how to get your ideas manufactured

hey, i am an industrial designer,just out of school, i have quite some ideas with me, both in the form of products and business ideas. i am especially keen on furniture.
how do you generally pitch to manufactures discussing your concepts. pitching to big production houses, getting exposures in exhibitions.
just give a brief idea about how you go about fitting yourself into the industry jigsaw puzzle.

market yourself. although i would like to hear more about this topic myself. I would like to know if you have your concept drawing and idea written out? Pathen or certified to prove you didn’t copy someone idea or at least give the credit where credit is due before it kicks you in the arse. And dimension of what you want to do or do you already have a prototype in hand?

just some question i would ask before jumping into the manufacture hand. But i would like to hear more about what others have to say.

in a word ‘network’…compose a 30 second commercial for yourself and deliver it to everyone you meet…if you don’t know anyone that knows someone… then find an easy local contact, maybe a sales associate in a designer show room…get an informational 20 minute meeting with them, buy them a cup of coffee or something…

ask them questions like…how long have you been in the biz…what do you like about it…are there things you do not like about it…what problems and opportunities to you in the biz see over the next five years…yadda, yadda, yadda…can you give me the names of three others, perhaps a buyer or someone in manufacturing, that I might interview…here is my card call me if you come across any opportunities that I might be interested in…and let’s do that lunch thing sometime…

then on to the next and so on…your first level contacts should be someone you know (your A list)…by the time you get to your C list you should have your prey in sight…happy hunting and if you want more insight into networking, go to the library and check out the classic “What Color is Your Parachute?” or any of about three dozen other new books on the subject which all say the same things…

This si somethign we went through a few years ago and we basiclly just realized you have to market yourself and produce some pieces and get them into stores.

We tried, for years, to get other people to make our stuff. Then we were able to hook up with some stores that took a look at some of our portfolio pieces and were willing to sell them. After getting a few pieces out we were able to start our own thing. This also makes outside companies feel a little bit more comfortable with approaching and talkign to you because you have proved that you can make your own stuff. Obviously for us we have tons of other stuff we want other companies to make for us but now we are on better ground.

So my advice is try to make a few pieces, sell them, get the press and so on. But most importantly have a very professional and tight image of yourself as a designer. Make sure that every invoice, card, sell sheet, looks tight. That lets people know you are serious.

Some insight:

http://www.forbes.com/business/2003/06/03/0602kawasaki.html