Monday, July 29, 2013

Looking for great products for back to school for segment on Good Day Sacramento!


We have another AMAZING opportunity to have great products for "Back to School" showcased on Good Day Sacramento and then promoted through our network online.  

What you get with your featured segment: 

• Featured on a well-regarded talk show with a large viewership, and the hilarious and talented Julissa Ortiz showcasing your product!
• Media clip for your own marketing
• Aggressive promotion online through the Women Inventorz Network
       -Showcasing segment on our homepage reaching over 200,000 pageviews per month
       -Featured within our website on an ongoing basis
       -Social media promotion to well over 500,000 fans and followers through Twitter      
         and Facebook through our popular tweet campaigns.
        -Permanent blog posting featuring each product that was showcased on the
         segment and where to purchase it.  This will bring SEO to your websites long
         after the segment has taken place.  This is worth the fee alone!!!
  
The cost is $225 per selected invention for this great promotional package!  Deadline for consideration is Wednesday, August 7th.

Here's how to submit...leave a comment below with a link to your website, or more information about your product. We will contact you directly if we feel it's a fit.  There are only 3 to 4 spots, so this will fill up fast!  Please only submit if your product is truly relevant to Back to School.  Thank you.


Here's the latest segment featuring products for Summertime Fun!  

Friday, July 26, 2013

Top 5 Tips on How to Get Your Products on Retail Shelves


You have a new product that you think would be perfect for big box retailers, but you are not sure how to get your products on their stores shelves. Maybe you’ve tried to reach out to these major retailers and you can’t seem to get a buyer meeting. Or maybe you’ve hired a manufacturer’s rep that isn’t supporting your business in the way that you hoped. Whatever it is for you, the following quick tips and strategies will help you get started today! 

Tip #1 - Go Direct: Any time you reach out to a big box retailer about a new product, they always ask you to fill out forms and submit your new product on their vendor website. And most product companies follow this protocol!


The truth is that retail sales professionals (manufacturer’s reps) do the exact opposite. They find the contact information of the retail buyer, reach out to them and avoid vendor websites until absolutely necessary. 

Retail sales professionals want answers quickly which is why they contact the buyer FIRST to get feedback about their product. If there is interest, the retail sales professional will happily follow protocol and fill out any forms when necessary. 


Therefore, if you want to get your products on retail shelves more quickly - contact the buyers direct. It will save you a tremendous amount of time and headache. The trick is to know how to talk to buyers and what to say to them to make them buy--it's actually easier than you think!

Tip #2 - Spend More Time on Packaging: When you check out a product on a store shelf, you are typically looking at the packaging of the product NOT the actual product itself. Therefore, buyers really care about packaging because it determines whether or not their customers will buy! 

That is why it is imperative that you spend more time, money and effort on packaging. Buyers will rarely ever make a purchasing decision without seeing packaging first.

So how do you know if your product packaging is on point for chain store retailers? One simple strategy is to check out their store shelves! It will tell you what the buyer wants in terms of packaging.

The buyers purchased your competitors products and therefore agreed to the size, shape and type of packaging your competitors created. That is why a great first step is to go to their stores and see how your competitors are packaging their products.

Tip #3 - Vendor Day: Some chain store retailers have something called ‘vendor day.’ What they call it varies, but vendor day is essentially a day of the month or quarter (depending on the retailer) where the buyer spends time reviewing new products. During vendor day, buyers typically review several new vendors in 15-30 minute increments.

If you’re having trouble getting a chain store to notice your product, then consider finding out if they have a vendor day.

The only issue I have with ‘vendor day’ is that I am competing with several other competitors on a given day. That is why I prefer utilizing other methods to get a meeting with a chain store buyer. But if you are stuck and you just want to get a meeting with a retailer, this can be a great first step!

How do you get a ‘vendor day’ meeting?’ The next tip (tip #4) will show you how!

Tip #4 - Make Friends with Assistant Buyers: Assistant buyers are AWESOME resources for helping you get your products on the shelves of chain store retailers. Always treat assistant buyers with respect.

