If you have a brand or product you should consider adding licensing to your business model. Licensing is a great way for toy manufacturers to borrow the authority of powerful brands and grow their own revenue. A great licensing deal can help growing brands expand to various consumer goods categories while avoiding the added cost of manufacturing. If you’re ready to learn more about how licensing can benefit your toy business, you should consider attending the Las Vegas Licensing Expo next year. But before you sign up, listen to this podcast for 9 tricks and tips for first time visitors to the Licensing Expo.

The Licensing Expo has over 200 exhibitors each year, including notable brands like Netflix, Lego, Paramount, Mattel, and more. In past years, over 16,000 people have attended, coming from more than 60 countries. Attendees include licensees, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, licensing agents, and more. Each show has more than 5,000 products or brands on display, allowing you to catch trends and get innovative ideas. Of course, there are many representatives from the toy industry, but there are also people in attendance from the fashion world, gaming, animation, and more.

The Toy Coach’s entrepreneurial journey didn’t start in toys, but instead it started in fashion. In 2012 Azhelle Wade, aka The Toy Coach created a fashion brand called Costumize Me. What started as a made to order costume company, evolved into a convertible event wear brand with the tag line 1 dress 100 ways to wear. This two part episode series details a toy designer’s entrepreneurial journey in the world of fashion. And because this is The Toy Coach podcast, every lesson learned and mistake made is packaged into a lesson that you can take and apply to your toy journey today.

The Toy Coach’s entrepreneurial journey didn’t start in toys, but instead it started in fashion. In 2012 Azhelle Wade, aka The Toy Coach created a fashion brand called Costumize Me. What started as a made to order costume company, evolved into a convertible event wear brand with the tag line 1 dress 100 ways to wear. This two part episode series details a toy designer’s entrepreneurial journey in the world of fashion. And because this is The Toy Coach podcast, every lesson learned and mistake made is packaged into a lesson that you can take and apply to your toy journey today.

Today’s podcast guest has been called The Godfather of Toys and is a social media icon in the collectors toy space. Jeremey’s journey in toys started at a clothing and toy store called Only Kids in Memphis, Tennessee. In today’s episode Jeremy provides advice on “making it” in the corporate toy world and what it takes to be an entrepreneur. You’ll learn the difference between collectibles both physical and digital, and yep that means we talk about NFTs! The consistent theme in today’s episode is resilience. We explore moments in Jeremy’s past where his resilience helped him move forward and we discuss the relationship between that never-give-up attitude and success.

If you’re at a place in your toy journey where you need a little inspiration to push you forward, listen to this episode. At the end of our conversation Jeremy shares two of the best pieces of advice he received in his career. The first helped him feel empowered when taking on a challenging new role, and the second prepared him for the man he is today. Ready for a little toyspiration from a major leader in the toy space? Tap play and give this episode a listen.

All across the globe we are seeing a massive increase in prices and reduction in quality. In fact it’s so prevalent, it has a few nicknames. Shrinkflation and Skimpflation are two practices of reducing the quality of goods and services to maintain margin, and reducing the actual contents of goods and quality of services while increasing the cost. The goal of cost reduction is typically to reduce cost without affecting overall aesthetic or playability. But when companies have to make up for 10% or more in lost margin, there’s no way around affecting the size and sometimes the quality of a product. As an inventor these monetary changes could affect the categories you focus on and as an entrepreneur or maker, it can affect the amount of components you need for your toy or game to stay competitive. If you want to maintain a cash-positive toy business you’ve got to look at the bottom line, and that means adjusting when margin and revenue take an unfortunate tumble.

Mission driven toy creators like Julie Dini have one major goal in common. It’s to improve the lives of the kids and families that interact with their products. Today on The Toy Coach Podcast, our guest Julie Dini shares her toy journey from handmade prototype to recurring sales online. Julie’s product, Dealing In Feelings, helps kids understand simple to complex emotions through identification and gameplay! Whether you are a buyer or an aspiring toy entrepreneur, you’ll enjoy this inspirational and informative chat with toy entrepreneur and Developmental Psychologist, Julie Dini.

Have you ever wanted to throw in that towel on your toy dreams? After months or years of non-stop hard work you might be feeling mentally, emotionally, and even physically exhausted. Well, before you give up on those big dreams of yours, give this podcast episode a listen. Creative burnout happens to the best of us. The more often you tap into the creative side of your brain to design a new toy product or solve a new problem, the more likely you are to feel tapped out. In today’s episode we will reflect on Creative Burnout. We’ll start by describing what it is, how you can delay it, and what to do once it finally takes over. Find out why and how you can prepare for creative burnout and the importance of accepting and acknowledging it when it comes.

