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Why We Love TOYDIRECTORY and TDmonthly Read Dozens of Success StoriesDon't believe the hype? What about a peer? If you want to know how TOYDIRECTORY and TDmonthly Magazine help hundreds of specialty toy manufacturers and retailers build their businesses, just read what they have to say in their own words. You can even hear some of them speak the words aloud; just click on the "Watch Video" links! INCREASED EXPOSURE AND SALES:
"Our contribution of 100 toy pianos in TDmonthly's 2010 Charitable Kid contest targeting children in need was such a heart-warming experience that we are overjoyed to participate again...We sincerely hope that colleagues in the toy industry will jump on TDmonthly's very worthwhile charitable bandwagon, providing encouragement and joy to impoverished children." — Renee Trinca, president, Schoenhut Piano Co "I received a call this afternoon from an account who had not ordered from us since 2007 who said they saw our ad in the guide [TDmonthly Buyer's Guide]. They placed the order using our special" “TDmonthly has been an excellent vehicle to get information out to both retailers and consumers … We constantly hear from consumers that they've seen the TDmonthly spots. …” "Your site brings me tons of traffic. Keep it up. I'm willing to go on record saying that!" “It's a very cost-effective way to get my message out to retailers. Very, very, very cost effective! ... I can’t say that enough. I’m really happy with their sales staff and everyone and their patience with me ... Overall, a very satisfied customer!” — Cathie Cashman, Swatch Group (Watch her video, right) “We've advertised for TDmonthly for the ASTRA show and seen an instant increase in our traffic to our site. We've gotten dozens of hits … that were flagged from TDmonthly and it was a positive experience for us.”— Daniel Monahan, Dano2 (Hear more in Daniel's video, right)
"We did well [at Toy Fair]. I think a lot of our traffic was generated by you guys. You built up a lot of interest ... " — Aimee Symington, president, Successful Kids (Hear more about Aimee's Toy Fair experience and TDmonthly by clicking on her video, right)
"ToyDirectory and TDmonthly Magazine offer Out of the Box a chance to present our
"I have received many nice orders since joining forces with TOYDIRECTORY.com. The people I have worked with are delightful and I have never had a problem with them. They come very highly recommended by my company, which is a small publishing company." — Nancy Poffenberger, president, Fun Publishing Co.
"Timeless Toys Inc. has used the services of TOYDIRECTORY for over two years. We have received three to four times more responses and interest in our products from potential Internet dealers and retailers who have found our site through TOYDIRECTORY in comparison to any other similar services that we have used. The personnel at ToyDirectory are very friendly, knowledgeable and responsive to our questions or special needs. I recommend them to any firm in need of improved Internet exposure." — Harold A. Nizamian, chairman & CEO, Timeless Toys Inc. "Our listing in TOYDIRECTORY and TDmonthly Magazine has generated many quality leads over the last few years. Initially we planned to run our listing for just a few months, but 2 years later we are still there and receiving new leads every week...well worth the investment. The basic listings we subscribe to, together with many other services offered — email broadcasts, product reviews and video diaries — provide a cost-effective vehicle in promoting SaiZon and Stikfas products to many retailers we may not have otherwise approached." — Martin New, director of sales and channel marketing, Stikfas/SaiZon
"First of all, we would like to thank you for the great job you are doing. Since we opened our website www.dandme.com six years ago, approximately 98 percent of our web business is a result of our listing with you." — Don and Mary Hurley, owners, D and ME Wood Toys
"I just wanted to let you know how happy I've been with the results from being listed on TOYDIRECTORY.com. The number of inquiries I have received have been phenomenal. The listing price is well worth every penny and I definitely want to renew my listing. Thank you!" —Suzanne, DOLL Essentials "You guys really are the best. I know my budget isn't even close to what the "big boys" spend per year on advertising and marketing, however it is saying something that you guys are getting 85 percent of my total budget this year, and probably more of it next year. I appreciate your help very much, please know that! ... Leads from TOYDIRECTORY.com have resulted in a purchase rate of 2%. We are very happy with the results." —Joe Karsten, Adventure Products Inc.
