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How to be a Successful Expo Vendor!
It's as easy as the 7 P's in Expos!
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Being in an Expo, whether it is one at TheExpoConnection, Tuesday Expos or other online expos or events it is more then just signing up and paying a fee.
Expos means an event with multiple businesses, we refer to as vendors, all participating together!
Participating means not only having the listing on the Expo sale page but also scheduling parties and be in chat during scheduled and open chat times!
But it does not stop there!
It also means networking and working as a team player before, during and even after the event.
It also means, like other vendors do, to promote the sale! This can be done several ways!
By placing the banners on your personnel web sites, adding the text link on your company web sites that allow it , emailing your friends and contacts about the sale, adding it to your signature line during the sale and promoting it on the groups and lists your on! Creative posts can not only be effective but also fun to do! All of these are easy and very effective ways to promote an Expo!
While the word Expo only has 1 “P” in the spelling, it has 7 “P‘s” in being in one from start to finish.
Plan, Prepare, Products, Participate, Party, Prizes and Promote!
Let’s discuss them.
#1 Plan!
When thinking about being in an Expo 1st check the dates and then any things you have going on both on and off line also!
While most expos last for days some do not. Our TuesdayExpos is every Tuesday and if Tuesday happens to be a day you work outside the home until 7 pm then it is not
a great day for you to be in it, or Tuesday is your day your gone most of the day, even as the owner of TuesdayExpos, I would advise you to pass on it! It does you, or the Expos not good if the timing is wrong! Timing means allot when it comes to Expos!
Just as Expos that run for 3 or more days do you have time to be in them and give it your all? Plus some events are one day ones so make sure if you decide to partake in one day ones it is an open day for you to do it. I have found gals who work and try to do a party while AT work are vendors who cannot give it their all!
Oops the boss is coming, does not look good to guests who come to the expos to attend your party to hear the “oops brb!”
We all have things come up, even emergencies we cannot help, as it is part of life, but checking the times and dates of the expo your thinking of being in is part of planning to be in it and being successful in it!
#2 Prepare!
Each Expo is different but know going in what is expected of you as a vendor!
Most will expect the 7 P's I have listed here.
Plus some also may require you to donate prizes!
This can be a good thing if you plan to send out the prizes and if you can afford to do so!
I think allot of us who have been around awhile online know of vendors who have failed to fulfill their obligation of sending the winner her or his prize! That is a quick way to make a name for yourself online, but not in a way you want it to be known!
While, I may feel it is preferable to have it as an option and up to each vendor, just be sure if you offer it you sent it!
Prepare also means to know your business! Guest and other vendors will have questions. It's a good idea to have a catalog near by even if your website is on the sale page for people to click on.
The better prepared you are the better you look to everyone! And the more you know the answers to questions about your company and products the easier and more relaxed it is.
#3 Products!
Know your products!
If your doing a party know what you sell!
This does not mean you need to be an expert on your business but if asked a question knowing the answer is helpful.
Try to see online Expos just as if you were doing an in-home party is the best way to do it. Even Reps at in home parties at times will say "let me find out for you!" if asked a question they do not have the answer to, so there is no shame in it, but knowing simple questions about your products make parties allot easier.
Some of the easiest ways to get to know your products is reading about them and also planning games using them. Plan ahead to play a game using a few of your products means you will be looking them up and learning as you do!
Some Expos even offer to showcase your products.
Since TheExpoConnection began in 2001 there has always been the option of showcasing 10 of your favorite products!
Let the guests see a few of your items right on your page (we call tables) is a great way to get them to want to see more on your website!
Be sure to choose 10 products your familiar with!
#4 Participate!
This is such a key factor to any and all Expos and events your in!
You pay to play - so do it!
Be at the expos and participate in any specials they offer.
Being in the chat room when guests come in is a great way to meet new potential customers and remember other vendors can also turn into customers, so do not think "oh it’s just other vendors" when your in a chat room during a slow time!
DO the other vendors sell what you do- NO!
DO they know about your products and any special offers? You will only know this if you take the time to talk to them.
So, participating can be the difference between sales and no sales and getting your name and business out there and known.
#5 Party
This also falls under #4 participating but it goes a tad more into details!
Most Expos give your party time slots for your business. Choose the time slot that is best for you!
Lunch hours at work hiding from the boss is not a good one, dinner time with a brb as you feed the kids during your party is not good to do at your scheduled party time, just as "oh I need to put the kids in the tub" with tub time being at 7:30 every night, then just do not choose your party time at tub time!
Family, and especially our children should always come 1st so try to plan around them.
Doing a party during the kids play time is fine, even if you have to stop if your child falls as we all understand that as moms and women, but doing a party at a time your child has a reg. schedule is not wise to do. Keep the kids occupied during parties is the best way to go.
Also being a few minutes early is a must do for any and all online parties! Be there before your guests are!
A guest coming to a XYZ party at 7 PM EST expects at 7 PM EST to have the vendor for that party in the room already, as do the gals running the Expos do!
