Cocktails, Dinner, and Intellectual Property

Cocktail

My cousin and her family were visiting Philadelphia last summer and she was telling me how her good friend, Mary Juetten, founded a start-up that was very cool, very interesting, and that we should connect, quite simply, because we would like each other. Fast-forward two months when Mary visited Philadelphia to speak on Crowdfunding at LES’s Annual Meeting when I had the good fortune to meet up with her for a pre-conference dinner.

There were cocktails, of course, and delicious food, but most of all, there was lively conversation. As Mary began telling me the story of how Traklight came to be, I was most intrigued by two things: First, I’ve been in the business realm for 10+ years and had no idea that intellectual property was so prevalent in every single business and rarely protected. The second intriguing bit was that Mary identified this and created a platform that actually answers a true market need – the emphasis on “true market need”, which feels rare these days.

Suddenly IP is a Thing in My Life!

Mary and I talked extensively about both bits of intrigue as well as my experience in marketing, and it was shortly thereafter that she asked me to join the Traklight marketing team to gain a better understanding of the wants and needs of any single person who could benefit from Traklight and figure out how we ensure they can discover Traklight online. I was thrilled to join the team and contribute any bit of insight and experience to, what I assure you is, a very energetic, creative, smart group of people. So I, of course, said yes!

There’s Those Who Know About IP. And Those Who Don’t.

Now, if you consider that every business has IP and most don’t know it or know how to protect ip – and – if you also consider that this is a true market need because IP theft is real, there is the missing link that makes marketing Traklight a bit of a challenge. How do you reach entrepreneurs and small business owners who don’t know what they don’t know? Sure, there are awareness campaigns and all kinds of inbound marketing tactics, but at the end of the day, intellectual property protection isn’t always at the forefront of many minds, and if it is, it’s not always a priority.

 

Getting the Good Word out on IP

While marketing is about sales, one of the qualities that attracted me to Traklight was the team’s genuine desire to get the word out on IP protection and why it’s so important to not only protect IP, but also create an IP strategy. Of course we’re selling Traklight, but there is a true passion beyond the sale to build awareness.

Whether you sign up for Traklight or not, every single person who leaves the website, blog, or even a conversation with a Traker will walk away understanding the various kinds of IP that exist, why all IP needs to be protected, and that there is a (very) affordable way to do that with Traklight – which isn’t a shameless plug! It’s way cheaper than consulting with an attorney. And it’s so much cheaper than the cost of stolen intellectual property and a failed business attempt as a result.

So, as I get more intimately acquainted with the Traklight audience and learn about intellectual property myself, I’ve made it my mission to discuss IP with every business person I meet. Even if it’s just asking them what they know about IP or what their company does to protect intellectual property. It’s not always the most fun happy hour conversation, but people tend to be interested in the way where they never gave it much thought, and like me, feel like it’s a topic that needs more awareness around it.

While marketing has many goals and objectives, motivating people’s thoughts and inspiring conversations is high on the list. So, buy someone a beer and get talking about IP!


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