I don’t understand the difference between your attitude between
business card and color postcards. Isn’t size the only difference (
my assumption is that you have your info on your postcards as well)? I
also find it annoying when someone comes up and takes a card, says
nothing and avoids eye contact. My handling of this situation has
changed. As you pointed out they sometimes don’t even look at the
work. I now ask them why they are taking a card. Some have been
assigned this task by some promoter to solict applicants for their
shows. Some are solicitations for other businesses. Some want a
card for their file. In some cases they have seen my work and want
the info for a time when they’re ready to purchase. One man came up
to me at a show and told me he had had my card on his desk for four
years; and yes, he bought a ring. When at a show and a person asks
for a card I take that as an opportunity to engage them ( I also try
to engage those who avoid eye contact ); and if they 've asked about
something specific I write a brief description with the price and
make sure to write the booth # on the back. Another point: Modern
Postcard and others, Kinko’s, print color business cards for a very
modest sum. This is advertising; it gets your name out there. Young
kids come up all the time, or frequently, and want a card. Some even
ask if they may have one. I don’t care. Take 'em. Who knows who
will see that card. It’s very inexpensive publicity. Another point
about kids taking cards. Sometimes they take them them because
they’re facinated by what you do. I’m not talking about kids who are
on assignment by their teachers; and I would hope that teachers have
better sense. I use a lot of opal in my work and sometimes kids
come up and stare wide-eyed at things in my display. I bring
inexpensive bits of opal to shows to give out to kids that show
interest in the stone and give them a brief run down on wet/dry
sandpaper. One last point if someone comes to your display and “oohs
and aahs” and tells you your work is wonderful don’t say thank you. I
do a number of show each year and after spending all that time in
the studio I enjoy getting out and meeting showgoers.
Your opinions may differ.
Hi Friends, Since there’s continued discussion of booth posters, I’ll
add my two cents. I agree wholeheartedly! People can see, from a
distance, a representation of what they might see in your booth,
which will hopefully draw them in. Use your best, most compelling
slides, and have them scanned at as high a resolution as possible.
Resolution really makes a difference when you blow an image up to
poster size.
Judy’s recommendation of a vinyl banner made me say, “Hmmm…” I
wondered about the image quality, but Judy seems happy with it, which
says a lot to me. And it rolls up (a big plus), and she added
text… another plus.
I also used Kinko’s, but went another route. I had large poster-size
color prints made from my digital images, and had them mounted on
foam core and laminated. It cost me about $200 for three of them,
using a friend’s 25% employee discount there. I am really happy with
them, they look great, have super impact, and really add to the
overall professional appearance of the booth.
Problems with my solution, probably resolved by Judy’s banner idea:
When a foam core poster inevitably falls, it will land on a corner
and “crunch” the corner. You can kind of flatten it out, but it’s
still a minor bit of damage. What’s worse, is if they get wet, the
colors can run. I made the mistake of leaving two of them, on their
edges, on a table. The table got damp in an overnight rain, and the
foam core absorbed some moisture, causing the lower portion of the
image to bleed. Also, since they’re stiff, they’re a bit more
difficult to store and transport, and vulnerable to damage. Not a big
problem, but a consideration.
If you’d like to see a photo of my indoor booth setup with these
posters:
http://www.carolinaartisans.com/sebaste/Indoor_booth_50.jpg
P.S. This photo was from only the second show I ever did! It was
thanks to the advice from all the wonderful people here on Orchid
that I was able to put together such a nice display. My neighboring
artists were stunned it was only my second show, and they all said,
“Man, you should get out of here and do the big-time shows!”
All the best,
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com
One last point if someone comes to your display and "oohs and aahs" and tells you your work is wonderful don't say thank you.
For the most part I disagree with this. I’ve heard it before. I
believe that Bruce Baker the craft show marketing guru originated
it. But, a tip to any non-southerner doing a show in the South and
trying to sell to a southerner, if they compliment you and you don’t
say “thank you,” you’ve committed a major faux pas and could lose
any chance for a sale.
I have never heard Mr. Baker’s exact statement as to why he believes
this is a good strategy, but I have had more than one artist try to
explain it to me. If those who have tried to explain it to me have
missed the mark, and someone else out there has a clearer
explanation I would love to hear it.
The gist, I have been told, is that people come by and say they love
your work and are supposedly looking for some sort of verbal
repayment in the form of a “thank you.” I guess that the “thanks”
are to be given out only to those who buy. As well, the “oohs and
ahs” should be followed by an explanation of how fun your work is to
do, or by what makes the work so special, rather than by a
conversation ending “thanks.” This makes more sense, but still
seems a bit ungenerous.
As someone selling a highend item, I want my customer to feel that I
am giving them great value and service. If they want a postcard,
I’ll give them one. If they want a brochure, I’ll give them that.
If they want to know what my website is or more about
who I am as an artist, I don’t wait for them to buy, I give them the
So if they want a simple “thank you,” you better
believe I’m going to give them that, too!
It seems to me that people buy things because they believe they are
getting more value from the item than the value the money has to
them at the time. Everyone who sells is trying to convince the
buyer that their product is somehow worth more than the dollar
amount attached to it. There are a lot of non-monetary things that
add value to a product: prestige, rarity, beauty, or, in the case of
craft, affinity toward the artist. I try very hard to be consistent
in all my transactions with a client, both verbal and nonverbal. If
a potential client suspects that I am not being generous, even if it
is a subconscious suspicion, then I am at a disadvantage.
On the lighter side, if, as you approach a customer, they walk
off and utter that your work is great, are you required to you say
“thank you?” According to southern etiquette, polite
conversation requires some eye contact and positive body language.
