March is the Elegant Insights founding month. We began offering our braille jewelry collection in 2011, and we made our debut at the American Council of the Blind national convention. Recently, while browsing through files of unfinished blog posts I wanted to complete, I ran across an ancient article I had written for a now-defunct blogging platform, lost to the digital graveyard. After amusing myself by rereading some of my old posts, I realized that one article in particular might be a great candidate to revisit now, as I reflect on the previous 14 years as owner and designer of Elegant Insights Braille Creations, and to share some lessons learned.
The old article began like this:
My new business is called Elegant Insights, and I refer to the entire product line more generally as Elegant Insights Braille Creations. I’m selling Braille-embossed jewelry and accessories for both men and women, and even though the web site is still in the, um, beta stage, I first wanted to test market the products with a relevant, large group, so I decided to exhibit my designs at a trade show.
I have never attended a trade show before, not as an exhibitor, anyway. I’m not into arts and crafts, I do not think of myself as a particularly creative person. I have somewhat serviceable oral and written communication skills, but beyond that, I’m not really very good at much of anything. Seriously.
Wow, did I ever sell myself short. Lesson number one — it’s cringy, but it’s timeless — believe in yourself, or no one else will.
You might imagine, then, how nervous I was to participate in this show. It was the American Council of the Blind 50th Anniversary National Conference, and the expected attendance was around 2,000 people. if this new business was going to bomb in a big way, I would learn that in very short order. I had taken on entrepreneurial ventures before, and I was well familiar and comfortable with the administration aspects of a startup small business, but I felt very insecure about how my designs would be received. What if people hated my jewelry?
I need not have worried. Cutting to the chase, the show was a great success, but not because I sold tons of jewelry, although I did. Rather, it was because of all that I learned.
The buzz surrounding my debut and the enthusiasm about the products really encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone and to network and promote my new enterprise to everyone and anyone who would listen. I found myself showing off my jewelry to the waitress in the coffee shop at the hotel, the people with whom I sat in the airport, the cab driver who drove me to the venue. I relentlessly and shamelessly promoted my products, and I think that the incredibly positive response helped me a great deal to feel empowered to take risks and permit myself to experience the resulting discomfort. Lesson number two: You can’t play the game with sweaty palms.
There are a few things to take into consideration, though, if you’ve never sat a trade show as a reseller. First of all, the trade show business is a multi billion dollar business, and there is no end to the ways in which you are enticed to spend money, before you ever leave your house. Think about it: You do have to fly to the venue if you do not live nearby, you have to pay for the hotel room, which may or may not be available at a conference discount rate, and you must make your reservations and pay for the booth space, well in advance. This means you have incurred a significant expense before you’ve sold a single item.
From there, you give your bottom line the side eye, as you begin the trade show already in a financial deficit. If you want to send anything to the exhibit hall in advance of the event, you are usually required to use the event sanctioned “drayage” service, which enables you to ship your products, displays, tech gear and marketing materials directly to the booth. I had never heard this word before, so I had to look it up. Drayage is a type of freight transportation that moves goods over short distances, usually within the same geographical area, typically from a port to a nearby storage or distribution center, using a dray. A dray is a vehicle used to haul goods, especially a strong cart or wagon without sides. Dray is an old word, from Middle English. Obviously, nowadays, a dray is a truck.
Using a drayage service can be very convenient, especially if you plan to use heavy or elaborate displays, or if you want to exhibit product that will not fit into a suitcase. However, it can also be very expensive, as this service often employs union labor, which means you are not allowed to carry boxes into the exhibit hall yourself. Plus, at the end of the convention you’ll have to ship it all back.
There are also innumerable ways you can decorate, illuminate, and enhance your exhibit booth, and the event company will offer you a list of products and services guaranteed to heighten an attendee’s shopping experience. Signage, electrical hookup, telephony (for accepting credit cards), wi-fi, tiered advertising plans and promotional bag inserts, and even a trash can, are all available at a cost. Admittedly, this particular show was not as expensive as say, the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES) might be, but for me, the expense was breathtaking. For example, the convention exhibit fee included one table and two chairs. There were four of us working the booth. When I asked if I might have two extra chairs, I was informed that I would have to pay an additional $75 per chair. Hard pass.
Boy, did my feet hurt.
We haven’t even addressed the cost of the additional inventory you’ll need to last the duration of the event, or any marketing or promotion dollars you’ve already spent to raise awareness about your appearance at the show. If there are hundreds of other exhibitors, how will people find you? Why should they buy your products instead of your competitor’s, who have a fancy multi-table booth, a video playing constantly on a wide screen, customized promotional giveaway swag, discount codes, free popcorn, lots of literature and plenty of chairs? All it takes is money. Lots of money.
Don’t forget, you have to eat while you’re there. Hotel food is expensive. Want to eat off-site? Got transport? Transport is expensive. Oh, and don’t forget, if you plan to be joined by your employees, you’ll have to pay for their airfare, hotel, ground transfers, and food as well as paying for their time working the booth. Ka-ching!
It’s simple math, really. If you are not selling enough to cover your daily expenses, you are going to have to move a lot of product. This dawned on me very early on, as the bills piled up, so I decided to make the trip more about building excitement and interest for my new business, and hoped to capitalize on that excitement in a way that would pay off long after I unpacked my suitcase. Lesson number three: Exhibiting at a convention might be a break-even proposition at best.
If you are a small business owner, offering products or services, an artist selling your work, or an independent consultant seeking to drum up clients, consider ways to conserve your resources before the convention, and plan to heavily promote your appearance in advance, as well as to identify ways to leverage the exposure after the event. For example, ask friends or family to work the booth with you, instead of paid employees. You may still have to pay their way, but at least it’s lighter on the company payroll. You can even share the hotel room and split the cost. Pack groceries, and request a room with a refrigerator. Better yet, if you have a friend or family member who lives near the convention, stay with them if possible. These suggestions are probably obvious, but inexperience can be costly. If the merchandise you are selling is inexpensive, as compared to, say, the software company in the next booth over, they may only need to sell one or two site licenses to pay for their booth space, but you’ll have to sell many more items to pay for yours. Lesson number four: You’ll have to work a lot of conventions or trade shows to make the effort profitable.
Finally, there are no guarantees. I’ve exhibited at conventions where the attendance was abysmal, and consequently I incurred unsustainable financial loss. Convention coordinators or event hosts are only obligated to promote the conference itself, not to put a spotlight on your company. Therefore, you’ll have to do all the heavy promotional lifting. This is why you may consider marketing your appearance at the event in the local area beforehand, so long as visiting the exhibit hall is free and open to the public. Promote the event to relevant groups, clubs, or businesses and encourage them to stop by your booth. Always be sure to include your assigned booth number in all of your marketing. Lesson number five: No one cares about your business as much as you do. It’s all on you.
These are just a few things to consider when exhibiting your wares at a trade show as part of an overall marketing plan. Over the years, I’ve been selective about what events I attend, and, since the pandemic, I jump at any chance to participate in a virtual event. In fact, in an effort to expand my reach, I’ve hosted many of my own virtual events. Use meeting platforms such as Zoom or Teams to create a community, and of course, take advantage of social media. If you need more ideas on how to promote your small business at low or no cost, just use your favorite search engine. You’ll be surprised how many opportunities you’ll find. Most of the time, promoting your venture is a long, slow grind, broken up by intermittent growth spurts. Oh, and wear comfortable shoes.
Sparkle on!
Laura