This was my first Boutique/Event/Trade show by myself and selling Mialisia! Let me tell you, it was a whirlwind- no seriously, there was a
lot of wind!
Pack it all in!
The car...oh the car- it was so packed! Who would have thought that a table, canopy, large chalkboard, long mirror, jewelry, jewelry holders- oh and lets not forget the person in the backseat!- chairs, and all of the other crap necessary to put on a trade show- would fit in my little Versa. But somehow, I managed it!
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| The Packed Car |
Set Up
It quickly became apparent that this was not an ordinary trade show, but a little event. However, since it only cost $25, and this was my first trade show by myself, I was ok with it. It also became clear that one table would simply not be enough. Especially when we put up the canopy and the table- now looking a lot smaller than I thought it would.
So after some thought, I sent off my helper, Nat, in search of a new table, fabric, and magnets. Once she had left, I got to setting up my little table.
Since life has chosen this time to be crazy, I had not had the chance to design my table. If I had, I might have noticed it was a little too small.
So I had an idea- why not use a chalkboard to showcase our Fashion events and our Designer opportunities?
It wasn't until I tried writing on the chalkboard that I realized how much this wouldn't work- at least with my handwriting.
When Nat got back and saw the chalkboard, her words were- "Oh my."
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| What do you think? |
I think it is safe to say my career in chalkboard writing is over.
And this is what it looked like when Nat was finished with it-
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| It looks great, right? |
Overall, setting up went ok- except for the fact I got a paper cut and had to ask for a band-aid to stop the bleeding.
Whoops and ow.
The Finished Display
(more or less)
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| Doesn't the Green Clothing Donations frame my display nicely? |
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| The other booth display |
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| The Whole booth |
Presentation!
As I already had previous experience selling the VersaStyle Jewelry with Blingtime, I didn't think I would have any problems with presenting the jewelry and the concept to people. But when my first customer can up, I found myself stuttering, bumbling over the words (I was the bumbling bumblebee). I couldn't get the words right, I was shaky, and unfocused.
After the third time I bumbled, my friend talked me through it. After that, I was able to focus, and work on my speech. We even made a sale! One lady got so excited, she wanted to buy the jewelry I was demonstrating. Guess that goes to show how wearing jewelry, can really help sell it! Origonally, I was going to have her fill out an order form, but we didn't have a huge number of people, so I decided to give the jewelry to her as is. We sold Isis and Stacie, and I couldn't be happier to part with them!
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| Isis from the Nile Collection |
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| Stacie from the Contemporary Collection |
Enter Wind
Throughout the day, the wind steadily picked up, growing in intensity by the hour. Around one, the wind started knocking things down. My displays were not meant to withstand such force, so a few tumbled down. I think people were worried about the jewelry getting broken, but I took that opportunity to tell them this is a more sturdy product than your average jewelry and that it should be fine. I also may have mentioned the limited lifetime guarantee ;)
Around 2, the wind really began knocking stuff over. At that point, I took the displays down. I didn't want my jewelry to fly away with the wind, so I put them flat on the table.
I had told several of my customers that I was doing a raffle if they signed up for the e-mail list, so I quickly shouted into the wind- "For those who signed up for the raffle, we will be doing it now!"
A couple of people started milling over, but there was still a couple of people who I knew entered and wanted to win, so I gave a shout out again.
Suddenly, people who hadn't signed up wanted to. Who didn't want free earrings?
I was surprised to see how excited the women were over this. Simply getting earrings had them saying- "I really want it!" And, "Why did you shout out? We had a better chance earlier!"
Even with the wind, the excitement seemed to be building. Women who were manning other booths had abandoned theirs to come to my little raffle. In that moment, I knew giving away one pair of earrings was well worth it.
I took the chest, shook it up, and had Nat pick one. The girl who ended up winning had signed up last minute. She picked the Hazel Daisy earrings.
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| Hazel Daisy from the Sunset Collection |
After that, it was a rush to take everything down. The wind was getting stronger, and it looked like a storm was coming in. I also didn't think staying was worth losing any product.
It was a good thing we started packing up because not long after, the wind came in stronger force, and started to blow our canopy away! Needless to say, we quickly dismantled it and put it away.
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| Nat isn't sure of the wind |
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| Me and the Dismantled Displays |
Well that's my story of the crazy, windy day I had. Most wouldn't call that day a success, but personally, I think it was. It may have been a small success, but I gained experience, confidence, and got the 'awkward first date' out of the way!
If you want to purchase your own VersaStyle Jewelry, go to my website-
design.mialisia.com and click 'shop'.
Thanks for reading,
Breanna
Founding 500 Designer
