Trade show...are you ready?

I have been getting a lot of questions lately from new artists that are considering doing a trade show.
Here are the things to consider before doing a show.

The expense of a trade show
For gift shows the basic booth package alone is around $2000.
Many shows have booth fees that go up towards $5000.
Hotel and Food $2000
Transportation (or flight) $200-$1000 depending on where the show is.
A really cheap trade show booth $500-$1000
Shipping for your booth $200-$1000.

OK so you can skip the Hotel if you are lucky enough to have a friend in the town you are exhibiting in or you happen to live there (and in this case you cut the transportation too). That reduces your costs a little. You can stay at a really cheap hotel (yikes...I've done this in NYC... I wouldn't recommend it to women staying alone!!!) and eat really cheap food (don't plan on ANY cheap food in the convention centers!) and cut your costs a little bit. But it is still a very expensive undertaking.

So... here is what you need to look at. How much is my total show going to cost? Add it all up. Then think about how much you will need to sell to make back just your cost at the show. Is that possible?

Can you actually make a lot of your (insert your craft here) in a short period of time? Can you make enough of your product to cover your expenses and your cost of goods? So you can make that much, but can you sell that much? Have you ever sold wholesale to stores? If not, why go directly to a large wholesale show first?

So what happens if you have an amazing show. Can you handle A LOT of business right away. The worst thing you can do is to grow too much too quickly. If you aren't realistic with your production schedule, then you will upset customers. Don't ever promise anything that you can't handle.

So be honest with yourself. Can you handle a flop of a show OR a huge hit of a show? Most of the time trade shows are somewhere in between, but just be prepared for the worst and hope (and plan) for the best.

Here are a few other options instead of a trade show
I would recommend if you don't have a huge marketing budget that you try at least a few of these first before trade shows to see if you product will sell to stores.

Sell to your local stores
My first 2 stores were in my local area..one in the local area I lived in and one in my hometown. The first one I sold to I actually worked at Hands Gallery in San Luis Obispo The second store that I sold to was Spirals Gallery was in my home town of Palo Alto. My next door neighbor that I grew up with (and babysat for) worked at Sprials and helped me to set up a meeting with the owner. Now 10 years later I still sell to both stores!

Ask your friends for recommendations
If you know anyone in the gift or craft industry ask them for store recommendations. This is a great way to get some feedback on stores. I called a friend of a friend that was VERY helpful when I was first starting out. He gave me his top 10 list and I sent catalogs to all of them and 8 of them bought from me right away. 1 of them I kept marketing to for 3 years and they finally placed an order with me.

Postcard mailers
You can rent mailing lists for stores and send out a postcard mailer for under $1000 So this is often a good option to get your product in front of a lot of retail stores. The Top 100 galleries (Buyers Market of American Craft List) is a great place to start too!

Sending Press Kits to Trade Magazines
Write a press release and send it out to trade magazine in your industry in hopes of getting an article written about you. If your press release gets picked up this can be a great way to get your name in front of retail buyers. The only problem with press releases is that you don't have a guaranteed that they will use your story in the magazine.

Advertising in Trade Magazines
This can be a great way to get in front of a lot of retail buyers. Depending on what your craft is you will want to check out ad rates and see if it fits within your budget. Most trade show have quite reasonable ad rates.

Find a Rep
This can be a great first step instead of doing trade shows right away. Again ask around to see if you know anyone who has a good rep and they are willing to give you their names. Search the internet for reps and ask stores in your area if there are reps that they would recommend. GreatRep.com has a listing option for looking for reps.

Wholesalecrafts.com
This can be a great place to start. If you don't have a website it gives you a place to show off your work to a large number of retail stores. Their advertisements make a great compliment to the website.

GreatRep.com
This can be a good option to get in front of retailers. I have had some success here.

Comments

[Oiyi]

Great topic! The idea of a trade show can be so scary.

[Barbara Giordano]

I went to the GreatReps site. I was wondering how much time and money you invested with the service before seeing results?

[Amy Peters]

With Great Rep I got catalog requests almost immediately. And then orders came slowly after that.