A Day in the Life of a Toy Inventor / Entrepreneur

Toy Fair 2009

2008-07-13T19:08:00.006-06:00

While February 2009 seems far off, it's not if you are planning on exhibiting at Toy Fair. If you haven't already done so, submit the application TODAY! Booth selections are based seniority and when the application is submitted. RC ART TOYS will be in 5619 this year.

Read my previous posts on tradeshows to learn all about planning, setting up and marketing for a show. One thing I didn't cover was booth selections.

There are a few good things to consider when choosing your booth. First of all, the first time out, you don’t get much of a choice. Don’t be discouraged by this, it’s a seniority thing. Each year you will accumulate points that give you a higher ranking and therefore a better booth selection. Even so, keep in mind these few pointers:

1. DON'T GO NEAR A POLE. You are going to be told that the pole won’t obstruct your view or the pole will give you more space between you and the booth next to you. Sounds good right? NOPE. These poles are about 4 feet in diameter. Unless you’ve been to a show there and have seen the placement of the booths, odds are the poles are close enough to the aisle to completely obstruct you. So what is going to happen is your buyer will be walking down the aisle, they look at the booth before yours, and then see a pole. Their eyes will then turn to look to the other side of the aisle. Considering your booth is likely 10×10, it takes all of 4 steps to get completely past you. Within 2 steps, a buyer’s eyes are already looking down the aisle at the next booth. So in essence, the pole causes the eyes to go away from your side of the aisle and by the time the buyer looks back, he’s past you. I’ve been near a pole, I watched this happen for 4 days…trust me on this …..don’t go near a pole!

2. You want to look at how the buyers are entering the area. In regards to the toy fair, they will be coming down an escalator. Get on the aisle where the escalator comes down. They will walk down that aisle first. If you can’t get on the aisle that is an obvious entrance point (these aisles will fill up faster) then look at how people will flow through the space. Try to stay away from the back or side sections. The more central you can be, the better.

3. Look at the other companies and where they are positioned. Often times you can see the placement from the year before. Try to position yourself next to bigger, more well known companies. They will have buyers who will be seeking them out and in return, will find you.

4. A corner booth is worth the extra money. But they are very hard to come by. A corner booth gives you traffic from 2 directions. Not everyone goes up and down every aisle and this will expose you to people who either wouldn’t have gone down your aisle or might have missed you because you didn’t listen to me and took the spot near the pole.

“The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.”
Debbi FieldsFounder of Mrs. Fields Cookies

Color Bug - TOY OF THE YEAR 2008

2008-07-10T21:58:00.003-06:00

Color Bug was recently awarded TOY OF THE YEAR 2008 by Creative Child Magazine. (http://www.creativechild.com/) We are proud of this accomplishment.

Color Bug Available Nationwide at Learning Express Stores

2008-07-09T08:15:00.007-06:00

I am very excited to share the news that the Color Bug is now available in Learning Express Stores nationwide! It was a great experience to be involved in their company convention as an approved vendor and I can't say enough for the wonderful owners I met during the day.

You will find demos set up in many of the stores so you can try the product out for yourself.

Do Something Different Everyday

2008-05-27T22:06:00.003-06:00

On a recent Big Idea (http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838512 ) they were talking about tactics to use to keep you moving forward. One of them I found very interesting to adapt to your everyday life. Each day, do something different/new. Whether it's changing the path you take a walk, the way you drive to work, whatever...just something no matter how small each and every day.

I think this is great advice! Today I went and climbed 700 steps in the misting rain. What did you do different today?

the WAHM Spot Interview

2008-05-26T13:02:00.003-06:00

Today my interview at http://www.thewahmspot.com/ was posted. (see the actual interview here: http://www.thewahmspot.com/2008/05/interview-with-rc-art-toys.html)

It's a great time to be a mom/entrepreneur! Thank you to Marie for the interview.

Do you have what it takes?

