County Fair Booths

[t_vandemark]

Well we did our first show last sunday and as far as selling anything at the table it was a total bust. Sold just one sign to another vendor before the show even started, she thought we would sell out. But all was not lost as we got tons of interest from people who want custom signs for their house and cabins as well as gifts for x-mas. Whether it was from the show or other advertising, over the past couple of days we have gotten 7 signs approved for building and we have another couple still waiting on approvals.
We have another show this Sunday at the same place but its supposed to be about 3 times the size. So at least now we have some inventory already carved to have at the table and can spend my time catching up on these orders.
I hope you guys are enjoying Thanksgiving down there. I was out of town for ours, and missed all the great food.

[chiloquinruss]

Tyler, just a quick thought. If you have any of the first shows signs done by the time of the second show, bring them with you and put sold stickers on them. This will show the newbies that you really can do what you say and show off more of your workmanship. Russ

[MogulTx]

Just my experience: I work in an industry that is mostly HIGH dollar product. I have attended tradeshows every year (2-3 shows some years) and I have RARELY made a direct sale AT THE SHOW. I HAVE made lots of contacts adn then been able to follow up and close a sale after.... that too is fairly rare. The idea, for me, is not to go in with an order book and come home with orders to build. I am going in to show people a little about my company, let them meet me face to face and to see what is going on in my industry. That is MY industry and MY experience.

For you: I would encourage you to: Do everything you can to get orders at the show. Bring excellent examples of things that you think will portray you in a positive light and be consistent about attending shows that should promote you in your area. ( Signs are probably going to be a local thing, for the most part)... CONSISTENCY and getting to know a little about you... that should do the trick.

Something else to think about. Although I attend tradeshows, it is usually the other vendors, in booths, who are our market. Look around at the other vendors. They may be better customers for you than the general public!!!

[t_vandemark]

Russ, Good idea. We will have a few of them done by the end of tomorrow. So we should be able to bring a some of them to the show as examples. Its alot easier to sell something if people can have an example that they can put their hands on, even if they can't buy that exact one.

Monty, that is some great advice. We did find that alot of the really interested people were other vendors. One of them wants us to make a sign for her small business, and others were mostly crafty individuals that can appreciate the kind of work that my wife and i are doing. We bring tons of great pamflets and business card to hand out, and i bet we handed out about 700 of them last weekend.

[Brian Harnett]

My first post since the forum change, I do quite a few craft shows a year not really shopbot stuff but chainsaw carving, I do have a book with some of my signs and furniture.

Juried art craft shows usually make me 4 times as much as a farmers market the people going to these shows are coming to spend money.

Take credit cards I doubled my sales this year just about not many customers carry a lot of cash anymore.

Make your booth stand out, a lot of shows I actually carve at, that gets a good draw I know you cant just haul the shopbot out but booth appearance really makes a difference.

[joe]

Excellent post Brian,

Your product and method of displaying is as good as I've seen. Thanks to this forum I've come to the conclusion it's a fickle market for CNC routed signs. Your product is creative and I can see how it would do very well. I was close to pulling the trigger and building a mobile sales booth. After keeping a close eye on this forum, over the months, I've come to the realization it's a dicey venture for signs. Your product is attractive and diversified and great for this market. Good luck for the coming year.

I should also thank Ken Z. for his input. We kicked this can around for some time.

Joe Crumley
www.normansignco.com

[curtiss]

Happy New Year Joe... Are you going to take some time and write a book?

Such as.... "It isn't finished until its Finished" ....That would certainly help us all.

[kartracer63]

Hi Joe (and others),

I'm sorry... I forgot to follow up with more information and thoughts about my craft fair experiences.

I ended up doing 4 craft fairs last summer. All of them were profitable and I improved my set-up and presentation at each event.

I found that I had more success selling my "rustic looking" signs at the craft fairs located nearer to cabin / tourist areas than I did near a metropolitan area.

I was also happy to sell a lot more "custom ordered" signs than I did "pre-made" signs. But, I did sell a good quantity of pre-made signs and wouldn't dare show up at a craft fair without a supply of them. All of the craft fairs that I attended, I was limited to a 10'x10' area. So, all of my display had to be contained within my EZ-UP canopy. I literally had neighboring vendors inches away from me. No room to spread out like Brian.

So, I strategically placed some of my "funniest" signs up high and at the edge of my display to get the attention of folks as they meandered by. I could actually read their lips as they were reading the funny signs to the person they were with. I didn't sell many of those signs (because they were kind of "tacky funny"), but it got people to stop and look at my display a little longer. Then they would discover that I also sold "custom" signs and they could have whatever they wanted made to order.

My wife and I dressed well at these events, and we had shirts with my "Custom Carved Signs" logo embroidered on them. We looked professional and trustworthy.

I also have very nice business cards and colored tri-fold flyers that were easily accessible for those that wanted one. Those are a MUST!!!

I had two photo albums full of custom signs I've made for other customers sitting out for anybody to look through. The photo albums were almost constantly being thumbed through by somebody.

I was very pleased to see how many orders I received in the weeks and even months following the craft fair events. Most folks would begin the communications with "I saw you at the XXXX craft fair and grabbed one of your flyers (or business cards). The orders I received after the shows equalled, and in some cases exceeded, the sales from the show itself.

Like I said, last summer I did 4 of these craft fairs... this summer I'll try to do 8 to 10 shows. They're well worth my time.

[joe]

Well, if anyone could do well at these shows I'd vote on you. Your product is just the ticket. If I were to venture in, it would be for the advertising and future sales.

One of the outstanding qualities of this kind of signage is the speed with which they can be made. Highly finished signs can eat up time, not to mention the added cost of special lumber. With that in mind, I've found the more rustic a sign is, the better chance is to make extra money.

Thanks for posting and sharing your experiences.

Joe Crumley
www.normansignco.com