Late show-ups look bad! And most of the time the person(s) in charge of the event(s) do not read the email you sent 15 min before saying your running late! While things do happen that cannot be prevented, showing up late and telling everyone you were busy with laundry and forgot does not look good!
And this can effect your sales! Think about it, would you buy from someone who treats their business as they could take it or leave it?
Try to see it from the guests side if it.
** I can honestly say having been a guest before being a vendor, did let me know the guests side of it, just as being a vendor before the Expo owner also makes me see the vendors side of it allot more then some may think.
#6 Prizes
I did cover this a little above.
But prizes can be for the Expo event or then again at your individual parties too!
Be sure if you give away prizes that you can afford to!
It really does not matter if your new in your business or have been doing it for awhile, knowing your own individual budget for prizes is essential!
I had been doing in-home parties for years as a party plan manager when I did my 1st expo party.
I learned a fast lesson on how not to give away 3 times more then I made!
I had donated 2 prizes with a value of $10 min. each to be in the expo, then I gave away 1 at my table and another at the party I did.
So there I was giving away 4 prizes right off the bat. I did get a few sales, but the commission from that, which at the time was 30% did NOT cover the cost of shipping, aka the postage of the prizes, much less the prizes themselves!
SO think ahead and know your budget and costs before you do the same as I did!
Online parties are similar but not the same as in-home off line ones! But the obligation of giving or sending the prizes to the winners is!
A prize is a prize that has a cost to you as the vendor!
We want all of our vendors to make sales and money at our Expos, so as owner of TheExpoConnection.com and TuesdayExpos.com I will never require you to donate a prize! While we all love to win prizes, as a business person think ahead of the costs plus be sure you do send them!
Everyone remembers the vendor who did not send the prize, just as they also remember the vendors who send the cute prize!
I recently won a free prize at an online event but it was a free gift cert WITH purchase! So to win I had to buy something. Needless to say I declined it, as I did not feel as the winner of the gift cert I should be required to make a purchase and would not have entered the drawing had I known ahead of time. So is free really free with your prizes?
Free with order is different then to win then find out there is a must buy attached to it.
#7 Promote
This is a 2 section topic
1- Promote the Expo and 2 promote yourself!
Most Expos require you to promote the event!
This is usually in the vendor form you fill out and also on the info sheet for the Expos.
While the Expos owners, such as I do, buy advertising on key places such as websites and newsletters, it is the posts that all vendors do that also make a big difference!
Ads bring people to the sale page and posts bring them into the sale chat!
So posting your party times along with the Expo information is a key part of being a great vendor!
I have seen some great posts done by some gals who are or have been vendors in our Expos! Be creative while following the rules of the places you post.
Signature lines are also a great tool! Adding in something like attend my party at the Expo and ""date and time here"" does work!
Some vendors even add they give the guest an extra drawing ticket if they mention
the post when they do drawings!
If 10 vendors send out 5 posts each (50 total) to their groups with at least 100 people
in them that’s 5,000 posts!
And let's say only 5% come into the Expo chat, that’s 250 people!
Talk about great networking and promoting by 10 vendors!
And yes, there is that many different yahoo, Ryze and msn groups, with many more then 5,000 total people on them! Most groups have over 100 members
Now let's talk promoting yourself now that your promoting the Expo Sale!
OK you spend the money and your name and business is listed on the sale page
but that is just the beginning!
Some Expos even offer to showcase your products, so now it is time to showcase yourself!
How? Well posting the sale to different groups as I said above is 1 way
to let people know what you sell!
Then in chat during your party time it is your time to shine!
Using the Fish Philosophy below is a great way to promote yourself!
Play * Choose your attitude * Make their day * Be there!
Links to it below
Be cheerful in chat! Ok, maybe you may be mad at your mate, BUT let it go and leave it off line and be cheerful and greet guests in the Expos!
We all have bad days, but the more experienced sales person never lets it show! Make the guests day by welcoming them, asking how they are and even asking about them. Which by asking about them, it also gives you insight into if they are married and have children!
If they are married and have kids, then you know they buy for all in the family, run a household and need time to themselves along with gifts for moms, sister or friends!
So depending on what you sell this can be very useful information!
Being friendly is important! We all prefer to buy from people we like and people like friendly people, so promote yourself in a fun friendly way can often increase sales!
Plus can also get the guests who are considering making their 1st purchase! So Promote yourself along with your products!
Ever run into a grouchy sales clerk at the store? We all have at some time or other. But, while we still buy from them, as they are the cashier at the store, would we if they were a vendor?
Now with knowing the 7 P's in Expos you should be well on your way to being a great expo vendor! Have fun and enjoy!
Wishing you the best in business and life!
Fish Philosophy links- http://www.pikeplacefish.com/
http://www.internetworldstats.com/articles/art029.htm
See you at the Expos!
Peggy Ross @2005
NetworkOfConnection.com ~ PeggyRoss.com
@2005 reprints allowed with author permission and signature included.
Want to use this article just email Peggy at
networkofconnections @ antelecom.net
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