2008-05-18T22:23:00.000-06:00

Do you have what it takes to be a millionaire? That was a topic of conversation on a recent Donny Deutsch episode. http://www.cnbc.com/id/24636355 I thought that these questions from Cynthia good, CEO and founding editor of PINK Magazine, were so great that I wanted to share them to make you decide if you are on the right path.

1. Are you willing to take an honest look at your life?
2. Are you willing to say “I’m Outta Here”?
3. Are you willing to have doors slammed in your face?
4. Are you willing to go without sleep and sacrifice your personal time?
5. Are you willing to be different, and create something unique?
6. Are you willing to put everything on the line and risk your personal assets?

After doing a study of successful millionaires, Cynthia discovered that they answered YES to all six questions. Can you answer YES to all six? If not, maybe it’s time to take a look and reevaluate you path.

“Fix your eyes forward on what you can do, not back on what you cannot change” Tom Clancy

Social Networking

2008-05-10T21:00:00.002-06:00

There is a big push for social networking. Between MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc etc..you could spend all day updating sites. Is there really a benefit from a networking and business perspective? Or is it purely a social calling.

We are out there now:

http://www.myspace.com/rcarttoys

https://twitter.com/rcarttoys

As an experiment to see what it can do to increase business.

There are also so many review sites out there to check out. Anything to spread the word of your company, even if it's one direct sale, is worth it. That one sale could lead to another and another....

Generating Traffic to your Website

2008-05-10T16:48:00.003-06:00

I just found this site today on helping to generate traffic to your website. There's some great ideas.

http://dougmcisaac.com/a-bunch-of-ways-to-get-traffic-to-your-website/

Introduction to the Color Bug

2008-05-10T15:17:00.003-06:00

I realized that I haven't posted a picture of my first toy, the Color Bug. The Color Bug is a radio-controlled art toy that children snap in a washable marker and with a remote are able to control where/how it draws. YES, I know there are some who are thinking about the mess but we also have a playpad with integrated walls to contain the bug to the drawing surface.

We have now hit 26 states and I think I've added a few more this week....half the country to go! http://www.rcarttoys.com/Retailers.html

We also have distribution in Canada and are working on several more countries.

TRADESHOW 101: Checklist of items to bring with you

2008-05-05T21:14:00.002-06:00

Packing for the tradeshow needs a little thought especially if you have to ship items. You will most likely have to have everything packed up 2 weeks or more in advance depending on how or where you are going to ship it. If you are driving, then you have a little more leeway however you need to review the laws of the convention center on what you are allowed to carry in versus what the union has to do for you. Usually if you can carry it with one person or roll it, you shouldn’t have a problem.

Here is a general checklist of the items I would recommend having along:
· Scotch Tape
· Masking Tape
· Duct Tape
· 2-sided Tape
· Velcro

Seems over kill I know BUT you never know when some part of your booth is going to fail you and you need a quick fix.

· Scissors
· Pens
· Lint Brush (this helps clean up table clothes, a quick carpet clean…because you do have to pay for them to vacuum, or if you have a popup booth with fabric sides)
· Stapler
· Binder for leads
· Sell Sheets/Catalogs
· Price list
· Media Kits
· Business Cards
· Quick easy snacks. I brought Power Bars because you often don’t get time to eat.
· Water or other beverage
· Mints (I don’t recommend gum)
· Camera (you are not allowed to take pictures of other booths without permission nor are they allowed to take a picture of yours. I stopped more than one photograph)
· Screwdrivers/tools that you will need to assemble your booth or for your product.
· Power strip
· Extension cords
· Extra lighting to brighten up the booth. (you will get charged for electricity)
· Extra product for samples to buyers. You do not need to give a free sample to each buyer and often times they will offer to pay for it. Quite often the buyers will ask for samples to be sent so they don’t have to carry so much during the show.

