Did My First Booth by Myself at a Local School Go Well?

[esavvymom]

Tomorrow is finally my booth! I'm doing this one by myself at a local school. There are 20 vendors...we're spread out among several rooms. We'll see how it goes. I was a little nervous when I saw the space. They said a 10x10, but it's maybe an 8x8. But I made it work. Fortunately, I'm against the wall in the corner and NOT in the middle of the room like a couple ladies. Everyone I saw so far had their tables in front and they were sitting/standing behind them. I made a U-shape with a nice backdrop and some Christmas wreaths on either side of my banner (which I made by blowing up a PC image and having it laminated. Not perfect, but worked in a pinch).
Bad thing is, if there is a lull, I won't have a place to sit...going to be a long day.

I still have to set up my product. I just set up my tables tonight. Wish me luck! I'm not the outgoing- conversation-starting type!:blushing: I can carry a conversation OK when it starts....so I have to pretend I'm an actress and just put myself out there. I hope I get something from this- I spent a little more preparing than I wanted. Oh well.....It sure looks good! (IMHO) I'll post pictures later and let you know how it turned out. I figure I received SO MUCH informaiton and help from folks on this site, the least I can do is show you what I did and the results.

:balloon:

 

[SeeMe4PC]

Please do - I am totally new to this and have also found a wealth of information here.

OK - Here is my "rah-rah" speech to myself and am thinking this may help you. I've seen it posted here, too.

Just remember - It's only catsup AND

Do you know how people are so busy they don't have time to cook?
Well, what I do is show you how to cook healthy, delicious recipes you can make for your family in under 30 minutes.

Do you know how people are trying to find ways to save money?
Well, what I do is show you how to make quick, delicious recipes that can be made for about $2 per serving

My goal is to bring families back home for dinner…

Hope that helps -

 

[pcchefjane]

Do you have recipe cards to pass out? I have found that is a great conversation starter...especially if they aren't thrilled by the picture! LOL! The U-shape is much more conducive to people stopping and looking. If there is a "lull", you can go say hey to the other vendors and ask them about PC too! I did that some at the one booth I shared earlier this month. I walked around and gave out recipe cards to other vendors, saying, "I know you probably won't get a chance to come see me at the PC booth, so here is a recipe card. Give me a call if you would like to place an order. All my info is on the card." It made the ones I spoke with feel "special" because I stopped to talk to them. I plan on doing that as a regular thing at shared booths from now on!

Got a call at 6 tonight to see if I could do a Stop N Shop at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Glad I've done so many booths lately...just had to grab my stuff off the shelves and print a few "host letters" and that great DCB letter from here and I'm packed and ready!

Good luck! You can do it!!

 

[esavvymom]

Well, it wasn't TOO Bad. I didn't exactly get what I hoped to walk away with- bookings or even sales. I had one order from another vendor- but only $18. Here's how it went...it was a 1st time event, so it was a learning experience for them. They didn't have it well marked that there were vendors INSIDE. People just saw what was outside and either kept driving, or stopped, then left. After a couple of hours, some of the students and Santa Claus were letting people know. That helped.We had waves of traffic. It'd be quiet for 10-15 minutes, then a wave of several would come in. Alot of other vendors floating around and shopping of course...when it was slower. I used my Guest Special to order a stone and gave a medium bar pan and some gadgets away (cost me about $25 for $45 value). Had 15 folks enter...2/3 were non-vendors. Two people selected "Maybe" to host a show- they were both vendors in the same room with me. So not sure how that will go- do they want me to do one for them?? (I really don't want to! One was jewelry, and one was 'Homemade Gourmet' - she wants to do a combo show sometime. ) I also had one person check off Wedding Shower/Registry..for a daughter getting married in May. That could be good- except I need to qualify still in order for that option to open up for me I think (going to talk to my upline today about it).The positives from it- I talked to nearly everyone and was much more comfortable doing it!! I'm an introvert...so that's huge for me. I did give out recipe cards- even to folks who weren't all that interested. I made notes about conversations on the back of the prize slips (they handed them to me to enter)...that helped and will be a huge thing when I follow up! I know who has product, who likes our product, favorite products, and other tid-bits about them to help me remember them and make that connection I hope.I have 15 customer care slips from the drawing entries- and since 80% of them had or loved PC product, there is still hope. Also- the school organizers and a few of us vendors were brainstorming about next year (these were great folks to work with!) .... how to make it better, where to advertise, how to get word out (e-vites, etc)....and they were excited. THey are also putting together a page on their website to thank the vendors- by putting our information up there for contact (yes- I told them they can't link to my website but my email/phone was ok...they were cool with that.). I sat next to the lady who would be in charge of putting that page together, so she completely understood and would put only what I said I was allowed. So that's good.I also networked with several vendors.....could pay off with finding future events to work. The big ones in my area are pretty well entrenched with PC consultants who'll probably work them till they die- and I don't blame them. So I'll need the smaller ones.So while it wasn't what I had HOPED and dreamed it would be, it wasn't a total loss. Here are a few photos.

