Skip to content

How to keep your promos from being tossed out

August 18, 2011

Promos can be a both an effective & fun way to grow your brand.  They are especially effective for current customers and you might want to consider adding some sort of promos to all your orders, if don’t already do so.  They can also be good to use at craft shows to anyone who makes a purchase or lingers in your booth.

But, it can be difficult to come up with a good idea for a promo that’s just not going to be tossed out. I mean, why waste your money and/or time buying or making promos that are just going to end up in the trash? That’s why I  like the usable promo, something that folks are going to hold onto & use: magnets, notebooks, calendars + more. But usable goodies that are going to stand out from the crowd are the ideal.

Here are some promos I found which are usable and clever and I bet don’t get tossed out!

recipe card by Pink Kiss Pottery

New Recipe Card!

recipe card by glue&glitter

Basket of Lip Balm

lip balm by Etsy Labs

lavender goodies!

sachet by  popko

photo

coasters by theHandmaiden

a good word

ice cream sticks as bookmarks by silvertreeart

photo

yum, marshmallows by stellaloella

photo

clothespin clips by queenvanna creations

plantable seed paper promo card

plantable seed paper promo card

plantable business card by porridge papers

photo

sewing kit by Jennifer M Ramos
  • Share/Bookmark

Growing Your Business: Preparing for Trade Shows series

June 14, 2011

grow your own business preparing for trade shows

Hello! It’s Avis from Avie Designs again with my series on Preparing for Trade Shows. This is my last post in this series and I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing this with you, I hope you all have found my tips useful.

Today we’re going to talk about what happens when you get back from the show. More likely than not, you will have a stack of business cards, some catalogs and many many opportunities in front of you. Or maybe you don’t.


Rifle Paper Co. at the National Stationery Show by s. treatzone

There are 3 potential outcomes of a show: You were successful beyond your wildest dreams; you had a moderate amount of success; or you had no business, no visitors and terrible feedback. If you fall into the last category, you may honestly want to sit back and re-think your business plan or product. As I mentioned last time, you can learn a lot about what retailers want by listening to them at the show. If everyone that stopped in your booth told you that no one would ever buy your product, they might be right and it might be time for you to shake things up. I’m not advocating giving up, I’m just saying you may be headed in the wrong direction.

If you were successful beyond your wildest dreams, you don’t need my advice, you probably need financing. You’re probably scrambling around figuring out how to deliver on the promises you made. And that is something specific to every business and I can’t really help you there.

If you had some success, some orders, some positive feedback, then this is where I can help you:

1. Review everything that happened: You need to sift through everything that happened so that you can prioritize your next move. There are some things that need to be dealt with immediately and some items that can wait a little while. You can also go ahead and weed out anything that you don’t need to deal with at all. Since you took very detailed notes, sorting through the information will be a breeze.


Mr. Boddington at the National Stationery Show by sadjeans

2. Fulfill orders that were placed at the show: If orders were placed, then you need to move towards filling those orders. Contact whoever you need to contact and get going on those. You also need to contact the stores that placed those orders with any information they need too. Hopefully you gave them an accurate ship date when they placed the order at the show but if something comes up and you cannot deliver as promised, you need to keep them in the loop, you’d be surprised at how patient they can be. But get going on it, you don’t want them to forget about you and your product.

3. Contact everyone else you see potential with: You will meet so many people at a show and not everyone is going to be a good fit for you. Once you have decided what contacts you are interested in pursuing, decide how to contact them. I would suggest a simple email to start. Many people will request information from you, or want you to mail them a catalog so go ahead and email them acknowledging that you are in the process of filling their request. Then you can think about a more elaborate follow up.

This is just like your pre-show advertising, you can spend tons of money, or not, to refresh their memory of you. Since you will probably have many contacts gained from the show that you want to turn into potential sales, this is an important step. You may want to include photos of you at the show to jog their memory, samples of your product, a catalog or other items specific to you and your product.


Gold Teeth Brooklyn at the National Stationery Show by the obsessive imagist

4. Investigate the people that want to do business with you: Not only is there great potential to meet people that will purchase your product at the show, there is also great potential to meet people that will become your vendors or collaborators. You need to do your research on each and every one of them to see if they are a good fit for you. Just because you were all excited at the show when you met them, does not mean they are right for you and your company. Really sit and think about where you think your company is going and where you want it to go before jumping into any relationship from the show.

5. Figure out the lesson from the show: You can really learn from your customers and now is the time to integrate that knowledge. Decide what changes you will or won’t make in your business based on the show feedback and start to implement them.  You may have noticed that only high-end boutiques were stopping and placing orders at the show. How can you further cater to their customer and therefore enhance your sales?

