John Cicale of Deptford, New Jersey writes:
“I invented and produced the Glare Eliminator, with my own money. It’s a reusable static cling headlight window tint that cuts glare from your driver’s side window. It clings to the inside of your window, and when you’re finished with it, you simply peel it off, place it on a piece of cardboard and store it in the reusable package for your next night time trip. This is a must-have vehicle accessory, especially if you drive a lot during night. You can see it here. http://www.GlareEliminator.com
“My plan was to license it to a manufacturer and collect royalty checks. That didn’t happen, so I’m trying to sell them on my own but they’re not selling. I’ve spent all of my money on producing them, and patenting and trademarking, so I don’t have any left for advertising.
“Can you help me?”
Hounds can respond by clicking on the “Comments” or “Leave a response” section below.
Two words: CAR SHOWS.
Get booth space in as many car shows as you can–Classic, Hot Rod, Custom, local car club meets– any event where people show up on four wheels – they all drive, right?? With your product right in front of them sales should be a lot easier.
You can set up a booth on a shoestring at first with a card table, black acetate fabric to cover it down to the floor, some helium balloons and a dish of candy (people will ALWAYS stop for a treat ). Cheapie business cards can be done right on your computer. If you can’t accommodate credit cards at first, hand out coupons for free delivery if they mail you a check within a couple weeks of the show.
John,
One of the best ways to get the word out is to get others to start talking about you. So do what the big guys do. Find several very well-known spokespersons and GIVE them your product in exchange for telling others about it. They should be people who are very influential with your target market. You can even try to get to recruit a NASCAR driver. Don’t be shy. All you ask is for them to tell others–if they like your product–and give you a written or a verbal testimonial to put on your website–again, if they like your product.
You also need better sales copy on your website. To learn how to write better sales copy, download Yanik Silver’s “14-Point Web Copy Analysis” ebook FREE here: http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/javanof.asp?MerchantID=41484&ProductID=1537537
Peace & Light,
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Marketing Idea Shop, LLC
411 Rainier Road
Massanutten, VA 22840
Phone: 540.289.3840 or 800.203.8660
Email: lcf@marketingideashop.com
Web: http://www.MarketingIdeaShop.com and
http://www.WomenMarketing.com
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John should work on doing some cross-promotions with ophthamologists, optometrists and other eyecare professionals. Create inexpensive yet eye-catching flyers with a redeemable online coupon with a discount for their patients or clients.
He may also want to research the amount of accidents caused by glare, find someone who has problems driving at night because of this problem. Pitch a story about it and how the GlareEliminator can help. Good luck!
Hi John,
Jamila White, The E-Commerce Diva here. I’m going to take a little bit of a different approach than the other Hounds…
First, CONGRATS – you’ve got a nifty product with Glare Eliminator!
Second, you mentioned that you’ll be marketing and selling Glare Eliminator yourself. I’m presuming you’re selling primarily through your web site?
Here’s the issue: even if you succeed at generating interest in your product by getting on lots of talk shows and getting covered by lots of publications – and I hope that you do – your potential customers are going to stop dead in their tracks when they arrive at your web site.
Effective e-commerce web sites don’t have to be fancy or expensive; but they do need to communicate the product (and its benefits) well and have common-sense navigation.
Some suggestions:
1) Don’t frustrate the user. People have to scroll both vertically and horizontally (the latter is a BIG no-no!) just to find out what your site is about. Most folks won’t be willing to work that hard. Base your web site on a standard 800×600 pixel “canvas” so it will fit in most web browser screens, and don’t try to cram all the info onto just one screen.
2) Get to the point quicker. Make the logo/welcome smaller, display a better quality photo of the glare/non-glare examples (it’s too hard to see any significant difference), and move them higher up on the page. Make your sales copy more user-friendly and concise.
3) Tap into emotions. Don’t just talk about the product design, talk about lifestyle. Emphasize safety, and WHOM drivers want to protect from accidents – spouses, kids, babies, pets. Help people better understand WHY they need your product by offering some stats on auto accidents, and perhaps even some tips for safe nighttime driving.
3) Show them you’re trustworthy. People are wary of strangers and online scams, so tell them who you are, how you came to create this great device, and display any memberships or logos from third parties so folks can see that you’re a real person and you’re legit. Add quotes and testimonials from real customers, safety professionals, and/or the media to show how great and effective your product is. Maybe even throw in a photo of your own kids in your own car, if you have ’em.