Obviously don’t forget the basic elements of your booth and your product to showcase.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." Henry David Thoreau

Toy Trade Assocations

2008-05-04T15:34:00.002-06:00

There are many benefits to belonging to select toy associations. Here is a list of international organizations:

http://www.toysource.com/resources/trade/

"We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough." Helen Keller

Tradeshow Guide

2008-05-04T15:12:00.002-06:00

Here's another guide to all the different tradeshows:

http://www.thetradeshowcalendar.com/

"Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision." Ayn Rand

TRADESHOW 101: Marketing

2008-05-03T07:19:00.003-06:00

It’s true that you could attend a tradeshow without spending any effort on marketing but if you want to make the most of the show, I highly recommend letting the world know that you are planning on being there….perhaps not the world but at the very least a nice cross section of attendees.

Before the show…..

A buyer sometimes needs to see you several times before taking interest in your product. The truth is that often times they might not even fully understand your product at first. I send out postcards prior to the show and had one buyer come up to my booth saying that he saw the card and threw it in the garbage. As he was walking away, it occurred to him that it wasn’t just another RC toy on the postcard. He pulled it from the garbage, read more about the Color Bug and ended up at my booth placing an order. Therefore I HIGHLY recommend sending out a postcard prior to the show with your product information, picture of the product, company website/contact info and don’t forget the booth number!! While this does add an expense, I had several people stop by my booth because of the postcard I sent to them. Remember that your booth is one of hundreds, possibility thousands so anything you can do to increase your odds of sales, the better. That 19 cent postcard may easily turn into an account worth hundreds. I had more than one person comment on receiving my postcards and each of them that did were there to place an order.

How do I know who to send them to? Most shows do offer the ability to buy mailing lists with the names of the buyers who meet your criteria. This is an expense but sometimes you can narrow down and just get the names of the buyers to the larger stores since these are the people most difficult to obtain.

There are a few creative ways of getting lists of names of potential small specialty stores without paying for a mailing list. Of course you can’t guarantee that all of these stores will be in attendance at the show but shows coincide with the buying patterns for the industry so even if a store is not in attendance, they are gearing up to buy.

Yellow pages online. You can search for different store types and compile a list this way. It’s a long process but you can limit it to major cities. Also keep in mind that you are going to get a better turn out of the stores that are located in the region where the show is occurring. It’s expensive for the buyers to attend these shows as well if you factor in travel, food and lodging so you will always have a higher turnout from the local customers.

Look up any of the organizations that are associated with your industry. For instance, ASTRA is the Association for Specialty Toy Retailers. http://www.astratoy.org/ If you go to their site, you will find a list of all of their members. ASTRA holds a huge event at the Toy Fair so many of the members come to network with their peers as well as go to the Toy Fair.

Go to another company that is more established than you are and see where they are selling. I did this and it was a painful process to build a spreadsheet but it gave me sources that I would not have otherwise considered.

Just remember, when you are building a list of customers to target, it might be a long process but put together an organized spreadsheet that you will then be able to work off of. You don’t want to recreate the wheel every year.

In addition to the buyers, there is also the media to consider. Ask your contact at the tradeshow if there is a media area and if you are eligible to put your media kit in that area. Often times you need to belong to the organization putting on the show in order to get the media access. In addition, you might also be able to get a listing of the media who will be attending so you can send emails and postcards out to them in advance.

Notify your local newspaper and news stations that your company is planning on attending the show. Often times the media is going to run a story on the tradeshow anyway and they love to have a local company that they can spotlight. Major shows like Toy Fair are covered on every station during the time of the show so take advantage of the timing. Also keep in mind that you might live in Charlotte but grew up in Dallas so contact media in both cities with a different spin on the release “Local Company launches product at Toy Fair” vs “Dallas Native launches product at Toy Fair”. In addition, make sure you contact your college, high school, neighbor publications etc. Each of these types of publications enjoys the human interest side of your story.
The tradeshows usually have daily news that they publish. Contact the media representative for the show to submit the press release and a photo.

During the show…….

I will be talking about all the things you should bring with you to the show in another post but the one thing I can’t stress enough is making sure you have an effective way of capturing your leads. Make sure you take business cards from everyone! Don’t be afraid to ask if they don’t readily offer them to you…most of them will not. In addition, have a 3-ring binder that you can put names of the buyers who say they don’t have any more business cards. This is also helpful to have a sheet where you can staple a card and make notes regarding the conversation you had with that person.

