Recent Success at Taste of Home Booth?

[sburnside]

A couple years ago, I shared the cost of our local Taste of Home booth. I did benefit with several shows, a recruit (which shortly fizzled out), and a few orders.

Now, I may be on my own for this year's booth. With the economy, I'm worried if the booth cost of $330 plus a $25 door prize will be worth the benefits. Has anyone had a Taste of Home booth recently to share their feedback?

 

[Bren706]

I would say if you think you will get at least 3-4 shows from it, it may be worth your while. What is the expected foot traffic? Is it a 1 day show? what about the hours?

 

[Becca_in_MD]

Look closely at the commission you made on those shows booked from the last time you did it. Did you make your booth rent back on those initial shows? Did you get bookings from those shows that kept your biz moving along? If yes, it may be worth doing it this year by yourself. The fact that you got a recruit, even if she fizzled, is great. Did you keep track of how many leads or drawing slips you got from the show so you can figure how that would multiply if you do the booth yourself? Do you have the time to do the follow-up with the leads? If you can't commit to doing the follow-up, it's never worth the money or time. You have probably thought of all of this already. Can you afford to front that money and not see the return for a couple of months?

I've never done a Taste of Home show. What I have found with the bridal fair that I do every year is that attendance at the event and interest in PC has been down the past 1.5 years. The bridal fair is 10 days away so I'm hopeful that it will pick up a bit this year. I did a Home & Garden Show last Oct. that was a complete bomb for me and everyone else who worked the booth. We had not done that one before. My impression is that attendance at these kinds of events is down. I would guess conservatively based on your #s from last time. HTH.