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First, I'd like to thank all of our customers who have helped us so much over the years by promoting Zing Wings. We don't really advertise, so most of the increases in our business have been due to word of mouth by our customers. I really believe in what we are doing with this business. I have always loved flying toys, and not much disappointed me more as a child (or as an adult for that matter) than to buy a flying toy that just didn't work well. I have spent countless hours refining our designs to ensure that our Zing Wings are the best they can be. I believe that they are the very best flying toy you can buy for the money. If you know of a better flying toy on the market, please email me about it so I can get one too! Our business is basically a cottage industry, and is family owned and operated. I like to think of us as being the village toy makers. One of our major goals is to achieve the highest quality and craftsmanship we can. We do all of the work on the Zing Wings ourselves. I have invented many of the tools and jigs necessary to produce the gliders using my imagination and tinkering skills. It is mostly a lot of fun, but can be quite challenging. I am also the web master, although I don't claim to be an expert in this area. This business provides my family and me with a lot of enjoyable work. I have had people ask me why we don't have our products made in Asia because it would cost us much less to produce them over there. I think that "Made in USA" still means something to many of us. It is really hard to find toys that are not "Made in China" these days. Our biggest reward is to hear from our customers how much they enjoy flying Zing Wings. Our goals are not about getting rich, just making a living and living a good life. It has been a rewarding endeavor for the whole family. So far, Zing Wings have made it to 6 of the 7 continents. I'm still trying to figure out how to get some down to Antarctica. I guess I can say we're pretty much global! It is a good feeling to know that something that takes flight in Europe or Asia was built by our hands. I have had a lot of advice over the years concerning our products, marketing strategies, and even packaging. We are not a cash rich business and have to be very resourceful to survive. We try to keep our packaging and products simple and efficient by using as much off the shelf materials as we can. I have been told that there are actually products where the packaging costs more than the product it encloses! The purpose of fancy packaging is to entice the consumer to purchase a product regardless of whether it is worth buying or not. Products like ours are typically packaged by displaying a couple of kids, usually dressed in the current 'hip' style. Sometimes the product is not even shown on the packaging, just the 'cool' looking kids. I just think that is very exploitive and will have no part of it. The bottom line is that most packaging gets discarded in the trash, and it's just not right to use so many resources just to get someone to buy a product. I have also been told that our products don't need to be as good as they are, that people won't know the difference. Well, it matters to me! I want to look myself in the mirror and know that I have done the best I can, and that I didn't rip anyone off. I want people to be happy and satisfied that they bought our products. That means a lot to me. Kathy and I are the parents of 4 sons and a daughter. My three oldest sons are serving on active duty in the US Air Force. All three have been deployed to the Middle East. I guess you could say we really support the troops. Our youngest son and daughter are still at home. I guess some day soon we'll really have a bad case of 'empty nest syndrome' when the last 2 fly the coop! |