"We love TOYDIRECTORY.com. Our website has received many visitors from your directory. When we look around at the community you have established, and the consistent service and e-mails we receive, we are proud to be members of your site." — Maureen Gallagher, Galison Books "I really appreciate being listed in TOYDIRECTORY.com. It seems to be a popular site, because we are getting many leads. Keep up your good work!" —Moshe Neurath, Hygloss Products Inc. "I can say that our presence on TOYDIRECTORY has resulted in a steady stream of leads, a fair number of which have turned into customers." — Roger Fletcher, Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. "My listing on TOYDIRECTORY.com's online directory has proven to be a profitable venture. I receive several responses from retailers who have seen the pictures of my products and are looking to buy wholesale on a regular basis. The cost of listing with TOYDIRECTORY is low, and the response is absolutely worth it!" — Dianne Gendron, Basic Creations
MANUFACTURERS MAKE SALES:
“With any marketing campaign, you must be able to track response results. TDmonthly actually sends a visitor activity report from retail customers interested in your advertised products. At TEDCO Toys, I actually call every potential customer inquiry to send information about our company and products. After following up, many orders are generated.”
— Bob Sherman, TEDCO Toys "TDmonthly did everything that they promised, and more. One unexpected item: TDmonthly did a video product demonstration which was so good that I made it the first thing you see when you go to my website. I was contacted through TDmonthly by a toy store in CA who liked my product and is now a wholesale customer of Bead The Message. I am feeling more confident about exhibiting at Toy Fair anticipating that many of the buyers have seen my product on TDmonthly and will include a visit to my booth in their itinerary. I feel I’ve gotten tremendous bang for my advertising buck with TDmonthly." — Marci Braunstein, president, Message Beads LLC ![]() ![]() "We picked up seven or eight accounts from TDmonthly [in a few months]." — Phillip Hoffman, Giga Tents
"When I asked [a sales rep who'd contacted me] how he had heard about our company he told me that he had viewed our videos on TDmonthly.com ...Thank you, TDmonthly for showcasing our line in such a positive light." — Laurie Greenblatt, vice president of sales, beeposh ![]() ![]() "ToyDirectory is a wonderful resource for all toy companies large or small. The staff is extremely helpful and is always willing to go the extra step to help a company succeed. I have received tons of inquiries from retailers because of my ToyDirectory listing and TDmonthly spotlights. Thank you ToyDirectory for all your help and wonderful words of wisdom!" — Andi Green, Monsters in My Head, LLC ![]() RETAILERS GET NEW TOYS AND USEFUL VIDEOS: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() "I am now a huge fan of TOYDIRECTORY. I never knew anything like this existed and it is so helpful. I'll barely have to leave my shop again to find the newest, best and most popular things for my store. It is a great resource for me and I am very grateful to have it. I appreciate your helpfulness and all the vendors should LOVE you!!" — Teri Weiss, owner, The Elegant Child, Beverly Hills
"I did receive the Onionhead prize and LOVE them. I will be ordering them for the store within the next month. ... Although I saw thousands of products at Toy Fair and did stop by [Onionhead's] booth, it can be very overwhelming. ... Once I have the product in my hands and I am able to really see the value of the product, it can make a huge difference. I am so happy that we were selected to receive this giveaway as I will definitely be a customer." — Jennifer Schuman of 1SmartNoodle.com, on TDmonthly's Toy Giveaway Sweepstakes for Storeowners "TOYDIRECTORY and TDmonthly is a wonderful source for us. We are able to see new products and have direct contact with manufacturers that we might not have thought about. Editors' recommendations and monthly best-seller reports have helped us become more efficient and profitable." — Cherilyn Mitchell, owner, www.thefastestremotecontrolcars.com “I get a lot of my information from TDmonthly. They're by far the best around.” — Nathan McKelvey, manager, Toy Castle, Jonesboro, Ark.