4) Take that hit counter off your page – it only shows customers and the media how much web traffic you’re NOT getting! If you want to measure your web traffic, ask your web host about stats programs that run on the back-end where only YOU can see them.
Addressing these issues should get you off to a good start. It may also be helpful to check out how other auto accessory sellers are marketing their products online – take a look at these:
o http://www.phantomplate.com
o http://www.radarbusters.com
o http://www.toddlercoddler.com
Good luck!
Jamila White
“The E-Commerce Diva” — as seen in Entrepreneur Magazine!
info-AT -ecommercediva.com
http://www.ecommercediva.com
P.S. Get your FREE subscription to “Sell More Online” at http://www.ecommercediva.com!
As a woman of “a certain age,” I want to piggyback on the eye issue. I suggest targeting retirement homes and communities, senior centers, caregiver support groups, etc. Senior discounts might be another thought. AARP should be helpful in locating reaching the senior market. They have a publication – an article might draw customers and interest.
You have a new product. Announce the new product by sending magazines a new product press release and a photo. If they like the product, they’ll print the photo and blurb about the product usually citing where to get more information. So be sure to give them your website address and set up ordering features on your website.
After the new product angles wear out (and believe me that will take some time; we have a client who is still getting announced in free editorial space two years after his product launch – we just target different trade pubs) try sending a quick blurb about how to take care of one’s eyes while driving. As a booster in the tip, mention the product. Don’t be too salesy though, that turns off editors. Keep it in the educational realm and reporters will love it. Be sure to set up key word searching with search engines so people can find your product when they hear or read about you but might not have your website address. Search engine optimization is fairly inexpensive still.
You could also set up a blog. Describe what you see when you wear the film. Have fun with the blog and have others describe what they see to make it interesting.
Finally, tell your local media about yourself. Don’t forget to call the Associated Press (A.P). If the A.P. writes about you it gets syndicated and many papers might run the story. “Local boy does good” is always a good way to interest the media in your home town. They are hungry for these stories – especially new business stories. Then, be sure to include the local coverage in any press information you send to national magazines. I gave this tip to the guy who owns this little coffee shop near my home. It’s an old caboose. He took my suggestion and ended up as the FRONT PAGE story. That even blew my mind. You never know.
Do all your communications with email and phone and you’ll really keep your costs low. If you need an inexpensive website, check out http://www.PoweredByTom.com — you’re the editor. Cut out your webmaster and keep your costs low.
Hope this helps John.
Michelle Tennant
Wasabi Publicity, Inc.
828.749.3200
http://www.PublicityResults.com
michelle@tennant.org
It’s not just who you know. It’s who knows about you.
I agree with the marketing to independent trucking drivers, but don’t forget the large trucking companies or the travel roadside giftshops (when someone has been driving a long distance, stops in for a bite to eat, etc. and sees your merchandise in the store as a grab and try, it may sound veyr tempting to them, as during their drive they encountered the problem your product solves).
Another venue I would suggest is dropping off a few ‘freebie’ samples to the local car dealerships. How about working a deal to add it as a ‘freebie’ for a new car purchase? or maybe, just work a deal with the car dealership (I would suggest contacting the actual dealership owner or sales manager) to have them utilized when their vehicles are driven for demos? Visability is the key to direct marketing of this kind. If the product is worth it, then word of mouth will also pick up. You could also market to driver education classes (under the driver safety issue, even just a flyer insert into their marketing materials would increase your sales, perhaps a joint marketing cost share for marketing material production?).
Still another possibility is to submit your invention to the Haamacher Schlemmer inventor’s competition which is held annually to find, fund and produce new inventions (http://www.hammacher.com/sfi/sfimain.asp).
Last little idea is marketing to venues focused on the parent/maternity related consumer/websites, I would focus those marketing efforts (as easy potentially as a banner link arranged through the owner of a website) on the benefit of the ‘stop glare’ for child passengers.
You could also ‘drum’ up some heavy publicity by submiting a free sample a quickie cheat sheet of benefits and dropping it in the mail to the product reviewers of a few of the high circulation publications that might drop it in the product review section for expectant mothers, vacationing drivers, long-distance commuters, etc.
I wish you the best of luck and every success!
Bonnie
Here’s some help for the creator of GlareEliminator…
Build a website and “They will come.” That’s very far from the truth. To get people to visit your website through no-cost natural searches, you need to help the search engines categorize what your site is all about. A well done website is one of the best publicity tools you can use.
