About a week ago I was a vendor at a craft show in Danville and a few days later I threw my first trunk show (I've been busy...). I learned a LOT from these events that I would love to pass on to my crafty fans :)
1. Word of mouth is key. Tell your hair stylist, the grocery checkout person... everyone. They will be more likely to show up (and potentially buy something) if they feel like they have
personally been invited by you.
2. pull your car up as close as possible to the set up site. I parked my car about two blocks away because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find parking closer to the event. It doesn't seem like a big distance, but five or six trips back and forth to the car lugging ladders and displays was hard work!
3. Get potential customer's names, email address, and at least two phone numbers. The email address that a customer gave me bounced back... thank goodness I had a couple of phone numbers to call.
4. Signage is key! I had plenty of compliments on my banner ($60 at Fedex). I'm sure that it brought in a couple of people :)
5. Bring a lot of change. I didn't run out, but that's only because my customers gave me exact change.
6. Upsell! I had a treasure box with inexpensive-to-make one and two bead earrings (one pair for $20, two for $35, three for $50). A customer bought a pair of regularly priced earrings and a pair of earrings from the treasure box. It looked like she was having a good time digging around the box :)
7. Family and friends are wonderful when it comes to business.... a lot of the time they will spread the word about your product and may even become customers!
Good luck with all of your future shows XOXO
Ros