Most people think ‘assistant’ and assume that they are just ‘paper pushers.’ This is absolutely NOT the case with chain store retailers. Not only do most assistant buyers become buyers within a year, but assistant buyers can also set up appointments for vendor day! You have no idea how many times assistant buyers haven’t helped me get products into stores. They can only help you in your quest of selling to chain store retailers.

Tip #5 - You Don’t Have To Be a Big Company to Sell to Major Retailers: The truth is that buyers care more about finding the 'right' product for their stores then they care about the size of your company. So please don’t assume that you cannot get your products into chain store retailers if you are a small company.

Times have changed – buyers can no longer ignore the small product company because they are the ones that are coming out with all of the cool new products!

Plus, retailers are dealing with a tremendous amount of competition these days, so they are always on the lookout for that next new product.

So if you have product that you think would be perfect for chain store retailers...take a chance and make it happen!

To Your Success,
Karen Waksman

About the Author: Karen Waksman Retail MBA is a Manufacturer’s Rep turned Author, Speaker and Consultant. She has sold millions of units to the world's largest retailers and now teaches her proven strategies on how to approach, pitch and sell to major retail buyers to the 'underdog' supplier - the small to mid-size product company that just want to get their products into stores!


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Women Invented Products for Summertime Fun!

Products from the Women Inventorz Network were featured on Good Day Sacramento as great buys for summertime fun!!!  The hilarious Julissa Ortiz, who is passionate about women invented products, demonstrates these fab inventions for all ages...



Created by: Kathlene Marden


The Beach Clip is extremely durable plastic that firmly holds your towel or blanket to your lounge chair.  Simply clip over the top of the chair and rest easy. They are excellent for cruises, beach, pool or boating and are handy to hang your towel to dry.  The Beach Clips can be purchased in pink, orange, red, purple, blue, fluorescent yellow and fluorescent green.  We are certified with WBENC with a patent pending.  
In 2008, Kathlene found herself fighting my towel while sitting in a lounge chair by a hotel swimming pool.  As she looked around, she saw that most of the other guests experienced this same issue with their towels.  She tried a hair clip and several other devices on that two-week vacation and none of them could hold the towel without breaking.  After she returned home, she designed The Beach Clip.

The Beach Clip is currently Patent Pending.  The entire product is made in the USA and the company was created in 2012.

Our mission is simple: to provide the best product and service to our customers at the lowest prices possible. We take great pride in our company, our commitment to customer service and in the products we sell. Our online store is designed to provide you with a safe and secure environment to browse our product catalog.


Created by: Francene Dudziec

Hello Beach is a new unique problem solving summer product for both kids and adults. My kids love collecting seashells, but wet, sandy shells, left in plastic buckets in the hot summer sun or car create a awful smell that you won't want to bring home. Our darling treasures bag is unique for little fingers to collect their cherished collections without stinky, sandy buckets of wet shells to lug back home. Our bags are perfect for exploring coastal shores collecting treasures or rocks along seaside or lake and fosters creative exploration! Its unique mesh bottom allows for the sand to sift out and can be rinsed directly in the ocean. Little ones will find beachcombing even more fun with their own "official" shell collecting bag! Our larger tote is perfect for drying out bathing suits!

What makes our tote different?
The top half is 100 cotton, while the bottom half is made of durable woven mesh. The larger size holds towels, toys & more. Shake or rinse and sand stays at the beach. The kidís size bag will be their official shell (or treasures) collecting bag! Both styles are also great for collecting sea glass or drift wood. With the bottom made of mesh, kids can rinse the sand right off their shells themselves, while keeping their treasures inside.

Created by a mom and hand sewn in the USA!  Eco-friendly and Reusable.


Created by: Tiffany Smith

Love the Beach Not the Sand - Sand Gone is your answer.  Sand Gone is a dry powder that when applied to sandy parts of your body removes the sand leaving your skin soft and smooth. Sand Gone comes in an 8oz container with a powder puff for easy application, all natural with a hint of coconut. Sand Gone works on both wet and dry skin it's like a dry dry shower when you’re done with the beach.  A must for beachgoers!