Again, it has been such a pleasure sharing this with you and I hope to be back soon with another series. I better get working on one!

- Avis Wampler, the creative force  behind Avie Designs, writes the column Growing Your Business: Preparing for Trade Shows series. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

  • Share/Bookmark

Craft Show Checklist: what to bring with you

June 08, 2011

image by Arcane Arts

As a continuation of my craft show series this season, I thought I’d share a list of what to bring with you to a craft show. I’m going to focus on outdoor shows, considering we are in the midst of the outdoor season, but most things will apply to an indoor show as well. My last posts in this series were: 15 Tips to increase your craft show sales & 14 Craft Show Display Do’s.

What to Bring With You to a Craft Show?

  1. Scissors
  2. Tape (Various types – Scotch, double-sided, masking & duct)
  3. Pens
  4. Cash – $120 is a good amount to start with. $40 ones, $40 fives & $40 tens.
  5. Someplace handy to store your extra cash and credit cards slips.
  6. Credit card processor. Whether it’s a knucklebuster and slips or an iPhone app.
  7. Clipboard for customers to sign credit card slips.
  8. Business cards
  9. Bags and boxes & other packaging
  10. Your crafting tools to make minor repairs.
  11. Signage – both on the tent and on the table.
  12. Notebook for newsletter sign-up
  13. Mirror
  14. First-aid kit
  15. Sunscreen
  16. Change of shoes & clothes (in case it rains).
  17. Apron with pockets!
  18. Tent with removable walls.
  19. Plastic sheeting for rain coverage. You can use it to cover your tables in an emergency.
  20. Bungee cords
  21. Twine or rope
  22. Sewing kit
  23. Handiwipes
  24. Lint Roller
  25. Ibuprofen, Anti-histamine & and other meds.
  26. Paper towels
  27. Trash Bags
  28. Toilet paper
  29. Snacks
  30. Water
  31. Lunch – you can never be sure what will be there.
  32. Chair or stool
  33. Tent weights
  34. Helpers!
  35. Extra price tags
  36. Stick pins – pin lightweight objects to table to keep from blowing away & pin the edges of table cover to keep from blowing.
  37. Binder clips – can be useful to keep table coverings from blowing around as well as for other stuff.
  38. Camera
  39. Calculator
  40. Mints!
  41. Basic beauty kit for you – brush, lip gloss, hair-ties, barrettes, hand lotion, deodorant, etc.
  42. Receipt forms for cash transactions.
  43. Tissues
  44. Basic tools – hammer, screwdriver
  45. Dolly or luggage carts
  46. All-natural insect repellent – don’t be spraying chemicals around other people.
  47. Sunglasses/hat
  48. Cell phone
  49. Laptop – if you need it for processing credit cards. Otherwise, leave it at home.
  50. Blank notebook to record sales, take custom orders, etc.
  51. Promotional materials besides biz cards. Stickers, pins, pencils. People love freebies.
  52. Candy to give away and to eat!
  53. Fishing line – good to hang stuff from tent and affix items to table.
  54. Paper weights
  55. Extra backs for earrings & other extras suitable to your craft.
  56. Business license
  57. Craft show details – starting time, break-down time, organizer’s contact info, etc.
  58. Sales tax chart
  59. Credit card sign. Don’t assume people will ask.
  60. Checklist of everything you want to bring.
  61. And, of course, all your crafts, tables, display stuff, etc.
image by Modern Crush

image by caitlin is nice
image by by birdtracks
  • Share/Bookmark

Growing Your Business: Preparing for Trade Shows series

May 31, 2011

grow your own business preparing for trade shows

Hello! It’s Avis from Avie Designs again with my series on Preparing for Trade Shows for my post called “You’ve made it to the show, now what?”. I am right off the plane from my trip to the National Stationery Show in NYC so this subject is fresh in my mind.

At a trade show, you’re pretty much tethered to your booth for a few days and it becomes your home. A better way to think of it is your very own retail store. And as with any retail store, there are a few techniques to make sure that you sell the product successfully.

1. Look alert and attentive:

I can tell you that I walked by booths at the show where people were reading magazines, sitting down and looking disinterested. This does not help to make your booth look inviting to passersby. You do not need to stand the entire 4 days, but standing or sitting, you need to look alert and ready to answer questions.

2. Anyone can walk into your booth so be friendly to all:

These shows attract all sorts of industry people. Press, buyers, artists, resources and competitors. It can be hard to tell right off the bat what role each person will play in your business so it’s best to be nice and greet everyone. At the National Stationery Show, badges are worn to differentiate the many industry groups but they can be hard to spot or read and it’s really not nice to look at someone’s badge before their eyes. Greet everyone like you would want to be greeted. You never know when someone from a major magazine or retailer is going to walk into your booth.

