Turning a Hobby Into a Business – How To Sell Arts and Crafts at County Fairs and Craft Shows With Marketing Displays

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One of the greatest American traditions is arts and crafts. There are very few boundaries in the arts and crafts industry – from making your own jellies and jams, to stained glass windows and quilts, utilitarian items from clothing to furniture building and so much more. Crafts and hobbies can result in the creation of some real nice products that can be given away as a gift, used to help the family – or even to be sold for money.

This great American tradition is most obvious when going through tourist areas. Whether they are the mountains on the East Coast, or the Indian lands in the west there is no shortage of people making all kinds of items that are showcased to tourists coming through town.

Many growing small businesses started from a dedicated hobbyist working hard from home or in their garage. Let’s face it if you make cool stuff people will want to buy it. If you want to turn that craft into a real business you will need to start marketing your products and trade shows and craft fairs are a great way to get started.

As a craft artisan a great avenue to get started is attending association trade events, craft shows, county fairs and trade shows. These offer a great opportunity to get exposure to your products. There are many organizations that can help the aspiring artisan with the perfect ideas for promotion. The CHA or Craft & Hobby Association is an excellent place to check out trade show schedules and get lots of tips on turning your craft items into a growing business. They offer great assistance to make a real difference that most people don’t appreciate until they begin experiencing a larger sales imprint for their arts and crafts.

Once you are in the door presenting at a craft show or county fair, the goal will be the same for all in attendance. Advertising your stuff well – you want to stand out from your competitors. There is large array of people selling all kinds of stuff. A beautiful display at a local trade show or county fair puts you in a much better place for getting attention. It allows you to place your creations directly in the hands of buyers. This is a very powerful tool for closing a sale.

So make sure when you’re planning to participate in an arts and crafts show or county fair that you pay close attention to the display booth that you use to present yourself. First appearances are so important. This will be your mobile sales office and store front – think of how you would like a store to look. Don’t cut corners here be sure you get a processional display to showcase your stuff. Your entire booth is an advertisement about you and your products. Make sure that the booth and the lighting highlight your products to draw positive attention from visitors.

Anything Display has everything you need to make sure your display stands out. Advanced displays and POP materials, storefront advertising, signs and banners and much more are offered on their website. To get some ideas about how to build an effective display to really show off your products, call for their expert help today!

The Packaging Company That Forgot Their Packages

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boxesTrade shows can be an excellent place to find new clients and leads, but without proper planning things can sure go wrong in a hurry. That is the lesson that Colleen, the manager of a small packaging business, learned the hard way a few years ago. In the weeks leading up to her trade show she thought she was well prepared. She had secured what she thought would be all of the items needed to make a positive impression on those that attended the show.

After arriving at the trade show, Colleen realized that she had completely forgot to bring the most important items for her business; the actual packaging samples. It is important when attending the trade show, that you bring along as many different samples of the work that you do as possible. It will ensure that you are able to accurately show customers what they will be getting from using your services. You need to make sure that you put together a good selection of your products for visitors to look through. Bring more than just one sample, so more people can be engaged simultaneously. And if applicable they can see that you offer a range of different products or services.

As you might expect, the trade show didn’t go as Colleen had hoped. It can be very difficult to sell your products to people, when they are unable to physically see the products in front of them. Throughout the show Colleen found it hard to convince people of the value of her packaging without real samples. This example shows how short sighted preparation can actually hurt a company at the show.

By forgetting one key ingredient you can negatively affect the opinion of everyone that visits your booth. This should be avoided at all costs. The best way to avoid this is preparing well in advance. Getting all of your materials together well beforehand, so that when it comes time for you to head to the trade show you can be certain that you have all of the items that you need.

In subsequent trade shows, Colleen made absolutely sure to bring appropriate packaging materials with them. Trade shows provide businesses with a unique opportunity to promote themselves and make great, personal connections. By including samples, videos, pictures, pamphlets and work examples into a presentation you can maximize your effectiveness.

It is easy to see how a mistake such as this could lead to a variety of different problems, and depending upon the company, ‘packaging’ can refer to a range of different materials. You need to be sure that you are able to determine what the important materials for your business would be well ahead of time, and make sure to bring them with you to the trade show. Preparedness can help to keep you from making the same mistake as this packaging company, and will also help you to ensure that you deliver a high quality, informational trade show booth to prospective clients that are interested in your services.

