| For Immediate
Release
No Strings Attached:
Mom & Dad Rule Online
“Puppet Universe”
Internet Start-ups may be considered
a bust by many these days… but not where puppets
are concerned. When husband and wife team, Jeff and
Joanna Baird, started their home-based company, PuppetUniverse.com,
they never dreamed that they would corner the online
puppet market in a mere 18 months. With first year sales
of $250k, over 6000 new customers, and projected sales
of $1 million for 2004, it looks like that’s exactly
what they have done.
Based in Yelm, Washington, the Bairds
originally hit on the idea for Puppetuniverse.com while
looking for a business opportunity that allowed them
to work from home and spend more time with their family.
They gravitated toward puppets because of the wonderful
experiences they had had using puppets as fun, educational
toys for their son, Dylan.
Though it is the Bairds’ first
foray into the world of e-commerce, they haven’t
missed a step. They attribute their rapid growth and
success to a mixture of Internet savvy online marketing,
smart competitive pricing and a high level of customer
service. According to Jeff Baird, “Our goal was
to focus on a specific niche and then dominate it by
providing the largest selection of puppets available
‘in the universe’."
This strategy seems to be working.
Today PuppetUniverse.com has become the largest online
purveyor of hand puppets, marionettes and puppet theaters
with well over 1000 product choices. In fact, do to
the company’s incredible growth they are looking
for a new location with three times the space!
Of course, knowing how to be in the
right place at the right time is often they key to success
in business. According to the May 2004 issue of Entrepreneur
Magazine, one of the hottest niches in the growing US
toy market these days are Puppets! Such impeccable timing
portends some very rapid growth over the next few years
for PuppetUniverse.com
While they started as simply retailers
of puppets and puppet accessories, Puppetuniverse.com
is now branching out into the largely untapped area
of custom order manufacturing for advertising specialties,
promotional puppets, and licensed character puppets
and marionettes. To-date they have created custom puppets
for Child Find Canada, Minnesota State Fair, and many
others. Currently they have multiple projects under
development for companies, universities, libraries,
church organizations and even a rock band from Canada!
Their international orders have also picked up especially
to Spanish speaking Countries including custom orders
to Spain, Chile, and Mexico. In fact, Spanish speaking
customers account for nearly 10% of sales at PuppetUniverse.com
now.
Most importantly, the Bairds are dedicated
to their company and its mission. "We feel strongly
that you need to be passionate and love what you sell
to be successful" says Joanna Baird. In addition,
they concede that true satisfaction comes from all of
the positive customer feedback they receive daily about
the joy parents and grandparents have in watching their
children play and learn. "It is extremely gratifying
to know that we sell products that stimulate creativity,
learning and joy in children and their parents around
the world. It's our way of contributing positively to
society", says Jeff Baird.
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