Come on everyone, let’s walk down this aisle at the craft show, I can see some nice bright colours down there.
Why this aisle you ask? Some people methodically walk up and down every aisle. Others randomly stroll wandering when something catches their attention.
And here’s our problem as jewelry designers. It’s pretty hard to catch someone’s attention when your product is 5cm in size. At a distance how does a tiny object compete with a bright painting, or a shawl or a chair in the neighbouring booth?
Signs. Posters. Photos.
That pair of earrings when blown up on a poster can be seen from a distance.
Of course it’s not quite as simple as that. Where you place your posters is almost as important as having the posters.
You have 2 feet to attract your customers attention.
Let’s look at this diagram. (OK, I make fabulous beads and great jewelry but I have zero talent when it comes to drawing. Use your imagination to make this pretty.)
Here’s 2 friends strolling down the aisle.
Crafter A has invested in a gorgeous banner with her company name and she’s placed it on the back of her booth as a backdrop. As gorgeous as her banner is a lot of people won’t see it. You can only see a backdrop when you’re standing in front of the booth or just to the side. The trouble is that people will constantly look ahead and by the time they’re standing in front of booth A, they’re already looking halfway down the aisle.
Crafter B has spent money on posters, and he’s placed them in the back and on the sides to fill in the wall space. Again, it looks nice when you’re standing in the booth but from the aisles the posters are invisible. How many people is Crafter B losing because they pass by without coming in?
Crafter C has the winning combination. Crafter C has her sign right up front. Most important Crafter C understand that the most important real estate in her booth is the 2 feet on either side of the front. Those 2 feet are visible from way down the aisle. This is where you put your message, your biggest, brightest pieces, your attention getters.
As the customer walks in to your booth, you have another 2 feet to deal with.
Watch where a customer looks. Do they look down? Do they look up? No, they look straight ahead. They look at eye level.
You have 2 feet of prime display area.
Display your work between waist height and eye level. The rest is filler.
If you are using tables then raise them up. People don’t want to bend over to look at something. When a customer is standing in the aisle in front of your booth and scanning quickly they are not looking down. If you are using tables use risers and vertical displays. Get it up so that they can see it.
If you are using shelving (hello Ikea) then those bottom shelves? Don’t even bother putting work on them. Seriously, who’s going to look at ankle level for a pair of earrings? Put a photo down there and put the earrings up top.
You have 2 feet.
Literally.
A left foot and a right foot.
Use them.
When you are in your booth you are at work. Your job is to interact with your customers. Sitting in a chair is not interacting. Walking around talking to people is interacting. You need to be at eye level with the customer. I know it’s hard sometimes but you can sit down when you get home at night when you are off work.
Yes, I have a chair in my booth. A tall bar stool that I can perch on. At least it keeps me closer to eye level. NEVER sit in a low chair, especially at the back of your booth.
Using these 3 2 feet guidelines means that more customers see your booth and your work. More customers translates into more sales. More sales means that you can use your 2 feet to walk to the bank more often.
ps. For those within driving distance from the Beadfx store, there are a couple of classes you might want to check out! October 21 How to Start and Run a Successful Microbusiness
October 28 How to have a Successful Craft Show
taught by ME! These are the only classes that I will be teaching until late spring 2014. Grab a seat now as space is limited!
pps. At some point the classes will taught online. I'm working on that, in my "spare time".
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