Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello - I own a small children`s entertainment company that produces bilingual musical CDs for preschoolers. We are having a difficult time finding distribution, so we thought independent sales reps are the way to go. However, they are hard to find! Does anyone have any good sales reps that will work with children`s audio products?? Any help is appreciated. Thank you...

Do you have a website?

Yes, our website is www.professorpocket.com....any suggestions?

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Warm Regards,
Cherie

Quality accessories for you and baby, made in USA
Studio Cherie

I’ve posted this before, but here’s my story for what it’s worth.  I have not hired this person yet, but this is what I did to locate someone I wanted to use.  Maybe it will pay off when the time comes, who knows! This is what I did….

I would go into the stores that I wanted to be in locally (William Sonoma, independently owned gourmet and kitchen stores etc...) and I took notes on some of the bigger manufacturers out there in grilling and kitchen gadgets (Like Charbroil and Norpro). I emailed their sales department and asked who their local sales rep was in CharlestonSC. The same name came up a few times and I filed that information away. Then a few months later at a function I met a women who owned a local gift/gourmet store. I was not at the point where I wanted to give her MY pitch (I was still a LONG ways away from a launch) but I asked, in her opinion, who was the best kitchen accessory rep she knew and she said w/o a doubt Mr. XYZ (same guy as above). So now I have his name and number just waiting for the time when I feel I am ready to make contact. Sooooo.... I wouldn`t go with someone you meet before asking around to both other manufacturers in your genre who they have represent them in your area, and also retailers in your area that would sell in your genre. If you`re lucky, you`ll get the same few names from both sides of the fence, then you have someone with a track record you can actually research instead of shooting in the dark. Sales reps have pretty big territories so even though I got this information from a local perspective, I do know that his territory is pretty much a bunch of the Southeast. Now when I am ready to really go national, I will use my wonderful Southeast sales rep to get the name of other Wonderful national reps. This is all in theory and it’s just my theory, so take it for what it`s worth.  Good luck!!!

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Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

I checked out your website & I love your product! 

Leslie gave great advice.  I would definitely follow her lead and do your research.

Another good place to start in the toy/game industry would be to join ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailing Association).  It`s inexpensive to join, and you`ll get lots of contacts from independent reps to specialty toy retailers.  Check it out at www.astratoy.org.

I just started hiring rep groups for my product line and I`d be happy to give you some names if you`d like to email me.

Are you planning to exhibit at any trade shows?  That`s another great place to meet reps.  Any chance you`ll be at Toy Fair in NYC next week??  I`ll be exhibiting my games in Booth #6451.

Mary Kay 

Mary Kay 

Hi Mary Kay,

Thank you for your reply. We would love to have been at the Toy Fair this year, but we are still too small and since we are self-funded a trade show that large is cost prohibitive for us. However, I would still be very interested in connecting with you and speaking with you about your reps. Your website is great and I feel the best way to learn is from other business owners who are doing the same thing! Please email me at paula@professorpocket.com and we can try to find some time to talk. Best of luck at Toy Fair....

Have you considered starting a affiliate program, that would be one way of building a sales force on the internet. I did not have time to really look over the products yet at this moment I will after posting this comment. To start if any of your products are downloadable you really should consider joining clickbank.com to set up a account they to get started now.

You could easily start promoting this on the internet now, it really is not hard to get that going right now really.

Are you a member of any social networking sites that is another get place to start. thanks

If your products are not downloadable, what about flea markets, visit the schools or pta functions something along these lines to get exposure. What about flyers, magnetic signs if you state allows it, there are many things you can do. I have a list that would be very useful for way to marketing and promote your business.

Several years ago I read a get book title  101 Ways To Promote Yourself: Tricks Of The Trade For Taking Charge Of Your Own Success this is a the author is Raleigh Pinskey. Great book,
Michelle

I would love to help with this.  I am a retired teacher, home schooling gramma, our
Charter School offers Spanish, and I go to a co-op with a lot of parents who want their little ones learning Spanish. This post is from February so I hope you are still interested in sales help.