This site doesn’t have much traffic going to it (none is registered at Alexa.com which is a site that gives an estimate of traffic rank, page views, and reach) and there are no links going to it. Try to get some links. You gave your friend Willard a link when you mentioned his site on yours – he should give you a link back to your site. Collect more of them.
This site needs a better title tag. The current: “Welcome to GlareEliminator.com” has three useless words in it. “Welcome” adds no value, “to” is useless too and “GlareEliminator.com” is a combined word which nobody will naturally search for. Perhaps this title would work harder for you:
GlareEliminator™ eliminates headlight glare from your side view mirrors.
The site doesn’t have a description tag. This is very important to add as it will give search engines some helpful keywords and search engines sometimes will use this description when your site comes up in a search. Add this between the and tags:
It can use a keyword tag too. It also goes between the and tags:
Adding these will help get your site found for natural searches… BUT “glare” as a keyword isn’t really looked for very much … Using Yahoo’s Keyword suggestion tool, “glare” was searched for 1,286 times in the month of April. All the other suggestions in the suggested keyword tag were searched for less than that so you are offering product to a narrow target audience. So, with all the variables, 2,000 people are looking for some sort of anti-glare material. This is only one search engine’s results, there are many more people looking of course, but some of those folks want computer anti-glare screens so for your car’s window, it’s a narrow target.
Now let’s help the site itself.
Visually, there are some things that don’t help a person seeing your site for the first time…
1. “Welcome to” is a graphic. It is not needed and slows down the load time of your site.
2. “GlareEliminator” is a graphic and should move up towards the top. Delete “.com” as it isn’t needed.
3. Enlarge the phrase “The Instant Headlight Glare Eliminator”
4. Eliminate this sentence “Please allow me to introduce an innovative device by asking a question.” Start with the question.
5. Next I’d tighten up your message. There is too much white space and too many things repeated in a very short amount of space. There is a second repeat of the logo with some text that is a rectangular graphic. Search engines don’t “see” graphics as words so those words don’t help you very much. Delete this and tighten up your message.
This may be a better look:
Tired of being blinded by headlights?
The Instant Headlight Glare Reducer
will help you see through the night!
Have you ever been blinded by headlights reflected from your side view mirrors while driving at night? If you answered YES, then you’ll want to have this amazing vehicle accessory!
Introducing
Reusable static cling headlight glare reducer!
6. Your website consists of san-serif as well as serif fonts. I think that all Sans Serif would be a good look, but that is a matter of personal preference.
7. “Made in the US of A” may be a regionalism. I’d simply say “Made in the USA.”
8. Just above the two photos showing how your products work, centered between them, add this sentence:
You can actually see the difference GlareEliminator™ makes!
9. Mark your photos (center above each photo) “Before” “After”
10. I’d combine the origin story page into the Home Page. It’s a more interesting read and it immediately gives the search engines more text to scan.
11. I am assuming that this is a homemade site. If you go online and search, there are places where you can get free templates for websites which will add a degree of professionalism to your site by including some colors, some graphics etc. You can leave the site as-is for a homespun look, but there are ways to make the site more visually effective with better graphics if you like at little to no cost.
12. I entered this as a search term “Glare Eliminator! Reusable static cling headlight glare reducer!” Your site should have come up, but it didn’t. Did you submit your site to the search engines? There are free site submission services you can use – search for them on the Internet.
13. Creating Publicity and Awareness can be done through local papers who may like what you are doing for a local interest story.
14. Tell a more exciting story. If you can tell a story and embellish it a bit as you go, you may get onto some local radio stations too. You story needs more action in it. “I nearly sideswiped a car when I was blinded by the mirror reflection! I couldn’t see anything … has that ever happened to you? Ya know, driving along minding your own business and a huge semi comes up behind you – his powerful headlights get reflected in your side view mirrors – you just can’t see! How’d that make you feel?” Your current story only reads that you were “annoyed and stressed…” which isn’t as dramatic. You need to really “sell” your story.
15. If you can capture some of the people on the Internet who are looking for your kind of product and get some local interest stories you may increase sales and increase your cash flow. I saw that your product was at a Trade Show – do more of that, and your product was on a website called Alibaba.com so that’s a good start.
16. If you are seriously short of cash, but are product rich, there may be some local BARTER groups you can join. You can “sell” your products to its membership in exchange for BARTER points. These points can be used for Advertising if there is a member who has a local newspaper, or radio station for example. Aside from their regular membership, you will probably meet several Auto Parts Store owners who are members too. They may try your product at retail.