You Talk Too Much! … What A Mistake

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You Talk Too Much!Trade shows provide a very viable marketing opportunity for many people. However, there are many different things that need to be taken into account in order to ensure that you capitalize on the trade show. Start by setting some specific goals for the trade show.

By knowing what your company is looking to get out of the show your chances for success increase significantly. After doing that, you can start to devise how you are going to put together your booth to best help you to accomplish those goals.

 

In preparation there are also a few things that you should avoid doing. In order to get the most value from the trade show here are a few things that you should attempt to avoid when running your own booth.

Being Overly Talkative – You Talk Too Much! 

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make when running a booth at a trade show is to be overly talkative. Talking to everyone that passes by is not necessary. Of course, you want to be personable, but at the same time you should attempt to avoid doing too much talking, let your booth presentation speak for itself. Be friendly and approachable but not too talkative. Rather listen more, asking questions is interacting and is much better at getting results. Seeming overly eager to make a sale can be a turn-off. The more talking you’re doing the less talking they’re doing. Remember it’s better when the customer is talking that’s how you learn their needs and now you’re better equipped to offer solutions.

Forgetting Samples as Examples 

You need to have samples of all of your different products available. By allowing people to look at the products that you have created, you allow them to get familiar with your company and the quality that you provide. Far too often businesses will come to trade shows looking only to exchange information with possible clients and other businesses. By bringing high-quality samples of your products you can be certain that you will be able to make an impression on people that are interested in the items you offer. Bring samples for each of the products that you plan to promote at the tradeshow, allowing guests to look over what you have to offer is better than a thousand words of salesmanship or written in costly marketing materials.

 Not Exchanging Information 

Another mistake is not exchanging enough information. In not exchanging enough information you are limiting the benefits that you can get from the tradeshow. Say hello to each and every individual that stops by your booth. Engage them in a conversation with well prepared questions to learn about what they do. Take your time and properly address each individual that comes to your booth, and make sure to exchange contact information with them so that you can follow-up at a later date to ensure that everything has gone smoothly, and that you are able to deliver results for your business.

Trade Associations – Is Outsourcing A Great Idea or A Step Backwards?

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Trade Associations – Is Outsourcing A Great Idea or A Step Backwards?
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Outsourcing is now a common word in the American vocabulary Definition at Wikipedia is it’s contracting out an internal business process to an external third party organization. The practice of contracting a business process out to a third party can be controversial.  Why this practice can be controversial is that it is perceived as a job killer to the American market place. Especially when we see common tasks like customer service call centers being outsourced to 3rd world country operators that speak poorly and are often not familiar with the American culture.

On the flip side the positives of outsourcing are many. They make it possible for a small company to meet market demands at a fraction of the cost of having to train, employ and manage a staff. Therefore all the financial commitment and risks associated with employment obligations are avoided.

For business processes and IT services, companies like CGI http://www.cgi.com/en offer greater security, more complex business services and support at a lower overall cost to the marketplace. Meaning more business is generated though outsourcing; and the end result means lower prices and better service to the end consumer.

For trade shows and marketing logistics a company like SmithBacklin offers flexible, customized and cost-effective solutions for trade associations. So if you’re looking to outsource association management and get high-impact specialized services at a lower cost, it makes sense to consider outsourcing.

The trade show industry has seasonal upticks in the spring and fall, outsourcing can help meet these market demands and do so competitively as needed. Through the outsource model you avoid the responsibility and cost of employment while still being able to meet the demands of the seasonal rush. Outsourcing is a win-win in mmany business relationships.

In many cases outsourcing more specialized business critical services just makes sense. Leave the entrepreneur and business executives with more energy and money to focus on what they do best. Leave the routine specialized tasks and logistics to the source providers who are experts in their field.

Is out-sourcing right for you, that’s your call; but it is here to stay as a valuable business resource. Embrace it and utilize it when ever it can help you and your business succeed.

Tradeshow Mistake … Turning Your Cash Into Trash

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A successful trade show is always directly connected to advanced preparation. Meet with all the individuals that have been assigned to work your trade show and brainstorm. Put something together that will accurately represent your company values and interest visitors. A few of the more common mistakes that deserve your consideration include the following:

Turning Your Cash Into Trash 

One of the biggest mistakes that is often made at trade shows is relying too much on marketing material handouts. These are blindly handed to everyone at the show, what a waste of money. Visitors are overwhelmed with bags full of marketing materials that end up in the trash. It is easy to see why this can be a costly problem. Not interacting enough with the people that visit your booth will make your marketing materials a wasted expense. Make sure that your people are doing what they can to engage visitors first; speaking to each and every person that visits your booth.

