the search process and to allow you to conduct a more complete search. For information about Patent Hunter, go to www.patenthunter.com.
You can also have a patent attorney or agent conduct a complete search for you. If you do not yet know a patent attorney or agent and would like to retain one, there are several ways to do so.
If you are a member of an inventors’ organization, networking with other inventors to learn which attorneys in your area get rave reviews can be one of the easiest and most effective ways to find good counsel. And, if you don’t find using the Yellow Pages appealing, you might also want to contact your state the law association for a list of attorneys practicing IP law. Finally, if you choose to conduct an internet search, you will want to check out the USPTO listing of registered patent attorneys aand agents by going to http://www.uspto.gov/do/oed,.
Whatever method you use to verify that your invention is unique and hasn’t been patented, acting early in the invention process can save you significant time and money. Or, if you discover someone already holds the patent, reviewing their design may inspire your creativity and lead you to add some “bells and whistles” that takes the idea to the “next level” and allows you to secure a patent on a superior product.
© 2004. All rights reserved. Impact Coaching International™
You may copy or distribute this article free of charge as long as it is kept intact and sent in its entirety including copyright notice and full information about contacting the author, Rosemary Hauschild.
Rosemary Hauschild is a business coach serving creative individuals developing intellectual property. Impact Coaching International™ offers a year-long program showing creative individuals how to protect, promote and profit from their innovative ideas in less time and with more profits. This coaching program is delivered through quarterly workshops, teleconference calls, web casts, fax and email. Individual coaching services are also available. To learn more about how to protect and promote your intellectual property, you are invited to subscribe to the free e-zine, Creations Of The Mind™, by sending an email to impactcoaching@msn.com with the following phrase in the subject line of your e-mail: subscribe creations list. | |
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- Freelance for a Living? Learn How to Increase Your Client List During the Slow Summer Season
As you know, the slow season is here -- June, July & August are notoriously slow for many industries. Following are three things you can do to ensure that work continues to flow during this slow period -- no matter what type of business you have.1. Continue to advertise: Many freelancers stop marketing because they aren't getting the response they're accustomed to during this period. BUT, this is a mistake. Why?Because you have to be top of mind with customers. And, if you are a regular reader of my blog (InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com), you know that I advocate consistency, consistency, consistency when it comes to marketing. How is NOT advertising going to bring in more customers?Further, as everyone else is on vacation (hence, not advertising either), you will have less competition during this time. Who knows, your mailer could land on that prospective client's desk just as his regular writer, editor, graphic designer, etc. is off on that month-long summer cruise. Bang, a new client!2. Prepare new marketing/sales material: Been meaning to update your brochure, change your website (or get one), start a newsletter? Now is the perfect time to do this and get them out to clients. A fresh look can bring in new clients and it is the perfect time to contact old clients and announce a new service, a sale, discount, etc.Be sure that when you contact clients, you offer a benefit to them, not just an announcement about you. Eg, say something to your clients like: "Our website -- new launched! -- allows you to contact us 24/7 with your project details and receive a quote/proposal much
© 2004. All rights reserved. Impact Coaching International™
You may copy or distribute this article free of charge as long as it is kept intact and sent in its entirety including copyright notice and full information about contacting the author, Rosemary Hauschild.
Rosemary Hauschild is a business coach serving creative individuals developing intellectual property. Impact Coaching International™ offers a year-long program showing creative individuals how to protect, promote and profit from their innovative ideas in less time and with more profits. This coaching program is delivered through quarterly workshops, teleconference calls, web casts, fax and email. Individual coaching services are also available. To learn more about how to protect and promote your intellectual property, you are invited to subscribe to the free e-zine, Creations Of The Mind™, by sending an email to impactcoaching@msn.com with the following phrase in the subject line of your e-mail: subscribe creations list. | |
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