Kiesque™’s
Created by: Jacqueline Smith
 

Have your nails look great for the beach!!!

What it is:
A liquid, paint-on barrier that covers and protects fingernail cuticles from polish mishaps. (You peel off after you polish!)

What is it formulated to do:
Liquid Palisade provides an easy-to-apply protective barrier that covers the cuticles during nail polish application. It keeps the cuticle free of nail polish color. It dries quickly before you polish, peels off easily after you polish, and guarantees a perfect color line around cuticle after each use.

What else you need to know:
Liquid Palisade also creates the perfect French Manicure or custom nail art design. Apply Liquid Palisade to nail where you do NOT want polish. Apply polish as usual. Peel off Liquid Palisade revealing desired french-tip or nail art pattern.


Created by: Kim Vaccarella

washable - hose it off and hang it up • tip-proof • sturdy • soft shoulder straps • non-slip treaded bottom • clear accessory bags for smaller items • customize and accessorize with bogg bits •
great color options • three great sizes


A family favorite for the past 5 years, our TOTE-ally awesome bogg bags are the only bags you will ever need - whether you’re at the beach, gym, pool, school, work, sporting events, camping, boating, carrying groceries, diapers, gardening supplies, toys, books, computers, laundry and more! Three perfect sizes - you may need them all. Big hauls - the original bogg & bag can handle it all! Quick trips - baby bogg bag makes it a zip! Dinner on the go - grab your favorite wine and your byo, bogg that is! All three bogg bags are made of durable EVA material with sturdy sides and flat treaded bottoms to keep your items where you want them - and not on the floor! Want to make your bogg unique? Customize and accessorize with decorative bogg bits and initials.  Dress it up or down, with so many new options you'll look great carrying them wherever you go!

Created by: Vickie Weber

IceHuggy is an insulated sleeve designed to work with freeze pops, yogurt sticks, electrolyte pops and sore throat coolers.  With its patented feature, IceHuggy transforms to fit a variety of sizes.

IceHuggy allows you to save on paper towels, while keeping your treats frozen and not your fingers!  The design allows IceHuggy to transform using the "Flip-Fold-Fasten" feature to accommodate different length treats.  The fabric allows IceHuggy to stretch for the different widths of freeze pops and yogurt sticks.  The fabric also acts like a sponge, so when that little two year old leaves his freeze pop on the coffee table it soaks it right up for easy cleaning!

IceHuggy is machine washable and environmentally friendly.  The NRDC estimates that if every household in the US would use one less roll of paper towel, we could save 544,000 trees...or 571,230,000 pounds of paper!!

Created and designed by a mother of six, IceHuggy has been kid tested and mother approved, as well as CPSIA safety tested.  IceHuggy has been featured on the Food Network Channel and has been awarded the coveted Next Big Zing Award for 2011.


Castle & Bay™’s
Created by: Melissa Ortega

There are few products on the market that will allow a person to be able to relax, read, or sunbathe while lying in the prone position or versatile enough to also be used face up, as a chair or meditation cushion, a table tray or as a kickboard  or float in the water. The multi-functional Sphinx™ media holder has a strap that holds book pages open or secures a Kindle, has a cup holder and is also a small cooler for snacks or a storage place that can be used for your keys, sunglasses and cell phone. The Sphinx™ bridges the gap between inflatables and hard chairs by enhancing any lounging experience both outdoors and in home through ergonomics and comfort. The 2-piece Sphinx Personal Lounger™ only weighs 2lbs, takes about 12 breaths to inflate and deflates to the size of a loaf of bread; you can travel with it anywhere!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Get on the Shelf of Walmart - 2013

