What is Yak About It?

You already know about it... well you didn’t, but now you do. Because you are now familiar with YAK ABOUT IT, you are a part of the club. You are now part of the introduction of products. We’re not talking about just any old consumer products, however. We’re talking about products that are the creations of inventors and independent entrepreneurs.

YAK ABOUT IT–featured products all started off as ideas, ideas culminated from ordinary people like you and me. The people behind these inventive products had the courage to change their lives as they once knew them and take a risk on their dreams. This vision to bring a product to market and to start a company is not all-encompassing; it’s not a dream shared by everyone. The learning process, hard work, cash investment and time make it all the more special for inventors and independent entrepreneurs when their ideas are brought to market. The problem is that once a product is ready to sell doesn’t mean that a sale is guaranteed. It’s not that the invention or creative product is useless; rather, the product lacks awareness.

Where would you go to look for new and useful inventions? Where are the products from innovative inventors featured? Before the birth of YAK ABOUT IT, the answer was nowhere. New, market-ready inventions were all in random locations on the Internet or spread out in mostly smaller, niche retail stores. YAK ABOUT IT’s mission is to get new products noticed. Now inventors and start-up entrepreneurs’ new, innovative or exciting products can be found in one central place - YAK ABOUT IT. You now have one spot that ensures that previously unknown products of yesterday become popular products of the future. Join us at the ground level and YAK ABOUT IT!

The Facts

YAK ABOUT IT only carries items that are from inventors and independent entrepreneurs. This does not mean every product is shipping out of an inventor’s basement. In fact, while that may be true for some featured items (which is not necessarily a negative), the majority of products come from established independent or start-up entrepreneurs that have produced brilliant products. Achieving wide-spread placement and awareness that large suppliers and companies do is an uphill battle for independent entrepreneurs. Inventors are the true underdog. In general, inventors and independent entrepreneurs face two major hurdles in getting their products noticed and, consequently, enjoyed by you, the consumer: (1) access to retailer shelf space, and (2) customer awareness once shelf space is awarded. Below, we describe in detail these two hurdles.

Roadblock 1: Retail Shelf Space
Inventors typically don’t have access to large retail outlets. There are a few reasons this access is limited. For starters, inventors often don’t have the contacts necessary to reach and notify retail buyers of their new and exciting product. If the inventor is able to locate a buyer (either direct or through a sales rep) it is often impossible to prove to the buyer that the product will do well because it is so new and, therefore has little or no sales history. Not wanting to give up precious retail shelf space to an unknown inventor’s product, many retail stores tend to err on the side of caution and hold off on retailing useful innovations. This means you, the consumer, have to show an obvious demand for a product in order for retailers to recognize and award inventors coveted shelf space.

Roadblock 2: Awareness
If an inventor is fortunate enough to get past Roadblock 1 and find placement within retail outlets, he or she is faced with the challenge of achieving awareness for his or her inventively unique products. Inventors and entrepreneurs have to fight to get their products noticed amongst the numerous other products crowding the shelves of your favorite store. If a new product invention does not get noticed (i.e. purchased) the entrepreneur risks the mass retailer dropping his or her item. Once an item is dropped, the chances of the product ever being given a second chance within that retailer’s store is unlikely.

YAK ABOUT IT’s goal is to remove these roadblocks. When you visit YAK ABOUT IT, you are purchasing, paying attention, and showing retailers which products are worthy of notice. Giving products you like recognition through the sharing of opinions, thoughts, and comments within YAK NATION, you become a part of the product’s climb in popularity. It’s important to us that YAK members like you have a real voice within our YAK NATION. Your voice is also heard every time you tell a friend or post what you’ve found throughout the web (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc). The true long-term success of products is only achieved when you, the customer, make a purchase and share your experience of the purchase. It’s these same useful benefits the inventor had in mind when he or she stopped life to work on bringing his or her vision to market. Our featured inventors and start-up entrepreneurs appreciate your help in getting their products noticed! And YAK ABOUT IT welcomes you to the very beginning of increasing awareness of these tremendous products!

