Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Unfortunately, an idea is easier to dream up than it is to implement. And the details (and risks) are in the implementation.

If what you have is an idea for a specific product, you could try to patent it. That costs money to develop and defend, but then you could try to shop the product to companies.

Or, you can offer your idea as a way to develop a longer-term relationship with a company.

Finally, don't wait to sell the idea yourself. Implement it, develop the market, and then try to sell the company itself - complete with an interested audience and proven ROI.

Let's assume that you really have the groundbreaking idea as described, I would get in a meeting with Sergey Brin and make a well rehearsed compelling pitch. Not easy, but not impossible.

Use your creative talents to figure out how to get the meeting. Years ago, I sent a one page fax to Michael Eisner's secretary and by phone asked her to show it to him. I got the meeting but not the sale. Networking for a contact that is in a position to introduce you would be one way to start.

Good luck,

Steve

Pick up the phone and make an appointment with Larry & Sergey - or use Social Media to get to them.

Ideas are hard to protect and as Jay is saying, implementation is key to success - so make sure your idea can be implemented - this should be part of your presentation.

Then make a compelling presentation, as they have already signed your NDA

Maybe you should consider calling MS-Steve as well, since they currently are ready to pay good money for catching up with the market.

Mikael
B2B Social Media Marketing

Coming up with the great idea is the easy part. Getting someone else to become as excited as you are, and willing to invest their resources to market your idea, is the hard part.

You can try it on your own, and maybe you'll be successful. More likely you'll become frustrated before you achieve your objective and decide the view isn't worth the climb.

Or you can hire an experienced marketing/business professional who knows the drill and pay them to do the hard (and very specialized) work for you. It's unlikely they'll do it entirely for a percentage of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but maybe they'll come up with a way to reduce the up-front fee in return for some performance reward.

But regardless you're going to have to invest some significant amount of both time and money to achieve the objective. If you really think the payoff is there, put your money where your mouth is and take the plunge. Otherwise save yourself a lot of grief and stick to your day job.

If you need more specific assistance, feel free to contact me using the email address in my profile. An initial consultation is free; after that we can discuss a path forward.