Getting visitors contact information whenever possible is key. Make it a goal to make a personal connection with every person that visits your booth. Avoid selling too much, instead ask personal questions and show interest in the individual and their needs. Write their problem and your solution on the marketing materials you hand them. Circle what applies to them. Put your personal name on it so they remember you. You are much more likely to create a lasting impression which will improve your ROI with marketing handouts.

Multi-Media Not Accompanying Your Booth 

Another huge problem when preparing for a trade show is to overlook the importance of using audio and video media as part of your booth set-up. In general, having a boring booth with a few pamphlets and basic information is not going make a big impression, except on emptying your wallet. Brainstorm with your marketing team . Come up with ideas that are going to allow you to connect with people. Catch their eyes and ears as they pass your booth. The media that you make available will be the most memorable parts of your booth. For example, have a video that explains your business and your products; engaging individuals will help them remember your business and hopefully start a long term business relationship.

Playing It Too Safe 

Another thing that you should avoid is playing it too safe. No one likes a boring trade show booth, and playing it safe usually leads to a boring booth. Playing it safe means that you are not doing enough to distinguish your booth from the your competition. Do not be afraid of pushing the envelope. Create something outrageous, something super fun or something of real genuine value. Do a free high-value giveaway or run a contest for something really valuable. Take advantage of every single opportunity that is afforded to you; being different generally mean greater success.

Avoid these common mistakes and take the tips into account for your upcoming trade shows to ensure that you get the best return for your business.

Poor Me … For Poor Planning

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A trade show can be an exciting time for a business. It provides you with an excellent opportunity to promote your business, meet with potential customers and clients, or connect and network with individuals that are within your industry. Unfortunately, many people under prepare for trade shows and are unable to reap all of the potential benefits that trade shows provide. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration in the days leading up to the event to help make sure that you can get the most out it.

Under preparing is the biggest concern for small businesses. Plan ahead to make sure that you are devising your booth for the trade show themed to the specific conference in which you will be attending. If it is going to be a larger event it may make it more difficult for you to catch the eyes of those that pass by your booth. So for larger shows you may want to make sure that you are doing everything that you can to stand out from the crowd. To create interest in what you are bringing to the table. If the show is going to be a smaller one you may do better with having a small, more personal booth.

Set up specific goals for the trade show so that you have a way to gauge whether or not you consider the trade show to be a success for your business. Those goals can include a variety of different types of criteria, including the number of purchase agreements that you reach with visitors, the number of brochures or sell-sheets that you are able to give out, or even the number of people that stop by your booth.

Make sure that you know who you are going to be bringing with you to the show. Evaluate their strengths before asking them to come. Be certain that the individuals manning the booth are people that have solid social skills and are going to represent your company well. If they are friendly and outgoing, they are giving you the best chance of being able to connect with visitors for a more successful trade show overall.

Finally, make sure that you have all of the materials that you will require to set up your booth well ahead of schedule. So that when it is time for you to leave for the trade show you will not be wasting time running around, looking for misplaced items that force a rush purchase for items that were forgotten. The key to a successful trade show is the initial organizational steps that are taken to insure that it goes well.

By taking your time, and ensuring that you take preparedness very seriously, you will be able to ensure that you deliver positive results to your business. All trade shows present businesses with an opportunity to grow, not only in terms of revenue but overall brand awareness within your industry. By going above and beyond the call of duty to present a high quality trade show, you can be certain that you will have a successful show.

Trade Show Marketing – Networking and Putting Your Company On Display

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You are attending your first tradeshow and are a bit nervous about representing your company? This is a common concern for many business owners and employees; especially when attending their first trade show. It is important that you be well prepared for the show. Have a good idea of exactly what you are attempting to accomplish and have all of the supplies that will be required in order to make a positive impression with everyone that visits you.

Tradeshow marketing can be a highly effective marketing strategy for businesses allowing them to connect with other businesses within their industry and to meet new customers. An opportunity to make a positive impression with your brand if you consider these few topics during the  planning phase.

Proper Marketing Displays

Trade shows present you with a very important opportunity to further the branding of your company.  Done right you can make a solid first impression with those that have not yet heard of you. Having the proper displays around your booth should be a key consideration. A nice professional display will help in making the right first impression. Make sure that your displays contain your logo and are consistent with the branding and image of your company.  Always be sure you are using high-quality displays that leave a good impression.   You can utilize the space   on these displays to market your products, familiarize people with your company and help to further your brand identity.

