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Well we did it. All 5 days of it. And it wasn't all that bad!
After every was said and done, it was kind of easy. Now don't get me wrong, the build-up was anything but easy. But once we were there, everything was set and the doors were open, it was easy.
I learned a few things...
- Buyers (most of them anyway) should know what will or will not work in their store, at least by a looks standard. I had a buyer look around, smell, try & then say "I love your products but the packaging is just too simple, clean & medicinal." I was thrilled because that is exactly what I want my packaging to be. Her store was more french country and even if she placed an order, the products probably wouldn't have moved.
- Be happy as long as they give your booth a look. Both good and bad, I was across from a very busy booth. It was great because traffic was hustling and bustling there, but more often than not people looked at them and then got distracted. Now, to their advantage, they did have a large corner booth with a toilet (with flowers in it) on the corner. I found that 100% of the people who didn't look at my booth didn't come in. But that a small % of the people who did look in, came in. Because of this, I made sure that we greeted as many people as we could, just to get their attention. And yes, we did have a few that doubled back to come take a closer look.
- Make sure that your booth engages the buyer from all angles. I had created a banner for the wall that didn't have product on it but once we were there I felt it was just too big so instead I hung our press clippings. The press clippings didn't grab people and worse, they didn't tell people what we had.
Now I know what you're wondering. How much money did she make!?!? I consider it an investment & a learning experience & I feel we faired ok since I hear the going experience for first time exhibitors is to not even make their booth fee. The Mart Legend is that it take 3 showings to let people know you're serious I can't wait to see what January next year does for us.
And yes, we'll be doing it again in July!
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Here we are. The booth is set-up. The marketing & sales materials are snugly in their boxes in the booth. And so far, knock on wood, everything has gone as planned.
A couple of key things that I'm so glad we did...
- I did my homework. I talked with other people who had done the show in the past & listened to what worked & didn't work for them.
- Practice run. For more than a few days (including through a New Year's Eve Party - thank goodness it was for my 3-year-old) our dining room was considered Display Central. We laid the floor, assembled the fixtures, merchandised them, put up signage... Then, when it was time to take it all down we put everything we used in a toolbox, packed according to when we would need things (i.e. the floor was the last thing packed since it would be the first thing assembled on site.)
- Go early. If you can that is. Since we leave not so far away from Atlanta, we started setting-up on Monday. We were about 80% complete when we went in today, while most everyone else was scurrying around like crazy we were able to take our time, chit chat, eat a good lunch complete our 19% & go home. All while some booths hadn't even started setting up.
- Plan time for last minute things. This is the last 1% we have to do. A couple of signs to print. A metal strip to go on our bare wall to display press clippings, 3 labels that we forgot to bring & 2 spreads that we also forgot.
Here is a quick picture of the booth (taken on a cell phone, since the camera was the only set-up thing we forgot in this whole ordeal.)
So wish us luck. We would like to wish luck to a few other designers that we know are going to be there & who advised us, vented with us & befriended us through this process: Flutterbugs, Freshie & Zero & HollyBeth.
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Now that I've got my booth figured out (yea right, at least I have a start though!) I needed to figure out what in the world am I going to hand out?
Pre-Show
I'm doing some pre-show marketing, thanks to America's Mart. They sent me 150 mailing labels (for FREE!!!) of stores that have said they are interested in products in the Body & Soul section. I'm in the process of designing a postcard that I would love to have in the mail in the next 2 weeks. I've opted for the oversized postcard & hope it will stand out from the crowd a bit. I'll be printing them at either VistaPrint or Modern Postcard. I've used both in the past & have been pleased with the quality & turn-around. Gotta love the freebies from Vista too.
At the Show
Postcards - to the rescue again! I'm hoping to be able to use a similar design to the Pre-Show postcard at the show to remind people who they saw & that they want to come back. Pictures are always better!
Sales Fliers - these are going to promote the show specials. Not sure what the show special is going to be yet, but I'm sure going to have one. I'm pretty sure that we'll print these in house (ie on the good 'ole ink jet) since I'm not 100% sure what the special is going to be or how many fliers I'm going to need.
Catalog or Tri-Fold - I'm not sold on the investment (both time & $) in the catalog, yet. I need something to highlight my product groups along with a couple of specific products which I think I can obtain through a tri-fold. But a catalog would be soooo cool! Either way, the price list will be seperate so that I can use any leftovers for either wholesale or retail. I'm looking at Print Place which has phenominal pricing on catalogs... which makes me wonder.
Post-Show
I like to think that I was raised well, and if that's the case, Thank You's are always a must! Postcards or Fold-Overs, probably from Vista Print will do the trick.
This is a great exercise for me to right out my plan to know what I'm doing & to add to the long list of the things left to do.
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