This offer ended on 9/10/06

I had an "oh, crud" moment this week. I'm in charge of the Step2 email newsletter, and we've been talking about doing a "Back to Preschool" email with 20% off a bunch of our items for a couple weeks now.

Normally, we send every other Friday. However, on August 11th, we did the Blockstravaganza offer, and it wasn't set to expire until the 28th, so we decided to postpone our August 25th mailing by a week.

Go figure, our biggest competitor throws out a "Back to Preschool" email two days before our revised send date. So we sent it anyways. Hey, at least we offered something with ours, instead of just sending out a big glossy buy-more-stuff ad.

That's our philosophy: if it doesn't say anything new, or offer any special promotion, or provide some worthwhile insight, why should we send it? Right, we shouldn't. So we don't.

Fighting for the freedom of inboxes everywhere,
Andy

PS. If you're looking for the things we put on sale, they're the Art Master Activity Desk, the Easel for Two, and the Creative Art Center.

Sorry, this Sweepstakes has ended.

I just opened up our newest sweepstakes for entries over at step2sweepstakes.com. We're giving away some Deluxe Canyon Road Train Tables just in time for Christmas!

I really like this train table. Not only do the tracks and bridges stay put (no more endlessly re-setting your children's tracks), but it also has a tabletop cover so you can hide all those trains and cars and use it for crafts, puzzles, or snacks.

Imagine with me for a minute: you've got a hot new product that makes people's lives easier and costs about $20. Similar items are selling at $50-$70 each, and you just simply don't know how to get people to learn about your product. How do you get the word out?

In 2006, you have a few options:
1. Spend lots of money on a TV ad for the item, and get a negative Return on your investment
2. Send out a bunch of SPAM and trash your company's brand name
3. Do something viral. Make a catchy ditty or unique website and hope everyone on the web starts passing it around on their MySpace account, Blog, or forum

OK, you might have guessed that I'm dealing with this predicament right now. We've created this fabulous MailMinder that helps you fight identity theft (and avoid trips to an empty mailbox) by letting you know when your mail has arrived. It's $20, so it's perfect as a buy-it-for-yourself item, but affordable enough to give your parents as a gift.

If you had to make a video about one of these things, what would you do? Dress it up as King Arthur? Drop it off a building? Tie-dye it?

This offer ended on 8/28/06

Boo-yah! I'm excited about this promo we launched today. For two weeks (ends 8/28/06) we're going to be offering FREE shipping on our Soft & Sturdy Jumbo Blocks ($34.99) and Soft & Sturdy Deluxe Blocks ($49.99)! Speaking from experience, these blocks are loads of fun!

What's so great about them? Well, let's see...

• They're soft and light, so you can throw them without worrying about hurting any furniture or people (or your boss)
• They float, so you can take them to the lake, or the bathtub
• They've got this funky low-tack texture that lets you stack them at minor angles without slipping
• They're soft and light, so you can throw them...oops, already mentioned that.

If your kids will allow it, you can steal one of the little cylinders and use it as sort of a stress ball. I've been throwing one around my cube for a few months now, and it just never gets old!

Convinced yet? If not, just trust me. Order a set, hand it off to your kids, and you will be. These blocks will help them to think, create, and innovate. Surely you remember how much fun your blocks were during your childhood -- why are you holding out on your kids?!?

OK, sorry, I know this is sort of sounding like an ad. I can't help it--these blocks are just that much fun!

At Step2, our philosophy revolves around doing things right. Part of that includes making the types of toys and home and garden products that people are looking for. You already know that if it's made by Step2 it's going to be high quality, but does that matter if we don't make the toy you're looking for?

So here's your chance: if you could have Step2 make any one item with our traditional quality, what would it be? (no, we're not going to start manufacturing toothbrushes, so don't even ask) Click on the "comments" link below to leave your response.