Another way, a little more expensive but the buyers LOVE, is the electronic scanner that allows you to scan their badge. At the end of the show you get access to an excel spreadsheet that gives you all the information.

Keep in mind that people move quickly in and out of the booths so you need to be organized to get as much information as quickly as you can. It’s Murphy’s Law that your booth is either empty or crowded but rarely do you get to just have a steady flow.

After the show………
Follow up on all leads that you obtained at the show. Send emails, catalogs in the mail, etc. The buyers have seen so much during a short period of time that they need reminders. That’s why I can’t stress enough the importance of consistency in your company branding. Keep you postcards, media kits, booth graphics, business cards; sell sheets all a very consistent look. This way, the buyer will start to recognize you as a company.

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Nelson Mandela

TRADESHOW 101: Your Booth

2008-05-01T22:16:00.003-06:00

Ok, so you’ve decided to do the show. NOW what?!?! There are two important things to do prior to the show.

1) Map out your booth, the design, the function, your needs…essentially how you will get the most of out of the booth
2) Make it known that you are going to be at the show.

THE BOOTH
This is a huge expense but the good thing is that you usually only need to make the investment the first year. My opinion is to keep it simple and clean. Don’t overcrowd your booth. You want to carry a consistent look and feel so create a booth that is a reflection of your company logo or packaging. You will need a few basic elements to pull this off;

1. BACKDROP WITH YOUR COMPANY/PRODUCT LOGO
I was lucky to have use of a pop-up display. But you can easily have a large banner made with your company logo to hang along the back of the booth.

2. SHELVES OR TABLE(S) TO DISPLAY YOUR PRODUCT(S)
I used a table with sides to demo the Color Bug and then had a Shipper full of product. That was it. I printed off graphics to cover the edges of the table and to place at the top of the shipper to reinforce the brand. Shippers are a great way to display the product on a piece of “furniture” that is light weight to ship. http://www.meridiandisplay.com/

3. CHAIR AND TABLE TO CONDUCT BUSINESS
I prefer to use a tall bistro table. You don’t need anything large and it’s nice to be able to stand and use the table. You should NEVER sit while working at the show so using tall barstools allows you to rest a little during slow periods but you are still at eye level. I have rented these items but could have also gone to Target, purchased them and thrown them out cheaper than what I paid. Unfortunately, doing a show in NYC makes it difficult to be able to do that. This year, I will most likely purchase all of my furnishings and just ship them back and forth.

4. FLOOR COVERING
Most shows (even the craft shows) do not include carpeting. You are required to cover the floor in your booth. I have rented my carpet but am looking into another option. This site gives you an idea of the options: http://www.matsmatsmats.com/commercial-industrial/trade-show/?Source=GOOGLEAW&KW=trade+show+carpet&gclid=CIaGhfC87JICFRItagodfF1c4A
I’m not promoting them based on the pricing but this shows you additional options to a standard carpet. Again, unless you have some type of 10 X 10 remnant, I would bite the bullet and rent for the first year.

5. LIGHTING
I feel that lighting makes a huge difference in gain attention as you walk down the aisle. There are numerous tradeshow lighting units but you can also find many creative options around your house or from the local hardware store. It doesn’t have to be fancy…just so it highlights your backdrop and/or products. Keep in mind, electricity is another extra cost in the show. Your booth comes with NOTHING except a drape in the back and on the sides to designate your area.

Those are the basic elements you need to think about to set up your booth. The next things we need to discuss are the things you need WITHIN the booth for a successful show. And then we will get to the marketing piece…..

“Bigness comes from doing many small things well. Individually, they are not very dramatic transactions. Together though, they add up.” Edward S. Finkelstein

TRADESHOW 101: Deciding to Attend the Show

2008-05-01T14:10:00.004-06:00

This the season to prepare for tradeshows or start thinking about them for next year so I thought I would give a little overview of my experiences, my thoughts and some of the little things that I thought made my experience successful.

