One of the first things to know when trying to sell your invention is that it is yours to sell. The best way to determine this is to check the market for similar products. Go to the stores or distributors where your new invention would sell and study the products that are like it. Look at the packaging, review the manufacturer info and look at how and where it is displayed.

Another key thing to do is to make sure that you are not stealing someone else's invention idea. You can't sell your invention if it isn't really yours. A quick patent search will help you make sure that your invention idea is new and that you can sell your invention without the fear of a big lawsuit.

Google offers a patent search tool that will allow you to search over 7 million patents. At some point you will have to decide to invest in a more detailed patent search.

Once you know that the invention idea is really yours you can start to really dig into the details of how to sell your invention. Who would you sell it to? Who would make it? Would you sell directly to the end customer or through a distribution network? All of this will help you to determine the best way to position your invention in the marketplace.

A review of the 4Ps of marketing will help you to make the right decisions to sell your invention.

• Product – This is your invention. Does it solve a problem or fill a need?

• Price – How will you price your invention? Will the price cover all of the costs of making, packaging and distributing your invention product and still be attractive to your potential customer?

• Place – This is the location where you will sell your invention. Is it in a store, on the Internet, or through a distributor?

• Promotions – This is the communication action that you will take to sell your invention. It includes advertising, public relations, marketing campaigns, and buzz marketing.

These are just a few of the key principles involved in selling invention ideas. There are several others that can help you succeed as an inventor, but these are the ones that you really need to understand to start the process down the right path.

Answering the question of “how do I sell my invention” leads one to ask other questions about the invention process. Some of the other questions are "how do I protect my invention idea" and "should I partner or go it alone".

Seek invention assistance so that you also learn when and how to patent an invention. There are several alternatives for the protection of intellectual property, however the patent is the most commonly known. Learn the basics of intellectual property protection so that you can seek the proper guidance in this very specialized area.

When you understand the basics of the invention process, particularly in regards to marketing, and find the right team to help you navigate the intellectual property protection laws you will be one major step closer to taking your invention to market to help make society a better place.