17. You are a member of a Forum or Web Group. Within that forum is a posting from you and a posting from a friend and responses from a lot of other people who have tried and liked your product. That can be a rich source for Testimonials. Harvest them and put them onto your website.
An interesting footnote: Walt Whitman was a famous writer from my hometown. He was probably the Father of do-it-yourself publicity. To get his career going, he wrote most of the reviews of his work signing various “readers” names to them … Good Luck.
Best regards,
Larry Richards, Huntington, NY
http://www.BiotrexVitamins.com
Reusable window film that cuts night-time glare…hmm.
1. What about public safety officers (police, fire, ambulances, etc)? Maybe one or two of the volunteer fire companies would make good test cases for this product, especially since they never know when they are going to be called out to an emergency. That would certainly showcase the “easy on, easy off” aspect, but might delay results since volunteers can’t predict when they’ll be called.
2. Local pizza delivery guys/gals–especially for her favorite pizza place! Since they often must be out driving at night (when the rest of us get hungry) maybe a small-scale test over a few weeks?
3. Package delivery services–local FedEx, UPS, etc. Especially for independents who are often on the road at night.
4. Independent truck drivers/taxi drivers–again, because they work lots of nights and could use the safety features of this product.
Dianne M Daniels
Image & Color Services
89 Union Street
Norwich, CT 06360
John, what a great idea! You have a perfect product for a partnership with an organization like AARP or AAA, which market to your target population. If you can put their marketing info on the reusable package, approach them about a marketing partnership. They could even use your product for a give-away/premium.
Good luck!
Regards
Shannon Bradford, Maitland, FL
http://www.mindcapital.com
John,
The most important letter you could write is to the American Automobile Association, explaining to them how your product could be a wonderful member benefit and exploring ways you could work together, of which I could think of quite a number (if you’re intimidated by writing such a letter, I can help you with that).
Then follow up by phone or e-mail at appropriate intervals, until you either get a yes or a no. If it’s a no, look at other auto clubs, including those specific to one manufacturer.
Partnerships that make everyone a winner are the easiest and most lucrative ways to market; this is something I discuss at some length in my latest book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First.
Shel Horowitz – copywriter, marketing consultant, author, speaker
Affordable, ethical, effective marketing materials and strategies
http://www.principledprofits.com and http://www.frugalmarketing.com
mailto:shel@principledprofits.com
413-586-2388/800-683-WORD
Books: Grassroots Marketing, Principled Profit, others
Blog: http://principledprofit.blogspot.com/
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The first step is to get the website redesigned. No one is going to purchase off of a website, that looks like it was thrown together and not organized.
After the website is redone, then I would recommend going to all of the Auto Part shops in your area and pitch your product to them. I would also get a display made to go into the Auto Part shops to push your product. Attend any auto event in your area that you can, fairs, tradeshows, events, exhibits, etc pushing your product. Have a day at one of the Auto Part shops and show potential customers how it works and why they need it.
If you need help redesigning your website, visit me at http://www.jetdesign.us and I can help you.
Good Luck.
Sandie Vega
San Antonio, TX
First, where can I buy one?
Second, I’d contact a few well-placed night assignment editors and offer one in exchange for a plug. You can’t get better publicity than one that’s also a testimonial!
Third, I’d contact a vision chain and offer it to them.
Fourth, I’d contact an optometrist’s trade group and make a presentation. Start in your own state. If you’re not in production, do so and sell a few in exchange for a testimonial. You can also think about other trade associations–trucking, AARP, etc.
Fifth, have you thought about QVC?
Hope this helps. It’s a great idea. Good luck!
F. N. Rosenstock
FNR, etc. Communications, LLC
Creative Solutions for Your Professional Needs
Pitch it to Tom and Ray Magliozzi, a/k/a the Car Talk guys, who host a the nationally syndicated radio show exclusively about cars! Send them a dozen Glare Eliminators (one for each of them and some of their staff) and a snappy cover letter full of humor. You may get free publicity on their website, as well as over the NPR airwaves (remember all those cab drivers that the Publicity Hound told us about?!).
Emily Bowles
Marketing Director
NYC Music Places – Where Musicians Find Their Space
Consider looking for other car products. Approach them about using your product as a premium to induce a sale of their own product(s). Example: Mobil Oil might give your product away when someone buys a case of motor oil.
There are unlimited opportunities for something like this. Call Marketing Directors at companies and present your idea. They are relatively easy to reach and pitch.
Best of luck,
Norman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/normanlieberman
Norman, this is a great idea. There are ready-made target audiences that can be tapped into. Thanks for stopping by.