Growing Your Business: Preparing for Trade Shows series

May 31, 2011

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.

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

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Managing Your Money

May 20, 2011

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.

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Growing Your Business: Preparing for Trade Shows series

May 03, 2011

Hello! It’s Avis from Avie Designs again with my series on Preparing for Trade Shows.

This topic is so exciting for me since it’s what I’m working on as we speak. It’s also just so much fun to design a booth. I think so anyways. Your booth execution is so important for a number of reasons. There will be a lot of people that have never heard of you before that will be wandering by. If your booth is nice and inviting, you have a greater chance of getting more of those passersby to walk into your booth and experience your product for the first time. You need the booth to be an expression of your brand so that people can get an idea of you and your product just by glancing at it. You also want to present yourself as a viable, serious company that another company wants to work with. You need to convey that you are serious about your company and it’s growth and that you can deliver.

So I’ve broken down the components of a booth and explained how you can make each one as successful as possible:

1.Tone: When you are thinking about your booth before you even start designing, you need to consider the tone you will be setting. This mostly depends on your product and it’s tone. A booth for a company that sells lifejackets should be very different than the booth for a company that sells gummy bears. You need to know the tone of your product and company and figure out a way to have your booth reflect that image. My company is modern, bright, casual and sustainable. I tend to design my booths to be set in a natural background to let the bright colors pop.

2. Walls, Floors, Tables & Chairs: Your booth, most likely, will come with curtains hung on pipes and that’s it. If a chair is free too, then you’re in luck. The hardest part of getting a booth together is figuring out walls, flooring and furniture. Especially if you don’t live in the same city as the show. The show itself will offer their services at a hefty price. This is a great option for people that would rather spend money than put in the hard work themselves. The show will sell you the walls, floors and furniture as well as install them all for you. They even do shelving. Then all you have to do is come in with your product and signage and you’re done. You can also use many other companies that will produce all types of booth displays for you. There are also unique ways that you can make your own walls and floors and ship them and assemble them yourself. There are so many ways to solve this problem that you really have to go to a show to see it for yourself. As for furniture, unless you need it for your product display, you may not really need any, but you do need chairs. You need chairs for you and possibly your customers. 4 days is a long time to stand on your feet and it’s nice to have a table and chairs in case someone does want to place an order, you can sit at a table like normal people making a deal. Flooring is important since you don’t want to display your lovely product on warehouse floors. I’ve seen everything from carpet tiles to contact paper used as flooring so the possibilities are endless.

3. Signage: You need to have your logo and booth number very prominently displayed multiple times in your booth. This is your address and you don’t want to lose a sale because someone can’t find you. Be redundant and large.

4. Product Display: Once you have your tone, you need to figure out how you will display your product. Again, this is a very personal decision that I cannot tell you the right answer to. You need to consider how your customer will interact with the product, how they want to see the product and what information they will want about the product. If you have a complicated product that needs explaining, you need to go above and beyond to explain both visually and verbally how it works. Never assume that people will understand just by looking at it. I sell hand folded stationery that has handmade envelopes that are patterned. This stationery does not look like any other stationery out there, which is a good thing, but I have to go out of my way to explain it to people because they don’t know what they’re looking at. Also, customers will want as much information about the product as you can give them. You may want to use signage in addition to your verbal explanation to assist you. Sometimes there are more people in your booth than you can talk to at one time and you don’t want to miss the opportunity of a sale because they had questions that you were too busy to answer. Customers will want to know or see how the product is packaged as well as being able to hold and feel it. Make sure that your display allows for both.

5. Lighting: It doesn’t hurt. You may have a spot that has plenty of lighting but bringing some clip on lights is a great idea. You can also purchase spotlights at the show just for your booth but at a high cost. Bringing your own is less expensive but you do need to make sure you have purchased electricity from the show.

6. Takeaways: Other non-product items you will want in your booth, available for anyone to pick up are your takeaways. These are anything you intend to give out to potential customers. Takeaways include: business cards, catalogs, press kits and consumables. You need to have a place for these out in the open, so leave room for them. Food takeaways are very popular at these shows because walking the show is exhausting, even more exhausting that participating in one. People get hungry and you do not want a customer with low blood sugar shopping with you. It’s just a good idea to have some on hand, it’s also a great marketing ploy as well.