"We use the TOYDIRECTORY product videos as teaching tools for our staff. Not only do they show the features of the toys, but the benefits are touched on as well. The videos also allow us to preview toys that we may be interested in stocking in our store." — Jennifer Wyatt, manager, Totally Thomas' Toy Depot, San Diego "[The TDmonthly mailer] is probably one of the best mailers yet." — William Bailey, owner, Bailey Enterprises, Seaford, NY
![]() "I absolutely love [TDmonthly]! It is definitely right on. ... We have an upscale customer... and I do use the site to find new products ..." — Barbara Vininsky, owner, Jack & Jill, Montreal, Canada. (Hear more of Barbara's testimonial by clicking on her video, right)
LEADS AND CUSTOMERS:
"We've received many inquiries from our placement in the TDmonthly Wholesale Buyer's Guide. It was a terrific investment and we've already renewed our placement in the next Guide. We have no doubt that the TDmonthly Wholesale Buyer's Guide was an invaluable resource for exposing our new products to toy retailers across the country." — Brian Rovner, Twisterz Toys LLC "We have loved our experience so far with TDmonthly. Just received another retailer inquiry today who mentioned they saw the product on your site. Thanks for all you do to keep our products fresh and in front of the public." — Maureen Farinella, Mark-My-Time LLC "Rebelle Friendship Bags received many inquiries as a result of ... TDmonthly’s Toy Giveaway. Rebelle was very happy with the serious nature of the inquiries we received and we certainly made contacts we never would have had if it weren’t for the exposure as a result of TDmonthly’s Giveaway. ... I would recommend the giveaway to any company looking for increased exposure in the marketplace. I would especially recommend it for newer companies and newer concepts!" — Daisy Cook, owner, Rebelle Inc. "We're very excited with TDmonthly. Out of all of our advertisers, we've seen the greatest response from them." — Charles Littwin,general manager, Ttalf Corp. (Watch the rest of Charles' testimonial, from the 2007 ABC Kids Expo, right) "We use ToyDirectory because it is a great way to reach a vast amount of customers efficiently and affordably." — Devo Ihonde, vice-president of sales, eeBoo "HABA USA continues to be very satisfied with the leads brought to our attention through TOYDIRECTORY and TDmonthly Magazine. This is one advertising venue that I don't have to ponder over the value provided." — Lea Culliton, president, sales & marketing, Habermaass Corp. dba HABA USA
OUTSTANDING SERVICE:
"I want to take a minute and give giant kudos to Allen in the web dept. He just literally saved my rear-end with a print issue I was having for the press release room at the show. Not only was he extremely polite, but so helpful and really dropped everything to help me with a 20-minute 'save' window. Between him, you, Melvin, Elba and Julie I actually feel like I have a 'team' behind me ... and trust me, that is huge! Especially since I am just a one person company and at times things get so overwhelming ... just to be able to pull up from the memory banks the "team" feeling helps me through the biggest of obstacles. I love TDmonthly!"
— Michelle Lamar, owner, Mother's Cubbard
"Thank you so much for notifying me of the very positive TD[monthly] review. ... I'm elated that the staff had fun and shared a lot of laughs. ... I appreciate the constructive criticism of the weighting of the hilt. No one has ever mentioned this and I have never thought about it. I think it could be a big improvement and will be looking into making the change. I think it is valuable insight that is much appreciated. So, your staff has indeed helped to make my product even better. Please thank them for me."
— Jim Bogner, CEO, Revel King, Inc.
"Your whole team is great and we're really excited to share our new products with the TDmonthly family!"