If you’ve been a listener of The Toy Coach podcast for a while now, you may have grown comfortable with the format of the show. But today’s episode is a small break from the toyspirational education that you’ve gotten used to. With The Toy Coach out sick, her fiance Christian Castro stepped up to the mic to share upcoming changes that are coming for The Toy Coach Podcast, Community, Emails, and our signature program, Toy Creators Academy. For all the links mentioned in today’s episode check the show notes or visit thetoycoach.com/121.

A logo is not the most important part of your toy business. A logo holds NO meaning without a strong product or service behind it. Knowing that is true, should help alleviate the pressure of designing or selecting the perfect logo for your toy brand. Learn the 9 traits of good and bad toy logos that will help you design your next iconic brand look OR help you improve the look your brand currently has.

Are you struggling with developing the perfect package for your toy or game product? As toy or game creators you spend a lot of time thinking about the amazing toy idea you have and the innovative game that you will create, but you likely don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about the packaging of your toy or game idea. This episode will teach you the 5 different sides of toy and game packages and what the purpose of each side is. If you're ready to improve your toy or game package for retail sales, then this is a podcast episode that you simply cannot miss.

Wondering if there are any manufacturing options for you that are outside of China? More and more toy makers, toy creators, and even toy companies want to expand their manufacturing resources beyond China, but they don’t know where to start. Major toy companies and retailers have announced goals to move 30%-60% of their manufacturing of toy products out of China by 2023. And where will they move them? Likely India. India is an emerging country for manufacturing in general, but especially is a current hotspot for toys, in part thanks to today’s guest. Today on the podcast, I chat with Joshua Punin, the owner of Source 4 India. He and his business partner created this manufacturing resource for toy and game companies in the beginning of the pandemic by partnering with India based factories and educating them on the needs of the toy industry. If you’re looking for new options to manufacture your toy products, today’s episode is a must listen.

Do you know how to play? It seems like a simple question and your first thought might be, “of course I do!” but many adults today have forgotten how to play. As toy people, we know that play is necessary for the growth and development of children…but what about play in adults? Play is proven to help ease stress and inspire creative problem solving. So what do you do when the stresses of life stop you from playing or worse yet, you forget what play is to you? Well that’s where my guest today might be able to help. This episode offers great insights for entrepreneurs and inventors who are starting to test their products with consumers. This episode is also great for parents and corporate executives who want to infuse more play in their everyday lives.

Some hopeful toy inventors struggle with how to get their ideas in front of toy industry executives. Does that sound like you? Today’s episode is all about some things you can do to make that happen, and they might be surprising to you. Today I interviewed Daniela Valenzuela, a recent student of the Toy Creators Academy. Daniela shares with you how her experience in the TCA helped her to build the confidence to pitch to large toy companies, what she learned from the TCA, and how the pitch event helped get her products in front of top toy industry executives to begin fostering an ongoing relationship. This episode highlights the importance of building relationships in the toy industry.

Wondering what toy entrepreneurs like you do to get their product placed in retail? In this episode, The Toy Coach sits down with Nicole Hawthorne, student of Toy Creators Academy and co-founder of Jaylas Heirlooms dolls. Nicole is a researcher at heart, and her devotion to the craft of Googling helped her find the roadmap that she so desperately wanted. Nicole shares how she devoured the podcast way back in season one, enjoying episode after episode. A few years and a few grants later, Nicole Joined Toy Creators Academy to get the full picture of what it takes to take her toy product to the next level.

The Toy Coach is sharing a presentation and step-by-step roadmap on How To Break Into Toys. The lessons taught in today's episode are applicable if you are hoping to be a toy inventor, entrepreneur or find a corporate toy job. In today’s episode you’ll learn two ways to educate yourself in the toy industry from traditional to digital. The Toy Coach shares mindsets that hold aspiring toy people back including the inability to think outside the box when looking for toy companies to work for.

Does this sound like you? You have a life outside the toy industry, but you have ideas. There’s something from your daily life that has inspired an idea for a toy or game. How do you take that from inspiration to product? In today’s episode, I share stories from my students who took their products from idea to reality with the help of The Toy Creators Academy. After 11 years in the Toy Industry and working with more than 100 students as The Toy Coach, I’ve seen so many different kinds of people turn their expertise into a toy or game. Listen to this episode to find out what kinds of ideas have worked and why, and hear a few inspiring stories of toy industry success.