After 3 weeks, dozens of photos and messages we are on track. Here is what it takes to get things right.

Exciting News! We hired Two Step Social to generate and manage the 5minutePetBath social media accounts! Total cost was around $1,450 for 3 months of management for the following content - 20 Custom Posts Per Month (60 total) - Unlimited Social Channels - One Round of Revisions - US-Based Social Media Manager - Complimentary Onboarding Call With Your SMM - Unlimited Email Support - Highly Customized Posts - Request Specific Posts - No Contract - Cancel Any Time - Hashtag Strategy Overall I thought this was worth the risk and their pricing model and general online dashboard is nice to use. I will keep everybody posted on how this works out and if it's worth the value!

More to come on this one, but! When you're working with China, a good rule of thumb is to show, not tell. When you tell, and make the false assumption they get it, just know... they DON'T. I had China "Design a blister package for the OilUdder XL". Easy, right? I sent them a rough CAD model, with the clamshell split line down the middle. What did I get back? The gray product image to the left with my mean red pen of "WTF is this, guys?" is what I god. You can't even make this. It has tight internal corners, inconsistent draft angles, and the split is at the back, not in the middle. What was my mistake? I TOLD them what I wanted; you need to SHOW them what you want. So, 15 minutes and some surface modeling in SolidWorks later, I have returned what I expect. A two-sided (so the product doesn't flat spot) package that is offset 0.875 in and will allow a massive increase in the area of the flyer/insert while also keeping the unit from flat spotting. Is it a finished design? No, but did I SHOW THEM what I am looking for? YES. The lesson here when working with language barriers and different baselines of expectations...SHOW what you want, be specific. When you TELL them what you want... expect poor results. I can't prove it, but I bet the majority of issues people have when working with China stem from this exact mistake. Video coming on this. Kevin

Good Morning Inventors! Here are a few photos of the CAD packaging I would like our OilUdder ProKit to look like. As noted in the other post; showing what you want is far better than telling. We will see what they come back. The red pen is an alternative idea. By creating a "U" shape I could get a little longer tube in there for free and it might be easier to assemble because there is less overall bend stress. Minor, but could be better. Also, by moving things off the back plane, we may only have one custom tool side and could use a standard flat back. This saves on tooling cost. Let me know what you think!

Good Morning Inventors! Attached is a marked-up Amazon photo we will be releasing soon for our 5-Minute Pet Bath product. When you are selling on any platform, the photos do the selling. Very few people dig beyond them. As frustrating as that is, you need to deal with it. So what should you do? Keep the message simple. In this photo, I am trying to teach the customer just one thing: there are TWO flow options. That is it. They can choose gentle flow (flowing with gravity) or Burst flow, which requires the customer to understand they can plug the system, allow it to fill up, then release the water like a bursting dam. Why did I choose to highlight this and burn an entire Amazon photo to explain it? Simple! I listened to the customer. One of our biggest reasons for a 1-Star review is poor flow. Considering you can fill this system up with 1+ gal of water at 6ft of height and release it all in a HUGE burst, there is no flow issue by design, nor was the product manufactured incorrectly. The problem is people DO NOT READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and assume they get it when they clearly do not. Guess what!? It's still YOUR problem. So what are you going to do about it? The answer is customer education. You need to hone in and listen to what the customer does not understand about your product MORE than what your product does. I see this mistake by new inventors all the time. They keep selling what it does and the problem it fixes, but they are not LISTENING to what the customer is still confused about or worse, they say this... "Well, it's in the instructions; they should read them." Yeah, good luck with that. The blunt answer is this: They won't read them, and you better plan on that. So your photos need to do two things. They need to SELL AND EDUCATE. Finding this balance takes time and is iterative. Be ready to change and update your listing photos as feedback comes in. Realistically, this is a monthly task during the first year of sales. Hope this helps! Kevin