Service, service, service. You know, when a web order comes in, we get it out of the door 99% that same day. I mean extremely high. That's pretty much our service - in the door and out the door.

We try to keep existing customers and show them that we appreciate their repeat business. Customers, after their fourth order, are elevated to a Preferred Status where they receive a 10% discount from us from now until eternity.

Once a month, we do a monthly promo special and we send emails to inform our customers and opt-in visitors. Like the June special is 20% off on all products and 10% off on all software. And sometimes it will be a percentage discount and or sale of baby products like Baby's First Impressions series. Sometimes, it will be a free CD-ROM if you order more than $100.

We mainly promote our web site through our existing customers and word of mouth. We have an extremely high percentage of repeat customers. In fact, other business people looking into our company are most impressed with our high percentage of repeat customers.

A lot of times, customers will just try one video, especially the web customers just to test out. And then come back and order 4 videos and get the free shipping. Like right now we have 2 videos in Parenting Magazine that are being reviewed for the month of June and July. Those customers will go to our web site and order the videos that were reviewed, and then come back.

So that is like an important triangle - the press, the web, and the service. But we could still do a lot more business!

Yes, we do. We do international orders.

One of the biggest advantages to having a home-based business is that I am able to spend a lot of time with my two children. When we started, I was working out of a rented space. When we really had to dive into this, and I was also pregnant, we decided to build a separate building outside of the house. So it has worked out real nice because I'm a mother of two. I know that I am so lucky because I am just 30 walking steps from wrapping my arms around my babies.

The downside, even with the large amount of space on the property, would be the need for more warehouse space.

Well the business itself is completely insured to protect ourselves from mishaps, which could be as simple as somebody dropping a video then slipping on it to the liability that somebody find something offensive in the product that we represent. Fortunately, we've never had any problems but you can never be too sure.

Most of the companies that we work with, whether they are catalogs or retail places, requires certificate of insurance. We also make sure that we are protected from fire and theft because we house so many products here. Insurance was one of the first things that we put in.

We also trademarked on all my company's name. We reached a point where I had to go against big companies like Home Depot when they tried to use Big Kids Production on a show. We spent money, energy and time in the very beginning to trademark all our names, our logo and what we do.

These are two business decisions that have been important to our company. We spend too many energy and time for people to know who we are because we believe in our name.

No, because (a) we never had enough time; and (b) it is so costly to do a 30 minute show. It costs anywhere from $50-$80,000. We don't produce internally, although we have produced for other companies. And to tell you the truth, I love distribution!

I was a very successful film producer and I was booked months in advanced. I made a lot of big shows around the country. But when I started Big Kids, the phone never rang. Never. And I would send my little video to a store in Memphis, and they would tell me "Oh I find it boring." Ouch! It was terrible, and I was so depressed.

My dad said "Tamara, what you need to do is call yourself, and you'll like it because you'll hear the phone ring." So I would call myself and it was always funny because I would get so excited I thought somebody else was calling me. So I picked up the phone to answer it and of course there was a dead line. That's how small I was back in the beginning, when it was just me.

We don't have to call ourselves anymore, but I do get excited if we sell a video or produce a new catalog. Or trying to get our products into a certain store. Or when we get comments from people who love our web site.

I have myself, 2 full time employees and another part time employee.

I can only give my advice through our own example. We never give up or loose faith in our products and our purpose in the children¹s video industry. We constantly seek new business everyday. And, we take care of our customers.

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