7. Logistics: Now you need to figure out how to get your stuff to the show. If you live in the same city as the show or will be driving there, you need to find out from the show when you can drop off and start setting up. If you don’t live in the same city as the show, you need to fid out from the show when your shipments can start arriving. Shows have a great system for getting your boxes to your booth for you as long as you put the booth number and company name on the box. If you’re shipping your booth, it is wise to use light materials that are cheaper to ship. You also need to decide on investing on booth components that you will use year after year which may be heavier or single use components that will be lighter. I opt for single use mostly so that I have the excuse to design a whole new booth every year.

Designing and exacting a booth is so large an undertaking and so personal that I cannot possibly give you all the information out there. I hope this overview gives you a better idea of where to start.

Next up is “You’ve made it to the show, now what?”

- 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.

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9 Tips for advertising on blogs

April 21, 2011

I thought since I’ve been promoting my Getting Featured on Blogs Workshop, a nice complement to that might be sharing some tips on how to successfully advertise on blogs. Both advertising and public relations should be a part of a successful marketing strategy. The two work together to promote your brand to current and future customers. One without the other, is a little like rowing a boat with only one paddle…you would get somewhere, but probably only find yourself going in circles.

So, since my Getting Featured on Blogs Workshop is all about the public relations part of the equation, I thought I might share some tips on advertising as well.

If you are interested in signing up for the Getting Featured on Blogs Workshop, more info can be found HERE. It’s an online workshop that runs for 5 weeks and starts on May 2nd. The cost is $50.

But now…

9 Tips for Advertising on Blogs

1. What kind of traffic does the blog get?

Any blog worth advertising on will share their statistics with you if asked. Many blogs (like mine) include some basic stats on their rate sheet. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for proof either (like a screen shot), it’s your money. Blogs may use Google Analytics, Awstats or some other tool for collecting stats.

In addition, tools like Alexa, Technorati, Compete & Google Pagerank can be useful in evaluating traffic. These sites alone aren’t enough to evaluate a blog’s worthiness of advertising on, but it can help you in your decision making.

Here’s Indie Fixx’s Technorati page as a reference for you.

Also, do a Google search for the blog’s name. If the whole 1st page is not full of links to the blog or mentions of the blog on other sites, maybe it’s not getting enough search engine traffic and therefore not a good advertising choice.

2. Know the lingo.

Make you sure understand what the terms unique visitors, pageviews, page rank & more before you go asking for stats. You need to know what the numbers mean, so spend some time looking stuff up on the wikipedia 1st.

3. Make sure your ad pops.

There is no point in advertising if your banner isn’t going to attract eyeballs…or worse, turn people away. Ask for impartial opinions about your banner from friends and colleagues. Consider getting a banner made for you if your a graphic designs skills aren’t the best.

In my experience, animated banners perform better, but not all blogs allow them.

4. Plan an advertising campaign.

Truthfully, one banner ad placed for one month on one blog, is not necessarily going to be the most effective. It’s better to plan an advertising campaign where you advertise on several sites over an expended period of time. Remember, the more people who see your ads, the more people will be clicking on them. And more importantly, the more times shoppers see your shop the more likely they are to buy!

Now it may be that one banner on one blog for one month is all you can afford, and if that’s the case, remember that everyone had to start small!

5. Even better, follow up some free press with an advertising campaign.

Even better than an advertising campaign is following up some free press with an advertising campaign or vice versa, When planning an ad campaign, definitely do approach blogs and about featuring your products and shops. If you don’t think your skills are up for this, consider taking an e-course like my Getting Featured on Blogs Workshop!

6. Make sure the audience fits your goods.

Obviously, if you make purses it’s generally not a good idea to advertise on a street bike racing blog. But even in the world of craft & design blogs, you want to make sure that the blog’s target audience matches with your products. And remember, the blog content is important, but so is the look & feel of the blog.

