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Inventor groups often count patent attorneys, patent agents, prototype professionals, offshore manufacturing specialists and marketing specialists among their members. While it is true that all of these individuals undoubtedly belong to the groups in order to solicit business, it is also true that they give freely of their knowledge and expertise at the meetings. At an inventor group meeting you will have the opportunity to visit with these valuable resources.

Most inventor groups allow visitors to attend at least one meeting as a guest, free of charge. Membership fees are generally fairly low. Some groups only charge $10-$15 dollars per year for membership. The most expensive group we know of charges $125 for a lifetime membership. The average cost of membership is probably in the $30-$50 range. When you consider the contacts and resources you gain by joining an inventor group you will realize that the membership fee will be money well spent.

If you do not have a local inventor club, start one! The United Inventors Association offers a book on how to start your own group. There are undoubtedly other independent inventors as well as intellectual property attorneys, patent agents and professionals of various types in your area who would welcome the establishment of such a group.

If you can identify manufacturers who already have the distribution channels in place and your product would be a logical extension to their existing line of products, it will be a simple matter for them to add your product. In other words, these manufacturers already have shelf space in most or all of the retail outlets that would normally be expected to carry a product such as yours. The simpler it is for the manufacturers, the more likely they will be to give serious consideration to your product for licensing. Manufacturers like to license products for which they already have allotted shelf space in the stores. They can simply remove one of their slow selling existing products and replace it with your new, exciting and potentially good selling invention.

Some independent product developers (i.e. inventors) target specific manufacturers and deliberately develop products that fit into their existing product line. This helps to maximize the inventor’s chances of success because he is staying within his “comfort zone” with products with which he is familiar.

Undeveloped land is for optimists. The idea is to buy the land, do absolutely nothing, and then cash out at a huge profit.

Overconfidence is an issue. The factors that will increase or decrease the value of your land are not predictable. Raw land has many uses or none.

The person who sold it to you knew more about the prospects than you do and he wanted out. The Realtor wanted you in as she collected a nice commission.

Laziness is another issue. Extensive research is required to prevent a huge loss. Land in a flood zone or on a fault line may be worthless. Welllocated land that cannot be subdivided into marketable lots has no value.

Environmental contamination has ruined millions of acres. Even if your land has none of these problems, you are powerless over the factors that will increase the value of your dirt. Cities grow in unpredictable directions and fall into recessions, depressions, even ghost towns. Vacation spots are hot and cold. Farm uses are not predictable. Meanwhile, taxes must be paid and assessments can come without warning. In addition, you have to keep the mortgage current, if you were able to find one.

Currently, farmland is of interest because the returns are not correlated to the returns on U.S. stocks. Watch for overconfidence. Lack of correlation with U.S. stocks is only a good thing if returns are at least as high as inflation.

Many speculators currently believe that farmland, crops, and livestock are about to turn up for a sustained period. They argue that farmland is disappearing at a rate of a million acres a year as the cities and population grow. Demand will increase and supply will dwindle. However, other speculators are selling out. They believe that supply will grow faster than demand as agricultural technology improves and cheap imports flood the market.

They also see farm profits being squeezed. On one side, high-tech seeds are becoming more expensive, energy costs are rising, and fertilizers are more expensive. On the other side, processors and consumers pay lower prices and a fluctuating dollar hurts overseas sales.

No one knows for sure how this speculation will work out. That is why it is a speculation. Historically, overconfident speculators have lost on farms.

The most common farm scenario is this: Your grandparent or parents grew up on a farm. You live in the city and enjoy it. You have inherited the farm, either alone or jointly with your brothers and sisters. The farm has not produced a profit in years. The rent for the farmhouse just covers the expenses.

The lease on the land is tied to profits from the crops or trees. Most years, there are no profits. Measuring your return against what you could have gotten in stocks, bonds, or commercial real estate would show how poorly you have done. But you do not measure your return against any benchmark. This is all fine as long as you remain in denial. As long as sentimental attachment works for you, stay with it. Once it breaks down, you will realize that investing in farms, livestock, and crops is rank speculation.

Farmland, ranch land, livestock, and live crops have not kept pace with inflation since the Industrial Revolution. Periods of shortage and high prices are quickly followed by excess and prices below cost. With a few exceptions, only government support keeps farms and ranches viable at all. Small, self-sufficient farms — Amish communities, for example — are thriving in a modest way. For most farms and ranches, though, prospects are bleak.

What happened was extraordinary. RELP returns were piddling in the mid-1980s. Investors were told that they had paid too much attention to tax deductions; they needed to focus on deals that made economic sense. Promoters produced charts showing rising rents and property values and sold new RELPs. Then prices plummeted. By the early 1990s, most partnerships were bankrupt. Underneath the tax deductions and the economic sense, the real cause of all the losses was discovered. The general partners and promoters extracted huge fees from RELPs in their pursuit of high-leverage strategies. All profits and most of the investors’ capital contributions were plundered. While the  romoters became multimillionaires, the investors took incredible losses. Promoter greed can turn a solid investment into a sure loser.

Today, RELPs remain tainted as speculations. Limited partners have no control over general partners’ actions and compensation. Tax benefits were eliminated.

As real estate again takes on importance as an investment of choice, RELPs are sure to reappear. Promoters will see another opportunity to legally steal millions. Overconfident speculators are sure to believe it will not happen again, or at least, it will not happen to them.