![]() — Renee Trinca, president, Schoenhut Piano Company (Listen to what else Renee has to say in her video, right)
"I just want to let you know that we enjoy working with TOYDIRECTORY and TDmonthly because you are all very thorough and good at following up with us; you are all very pleasant to deal with and you do a great job with displaying and linking our products. Keep up the good work!" — Susan Price, sales administrator, Goldberger Doll Mfg. "Your company does such a wonderful job hiring! Everyone at TDmonthly has been such a pleasure to work with." — Lisa Carvajal, founder/CEO, TOTO Products
"TOYDIRECTORY is a reference point, having their pulse directly on the toy industry. I keep working with TOYDIRECTORY to take advantage of their resources. I am kicking this relationship into high gear this year and definitely plan to use them in my marketing strategy." — Daina Bennett, Educational Materials Distributors "TDmonthly provided us with an immediate profile with our most important target market —
"Your company is coming across as a group of very refined, creative and customer caring individuals...I am impressed." —Sam Otal, Training Wings Inc. "Recently, we had experience with an online directory/search engine for wholesale gift products through one of our wholesale gift show operators, which caused me especially to appreciate and not take for granted your integrity, design standards, thoroughness, timely and accurate communications and referral traffic volume." —Marshall Gavin, executive vice president, "The HABA® corporation has been extremely pleased with the quantity and the quality of the leads that TOYDIRECTORY.com and TDmonthly.com consistently sends to us. We would like to thank the TOYDIRECTORY staff for their assistance in planning our marketing strategy and the consistently valuable customer service your organization provides. Thank you for doing such a great job!" —Lea Culliton, president, national sales & marketing, Habermaass Corp. dba HABA USA "What I appreciate, as the executive who is responsible for marketing at b. dazzle, inc., is the constant flow of creative new marketing ideas and programs that TOYDIRECTORY.com innovates and tailors to our specific needs; it's as if I have my own advertising creative staff supporting me and helping me to maximize our marketplace exposure. In today's highly competitive marketplace, every manufacturer of toys, games and gifts needs an Internet marketing strategy. For b. dazzle, inc., that Internet marketing strategy, simply stated, is TOYDIRECTORY.com." —Marshall Gavin, executive vice president, b. dazzle, inc.
"Toy Directory and TDmonthly provide Alivan's with an invaluable resource for marketing our product line toward targeted retailers." —David Wedzik, founder, Alivan's Inc. "It is a real pleasure to work with the TOYDIRECTORY.com staff. They are highly creative, practical, considerate and helpful. If you have come to believe that customer service no longer exists in our culture, your cynicism will be extinguished and your faith will be renewed when you work with the wonderful professionals at TOYDIRECTORY.com." — Marshall P. Gavin, executive vice president, b. dazzle, inc.
"I met you guys at the Game Expo in Las Vegas and it's been one of the best things that's happened to me. The people are great to work with and I'm getting a chance to market my game that I wouldn't have otherwise." — Rahn G. Porter, president, Boxing Express "In my quest to seek out a new source that would display The Learning Station’s over 20 years of award-winning educational music and videos with panache, distinction and international appeal, the search engines brought me directly to TDmonthly Magazine. Immediately impressed with my new found, high-ranking, quality prospect, I proceeded to initiate a relationship. To my VERY pleasant surprise, I found much more than a company that would satisfy my perfectionist, promotional desires — I was warmly greeted by a welcoming group of OUTSTANDING professionals that invited me to become part of their TDmonthly family and who have gone beyond all boundaries, bending over backwards to seek my complete satisfaction. [TDmonthly is] a high-standard industry magazine that encompasses ALL of my promotional needs, catering to our intelligent, international audience and that has added a whole new dimension of ‘EXCELLENCE in ADVERTISING’ to our entire product line." — Proud to be a new TDmonthly member, Laurie Monopoli, The Learning Station "Being listed in the TOYDIRECTORY is probably the most effective internet listing for toy manufacturers seeking
MORE RETAILERS' TESTIMONIALS back to top RETAILERS FIND NEW TOYS: "[With TDmonthly], right at your own computer, when a customer asks you about a toy or a product, you can look it up right there." — Mary Sisson, owner, Kazoodles, Vancouver, Wa. (watch video, left) "I love to receive updates about new products in my email. It helps me keep on top of the newest toys. I really enjoy the videos of the products that you make available. A demonstration of the toy is definitely what sells it." — Allen Di Frischia, manager, Playthings Etc. - The Worlds Coolest Toy Store, Butler, Pa. "We put the [TDmonthly] mailers out on the counter and had staff initial the ones they were interested in. We'll be talking to those people at Toy Fair." — Cathy Albro, owner, Creative Learning, Grand Rapids, Mich. "I love to read what toys are selling around the country and what is the next hot toy." — Robin Ellerman, owner, Trains-n-Toys, North Canton, Ohio "We use Toy Directory and TD Monthly to follow the latest trends in toys. It is the perfect source to find new and interesting things." — Donna Horner, owner, My Little Boys Clothing and Gifts, Bolivar, Penn.
