GordonJ
May 25, 2015, 07:56 PM
From the Cossman obit...
"I've had 20 big winners in my lifetime -- ones I've sold 1 million or more of.
I only created two," he told the San Diego Business Journal in 1989.
The two inventions were the ant farm and a fishing lure that smelled like meat.
For the things he didn't invent, he said, "I contacted the manufacturers and got exclusive rights in writing. Then I'd market it as if it were my own product."
There you go.
Gordon
Hi Spyglass,
Thanks for sharing that article! It's good stuff... :)
Of course, not every injection mold is a good "toll position"... Just like not every book is a bestseller! You've got the good with the bad...
Sometimes it takes some digging through the dirt to find the gold...
One of the "success stories" in this area is Joe Cossman's spud gun. He didn't invent it. In fact, he bought the old tooling to make it from its earlier manufacturer, who made 100,000 of them, but only was able to sell 10,000. Cossman bought the tooling for $500, and manufactured the spud gun, and the rest is history... You can read the story here...
E.J. Cossman, 84; Ant Farm, Spud Gun Made Him Fortune
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/dec/19/local/me-cossman19
Harvey has acquired other products, one I can think of is a "secret formula" type of product (where it's protected, not by a patent, but by a "secret formula" and process that's difficult if not impossible to exactly replicate if you don't know the formula and process). Think of it like trying to reverse-engineer a cake... You can do a chemical breakdown of all the chemicals and substances in the cake - but can you then reproduce it exactly? It would still be very difficult, without knowing the exact ingredients, and the exact recipe of which stage to add each ingredient, how long to bake it for, etc. Sometimes a "secret formula" is the best "toll position" for a product (think of Coca-Cola, or even KFC with its "11 secret herbs and spices," or WD-40, whose formula is a trade secret)!
Don't feel too bad... :)
Around the mid-1990s, I happened to buy a copy of the book "Making It!" by E. Joseph Cossman and William A. Cohen. (It's not as well-known as Cossman's mail order book.)
I also got inspired! At that time, I was interested in colloidal silver (as an alternative health thing)... I approached a manufacturer of colloidal silver to see if I could exclusively distribute it, as I felt I could do a better job than was being done with his product at that time. Anyway, he already had an exclusive distributor, so the answer was "no," but he tried to interest me in some of his other products, which at that time I wasn't too interested in...
Since then, I didn't approach anyone else regarding obtaining rights until a few years ago (when I've started getting interested in rights again, but with a different class of products)...
I plan to focus even more and more on this, in the near future...
While the technology has changed, the principles have not changed!
"Toll positions" are still around, and still as powerful as ever!
As an example, Harvey's been selling his "Zoom Spout Oiler" for at least 50 years... But, he's still selling plenty of them, and there's no competition who are even close to him! Why? Toll positions! It still works today...
Once you understand what they are, and how to use them... You can easily "adapt" the principles to any new technology.
The key is... many people don't understand this to the depth that Harvey does. You can read the absolute basics for free online...
The absolute basics are in this Dan Kennedy article, for example (where he also mentions Harvey)...
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Money-Making-Secret-of-The-Toll-Booth-Position&id=3262
However, sorry to say this about Dan, but even he doesn't understand toll positions to the same depth that Harvey does. I know this for a fact. Dan Kennedy still works his a** off. Harvey doesn't, yet still makes a ton of money. That's the proof of the difference.
I spoke to Harvey a few days ago... He's in his early 80s, yet very happy and healthy. He's still expanding his business, and still looking at new business activities! Many people might ask why? The answer is - because he loves it! As he once said to me, he loves to "play the game of toll position"...
Best wishes, :)
Dien
"I've had 20 big winners in my lifetime -- ones I've sold 1 million or more of.
I only created two," he told the San Diego Business Journal in 1989.
The two inventions were the ant farm and a fishing lure that smelled like meat.
For the things he didn't invent, he said, "I contacted the manufacturers and got exclusive rights in writing. Then I'd market it as if it were my own product."
There you go.
Gordon
Hi Spyglass,
Thanks for sharing that article! It's good stuff... :)
Of course, not every injection mold is a good "toll position"... Just like not every book is a bestseller! You've got the good with the bad...
Sometimes it takes some digging through the dirt to find the gold...
One of the "success stories" in this area is Joe Cossman's spud gun. He didn't invent it. In fact, he bought the old tooling to make it from its earlier manufacturer, who made 100,000 of them, but only was able to sell 10,000. Cossman bought the tooling for $500, and manufactured the spud gun, and the rest is history... You can read the story here...
E.J. Cossman, 84; Ant Farm, Spud Gun Made Him Fortune
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/dec/19/local/me-cossman19
Harvey has acquired other products, one I can think of is a "secret formula" type of product (where it's protected, not by a patent, but by a "secret formula" and process that's difficult if not impossible to exactly replicate if you don't know the formula and process). Think of it like trying to reverse-engineer a cake... You can do a chemical breakdown of all the chemicals and substances in the cake - but can you then reproduce it exactly? It would still be very difficult, without knowing the exact ingredients, and the exact recipe of which stage to add each ingredient, how long to bake it for, etc. Sometimes a "secret formula" is the best "toll position" for a product (think of Coca-Cola, or even KFC with its "11 secret herbs and spices," or WD-40, whose formula is a trade secret)!
Don't feel too bad... :)
Around the mid-1990s, I happened to buy a copy of the book "Making It!" by E. Joseph Cossman and William A. Cohen. (It's not as well-known as Cossman's mail order book.)
I also got inspired! At that time, I was interested in colloidal silver (as an alternative health thing)... I approached a manufacturer of colloidal silver to see if I could exclusively distribute it, as I felt I could do a better job than was being done with his product at that time. Anyway, he already had an exclusive distributor, so the answer was "no," but he tried to interest me in some of his other products, which at that time I wasn't too interested in...
Since then, I didn't approach anyone else regarding obtaining rights until a few years ago (when I've started getting interested in rights again, but with a different class of products)...
I plan to focus even more and more on this, in the near future...
While the technology has changed, the principles have not changed!
"Toll positions" are still around, and still as powerful as ever!
As an example, Harvey's been selling his "Zoom Spout Oiler" for at least 50 years... But, he's still selling plenty of them, and there's no competition who are even close to him! Why? Toll positions! It still works today...
Once you understand what they are, and how to use them... You can easily "adapt" the principles to any new technology.
The key is... many people don't understand this to the depth that Harvey does. You can read the absolute basics for free online...
The absolute basics are in this Dan Kennedy article, for example (where he also mentions Harvey)...
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Money-Making-Secret-of-The-Toll-Booth-Position&id=3262
However, sorry to say this about Dan, but even he doesn't understand toll positions to the same depth that Harvey does. I know this for a fact. Dan Kennedy still works his a** off. Harvey doesn't, yet still makes a ton of money. That's the proof of the difference.
I spoke to Harvey a few days ago... He's in his early 80s, yet very happy and healthy. He's still expanding his business, and still looking at new business activities! Many people might ask why? The answer is - because he loves it! As he once said to me, he loves to "play the game of toll position"...
Best wishes, :)
Dien
