Q&As

Brookstone Inc. posted a net loss of $11.2 million for the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $11.3 million in the prior-year period.

All moms want their children’s bedrooms to be special. For some, that means taking the tykes to Target and letting them choose between the Spider-Man, Dora or SpongeBob sheets.

But for style conscious moms, that means outfitting the room in fully coordinated high-end furniture, bedding and accessories. These upscale mamas, who might not blink at spending $30,000 to deck the halls, are the target audience for Roswell, GA-based KooKoo Bear Kids.

Sure, there are oodles of events that alter your habits as a consumer. Graduating college, getting married, buying a pet, moving to a new city.

But the big honkin’ mother of all lifechanging events is, well, becoming a mother. Or a father, of course.

Take note of two late-April television campaigns before you flip the calendar page: The first commercial is an extremely unfortunate ad for a Dodge Caravan minivan. Place your order before April 30 and the good folks at Dodge will include a built-in DVD player for the passengers in the back seat. The second spot –

Kid-focused television networks like Noggin, Playhouse Disney and PBS offer online presences designed to engage, educate and entertain their preschool audiences.

How well do they do their jobs? I enlisted my son Jacob, age 4, to put the sites to the test. One recent afternoon we sat down at my laptop, to see what piqued his interest.

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants will offer a free entrée and beverage to parents dining with school aged children today, April 26, in honor of national “Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day.”

Today we meet Elliot Danziger, director of e-mail marketing services at ePostDirect Inc. He’s been in the list business for 11 years.

Bill Unyi suffered from allergies. Two years ago, he figured out how to turn his sneezing into sales.

After a co-worker passed away about three years ago, Valerie Z. Holstead took some time off from her job as a legal secretary, to take stock of her life and see what it would take to make her happy.

All good marketers know that they must test each message against a control to see if good results can become stellar results.

Did you know you could do this with the articles you submit to Web sites, e-zines and online directories?