Literature To Hand Out

tradeshowTake into consideration that people are going to be speaking to dozens of different businesses when they attend a trade show. Unless you are able to really stand out in their minds they likely are not going to be able to remember your company. To separate yourself from the crowd and leave a valuable impression is where marketing materials come into play.  Literature and handouts can play a key role in helping to separate your company from the crowd.

Instead of just handing out a business card and letting people walk by try and engage visitors.  More advanced promotional items such as booklets, product information sheets and other promotional items can help you accomplish this.  By going the extra mile you will make a positive impression with potential customers and improve business networking connections too.

Being Social and Friendly Goes a Long Way Towards Your Success

Make sure that you are going out of your way to speak with people during the event.  Too often you will see a company that opens their booth and just sits there waiting for people to come talk to them without proactively seeking an audience. Don’t let that be said about you.  Be as social as possible by bringing your most outgoing employees with you. This will allow you to get into contact with more people throughout the event. This will give you a better chance of establishing worthwhile connections with customers; and also with other businesses within your industry that could benefit you in the future.

Tradeshows present a unique opportunity for businesses to establish their brand. You can make a positive first impression with potential customers and clients. You can make connections within your industry that you may not normally have access to.  By making sure that you are prepared going into the event with the proper displays, innovative literature to hand out and an outgoing team of employees that is inspired to promote your business your success is much more likely.

The Man Who Single Handedly Ruined His Company’s Presence At a Trade Show

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At times a business owner can be tempted into being the front man for their business at every turn. Of course when a potential client or customer wants to speak with the person in charge it is always in your best interest to properly represent your company. However a wise person will recognize which employees are going to best represent the company in any given situation.

Michael was a man that owned a small business and was looking to grow his business through an appearance at a trade show. Without much initial planning he signed his business up to display a booth at the event in his local area. He felt it was not worth spending the money to pay his employees for another day of work, so he decided to represent the company himself.  This ended up not being the best of decisions. He would go on to make several more mistakes. As a result he probably did more harm to his business than good.

A Lack of Proper Planning Can Lead to Disaster

mesa_2In the initial stages, Michael lacked the appropriate planning. By deciding to run the show himself he was limiting the number of people that could visit his booth at any one time. Combined with the fact that he was not a very social person he put himself in a position that made him uncomfortable, and his visitors knew that. In the end he did not promote a healthy image of his business, especially during interactions with prospect visitors.  

Lack of Good Marketing Materials

Michael’s lack of planning left him with no booth presentation and poor marketing materials as well. He was at the trade show with only a simple table and chairs, some product information sheets and some business cards to hand out. There was nothing that helped visitors see value in his offerings.

Once at a trade show it helps if you make use of a number of different types of marketing displays in order to properly represent your business and inform potential clients about your offerings. Things like a video demonstration, product demonstrations, information sheets, business cards and other promotional items should be utilized in order to give the best possible impression of your business.

Michael’s plan lacked these necessary materials to help his business stand out from the crowd. He gave no compelling reasons as why a person should visit his booth. Those who passed by had no indication of what services they were offering. The end result was his booth saw very little attention throughout the show and in the end he went home only having wasted his time and money; sadly an overall failure in every regard.

Lessons Learned The Hard Way

It is important that the people you have manning your booth at a trade show be very social and outgoing people. This was not true in Michael’s case, he was not a very outgoing person and he became uncomfortable when approached by large groups of people. This was very off putting to those that may have otherwise been interested in the services that he had to offer. Sadly, it was more likely than not that he drove some possible customers away from his business.

Learn form Michael’s mistakes and avoid the costly mistakes of being unprepared.  It is important that you properly prepare to represent your business especially at a tradeshow where you’re front and center with your competitors. When you do not put in enough effort into the planning stages those that attend the show will see that lack and you may end up leaving a bad impression. Avoid this disaster by proper planning and allocation of resources to insure a successful event for your business.

Personality Plays a Key Role At Trade Shows

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As anyone that has run a successful trade show booth can tell you, personality plays a key role in your success at these trade shows. Although your business marketing materials are also going to play a key role, ultimately it is up to the people at the booth to finalize the sale and make the personal connections that trade shows have become so well known for.

