Vendor Events
Vendor events, Craft Shows, Expos, they can seem Incredibly Overwhelming!
I have several big shows under our belts and I feel we can help get you started with your next event!
Lets discuss first...
What kind of show should I sign up for?
There are several options when trying to find a good show.
When it comes to shows you need to have the attitude that some may be great and some may be a flop, it may rain, traffic may stink, there could be another event in town, even down to your local news, can all effect how well you'll do at a show. If you go in to your first few shows EXPECTING a certain dollar amout you may be dissapointed. If you go into with "I'd like to go for the experience, making contacts and connections and just meeting people" this may be better for you. Remember, you are in NETWORK marketing, so sometimes making a few KEY connections can absolutely change your business.
So before you sign up for a show I woud first ask the following questions
"How long is the show?
Is this a new event?
How is in marketing? (billboards, TV spots, magazine placement, facebook promotions?
How many expected attendees?
How many vendors?
What percentage will be direct sales vs Handmade?
What is the booth size?
What are the fee's
Does it come with electric?
What about wifi?
Does the building have good internet service?
Do they provide tables or will you?
Are there any extra fee's?
What about flooring? Do they provide it?
Backdrop- We built a pallet style backdrop, it was inexpensive but it is HEAVY.
I loved the look of ours but you will need extra hands to hold it or build it for you.
This was our first space it was a 10x10. It was TIGHT! We made it work but we had a LOT of inventory! This was at a home show. I will say, your flooring will stand out, so make sure you have something cute!! This is sheet vinyl from Lowes. It was .99 a square foot, you can use it again and again and again, so its a great cute investment! I will tell you though, there is not much cushion! You may want to grab some of those click in tiles that have the cute faux wood look! Those would be so cute!
This was the second booth we did. This was a 10x20 booth and we had SOO much more room! I loved it!, We had a section for checkout with our square register (we took that from my studio and input all the inventory so it was easy to checkout)
We also had a small table in the center as well as the KEY to everything...a demo table. See below
The demo space is EVERYTHING! Chalk couture is a product you just have to SEE. You SELL what you SHOW, so you have to show how EASY chalk couture is. I use a framed chalkboard, they are beautiful quality, easy to clean and I think its best to highlight our Premium product instead of our budget options because again, YOU SELL WHAT YOU SHOW! I did Demos ALL DAY LONG. We often had crowds around us wanting to see what all the fuss was about! Also, be sure to be the paste and transfers in their hands! People need to see and feel and know that its not a trick and YES it really is that simple!.
You can't see here, but we offered Bundles. Our best Bundle was a 9x12 Aiden Chalkboard, a 8x11 transfers, paste and squeegee for 72.00(some change in there but I forget). It can get very confusing to explain what the product is, sometimes they don't know what they need, so if you can simple mke it easy for them and offer everything they need to make the cute project that was on your wall, they're more likely to buy!
I liked to offer their choice of design. So try to steer clear of bundling pre made choices because they are likely to get picky over the transfer and want something else. I'll post some additional bundle item ideas and such as we go on.
Doing shows has been an fantastic way to get out there and share the chalk love with everyone, everyone is SO excited to see something new! So I would highly encourage you to give vendor events a try!!
A common question I get is "how much inventory should I bring?"
A good rule of thumb for that is 3x the booth fee. So If my booth was $1000, I'd want to bring at least $3000 in product.