Therefore, these types of customers are engaging you in
psuedo-conversation and you are not required to say thank you.
However, if you are a man and the show goer is a woman then you are
required by the rules of chivalry to say thank you, or to somehow,
even if it is nonverbal, recognize their comment. I was taught that
this means you tip your hat. Since I don’t wear a hat I usually
just give a wink or a smile and a nod of the head. (: Please
address any other questions about southern etiquette to me offline
Larry
Most art fair consultants have said to not leave the cards out for anyone to take but offer one and write on the back. because there are just too many people that "collect" them and it gets expensive.
RULE ONE of marketing: Do what works!
RULE TWO of marketing: TEST, TEST, TEST to see what works!
RULE THREE of marketing: Keep the best of what works going while
you test
for a new best.
Often far more useful to you than what “business card collectors” do
after a show is WHAT YOU DO after a show (something you can control).
The key difference between success and failure at any show for the
vast majority of types of exhibitors is what the exhibitor does to
FOLLOW-UP. If you aren’t collecting prospective client contact
you, of course, won’t have any way to follow-up. Those
“drop your card in” or “register for our give-away” things are done
for a reason, to collect contact info (unfortunately 90% of the folks
that do them these days don’t know why they do it, they are just
blindly doing what someone with 0 marketing knowledge told them ought
to be done, the same folks that say don’t pass out business cards).
That said, TEST, TEST, TEST. If you sell $40 jewelry it may be that
no follow-up effort ever pays off. If you sell $600 jewelry it may
pay to do semi-annual mailings for 3 years of follow-up. Also
segregate your “drop your card in” from your “talked with this person
and they wanted” contacts because the appropriate follow-up is likely
to be far different for the two.
There would be a good thread: Show follow-up, what works, what
doesn’t With specifics on jewelry type/price and customer
characteristics provided.
For me personally, I put out color postcards for anyone to take. I have all my web on my card. I've always had a sign in my booth.
BINGO. I suspect a color post card with that is useful
and understandable (and, of course, contact info) leads to
considerably more customer follow-up than a plain “Jane Doe, Jewelry
Extraordinaire” business card.
Without doing a specific study over half a dozen or more jewelers I
suspect the “expense” of “wasted” business cards or other booth
handouts is FAR LESS than the actual cost of acquiring 1 new
profitable customer by other means. In fact the cost of attending the
wrong shows for your jewelry will probably be far greater than the
cost of the wasted handouts. If you don’t understand the lifetime
value to you (i.e., your profits) of your average customer you have
no way of knowing how much it’s reasonable to spend to get that
customer. If you don’t have a clue about the demographics of your
customers or where they come from you won’t know how to target new
customers most efficiently.
James E. White
Hello Dave Sebaste & Orchidland, Dave wondered about image quality
on the banner made by Kinko’s. They are not magazine photo quality,
but from a couple of feet, the pictures look quite clear. I used the
highest possible resolution images from my digital camera. That’s
crucial to photo enargment for a poster or banner. If the banner is
examined closely, one can see some pixilation of colors on greatly
enlarged images; however, people don’t get very close since the
banner is at the back of the booth.
I've done some PowerPoint posters for conference presentations.
They are printed out on 54 inch wide paper using an architect
drafting- type color laser printer, and then laminated. The banner
quality is equal to that. I intend to produce future posters as
banners - Soooo much easier to transport and hang. Laminated
posters do not easily flatten for hanging.
If you're interested in a banner, contact a Kinko's and get the
details on size, price, image quality, etc. I really, really like
the size, flexibility, portability, durability, and water-proof
qualities of the banner. Disadvantages? You can’t change images to
reflect new work, and some shows might prohibit banners.
No affiliation, etc. to Kinko's, just glad they're around when I
need them. Judy in Kansas
Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
237 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506
(785) 532-2936
Not saying "thank you" after receiving a compliment
I’ve listened to the Bruce Baker sales tapes and attended his
seminars at the Buyer’s Market - both multiple times (I recommend
both highly). I’ve tried to put into practice what he says - some of
it works and some of it doesn’t. You’ve got to figure out what works
for you.
With regards to not saying “thank you” I have found that when
someone comes up to “ooh” and “aah” in the booth - and I say thank
you and nothing else - they walk away. A transaction has occurred and
a simple “thank you” is a very effective end to a discussion. (In
fact, I sometimes use it at tradeshows to get the dreaded interior
designers out of my booth).
But, if someones pays a compliment and I then follow it up with an
acknowledgement of their comment AND continue to talk about my work
(discuss a benefit or a feature), the conversation is continued and
more deeply focused on my work. So you get a compliment and then you
say something like: “Isn’t that great? My inspiration for these
pieces comes from …” or “Thank you! I try to incorporate movement
into all of my pieces to give them …” - whatever your “story” is.
Use their willingness to talk to you to take the sale to the next
stage. Get a dialog going with them. That gets them more interested
in your work and can often lead to the sale.
Lori Bugaj
One-Eyed Collie Jewelry Design
...I had used lightweight foamboard (like framing stores sell).
20 years ago I purchased a foamcore material intended for use as an
insulation layer under vinyl siding. It came as a fanfolded strip
4ft wide and 50ft long with each section measuring approximately 2ft
x 4 ft. I cut it into sections, covered the 2x4 ft. panels in
fabric and clipped into my Abstracta framework to make walls; I
still use them for pads in display cases. This material or
something similar must still be available. Art store foam core can
be quite expensive while this stuff was very cheap - and
exceptionally light for those concerned about shipping costs.
The fanfold aspect of the material presents limitations but it might
also spark a creative solution.
Colleen