3. Be informative but not pushy:

When someone walks into your booth, great them, let them know you’re there to answer questions but do not overwhelm them. It’s a good idea to let them lead the conversation from that point on. You may feel free to add little tidbits of info as conversation starters but if they’re not into it, they’re not into it. Being too pushy can run someone out of your booth. You’ll learn quickly through trial and error during the show which information is exciting to buyers and which isn’t. When you stumble upon those magical words, you can then make sure you drop them with everyone that comes by. You should be able to answer all of the major questions that come up but there is bound to be one customer that asks you a crazy question and don’t be afraid to tell them that you’ll get back with them.

4. Listen more than you talk:

You can learn so much from the retailers at a trade show. They are your customer and you need to listen to them. If one person tells you something, it may not be relevant but if you hear is over and over again, it’s time to listen. This is a great place to learn about your customer so that you can give them what they want and in turn make more sales.

5. Have your materials ready:

Be sure to have your business cards, catalogs and order forms handy. There will be a lot of people that are seeing you for the first time and want to just take your information so that they can keep you in mind. You never know when this will turn into something later down the line, so freely give out that information but make sure to get their card too so that you can follow up with them. We’ll cover that in the next installment. Also, you never can tell when someone is going to say “okay, I’m ready to order” so you need to be ready at all times to take an order.

6. Be flexible:

Just this week, we realized pretty quickly that we needed to move one product to the front because it was a traffic stopper, so we changed everything around the first day. It helped a lot and many more people stopped than would have with our original display.

7. Be open to the possibilities:

You may think that you’re going to the show to sell your boxed stationery but you end up licensing your artwork instead. These are the types of possibilities that are available at trade shows and you need to be ready for them.

8. Write everything down:

There is so much going on at the show that you will not remember everything you promised everyone or the information you are given. Prepare a system for keeping up with notes and stick to it. Do not move on to the next item until you have documented what just happened.

9. Bring a chair, an extra person, water, food and comfy shoes:

A trade show is exhausting. Make sure you have someone to cover for you when you need to use the restroom. Make sure you have a place to sit down every once in a while and make sure you have provisions. It really is a marathon so be prepared.

Next time (June 7th) we’re going to be talking about “Post Show Follow Up”.

- Avis Wampler, the creative force  behind Avie Designs, writes the column Growing Your Business: Preparing for Trade Shows series. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

  • Share/Bookmark

15 Tips to increase your craft show sales

May 25, 2011


image by somethings hiding in here

Since we are thick in the middle of craft show/festival/fair season, I thought I would share some tips for how you can improve your craft show sales. These tips are based on both my experience as a shopper and as a seller and with more than a few shows under my belt in both capacities, I hope that these will prove helpful to you.

If this post is right up your alley, then you might also like my post on  14 Craft Show Display Do’s. Additionally, if you are looking to shop at an indie craft show, try Craftzine for event listings.

1. Stand

Standing is a much better vantage point for engaging customers. Sitting down has the potential to send the message, “I’m taking a break, don’t disturb me”, and that’s not what you want.  Now sitting is okay, if you use a tall chair (like a director’s chair) or a stool and are out in the booth, rather than behind a table. Of course, taking breaks is a necessity, but try to stand as much as possible…you can rest later.

2. Smile

Even if you are grumpy, hungry, disappointed in sales and/or tired, make sure to smile. I’ve walked out of booths before just because the people behind the table looked disinterested or unhappy.  No one wants to interact with miserable people, especially for an items that aren’t the necessities of life.

3. Display a credit card sign

Not everyone is going to ask, especially folks who may be new to craft show shopping.

4. You are not a clerk in a department store, you are an artist

Don’t ask, “May I help you?” or something similar. You aren’t selling socks at Kmart, you are selling your wares. Come up with a good greeting that fits your personality. I always used a friendly “Hi!” when I was doing crafts shows. It fit my personality and people seemed to respond well. It set the tone and often led to more conversation.

5. Engage people

So, you greet people when they enter your booth, what’s next? Keep talking. Talk about the weather, the show, your wares, something the shopper has on, something else they purchased, ask where they got that smoothie, etc. Come up with some good conversation starters beforehand that you can use. Selling at craft shows is like dating or meeting a new friend, you are trying to make a good impression. Remember, the longer you talk with someone, and the longer they are in your booth looking at your stuff,  the more likely they will buy.

6. Don’t be pushy

Be chatty and try to engage people, but if they give off signals that they don’t want to talk and want to move on, shut-up.

7. No gossiping

Don’t talk about other customers, or other people for that matter in front of customers. It’s rude and tacky. Unless it is something nice, of course.

8. Customers come 1st

Whenever customers enter your booth, stop chatting with your partner/helper, you can chat with them later. You won’t get another chance to sell to me, if I can’t get a word in edge-wise.

