Trixie and Me

This past weekend Sydney Andrews participated in the Jr. League Holiday Mart event in Denver.I have attended this event for several years as a customer and have always toyed with the idea of selling my work there.  This year I decided to give it a try.

The following 9 tips are recommendations I would like to give you to help you with your shows and events

1. How many people are expected to attend the event. Most shows publish how many people they expect to attend. These statistics are important to take note of before deciding if the event is worth doing. One of the vendors that I met estimates for every person that attends the event equates to  $1.00 of her sales- so an attendance of 6,000 shouldbe approximately a $6,000.00 show.

2. Ask about how they are advertising the event.  This year the show was moved up 6 weeks from previous years and I was concerned how they were going to get the word out.  They told us they were going to have radio, TV and social media exposure.  The big story in town was the Heene balloon story that took the media away from our event.

3. How many years has this show been around.  A well known show has a good track record and history. Many people come back for the same items every year like the toffee and dip people I saw this year had the most crowded booths.

4. Ask how many booths have similiar products to yours.  Jewelry is always a popular item but competing with 20 different jewelry booths defeats the purpose for everyone.

5. Lighting is key.  This time we decided not to have extra lighting and I think that was a mistake.  Even though the lighting was pretty good indoors the special lights bring a little bit more excitement and ambiance to the booth.

6. We always had at least two people at the booth.  If possible have one person stand in the front to greet people and one person in the back to answer questions.  It can be a bit intimidating if both people are standing behind the table with a ready to attack stance.

7. Have an inviting environment.  Always greet everyone and have a friendly demeanor but don’t come on too strongly.  I usually ask if they are enjoying the show and try and bring up some small talk before giving my pitch on the product.

8. Chocolate.  I usually put out a colorful candy in a dish on the table to get people a little closer and to take a look. Yes, there is the occasional candy snatcher who has a specific agenda but most people say thank you and at least stop for a moment to glance at the jewelry.

9. In the middle of the show we purchased our Trixie.  She’s a life sized manequin who demonstrated our new belts and necklaces. Just by being next to our booth she stopped traffic and people were able to look at our product in a non-confrontational way. We sold so many more belts after we got the assistance from Trixie!

I hope these are helpful hints for you to go out and do your shows.  I’d love to hear your feedback and recommendations on your events!