Vendor Show - Worth It?

Whether the vendor show at the Alabama College Bookstore Association (ACBA) meeting yesterday was worth it or not from a sales standpoint remains to be seen.  What I believe, though, is that it's got to be more valuable to meet people in person and to show interest in their group than to pick up a phone and cold call.  Ok, that's a no-brainer.  Still, it's good to reinforce platitudes with experience from time to time.

Other vendors kept coming over and asking if I'd written any orders.  I didn't expect to take any orders - I didn't even bring order forms!  For me, it was an opportunity to show my stuff, hand out my card, give a little gift (a card wallet), collect cards, and talk to people.  Did all that, and more:

• One person did give me a custom order (although he didn't pay for it yet)
• A potential customer gave me an idea for a new product, perfect for the military student body at her school
• Another person wants to organize her colleagues to buy 12 items for Christmas giving in order to get the wholesale prices.  Fine with me!  I don't care what they do with them.
• A vendor, who shall remain nameless and blameless, offered to send me her database with college store contact information
• Another vendor is going to put me in touch with a mid-states conference organizer
• Made some great contacts at NACS, based in my home town of Oberlin, and heard a very inspirational story

So was it worth it?  Absolutely!  What would I do differently?

• Work harder on my display, in advance.  Dom rigged up something with coat hangers that was ok considering I asked him to do it the night before he was going out of town.  With more time, though, I'm sure he could have done something better.
• Maybe bring some order forms?  Doesn't hurt to give people the idea that the stuff is for sale.
• Bringing the iPad with a pdf of the catalog was a good idea that worked well, but need to get a stand for it.
• Could have skipped the opening night dinner, especially considering that I had to drive home that night to take care of the chickens and be back the next morning by 8.  Was going to blow off breakfast but the cheap side of me vetoed that idea as I'd already paid for it.  Good thing, too, because I had the opportunity to introduce myself to the entire group at once and talk a bit about my company and products.  Would have appreciated a little advance notice on that, but it was fine.

Otherwise, I think I did all right.  Looking forward to the Georgia equivalent (GACS) next week.

Learning to Say No

My instinct is to try absolutely everything in an effort to market or sell my products then eliminate what doesn't work.  While not an entirely stupid strategy, it has resulted in a lot of wasted time.  After a year and a half, I'm beginning to get a sense for what doesn't work for me.  Even so, I have hard time turning down an invitation to participate in a festival or show - it's flattering, right? - that I know in my gut won't yield much.

Today is a case in point.  At the weekly farmer's market, I was invited to participate in a fall festival at a local private school.  "Your sandwich bags would be perfect!" the organizer said.  "I love your sign; it's got to be there."  And she said the magic word, "free," as in, no cost to participate.  Part of me thought, yes, my sandwich bags would make sense at a school. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/wrapcycle?section_id=7216178)

Then the experienced side of me weighed in.  How well organized is this event, given that they're accepting vendors the day before?  How much money do young parents have to spend on reusable sandwich bags?  If they're attending to support their school, why would they buy from me when the school has asked for neither an entry fee nor a cut of the sales?  Is this really how I want to spend 5 hours on a beautiful fall Saturday?  In the best case scenario, could it possibly be worth my while?

Taking a hard, objective look forced me to admit that this was a time when it was in my best interest to say no.  Unfortunately, I'd already committed to my market partner to participate with her.  Fortunately, our contact person never responded to my email, so I was off the hook.  But I realized that this analysis needs to take place prior to making the decision to participate in an event, not as an afterthought.  I think the salient questions to ask are the following:

1. Is it a cause, event, or organization that I personally care about and support?  If so, the rest of the questions may not be relevant or may carry less weight. 
2. Does it appear to be well-organized or am I being contacted within 1-2 weeks of the event?  Is there a single point of contact and does s/he respond quickly to queries?
3. Who are the attendees, and how many are there likely to be?  Is it likely to be a "spendy" group or just there for the fun or to show support?
4. Given the appropriate product mix for the event, could I hope to make an amount of money that would compensate me for my timethere?  If I'm limited to small items $7 or less, as in the case of the school, that would be difficult.  And elementary school parents are not likely to buy laptop cases (http://www.etsy.com/shop/wrapcycle?section_id=6117916) in great quantities at a fall festival.
5. Similarly, can I reasonably expect to cover the entry fee, if there is one?  (The answer to this one certainly would have knocked the Women's Conference, below, out of the running.)  If there's no entry fee, why isn't there?

There are probably other relevant questions but these would paint a pretty accurate picture of whether an event was worth attending or not.  And while trying everything is not such a bad idea for a beginning business, it certainly shouldn't be the going-forward strategy.  Time to put the last 18 months' experience to work for me, and learning to say no, when circumstances call for it, as an important part of that.