Stall event - help please

[preciousbags]

Hi all

I have been given a free opportunity to showcase my business at a local council event where over 400 people are expected to attend. I can set up a stall for the day.

The event is at 9 - 5 and the marketing and advertising for the event is handled by the council.

I did one stall before and things went terribly wrong. The stall was set up at a university but students did not have money at that time as they were expecting their student loans the week after.

I didnt really do anything to the stall. I just displayed the products and also had 4 people with me on the day which made people feel uncomfy.

What can i do to make my stall stand out. I want to market the brandname so people remember who we are.

Our plans are to take only the best selling stock and have a laptop with the site displayed so potential customers can view the other products and maybe make a catalogue so visitors can take it away.

I also want to run a promotion but not sure what.

As i concentrate mainly selling online, this type of selling is pretty new.

As mentioned before, i did one at a university which didnt work out too well.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[amphis software]

I always think that balloons are a great thing to have as kids love them and always head for them dragging the parents with them.

there are some great balloon offers on this site and you could get your branding/logo/web site printed on them and then each child carrying a balloon is promoting your brand for others to see around the show and when they get home.

also, if you can rig up a large monitor to your laptop and show colourful pics of your work that can be seen at a distance then that just adds to the attraction of your stall. if you can add music too, even better.

I hope that helps.

Tom

 

[preciousbags]

The balloon idea is fantastic! Thank you very much. I just need to confirm if the event is for children.

I know it is for staff of the council and hopefully they can bring family with them too.

 

[Christine Hough]

Hi all


I also want to run a promotion but not sure what.

As i concentrate mainly selling online, this type of selling is pretty new.

As mentioned before, i did one at a university which didnt work out too well.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

I would definitely use the promotion to collect opt in email address lists.
("Sign up and we will send you a discount voucher code")

You could give a small prize as a draw for those who sign up. ( case of speciality beers?)

Then you have people who you can email with offers, information, new products and so on to build up the reputation of your site. (all emails with links to your site but not necessarity the home page)
That way you will draw in business for more than the day of the show.

 

[JoTheEntreprenette]

I always love the stands that are offering food tastings/glass of champagne etc.

Regards

Jo

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

A few things about the first show:
1 - were the students your real target market?
2 - although they did not have money during the show, they did a week later - what did you do to remind them that you exist? Did you give them a leaflet? Did you capture contact details (as already suggested. A show is a great place to build a database)?
3 - Why did you have 4 people? One or two will be more than enough, at the beginning.
I think it maybe less of blaming the university and more of not being correctly prepared!

For the new event - collect data, even if you need to incentivise, and give visitors something to take away, ideally with a call to action of some kind.

 

[Dawg]

Are children a target audience for evening bags and clutch bags? I wouldn't encourage them to clutter up the area around your stall preventing real prospects from getting close.
Have a prize draw to harvest emails, as well as a sign up for newsletter etc.
But most importantly: get something printed and hand it out. Physically stand in front of your stall and thrust it into the hands of potential customers. Sitting behind your stall is a complete waste of time. Interacting with people and giving them something with your details and a description of what you do will do far better than anything else. (If you can afford to, have a copywriter write the leaflet. Small quantities can be digitally printed for this occasion.)
The other activities: email harvesting, competitions etc are worthy second rank activities but meeting, greeting and selling works best.

(All the old rules apply: be neat and slightly conservatively dressed. Wear a nametag prominently. Don't eat, drink or read at the stall. Take mints.)

 

[SillyJokes]

To be absolutely brutally honest I have done school fairs and charity events in the past and they never make any money, I don't know how those stall holders keep body and soul together. They are an enormous amount of effort, you are always mislead by the event's organisers into thinking it will be big and only 40 people will come through the door.

Students don't have money at any time. That was a pointless excercise.

Council staff, hmmm, I heard somewhere there might be a few cuts in public spending and you might expect these people to be worried about their jobs and not opening their purses for a frivolous purchase.

But as you are committed I would suggest the following to minimise loss and maximise profit.

Keep your costs as low as possible whilst still representing your brand. Printed balloons and helium will cost a lot more than you think.

Make sure you are also offering a low cost purchase, things that would make a nice office gift price point of less than a tenner. Secret Santa type gifts are a huge market so remind people of that.

Have an 'on the day' compelling offer.

You could use it as a way of getting rid of odds and ends from the warehouse at bargain prices, but only put a few things like this out at a time or you won't make the bigger sales and will make your stall look like a jumble.

Of course, they won't have their dresses with them, so stick to the fairly safe choice selection if you are limited in the amount you can display.

 

[preciousbags]

Thanks all for the responses. I think am going to think about this one well.

As it is free, i have nothing to lose so will try and run this stall on a small budget.

Thanks once again

 

[TheBalloonPrintingCompany]

If your after some printed balloons, we can help. Have a look at our website in our signature, or we have some offers in the for sale forum.

 

[fountain]

Will you be selling direct from the stall? If so you might consider offering free gift wrapping.

When people do come over the the stall try to get them to hold the bags - pick them up yourself and encourage people to open them, try them on etc. People are often a bit shy and worried about messing up the display or looking too keen, so handing them a bag to look at ("take a look at the beading on this" etc) can help engage with them and break the ice a bit. If you are a bit nervous you could prepare a couple of 'openers' such as asking them whether they are a big or small bag person. Failing that, complimenting people on their shoes/coat/etc will break the ice and lead nicely onto a discussion about accessories.

Oh, and smile

 

[davisonconsultancy]

Make a "buy it now for a special price" offer, there must be a reason for them to buy the bag now, as opposed to thinking about it. People always love a bargain.

 

[trev82]

the only other thing i can add would be presentation.
practise at home if you know how much surface space you will have also if you choose to stand in front of your stall (which i would) dont forget about elevation we used boxes with a length of material to place over like a stairs effect if you do this make sure you dont need to weigh certain parts down because some people are more heavier handed than others (we used stones in the base of the boxes)
Also remember that a large percentage of people will just glance at your stall as their walking past. So think eye catching items at eye level (we used silver sparkly jewellery for the ladies and remote control toys for the kids to play with) Then your expensive stuff at the top leave with your lesser items at the bottom. We sold a mixture of items but this system worked best for us.