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John ran a small printing company that thrived off of the work they were able to do at tradeshows. He knew the importance of this and made sure to put the businesses and the employees personalities front and center. This would always make a strong initial impression with those that they met at the tradeshows.

There are three key things to remember when choosing people to work your booth, John always took these into consideration.  First make sure they’re  outgoing and willing to talk to as many passerby’s as possible.  Next, be sure they’re comfortable with being surrounded by large groups of people. Finally be sure they’re comfortable with speaking in front of crowds of people that they don’t know.

Being Outgoing and Personable 

You’ll find that many companies at trade shows bring along some of the bigwigs within the company, or the prettiest women that work there.  While this is a strategy that could pay off; if these people have no social skills it could inevitably backfire in the end.  It is almost impossible to have success at a trade show if you do not have an outgoing group of people sitting at your booth. Not only should you yourself be outgoing, as the owner of the business and the person in charge of setting up the tradeshow, but you should also select outgoing individuals to accompany you as well.  John knew this and so he selected the most outgoing people that were at his company to represent them at their trade shows. This was a strategy that paid off and allowed them to keep groups of people around their booth at all times.

Comfortable With Strangers and Groups of People

John also knew that it was important to be comfortable around large groups of people. If you are running a successful booth at a trade show you are likely going to have large groups of people around your booth throughout the show. This means that those that are running the booth may have to juggle several conversations at a time, answer redundant questions over and over again and give the same elevator pitch about the business to hundreds of different people. It is important that the people that you bring along are not easily frustrated by these types of situations and are comfortable with large groups of people. John knew this and made sure to speak with everyone he was considering bringing about this prior to attending the trade show.

Speaking In Front of Crowds

At some point during the weekend you are going to be giving a small presentation in front of a group of people that wandered over to your booth. This means that you will need to be comfortable speaking in front of crowds. John would sometimes do a small video presentation when the crowd was large enough to warrant it around his booth. Verbal presentations he mostly would do them himself. He spoke with an employee beforehand about their comfort level speaking in front of crowds that they did not know to make the presentation was he was absent. You want to make sure that anyone that you are considering asking to be a part of your booth is comfortable with crowds. This will ensure the best outcome for your business and will also make sure that you are not putting your employees in an uncomfortable position unknowingly.

Preparation In the Days Leading Up To Your Big Trade Show

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uno_monster_2As the person delegated with running the tradeshow booth for a small boutique where she worked, Jenny knew that she was going to have a lot on her plate in the days leading up to the tradeshow. With so many different aspects of the tradeshow to think about, she started by making a list of all of the different goals that she wanted to accomplish at the tradeshow, and the materials that she would need to help her to do so effectively. By preparing early, and getting ahead of the game, Jenny was able to put together an excellent tradeshow booth that brought in new clients to the boutique and helped her to gain the favor of her bosses. Jenny was able to run a successful tradeshow booth by sticking to the following principles;

Get All Materials Together Early

Of course, no one wants to be running around at the last minute attempting to get all of the necessary materials together for the tradeshow. Jenny knew that her best chance at success was to have all of the materials ordered weeks in advance, and to be completely prepared with the displays and all of the marketing materials weeks in advance. In doing so, it also gave her the opportunity to come up with some creative marketing methods for the boutique in the spare time she had thanks to her early preparation. When running a tradeshow booth, it is best to be completely prepared weeks in advance so you are not running around at the last minute trying to finalize your marketing materials.

Know Who You Are Taking Weeks In Advance

Along with the materials, Jenny also wanted to make sure that she had a team in place to help her to get things ready. Instead of waiting around and asking them in the days before the tradeshow, Jenny was proactive about getting a team together weeks in advance. This insured that she was able to take their suggestions into consideration, find replacements if something came up for one of their attendees, and allowed her to be flexible with the planning. By choosing the people that you are going to be taking with you weeks in advance, you give yourself additional time to deal with unforeseen circumstances and to find replacement should anything arise. Make sure that you are taking people that have ideal social skills, and will be able to positively interact with the individuals that the tradeshow.

Go the Extra Mile

The one consistent theme in Jenny’s preparation was the fact that she was willing to be prepared weeks in advance. This gave her additional time to come up with new, innovative marketing strategies, draft some new marketing materials and to come up with an interesting presentations that would help the company sell their services. Going the extra mile allows you to separate yourself from the competition and really stand out at a tradeshow, giving you a much better chance of being successful in the end. By going the extra mile you will be able to secure solid first impressions with those that come across your booth, and leave the tradeshow knowing that you have done well.