Name : Carol Foster

Email Address : zybertex@hotmail.com

What kind of Business do you run? Personalized products for business events & promotions

When did you start it? 2000

Why did you start it? Needed a way to make an income and wanted a home business.

How much capital in terms of resources did you invest to start up your business? Very little. We had a computer and printer so I only needed to get a box of candy bars to create samples to hand out.

Do you have a website for your business? If yes please provide it : Actually I have two since I have now branched out some to begin more of a graphics site along with our business site. Our business site is: www.zybertexmarketing.com which I am about to redo with full ecommerce capabilities.

My second which I recently opened is: www.designerzcafe.com which offers graphics for commercial use to other candy wrapper home businesses and scrapbookers.

Who are your main customers? What demographic are they mostly from? We began selling here in our area (Texas panhandle) but through word of mouth our business soon became a vendor for a national insurance company and we now work with agents in 15 states. It continues to grow and it surely keeps us busy!.

What do you feel are the basic goals that a business such as yours should reach in the first year? The first year should be one of identifying your strengths and weaknesses and learning how to run the business. We made many mistakes, looking back, but we kept going. We did not get bogged down in the \"asthetics\" of how our business material looked before taking action. The other way around. We still don\'t have a logo which we will soon take care of.

For anyone who wishes to start their own WAH business in the same industry as yours what are your top 3 advice tips? :

1. Take action and don\'t get lost in the details of how things will look.
2. Be willing to give 110% and sacrifice for the business.
3. Never give up. You don\'t know what tomorrow brings.

Has this business venture allowed you to spend more time or less time with your family? Since I am home I can work when I want and make my own schedule. I am able to spend more time with my granddaughters and work with their school schedule.

What are the top three marketing strategies that you employed to achieve success for your business?

1. Show sample to business owner.
2. Follow up to ensure satisfaction
3. Networking and referrals

What goals are next for your business? Building an ecommerce presence on the web so my husband can rest some from his sales calls. (after 2 strokes he is not as strong as before)

Where do you see your business in another 10 years? I would like to be able to hire 3 workers and possible one salesman.

Name the top 3 products and/or services your business provides and their respective
benefits to the customer/consumer : We work mostly now with a national insurance company. Our agents purchase mostly personalized lip balm and water labels through the year. Between August and November the agents order their Holiday Bars. They seem to love those and order each year. Our Holiday orders have grown each year, a lot by word of mouth from agent to agent.

Has your business been recognized in any way by the media or any awards organization? If so please state how you were chosen and what kind of recognition your business has achieved. No, we haven\'t but then we really don\'t work local any longer and haven\'t for about five years. My husband does sales calling from the house and I do the graphics work and production.

How many times a year do you offer special discounts on your products or services?
When? We often, especially when we started out, give a percentage off discount for referrals. This proved to work very well.

Share with us two positive feedback comments your customers have said about your
product/and or service.

1. "Our customers love this lip balm and come asking for it. I\'ve written business with this stuff".......Agent number one

2. "I've seen my Holiday wrapper on folks bulletin boards! These bars are a great marketing tool!" .............Agent two