"Our business crosses over between the toy and hobby industries. I find TDmonthly Magazine to be an excellent resource to keep me informed of new developments and new products with easy and efficient navigation to find what I am looking for quickly." — Bob Wilke, partner, corporate franchise team, Hobbytown USA, Lincoln, Neb. "I found numerous companies listed on your website advertising the toy show in NYC this year. We have many samples of product coming, all of them new and exciting opportunities for us and our customers. With the toy show being in NYC it was a major help for us in the Midwest to see all of the suppliers in one spot since we are unable to attend the show. I haven't had any complaints and don't expect to with TDmonthly." — Josh Grindstaff, Education Station, Coldwater, Mich. "I enjoyed your emails and have found them very informative. I would recommend them to anyone who is in a gift-buying position. They are also very timely." — Marlys Nelson, former buyer for Foster Corner Drug, Perry, Okla. "We have found ToyDirectory invaluable as we are a new Internet retailer. It's great to get up-to-date information about new products." — Jason Chapman, managing director of Toys Are 4 U Ltd, Sittingbourne, Kent, England "Since I'm starting up a new business here in Belgium (a retail shop, toys and collectibles) and would like to import mainly from the U.S., TOYDIRECTORY is a great help for me!" — Glenn Delcart, Best Copie, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium "Being from New Zealand, which is more than shouting distance from the United States, I find TDmonthly an excellent source of information. I don't get the opportunity to travel to the major fairs often and rely on agents and publications to get information. If I see a line in your update that looks pretty good for our market, I'll often contact one of our own sourcing agents and tell them to contact the company. Sometimes the line can work (freight, margins etc.); sometimes it can't. I would rate TDmonthly as the most informative toy publication I've come across so far. — Warren Hunter, merchandise manager, General Merchandise, Foodstuffs Auck Ltd, New Zealand "With ToyDirectory and TDmonthly Magazine we were able to do a lot of contacts with suppliers that we didn't know where to find. I can say that both ToyDirectory and TDmonthly were my right brain of the commercial process I've been to with several manufacturers and suppliers that appeared in TDmonthly Magazine." — Luis Miguel Ribau, Oficina da Ciência, Lda, Aveiro, Portugal "I research to see who's doing what, what's coming out, who's the distributor, where I can get the merchandise." — Carolyn Stevens, owner of Collectibles N Toys, Wayne, N.J. "I use it all the time. I really like the Retailer Spotlight ... I also use it to look up a vendor that I need information on ... such as Red Farm. I get busy, but I'm pretty much able to go every month and see what's new." — Jan Adamson, owner of Annie's Toy Chest, Cocoa, Fla. "My daughter and I use your site as a guide for purchasing toys and games for the playrooms at the Ronald McDonald House in Jacksonville, Florida. Because of the controlled environment, we know what toys are played with most and which ones take a lot of playtime. Your site has helped us make good decisions about what donations to request and what to purchase. We are glad you all are in business." —Mrs. Darlene Klosterman and Amanda Klosterman, volunteer staff, Ronald McDonald House "The new owners of the store have been using [TDmonthly Magazine], so they're definitely finding things. I've been in the business a little longer than them, so I'm more familiar with the toys, but they've brought things to my attention that I've never seen or carried. They're definitely seeing it as a pretty valuable tool." — Kevin Hart, former buyer for Toy Store, Atlanta "I get the Bloom Report and I go to your site from there to search for new products." — Angie Wilkos, owner of Cherry Street Kids, Black Mountain, N.C. "I like reading the articles about other dealers and about business in general." — Joyce Hoover, owner of the Doll & Gift Gallery, Rogers, Ariz. "Your site's very easy to use." — Jeff Gurley, owner of The Lollipop Shop, Jonesborough, Tenn. "I really appreciate this type of newsletter. It helps a lot to hear from other retailers about products that are working for them."
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