I think that attending a tradeshow is extremely important from a marketing/sales perspective. It gives you an opportunity to expose your company to a large number of retailers, press and potential customers in a very short period of time. The trick is getting the most “bang for your buck” so it’s best to narrow down the top tradeshow in your industry. For me, it is the New York Toy Fair held every February. While these shows are generally more expensive, you will gain more by the numbers of buyers who will be there as opposed to some of the smaller shows.

Here’s a list of the 2008 major shows: http://www.greatrep.com/trade_shows.asp

Some other great venues are your local craft or holiday shows. These are direct to the public and offer you a great opportunity to see what the consumer is actually saying about your product.

You have to realize that as a first time exhibitor, you most likely are not going to have great booth placement. Each year, you will gain higher priority and the sooner you submit your contract, the better your odds are of getting a decent spot.

So what makes a great booth location?

There is a benefit of having a corner booth because you are essentially getting traffic from 2 sides. The odds are that you will not be getting a corner booth anytime soon.
Try to get in the heart of the floor and to the front. The further you are to the back or outside, the less traffic.
Look at the traffic patterns – where escalators are, entrances, bathrooms, etc.

Make sure to review all the materials when submit your application. Very often, the shows promote new exhibitors. You want to make sure that you take advantage of every possible free marketing opportunity available.

“Life is like riding a bike. It is impossible to maintain your balance while standing still.” Linda Brakeall

YouTube Commercial

2008-05-01T10:13:00.004-06:00

Today the Color Bug has entered the world of YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd0ZhOByBjg

This is the first "commercial" posted using YouTube. It will be a fun experiment to see what kind of interest this venue generates.

"Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was" Richard Evans

Finding your Passion

2008-04-30T21:45:00.003-06:00

The great debate is whether an entrepreneur is born or made. Do you believe that people are born with the entrepreneur spirit? My answer would be yes. Do you believe that situations arise out of life that creates an entrepreneur? To that I would also answer yes. I’ve known for the majority of my life that this was the path I was going to choose. I just didn’t know what the “content” of the journey would become. I spent a great deal of time searching for myself and what was my true passion. In the end, that passion found me. As a student in art school, the intensity of having to come up with new concepts week after week shows you quickly where you strengths lie. My belief is that you need to find passion in what you are doing regardless of the industry. This road has bumps and roadblocks and what will get you through those times is the belief in what you are doing. You will quickly find that it doesn’t feel so much like work when you discover your true passion.

How do you discover that passion if you are still searching? Get involved in activities that you never had done before. Take courses at the local community colleges, cooking schools, dance, etc. Sit down and write lists of all the things you'd like to do or experience in your lifetime. Now make a commitment to check off at least 3 of these things a year. If possible, check off more but if you keep your goal realistic, you will be able to easily reach and surpass it. Eventually you will begin to see a pattern in what feels right to you.

I discovered my passion over 12 years ago but it sat in a box in the basement until I was inspired to take the chance. My inspiration was easy – my children. I want them to live their life to the fullest but really how can I teach them that if I’m not living it myself? I never wanted to hear them ask me “Why didn’t you do it mommy?” I decided it was better to fail and show them that at least I tried than to never have tried at all. After all, what is the worst thing that can happen if you fail? Embarrassment, loss of money, disappointment…you can recover from them all. At the end of the day you can either keep dreaming or you can start living.

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Nelson Mandela

Welcome

2008-04-29T21:10:00.002-06:00

I've received so many comments and questions along this journey and have decided to share them all in one place. There are things that you will never learn in a classroom that you learn as an entrepreneur and I hope to give some insight, inspiration and encouragement to those along the path...regardless of the industry. My journey has just begun and is far from over. Please feel free to ask questions along the way. Enjoy the ride!

“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.” Richard Bach

Gwen Austin, RC Art Toys, Inventor of the Color Bug™ www.rcarttoys.com