WAHM Forums

Hey there fellow WAHM Party Planners!

I am very excited and extremely nervous about several HUGE,
professionally organized holiday gift shopping expos that I will be
participating in during the end of November. I finally took the plunge and
reserved a $380 booth for a Milwaukee Expo that had 36,000
patrons last year. SQUEALS!!!

I am a Tea Consultant with Let's Do Tea, an up-and-cominng party plan
company. I will be offering cash & carry tins of tea, brew-in-mugs, scone
mixes, curds & creams, and our best-selling teapot.

I will be participating in two shows. One is in Green Bay on the 18th &
19th, expecting about 6,000-7,000 patrons. The other, larger show is on
thanksgiving weekend and goes Friday-Sunday- the projected attendance
for this show is 40,000 shoppers.

I am hoping that some of you out there have done shows like this and are
willing to share your experience and what you have learned with me. I
REALLY want to have the highest holiday sales in the company this winter,
so I will be the Consultant who wins a 5-day caribbean cruise for two!
Please share your advice and help me be a success (and calm my nerves!)

Thanks everyone, I can't wait to see your suggestions.

--Kitt

Do you have someone to help you with your booths? If the traffic at these events is as high as the estimation, you will definitely need it!


One thing I would do is keep your table as organized and uncluttered as possible! Do you have 2 tables? Have a small display of hostess gifts, popular sellers and tea pot. If your table(s) look great, people will want to see what you have to offer!


Also have a door prize slip with a door prize. That is a great way to get leads.


Have information packets available for interested ones to take home. Hostess program, start up costs, etc. I always try to get them to sign the door prize slip before handing out the packet so I have their information as well to follow up right after the event. Some just want the information and not sign up for the door prize because they don't want every consultant they meet to call them with in 48 hours!


After each booth that I do, I always find ways to improve. Be yourself, have fun and don't sweat the small stuff!


Too bad I am busy right after Thanksgiving or I would come up and see you in Milwaukee! I grew up in Racine and was just home this last weekend. I love tea! Please send me some information about your company.


I'll let you know if anything else comes to mind. I am getting ready to do a cash and carry next Sunday. Haven't done one in a while! Usually I have Women's expos or Bridal fairs booked, so I am looking forward to selling some inventory.


Have a beautiful day!

Could you make your display real feminine and pretty.

Maybe have a separate little table
with 3 chairs and stuffed animals in them having a "tea party" with a
sign about getting things free for having a party, or something like
that? </span>

Fresh flowers or flower petals would be a nice idea too.



And I second the idea that you need someone to help you! Good luck, with that many pple in attendance you should do great</span>!

I did a big Women's Expo in Cleveland. My BL called our company and they sent tons of product for us to use, plus things for us to give away as incentives. It is an investment for them also remember. See if your company does anything that will help you with this. It never hurts to ask.
Make sure you have plenty of flyers, books, labels, paperwork, pens, etc. I was not prepared for how many people came by and wanted info, and I ended up hand writing my information on the extra paperwork we had. Day 2, I was very prepared. Live and Learnsmileys/smiley17.gif


Also, we furnished our booth by calling local businesses and asking if they would donate items.To name a few, Home Depot donated an area rug and Kronheims Furniture(who also sponsered the event) provided us with a beautiful Bakers Rack to display our products. Just call around for items that may make your booth more appealing. Floral shops usually are willing to donate items. It really made our booth stand out.


Whenever someone did give me their information(name, etc.) I tried to make a quick little note on the back that might jog my memory as to who they were. This way I could be a little more personal when I contacted them. It was usually something small that stuck out as I was talking to them. I also used a clip board to make it easier for them to fill out the info slips.


Having someone there to help out was a very smart suggestion. If it is as big as the one in Cleveland, it will be hard to do it alone. We also gave out a special incentive to anyone who booked a show from the Expo. The first two people who booked that day received a free basket at their show and everyone else got a coupon for $10 off their show order(with my name on it so they could only use it with me)


I hope this helps. Just have fun with it. The more fun your having, the more people you'll draw to your booth. And don't forget to visit the other booths. You can find alot of new customers just by looking at the people working next to you.


Let me know if I can answer any more questions. I'm sure you will do great and I hope to hear the you won that cruise. If you need someone to go with you, just let me know smileys/smiley2.gif