9. Share your craft

When you see customers engaging with your goods, tell them a little about the process and/or materials, especially it involves something special or uses materials they might not recognize. For example, if you make polymer clay jewelry, let people know that when they pick up a piece to study it, don’t wait until they ask. Don’t be too pushy though, let it drop if they clearly aren’t interested.

10. Make it easy for shoppers

It shouldn’t be difficult for me to try/sample/imagine buying your products. If you make edibles or consumables, have samples or testers available. Also, have a mirror handy if you sell wearables, and even if it’s in plain sight make to sure to mention it when a customer starts putting one of your necklaces. If possible, have a changing station if you sell clothing.

11. Differing price points

If you sell pricey items, consider adding lower priced items to your offerings just for the show. It will add to your show sales and might lead to some repeat online business later.

12. You are legit, so look like it

Make sure to have a sign for your business,  business cards out, a professional looking display, be organized and don’t ask me to write my credit card # on a scrap of paper for you to process later.

13. Be genuine

Be yourself and don’t be all salespersony. People will run screaming from you.

14. Post your prices

Don’t make shoppers ask how much something is. If you are busy they will walk away without asking and it might make them feel like you are sizing them up and they will walk away anyway.

15. Remember, you are selling yourself too

Finally, not only are you selling your crafts, but you are selling yourself. Be professional, knowledgeable, friendly & helpful.


image by Thomas Hawk

  • Share/Bookmark

Managing Your Money

May 20, 2011

it's up to you

Hello lovely readers! How are you doing? I am back with some more tips about getting your business where you want it… moving towards success! I was here already for a few tips on {creativity}, {time management}, {photography skills}, {customer service}… and today I am coming with economical tips!

So, money is really important to me. I must confess that I was not always that respectful to money, but now I am and feel the need to be in control of everything concerning money. This does not mean that I do not spend it with some pleasures, but I try to think critically about my purchases. When you have a business, it is very important to know where your money is, what do you need top spend your money on and what do with the money that comes in. I will share a few tips about this, in order to make it simple!


image from ashley g

1. You need to invest your money!

You are about to start your business and you need some supplies, so you need to calculate how much do you need to spend for those supplies. This money will be recoverable with your sales, but do not expect to recover it all at once. You need to think how much you have available and do not forget that you can always improve your business as the time goes by. You do not need to have the most perfect business in the first moment you start. Make a list of what is crucial for your business to begin… ONLY!


image from dazy chick

2. Define the pricing!

When you have a business pricing is really important! No news there. You need to be fair with yourself though. This means no over pricing, nor  making it almost for free. I have seen some sellers that almost giveaway their items, and as a buyer I am always a bit suspicious. And I have seen sellers that sell their work like 10 times more when compared to similar artists. Calculate what you spend in order to make your work… and do not forget that your time is also something that you should be considering.


image from nan lawson

3. Create a spreadsheet!

You need to be in control! Create a spreadsheet (Excel or the like) and define what you need to spend and what you earn with each sale. Write down everything you spend, so that you can be aware of your profit and further investments needed. You need to think wisely!


image from twamies

4. Save your money!

Do you run your  business as a parallel activity with your day job? Or is this your only job? Well, you need to define your goals! If you have a specific goal for that money, why not keep it on Paypal (if you use this) until your goal is recahed? If you need it for something else, then withdraw it every month for your savings account for example!


image from parade creations

5. Improve your business!

After running your business for a while, you can improve it… every day! Think about other strategies to make it better, think about advertising, think about goodies to offer to your customers… Now that you are making some money you just have the opportunity to make it better without loosing yourself in the way! Think wisely! Do not overspend! Stand out from the crowd!

These are a few tips for your business… They are really simple, but sometimes we forget to think simply and we complicate things. Money is not simple, but you can make it a little less complicated if you plan ahead and if you act wisely. In times like this, in which crisis is the most common word, you need to think positively but most of all, think ahead. Good times are not always here, so do not think that money will appear easily. You need to work hard and to plan your goals. You can also be a manager… of your own wallet! And if you need help, why not use some program to help you on this? I have heard of Mint and I would love to try it, but as I am nor American I cannot do it! But it seems that can be an excellent tool to manage your bank accounts! Just remember… Be in control of your money!


image from claudia pearson

And this is it my lovely friends, be careful and wise! See you in two weeks with the last post in this It’s up to You! series!! If you wish to get to know more of these stories about running a business, you can follow me on {a place for twiggs}! I will be there waiting for you!

- Claudia Casal, also known as Twiggs, is an organizational psychologist in love with photography. She is the author of {a place for twiggs} blog. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
  • Share/Bookmark