 

[babywings76]

It looked beautiful. You did such a great job. I can tell you must have spent a lot of time putting it all together. Good luck with your follow-up with those people. You never know what might come of this!

 

[pameredchef007]

Your booth looked beautiful. I am jealous!! I too am new to PC and am doing my first solo booth on the 13th and 15th. I have been looking for pictures and things to say all over this website. It's nice to know that someone else is feeling (or felt) the same things I am. I am having a hard time getting my PC business off the ground, so I am hoping that these booths give me some more connections. Congrats to you!!

 

[esavvymom]

Thanks. Just so any new folks know- I used my kit products, and then I did manage to scrape up some money by selling things on E-bay to buy the F/W 08 sample pack to have new stuff on display. Then I put out some things I had from my own kitchen (the SS Bowls, the cookie press, EAD, Salad Spinner, TTA, and DCB- I had all of those before I became a consultant). The decorations were in my Christmas stash. I just had to get another tablecloth to match my first one. I bought the crates at Michaels, AC Moore, and Joann Fabrics (I used coupons- that's why I went to different places..only had one coupon each- usually $5-10 depending on sales/coupons). I went fancier than I probably should have by getting the black wire cubes ($20 at Target) and the Kitchen Cart ($34). If I had to do over again, I would have left out the Cart probably, and just done the crates and my tables. I already had the tables (3- one 4'x2', and 2- 18"x48" card-table style). It would have kept my costs a bit lower....but I'm hoping to have them for future booths, and was able to spend the money to get them (extra paycheck this month for my husband- 3 pay periods )

 

[koima]

Wow, your table is gorgeous!

I'll be doing my first booth in December and this gives me a good idea of how to plan it. I am new and just have my kit, but I think I can display it attractively using your example.

What flyers did you use? I'd love to see them.

 

[pcchefjane]

The booth looks great! I think it all pulled together very nicely. Share the flyers too. Looks like one said, "Dear Santa". Was that a Wish List?

 

[esavvymom]

I probably had TOO much, but here's what I had:

I had a flyer showing the Stoneware sale and it was sitting next to my DCB and said "Ask me how you can get this for $26?" (Those who did ask, already knew what I'd say )

I had a "Penny Pinching" flyer- for those who might think it doesn't make sense to buy things right now with money tight, etc.

I had the Monthly Specials flyer of course, and then I had on the table with the bar pan and the Booking Tree- a flyer about host benefits. I had put out the products on that table to show what a host could get. I thought it might give visual aid for what you can earn for free or half-price.

I had a "What is a cooking show?" flyer also.

The "Dear Santa"- is a wishlist flyer that can be filled out to give to the husband or father, or whoever is buying for you. And then I had a "Stocking Stuffers under $8" flyer. I also used the Pampered Package Pamphlet.

I wish I could say they WORKED! But maybe someone here will have better luck and use them more effectively. Next time- I won't make the products themselves as much part of the display...it limited what people felt like they could pick up and touch (like the bowls). I'll stick to the accents and the wrapped gifts and such- but leave products more available to them.

Hopefully these work- I made or modified them on a Mac (I got many of them from this site- and then tweaked them). I saved them in a generic format so hopefully they work without you having to modify them too much. If not, I may be able to save them as a PDF and take off the contact section- leaving room for a label/stamp of your own. Just let me know and I'll try.

 

[SeeMe4PC]

Wow - that is awesome. Thanks for the ideas. I am also doing my first real booth in 2 weeks. Not thinking it's going to look as great as yours but it gives me somewhere to start.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[esavvymom]

Here is the last one (could only do 5 at a time):



Oh- and I printed them on paper I had that had a Christmas-y flair too it, so they weren't 'boring'.

In the other list- I included the "Oldies but Goodies" catalog labels for last season catalogs that I got. I printed them on the 2"x4" Avery labels. And then I added my contact sticker also.

Good luck! And thanks for the compliments!

 

[kaseydee]

Your booth looked GREAT! I am going to borrow your Dear Santa form.

 

[ChefPaulaB]

Got a call at 6 tonight to see if I could do a Stop N Shop at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Glad I've done so many booths lately...just had to grab my stuff off the shelves and print a few "host letters" and that great DCB letter from here and I'm packed and ready!

Good luck! You can do it!!

What exactly is this? (DCB letter)

 

[gailz2]

I loved the Dear Santa letter and will make a lot of copies for my shows and booths coming up. Thank you for sharing! Your booth looked terrific. Even if you didn't have much in sales, yet, you are getting yourself out there which is what you need to do. Great job!!

 

[esavvymom]

Here was one more I had used- got it from here, and then tweaked a bit:

 

[esavvymom]

My cluster was encouraging to me tonight about my results. The two "maybe's", even if from other consultants, are still maybe's! I can still try to get shows out of them and make it work....and after getting the news tonight.. i certainly will try.

 

[LeslieSGI]

Yes, what is the DCB letter?? Please share.​

 

[esavvymom]

I'm curious myself. I don't know what that is, and can't readily find it in the files....at least not by THAT name.