Stephen Gnass, left with Don Kracke, right

"Most people will admit that they have envisioned at least one good innovative product or service...But usually, hopes of turning this idea into a reality are quickly dashed when faced with the labyrinthine process of bringing a product to market...Overwhelmed by the lack of answers, many give up before they really start."

This is a quote from my "Speedmarketing^TM" report written over a decade ago. Here we are today, and while progress has been made, the existing void of knowledge and lack of networking channels in the field of innovation continue to be the greatest blocks that stifle an individual's ability to get his ideas into the marketplace.

That's why I created (invented) the Invention Convention® trade show approximately a decade and a half ago. And why as Executive Director of The National Congress of Inventor Organizations (NCIO), it's my driving purpose to help nurture the spirit of creativity by providing the much needed information, networking and educational resources.

That brings us to the story about how this book became "born-again". A few months back when I was speaking at the Mark Taper Auditorium on "The Business of Inventing^TM", hosted by the L.A. Central Public Library - Science, Technology and Patents Dept., I had a sudden realization.

See, I had invited Don Kracke, my friend, to be my guest speaker that day. And while we were up on the stage answering questions, it hit me that here I was with the author of "How To Turn Your Idea Into A Million Dollars", one of the best books ever written about the process of getting your new ideas to market, i.e. researching, patenting, manufacturing, funding, and marketing options for launching new products.

Even though I've known Don for some time now, it was at that split second that I actually grasped how truly instrumental his book had been in helping people with their ideas. This book has been long out of print, but it was a best seller in the late 70s, and I've known that many of the underlying principles and information in it are timeless.

At the time he wrote it, there was very little practical information on how to market a new product. In fact, I had often recommended Don's book to budding inventors and entrepreneurs in my own consulting practice.

He probably doesn't even realize how much his book has influenced the field of inventing. His book was literally a gold mine of information with case histories about real people who had been there, done that, and who had first hand experience in getting their ideas to market.

For several years I had encouraged Don to republish this classic. Again, it was at that moment that I became convinced that this book had to be reprinted. I told him that I would be happy to act as his literary agent to see if we could find a publisher. He said to go ahead, so I made some calls, did the pitch, and the result is this book in your hands.

I told Don that I would be happy to help edit the updated book. He said, "While you're at it, why don't you give me a foreword?" Naturally, I was more than honored.

I'm sure you'll agree with me that, who better to guide you than Don Kracke, a former ad agency executive, who began his phenomenal inventing career with the Rickie Tickie Stickie? This stick-on decal, which was designed to look like a daisy during the Hippie/flower child era, became the defining symbol of the generation (along with Volkswagen's bug and bus). In fact, over 90 million of those bright and colorful flower decals were sold in just one year.

Kracke parleyed his great success with the stick-on daisy decals into an internationally acclaimed new product design and development company based in Palos Verdes, California. Here are just some of his accomplishments:

• His various companies have created and marketed over 2500 new products over the past three decades.
• Over one billion dollars in retail sales have been generated from new product ideas he has had a hand in creating.
• He has negotiated and signed over 700 licensing agreements.
• Don has also consulted numerous international companies including Coca Cola Company, Campbell Soup Company, General Mills, Rubbermaid, Corning and Mattel, to name just a few.
• he is an award-winning artist with 217 national awards who calls himself a "designasaur".
• Don has appeared on numerous television shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS Evening News, Nightline, and many others.

Which brings me to the discovery of Don's secret to his phenomenal success. Back in 1998 when he was a Keynote Speaker at the Invention Convention®, the topic of failure was that year's theme due to the presence of another speaker, Robert McMath known as "Mr. Failure" (because of McMath's collection of over 60,000 failed products which he houses in a museum).

Kracke revealed that turning failure inside out was his magic formula. Don says that statistically he fails 97% of the time in getting his brilliant, new product ideas to market. But he utilizes failure as a learning tool, a springboard to success, never losing faith in his ability to produce and keep swinging in anticipation of the next home run.

He should know. In 1990 alone, he received almost two million dollars in royalty income.

Yet for the 2500 products that he has created and which have gotten to market, he says there were somewhere around 97,000 that didn't make it!

Don inspires hope, he says, "As long as you maintain your sense of enthusiasm, regardless of how often you get shot down, your chances (of succeeding) are every bit as good as mine."

Anybody who has had successes in any field has chalked up numerous failures in comparison to their few successes. Risk-taking and learning are part of the success process, knowing that for every failure, you're that much closer to success.

From Don's experience of this, he's been known to say,

"I've been crapped on so many times, I ended up with a fertile mind."

So one thing's for sure, "going for it" means that you'll have to take some B.S. along the way. But like Don, remember that it's the tenacity, perseverance, stick-to-it-ness, and learning from your failures that will lead you to the heights of success.

And you won't be alone, you'll have Mr. Kracke himself guiding you in this inspiring, enlightening and entertaining book, "How To Turn Your Idea Into A Million Dollars".

And now as you start your journey, I leave you with an appropriate quote on commitment by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832),

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

"All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."