SAN BRUNO, Calif., July 1, 2013 – Walmart kicked off a new installment of Get on the Shelf, a social, crowdsourcing competition developed by @WalmartLabs that gives entrepreneurs a chance to get noticed and sell their products on Walmart.com and potentially in select Walmart stores.  Entrepreneurs, business owners and inventors can enter now through July 31 by submitting a video featuring their product athttps://getontheshelf.walmart.com.
The contest is open to a wide range of products, and any entrepreneur in America with a big dream and great product is encouraged to enter. For this year’s contest, Walmart has special interest in seeing products made in the U.S. as part of its domestic sourcing commitment – in addition to reviewing other items from multiple categories.
 “We’re calling on entrepreneurs and inventors from across the country to help us discover the next big thing. In return, Walmart is giving them exposure to millions of potential customers,” said Joel Anderson, President and CEO of Walmart.com. “Get on the Shelf taps into the spirit of American innovation and gives our customers a voice in selecting the products that will help them live better.”
Businesses and product developers can submit entries for products that complement the assortment of items sold on Walmart.com, such as electronicshometoys and apparel. All entries will be screened by Walmart merchants, and then the public will be asked to vote on their favorite products later this summer. 
Walmart’s second Get on the Shelf contest offers inventors and entrepreneurs more chances to win and broad exposure to millions of potential customers.  Informed by the first round of public voting, Walmart merchants will select up to 20 product finalists that will be featured in an original web series produced by VIMBY, The Mark Burnett Digital Studio.  The weekly web series will be available at https://getontheshelf.walmart.com and the public vote will determine each week’s winning item.  Through this process, up to five winning products will be chosen to be sold on Walmart.com. One or more of these winners will be selected as a grand prize winner based on the number of online pre-orders from customers, and could potentially be sold in select Walmart stores.

Last year’s Get on the Shelf contest attracted more than 5,000 entries, and more than one million votes from across the country. Voters chose last year’s grand prize winner Humankind Water and runners-up PlateTopper and SnapIt Eyeglass Repair Kit.
The Get on the Shelf platform was created by @WalmartLabs, the technology arm of Walmart Global eCommerce, which designed it to be scalable and robust enough to process a high level of product entries, votes and traffic. Since the initial U.S. Get on the Shelf contest in 2012, the platform was used to source greeting card designs, which were submitted and voted upon by customers. One of the winning designs was among the top-selling greeting cards last holiday on Walmart.com. 
For complete contest rules and submission instructions, please visit https://getontheshelf.walmart.com. To learn more about the innovative platform supporting this initiative, please visit http://walmartlabs.blogspot.com/2013/06/getontheshelf2013.html.
About Walmart 
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, more than 245 million customers and members visit our more than 10,800 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2013 sales of approximately $466 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at twitter.com/walmartnewsroom. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com and www.samsclub.com.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Vote for Elonka Nichole - Most Awesome Blankets & Comforter!




Red Tricycle is holding their 2013 Totally Awesome Awards, and Elonka Nichole Designs, who is a fab member of our network, is part of this very prestigious award in the category of Most Awesome Snuggiest Blankets & Comforters. 

Red Tricycle is an online service that offers ideas for cool things to see, eat, make and do with your kids in your neighborhood.  Their mission:  To help parents have more fun with their kids.  Once a year Red Tricycle has their fans nominate the must-try family-friendly businesses in two categories:  Most Awesome Local and Most Awesome Baby and Kids Essentials.

The Story Behind Elonka Nichole Designs

A tireless search amongst ordinary and overused patterns left Elonka empty handed for that perfect décor to compliment her infant son's room. This void sparked a creative mission to design unique and tasteful selections; the kind of item you buy for that special little person or grown-up in your life! A small personal line fulfilled that void and when word got out, she went from giving her creations as gifts to taking orders.

Her design goal from the beginning has been to craft quality pieces, research and source the best materials to offer customers high-end merchandise at affordable prices. Designing beyond the ordinary to extraordinary!

Elonka Nichole Designs was established in 2008 and now has showrooms in 3 major markets: Seattle, Dallas and Atlanta. All the beautiful creations from Elonka Nichole Designs are handcrafted in her facility in the Pacific Northwest and available in stores nationwide.

Hurry and support Elonka Nichole Designs...voting ends August 15th.  
Click Here to VOTE! 

Visit Elonka Nichole's website at www.elonkanichole.com today to see all of the fabulous creations!