Licensing

Human Resources

Licenses vs. Certifications — Why the Difference Matters More For Your Career Than You Think

Licenses and certifications often get lumped together, but choosing the wrong one can stall your career.

By Peter Murphy

Building a Business

This Hospitality Lawyer Has Worked for Big-Name Brands — And She Says This Is the Biggest Mistake Restaurant Owners Make

By Shawn P. Walchef

Building a Business

Become a Product Licensing Machine Using These 8 Strategies

By Stephen Key

Thought Leaders

Inventors, Here’s How to License Your Idea and Make Money

By Stephen Key

Building a Business

Licensing vs. Franchising: Which Path Is Right for You?

Here are three factors to help you determine how best to expand your business through franchising or licensing.

By Sebastien Lagree

Business Ideas

Why You Don’t Need to ‘Reinvent the Wheel’ to be an Entrepreneur

Avoid the hubris of over-stretching yourself when you start out. You will thank me for it.

By Thomas Smale

Business Branding

Grow Brand Value While Accelerating Revenue Growth

Three ways to expand the licensing value of your brand.

By Pete Canalichio

Business Branding

Extend Your Brand’s Reach With Licensing

The practice has prospered for nearly a century, and the playbook is dogeared, yet many brand owners hesitate.

By Pete Canalichio

Building a Business

Are You an Artist (or Artistically Inclined)? License Your Work: You’ll Make Money.

And you don't need an agent or a booth at a trade show.

By Stephen Key

Business Branding

After 10 Years of Unprofitability, 2 Breakthroughs Led This Entrepreneur to a $100 Million Brand

Jim Scott's beverage company features famous characters as bottle toppers, and it recently underwent a huge rebranding.

By Stephen J. Bronner

Building a Business

The Definitive Guide to Licensing: When You Get a Great Idea, What Do You Do Next?

An entrepreneur who sees somebody's good idea get licensed once a week tells you exactly how to pursue your own good idea.

By Stephen Key

Thought Leaders

How to License Your Hit Idea to a Market Leader

How a California inventor got fed up with available gift-wrapping options and created something better, getting into big-box stores in just two years.

By Stephen Key

Marketing

The Beginner’s Guide to Using Stock Images Without Getting Sued

You know content is king, and you know you can get images readily online. You probably don't know how many ways this can lead to an unfriendly letter from a lawyer.

By Jeff Rojas

Building a Business

The Simplest Ideas Can Be Extremely Profitable. Here’s Proof.

Gene Luoma solved a universal problem -- clogged drains -- with a strip of plastic from his garage. His device has sold 33 million units.

By Stephen Key

Building a Business

To Franchise or Not to Franchise: How to Decide.

Franchising can be a great model, but it's not the only option.

By Jason Daley

Building a Business

Is Your Product Idea Right for Licensing? How to Tell

Can your idea be manufactured at a reasonable price point? Can it be easily explained? If the answer is "yes," sit back and watch the royalty checks roll in.

By Stephen Key

Building a Business

How Licensing-‘in’ a Brand Can Wildly Grow Your Product Business

This contributor tells how he did a deal with Disney and how gaining entry to the Magic Kingdom was easier than he'd thought.

By Stephen Key

Thought Leaders

Inventors: Do a Patent Search Sooner Rather Than Later

What you find may dash your feelings of originality, but it can also be a roadmap for how to see your idea come onto the market.

By Stephen Key

Tech

5 Ways to Create an Almost-There Prototype Marketing Video

Building it makes your idea real; video captures it visually. Do less of the first and more of the second to test the market sooner.

By Stephen Key

Building a Business

These 10 States Make it Easier to Start a Business

Start your next venture in a business-friendly climate.

By Grace Reader

Building a Business

6 Steps to Qualifying a Prospective Licensee

Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you know a lot about the company you're doing business with.

By Pete Canalichio

Building a Business

How Much in Royalties Could You Generate Through Licensing?

What are the riches within your brand waiting to be exploited? And what are you waiting for?

By Pete Canalichio

Marketing

Have a Lot of Clever Ideas? License Them to the Novelty Gift Industry.

When I walked into Hallmark and saw "Sweet Darts," darts inscribed with the words 'I'm Stuck On You," I smiled. Seeing my name on the back never got old.

By Stephen Key