Showgirl!

Given that this blog is a diary of a work-at-home-mum, I thought I would give you the benefit of my experience at The Summer Sling Show in a bit more detail. This was my first ever show, and I did plenty of asking around on business forums to get advice beforehand, most of which I’ve collated here in the hope it will help someone else out there with their planning – which leads us on to …

Plan, Plan, Plan

As you will already know, preparation started in earnest a month before show day, which allowed me time to source and make stock, get promotional materials printed and more than enough time to panic! I work best under a bit of pressure, and it’s just as well!

The first thing I did was to compile a list of things I needed, when I aimed to have them, and potential places to get them from. The Husband helpfully(!) printed out some inspring quotes on motivational posters to keep me focused – things like “Motivation – If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon!”. Or my personal favourite, “Achievement – You can do anything you set your mind to, when you have vision, determination, and an endless supply of expendable labour”. Hmmm.

So, back to my lists… they are invaluable. I had lists about my lists. But they worked to keep me organised. A list of all the things I wanted to take (which grew and grew as the planning progressed) was great, as was a checklist of the stock to make (and it made me work faster). Get everything ready well before the day, and make sure you have enough of everything – take leaflets, order forms, a float, a way of taking customer details so you can contact them later with special offers. It may be useful to run a competition, so you can get details of the people who don’t buy on the day, but whom you may be able to sell something to after the event. And definitely take a “useful box” filled with essentials, such as sellotape, glue, scissors and anything else you might need – even if you can’t think why.

Take something to eat – you might not get chance to leave your stall all day, and you will need something to keep your energy levels up.

After you think you have done as much planning as you can, plan some more. Really, you can’t plan too much. Look into other stock which you might not normally sell, but would sell well as an add-on on the day. It might be worth that bit of investment and adds a bit of interest to your stall.

Find out who else is exhibiting at the show – if nothing else it will help you understand the type of customers that will be attending. Find out where in the hall your stand is, how big it is and what you can and can’t put up (E.g. posters on the wall – yes/no?). Find out how many people the organisers are expecting to be at the show. You might want to get some trade leads, so research your fellow vendors, then make sure you speak to them on the day, and have information ready if someone wants to resell your goods. Talking to someone in person is far better for building relations than an email or telephone call. If you do find people who you would like to work with, or if people find you, make sure you take the time to follow up the leads you get from the show, and do it quite soon after, before they forget who you are.

Advertise the fact you are going to be there – make sure prospective customers who might want to see your products know where you’ll be and when. If you have a newsletter, or a blog then publicise it there, or add a footer to your emails, or forum posts.

On the day…

When you arrive at the show, give yourself plenty of time to set up your stand. You should have practised beforehand, so you will know how you want it to look, and it shouldn’t take too much time, but you don’t want to be still setting up your display when the public is allowed in. I took plenty of leaflets with me, but one thing I would do differently next time is to be more forward about giving them out. I am shy to the point of embarrassment, but this is one thing I am going to have to overcome. When you have your own business,
no-one else is going to shout about you – you just have to do it yourself.

Mingle with both customers and vendors. If you are new to the industry, make sure you circulate to get yourself known to other business owners as well as the public. I was overjoyed to be recommended to a customer by another vendor, when they didn’t have anything that matched the customers requirements.

Enjoy it! It sounds simple, but if you try to relax (not easy with the nerves, I know) you will naturally smile more, and be more approachable. Once you start talking about your products, your enthusiasm will shine through and people will see how great they are. Demonstrate them if this is appropriate – you can tell someone how to use your products, but showing them will be a far better selling tool.

Afterthoughts…

The show isn’t finished when the last customer leaves the venue. Remember all those names you gathered from your competition? You need to follow them up and make them remember you too! Send them updates, and maybe a special after-show discount to remind them how fab you are, and get them to tell their friends about you too. Word of mouth is the best (and cheapest) form of advertising.

A last word…

Good luck! I expected the show to be very hard work, and it was. But it was also a fantastic experience, and once I got into the swing it, I really did enjoy it. Make sure you do too!