Products you won’t see

YAK ABOUT IT will not carry products from companies other than independent inventors or start-up entrepreneurs. The reason for this is, who cares? That’s right... who cares?! Larger companies already have successfully gained national distribution; furthermore, they have a marketing budget to build awareness. Big companies are big because the roadblocks have already been removed. Our goal is to help the underdog.

You also won’t see products by inventors that have received wide-spread placement in mass retail locations or any products that are universally recognized by the majority of consumers. Once again, who cares about these products?! This is not what YAK ABOUT IT is about. If everyone knows about a useful product, then there would be no need to Yak About it. After all, it’s no fun to talk about well-known products. We’re trying to generate excitement on new and intriguing items that you’ve never seen before. This doesn’t mean that the items featured on YAK ABOUT IT have never been seen by the consumer or that they don’t have retail access; rather, it means the general public is not as aware or as attuned to the product’s existence as it could be. If you have previously seen a product featured on YAK ABOUT IT in other retail outlets, that’s great—we hope everyone will soon see and have access to the great products we feature.

The Competition (VS)

Here’s the fun part! Since there are so many virtually unknown, great products you can’t find easily in your local store, we have created a competition. Every week two products you’ve probably never seen before compete for your purchase, attention, and the title Most Yakable. That’s right; after one year, you’ll have seen hundreds of different products square off in competition. Every week on Monday (midnight Sunday), or in some weeks everyday at 12:00am ET two new products are featured and compete for success. You get the opportunity to purchase and learn about the story, the inventor and the random facts that gave life to the product that you find Most Yakable.

We like to keep it entertaining. September 2009 was opening month and also our BLITZ month. This meant you were provided with a new invention competition daily. In other months you’ll see a combination of weeks with daily competitions mixed with standard weekly competitions. If you are not sure what that means, you will once you visit us a few times. YAK ABOUT IT will keep you guessing! Visit us daily to see how we’ll deliver you the latest and most innovatively useful inventions from everyday people turned entrepreneurs.

Most Yakable

As with any good competition, there has to be a winner! After each day or each week’s sales, the best selling product in the previous competition is tabulated and offered up for sale as the MOST YAKABLE. Hey, if an item is that good, we have to feature it longer.

Besides being featured for an additional day, products that earn the title MOST YAKABLE are awarded our MOST YAKABLE trophy. This trophy remains on the main product image. As you search for items in our YAK NATION you’ll be able to see which products were MOST YAKABLE. This is a fun award, but does not signify that products which haven’t received the award are not remarkable products in their own right. (They would not be on YAK ABOUT IT if they weren’t exceptional inventions.) The MOST YAKABLE award is simply a subtle way of letting you know which products got the most attention on their featured sales day.

Monthly Featured

Offering one product on the homepage for a complete month is the longest we’ll feature an item. After all, the best selling product out of potentially sixty featured products per month must be super special. This way the absolute hottest, freshest product is something you can quickly see and purchase for a little while longer. The Monthly Featured, however, may not necessarily be the best selling product. If the best selling product is SOLD OUT or a YAK GRADUATE, then it is no longer eligible. Additionally, if feedback in YAK NATION is unfavorable, then it is no longer eligible. And finally, if the product has a high return rate, then it is no longer eligible. So what product is eligible for the Monthly Featured? The Monthly Featured is determined through a series of formulas that take into account sales, returns, and YAK NATION feedback for all of the previous month’s sold products that have eligibility. If the calculations come out to be too close to determine a Monthly Best, you may even see a poll near the end of the month asking you to help make the decision!

What happens to these products?

Now you’re getting closer to understanding the purpose of YAK ABOUT IT! Ideally, all of these products will make their way to retail shelves and online stores where you frequently shop. There is no doubt that many will become household names and will achieve the success and sales they deserve. We know that all your Yakin’ about products that catch your attention plays a major role in the life cycle and growth of these items. No amount of advertising dollars spent can equal the power of individual word-of-mouth! It is people like you, the early adopters of new products, who make a good product become great. You make it great by telling everyone you know about what you found and why you love it! …continue to YAK ABOUT IT!