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5 Tips to Bring More Success to Your Vendor Events
Vendor event, craft show, state/county fair, expo or shopping days – doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s an event where your direct sales business is represented. In many cases, direct sellers are permitted to have inventory on hand for cash and carry. If you’re going to invest the time in setting up and manning a booth, make wise business decisions to make your time spent worthwhile.
The five tips below are extra steps you can take to help ensure more traffic and more sales to your table or booth.
1. Free: Have lots of FREE signs. People love the word FREE. Many will take something just because it’s free, even if they don’t initially think they are interested in it. This can work both for and against you. It can work against you if you are far too liberal with costly marketing collateral and product samples. But it can also work in your favor if you have a take-away that they can put in their hands and later visit your website. Most customers won’t ask “Is this free?” No one wants to look like a cheapskate. So if you have samples that you want them to take, make sure you have signage on your table that reads FREE samples, please help yourself. Continue reading
What is a Basket Party – Pt 3
Now that we’ve talked about what baskets parties are and what kind of container to bundle your Basket Party; should you have them local or long distance; whether or not to include product samples and if so, which ones; make it online or offline; how long to keep it open; should party orders go to the host or to the consultant and some other factors you may not have considered today’s post will wrap up this Scentsy basket party series with whether or not to give, sell or loan a warmer to the host.
The answer is All of the Above – you may give, sell or loan a warmer to your basket party host. It’s your business and you are free to choose which option works best for you. Take a closer look at possible alternatives:
Give: You may choose to offer your hosts a free warmer if they host a qualified party. This may be an enticement to encourage hosts to collect orders. This demo warmer would be entered as a business expense in your accounting. The downside to this is that giving away warmers cut into your profit margin and may send a message that our fantastic host rewards aren’t all that fantastic. When in actuality, we offer a generous host benefit program as it stands. You should be able to find hosts who want to have a basket party without needing to throw additional bones.
Loan: Offer the use a warmer for a specific period of time. Customers are much more likely to order if they can experience Scentsy. It is reasonable to offer to leave it with the host for a week along with some wax to melt. Then when you collect the orders and payments you pick up the warmer and then offer it to the next host to borrow during the duration of the basket party. The upside is that it’s a low financial investment to maintain a few loaner warmers. Continue reading
What is a Scentsy Basket Party?
Scentsy Basket Party: Method of collecting Scentsy orders; generally consisting of a host, catalogs and scent samples presented as an alternative to home parties.
Taken directly from the Scentsy consultant websites: “Scentsy Basket Party: If your guests can’t make it to your party, bring the party to them! While it may not offer the full social experience of a home party, the Scentsy basket party is the perfect alternative for guests-on-the-go. I will provide you with a beautiful display basket full of Scentsy product samples, order forms, and all the information you need. You’ll have 10–14 days to share it with as many people you can at as many locations you like. Then you’ll return the basket—and completed order forms—to me to be processed.”
The most important thing to keep in mind about a Scentsy Basket Party (BP) is that there is no one way to conduct one. There are so many options in how you choose put a BP together. The options are limitless. Below are some choices to consider:
What to use as scent samples?
Some consultants choose to use the party testers that were included in the Starter Kit. Other Scentsy consultants purchase the optional Mini-testers that are available under Business Supplies. Still others opt to make their own samples. There are pros and cons to each type of scent sample.
Party Testers: Starting in January 2011 the starter kits now include “slim testers” which are less cumbersome than the original ones. Pro – No extra expense needed as you already have them. Con – Size and space may still be a factor; the need to get them returned to you in good condition; many hands and noses on them could present a germ factor.
Optional Mini-testers: These are tiny miniatures of the party testers. You may purchase these as an entire set or in sleeves of five of all the same scent. Pro – They’re small and don’t take up much room; inexpensive to purchase. Con – Because they’re so tiny, some consultants don’t believe they hold the same amount of scent or that the scent doesn’t last as long; while relatively economical to purchase, it’s still an added expense and because it is a business supply they do not count toward volume nor pay commission; the need to get them returned to you in good condition; many hands and noses on them could present a germ factor. Continue reading
Surviving an Outdoor Vendor Event
Ah, the good old summertime. It sure is nice to be outside, especially after a long, cold winter. With so many festivals, state fairs and vendor events, one doesn’t need to look terribly hard to find a place to set up your wares to sell or display your direct selling products.
However, working an outdoor event in the heat presents some interesting challenges if you sell a product that could melt or discolor – such as candles. Below are a handful of tips to help you survive the doldrums of summer and still work your business in the warm open air.
- Make sure you have a system, such as coolers and zip lock bags, to keep the wax (or other product that could also get soft) from melting. Without the ziplock bags the labels will get soggy as the ice melts.
- If you have access to a generator or other power source, bring a fan, it’ll help keep you cool and customers will love it and want to stick around your booth longer.
- Bring plenty of water for you and any helpers. Don’t underestimate how dehydrated you can get working in the sun all day.
She Lost Money on That Vendor Event
As I have discussed many times, vendor events can be worthwhile. They can also be a huge waste of time and a vacuum for your hard earned money if you are not wise in selecting the right ones and then not optimizing your space once you get there.
I attended a vendor event as a customer last week. I am fairly certain the consultant lost her shirt by participating in this one. What do you think?
- It was a first time event. It was advertised mildly on Facebook and there were yard signs dotted around town.
- It was $7 just to get in the door as a customer.
- Vendors were charged $750.00 booth rental for this three day event.
- The consultant had quite a bit of marketing collateral that she liberally handed out, at least $300 worth.
- She also had a medium size amount of inventory (medium meaning not spectacular and not nearly enough for a show of this caliber, but at least a showing. It wasn’t a totally pathetic display; I’ve seen worse.) She had approximately $1,000 or more in inventory. Continue reading
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