Small Biz & Toys’ Category

Pediatric Waiting Rooms – Creating a Trusting Rapport With Younger Patients

Monday, August 23rd, 2010
For a child, a visit to the pediatrician or dentist can be a nerve-racking experience. Parents often find themselves with restless, rambunctious or upset kids while they wait to see the doctor. Creating and fostering a trusting and welcome environment in the waiting room of a doctors office is the first step in creating a trust and rapport with young patients.

Waiting room toys, doctors office toys, and reception area toys are designed to keep little ones entertained, comfortable and cheerful. This ensures a happy environment for patients and parents constituting happy costumers that yield a flourishing business and solid reputation.

When selecting waiting room toys and toys for patients, it is important to keep safety in mind. Your wholesale toy distributer should provide adequate safety information and be able to provide the source of each toy. A good wholesale company will hand select the children’s toys and provide proper age ranges to assist in the appropriate selection for the reception area.  It is also best to buy bulk children’s toys to confidently have a good supply on hand for treats the little patients can take home.

Providing a fun and safe environment in your waiting room and giving little patients treats to take home reflects more than just a good bed-side manner. It shows children and especially parents that you care about them and their wellbeing, which in turn creates trust between patient and doctor that is necessary in pediatric health and dental care.

The question is, what toys for toddlers and toys for children should be kept in the waiting room? The following is a good place to start:

Games and Puzzles
Jigsaw puzzles and games like dominos are great waiting room toys because they provide interaction and keep those little patients busy.

Coloring books and crayons
Coloring books, markers and crayons are easy toys to buy in bulk from your wholesale toy distributer and provide a fun creative outlet for your patients.

Animal toys
Farm toys and animal toys are always fun for children to play make believe with and enable them to use their imaginations while they wait for their appointments.

Small toys and treats
Small toys, such as stickers, pony figurines, magic wands, princess toys for girls, action figures, and putty are an excellent value when bought in bulk. These low cost toys can be given to younger patients upon completion of their visit. This small gesture is a great incentive for children and solidifies the trust and compassion they will feel from their pediatrician.

The goal of a pediatrician or pediatric dentist is always the health of the patient. However, a child’s health and well-being is easier to attain in a trusting and compassionate environment where both child and parent feel comfortable with their environment and trusting in their doctor. With the use of child toys and toys for toddlers as well as treats the little ones can take home, the relationship between doctors and little patients will be one of trust and care.

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Tips for building a successful online toy store

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

1. Your website is everything
If you don’t have the tools or skills necessary to build your Website, there are thousands of resources available for your online store to sell toys.  The investment you give to building your online retail Web site for the best toys will make or break your business. You can research design firms and Web site hosting services for a variety of packages and pricing options. However, you must make sure to design the shopping experience for optimal ease of use for your customer.

2. Build your audience
Without traffic to your Web site, your business will fail.  It is best to look at traffic and audience from a numbers game. The more people you have looking, the more prospective customers for novelty toys you will yield. Out of those prospective customers, your marketing and quality toy products will convert a percentage into a paying customer. There are thousands of free tools you can use to increase your Web traffic but here are some important ones to get you started

• Submit your site to all major search engines.
• Make important words on your Web site both internal and external links as well as Backlinks.
- Internal links are those that link to another page on your Web site.
- External links are links that send customers to another Web site.
- Backlinks are links that are strategically placed on other niche sites to attract visitors to your Web site.
• Install sharing tools to provide easy sharing of products with your visitors such as the “Add This” free tool.
• Take time every day to add your Web site and its various product pages to bookmarking Web sites and online directories.

3. Customer Service is key
Satisfying a customer is the key to getting repeat business.  It should be common sense that a happy costumer will use your online retail business again. Always be available to answer questions, fulfill your orders on time and efficiently, and provide an easy ordering experience for your products. If you subscribe to the adage, a customer is always right, and are willing to go above and beyond to satisfy them, your business will thrive.

4. Be an expert on toys and your wholesale toy company
Ideally, you should know every detail of the products you sell. When selecting from your trusted wholesale company, gather information for each selection. Know the size, weight, materials and origin. You should also educate yourself on the answers of any possible questions that may come up from your customers. For example, a customer may want to know exactly where the product originates from and how it was made. The right toy wholesale company selects wholesale toys with quality and safety in mind and will also be able to answer questions you may have.

5. Marketing
Internet marketing does not have to be expensive. There are free resources you can use to market your online toy store and services. Social Media tools, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs can assist your marketing efforts and even help with customer service. If you have a budget to spend on marketing, purchase a small amount of keywords for pay-per-click campaigns and advertising on other Web sites. Furthermore, you should use marketing tools to assist with your acquisition of repeat customers.  Ask for your customers’ email to sign up for communications and build your database to send out newsletters and promotional offers for cheap toys online.

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