7. Cheap is not necessarily a good thing.

Just because it’s dirt cheap to advertise on a specific site or through a specific service does not necessarily mean it’s a good buy. Sometimes it’s just better to save your money.

8. Think about the timing.

Obviously the winter holiday season is an important time to advertise, but so are other holidays. For Valentine’s Day, Halloween & Mother’s Day I always see an increase in traffic & searches on Indie Fixx. Certain times throughout the year can be more effective times to advertise as well…back to school is one.

It’s also important to keep yourself visible. You don’t only want to advertise during the winter shopping season, but you want to get people looking at your shop in the summer to increase your chances of them buying from you in November.

9. It’s not only about the click-through (when consumers ‘click’ on an ad).

Remember what I wrote about the more times people see your shop, the more likely they are to buy? Well, it’s also true that the more times shoppers see your banner, the more likely they will click on it. So, when evaluating an ad’s effectiveness you need to consider how many people saw your ad in addition to how many clicked on it. The pageviews or impressions of the page that your ad appeared on is a good way to evaluate this.

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Growing Your Business: Preparing for Trade Shows series

April 19, 2011

Hello! It’s Avis from Avie Designs again with another post in my series on Preparing for Trade Shows.

Today, we’re going to talk about driving traffic to your booth. Designing a great product and executing a beautiful booth gets you nowhere if no one stops by to look at it. Now there is a ton of foot traffic at a trade show, That’s one of the main advantages of exhibiting at a large trade show, there are thousands of potential clients in the building. You just have to figure out how to get them to meander by your booth, so you can pull them in. I read somewhere that a company rented a popcorn machine and made fresh, very fragrant popcorn in their booth that you could smell for aisles. That’s a clever idea to get lots of visitors, but you are really looking to target the people that come by your booth and that takes a lot of work before the show.

First of all, who do you want to stop by? You could start by asking the trade show themselves for a list of probable attendees. This will probably cost money but it’s very helpful information. The National Stationery Show will even send out postcards to that list for you, for a fee, of course. This is always a good option but you have to realize that it’s not targeting, it’s more of a fish net approach. I know at The National Stationery Show, there are lots of different types of stationery companies and stationery retailers. They are not all a good fit for what I am selling and it can be inefficient and a waste of money for me to send them information about me and my company.

So your goal is to obtain the most targeted list of potential clients you can. There are many ways to do this, one of them is plain, old fashioned research. But once you get your list together, you are have to figure out how to contact them. You have a lot of options here and if you have the money, time and resources, the more you employ the better.

1. Email: Obviously this is the cheapest way to send out information about yourself. It is completely free if you just send out personalized emails from you. You can also sign up for a service like Constant Contact which allows you to easily keep up with your email lists, send emails with images & links and “blast” your targeted audience quickly. There is a downside to this method as we all get email blasts and they’re not always opened by the receiver.

2. Snail Mail: Depending on how approach it, this can be a very expensive option or a moderately expensive option. Postcards are a popular way to get your information out at a reasonable price. You can have them printed by VistaPrint, they allow you to upload your own artwork and are very cheap. Mailing a postcard is also cheaper than mailing anything else. Just make sure your product looks bright, inviting and eye-catching so that your postcard doesn’t end up in the trash. (I am including my last postcard that, while well designed, was not that inviting.) Also make sure you have all the pertinent information they will need to contact you. You can go one step further and send out a “care package” full of information and product samples or a catalog. This is much more expensive but if you feel you have a very targeted list, this can really work for you.

3. Advertising: This is potentially the most expensive, depending on where you advertise. Again, just make sure that you advertise where your targeted audience will be. This year, I’m taking out an ad in Stationery Trends Magazine which is the industry magazine read by retailers and fellow stationery companies. You can see my ad below. I think it has a little more pizazz than last year’s postcard.

4. PR: Lastly, don’t forget to reach out to the press. Magazines, bloggers and TV will most likely be at the trade show so reach out to them in order to increase your chances of coverage at the show. And make sure your website, blog, twitter & Facebook all have the information about you at the show too so anyone can get it easily.

Next time (May 3rd) we get to the fun stuff “Designing & Executing Your Booth”

- 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.

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