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Hi there.
Speaker:I see that you made it over to the new tips
Speaker:and talk portion of the podcast.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:Today, we are continuing our conversation on craft shows specifically,
Speaker:what is social media's role we've talked about in prior sessions,
Speaker:selection of craft shows,
Speaker:then how do you judge Results?
Speaker:And then also the challenges that can come up both as
Speaker:you're getting ready for a show.
Speaker:And then also when you are at the show,
Speaker:everybody gravitates to different social media platforms and then also different
Speaker:uses within the platforms.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:an Instagram,
Speaker:obviously we have live there's reels there stories.
Speaker:There's the feed.
Speaker:I'm not going to address that portion of social media right
Speaker:now. What I really want to talk about is the content
Speaker:that you'd put up and how to make this really work
Speaker:on whatever platform is the best for you,
Speaker:that you've already established a community with and the messaging and
Speaker:the different areas that you should be approaching with your messaging
Speaker:as it relates to craft shows.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:so often we think social media is one piece all unto
Speaker:itself. Craft shows are one piece and then there's email.
Speaker:And then we've got our website where we're taking online orders.
Speaker:When really the real power is when we layer things on
Speaker:top of each other.
Speaker:Because when we're using all of the resources or tools or
Speaker:whatever you want to describe all of these different things,
Speaker:when we bring them together and use them in conjunction with
Speaker:each other,
Speaker:they are the strongest that they can possibly be by actually
Speaker:have four different areas where social media can play a role.
Speaker:The first one is when you first sign up for a
Speaker:show, you want people to know that you're going to be
Speaker:there. So if you have an upcoming show,
Speaker:even if it's in a couple of weeks,
Speaker:you can start promoting it right away.
Speaker:You can start telling people that you're going to be at
Speaker:that show so they can Mark their calendar.
Speaker:Many shows also will give you graphics either the logo of
Speaker:the show,
Speaker:or sometimes people make special graphics for you as an exhibitor.
Speaker:Another thing I like to do,
Speaker:let's say you did the show a year ago,
Speaker:and this is a show that only comes up once a
Speaker:year in your community.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:if you have pictures from the last year,
Speaker:then put those up in the messaging can be so excited.
Speaker:The shows are back again.
Speaker:And looking forward to seeing you again this year,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:things like that,
Speaker:all different types of ways of pretty much making an announcement
Speaker:of where you're going to be.
Speaker:You can't always assume that your audience are people who are
Speaker:in the area are going to know that you're going to
Speaker:be there or remember that you were there from the prior
Speaker:year. But if they saw you there year,
Speaker:it might trigger something like,
Speaker:Oh, you know what?
Speaker:I really liked that table.
Speaker:I definitely need to make sure that when I'm at the
Speaker:show, I want to go back and see her.
Speaker:If all of the vendors are also promoting the show,
Speaker:everybody wins.
Speaker:Think about it.
Speaker:If you're sharing it with your audience and all the other
Speaker:booths or tables are sharing it with their audience,
Speaker:it's more and more people who are coming to the show.
Speaker:Okay? So that's the first one show visibility and participation.
Speaker:The second thing that you can do is start documenting your
Speaker:preparation process,
Speaker:leading up to the show.
Speaker:You know how it is.
Speaker:We never know on social media,
Speaker:what to post.
Speaker:And you also know that you shouldn't just be always posting
Speaker:your product with a price,
Speaker:selling, telling,
Speaker:telling, telling,
Speaker:when you do a craft show,
Speaker:this is a great opportunity for you to show how you
Speaker:prepare, how you get ready for shows.
Speaker:You can do this both before the show.
Speaker:And then the day of the show before the show,
Speaker:I don't know that I can ever get enough of watching
Speaker:you guys behind the scenes and what you do and how
Speaker:you create your products,
Speaker:because it's always so amazing to me.
Speaker:And everyone has like a little different way.
Speaker:They do it too.
Speaker:So it's completely,
Speaker:totally interesting.
Speaker:Other things that you can think of for behind the scenes,
Speaker:maybe this is the first time you've ever done a QR
Speaker:code. So you show your process of getting your QR code
Speaker:all set up,
Speaker:or you're doing a new banner.
Speaker:Anything that you're doing in preparation,
Speaker:this is social media content that you could be using.
Speaker:The other thing I really like to do is involve my
Speaker:audience in decision-making people who are feeling like they've been a
Speaker:part of an experience that you're creating are more vested in
Speaker:it overall.
Speaker:So if you're upgrading your booth,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:maybe you're looking at two different type of display options,
Speaker:show it to your audience and say,
Speaker:what do you think of these options for my products?
Speaker:Do you like this one better?
Speaker:Do you like this one better?
Speaker:Number one,
Speaker:number two,
Speaker:right? And then you show the different options and let people
Speaker:vote on them.
Speaker:Okay? So that's during the lead up to the show.
Speaker:The other thing that you can do as you're documenting show
Speaker:prep is the actual day of the show.
Speaker:How do you prepare that morning of,
Speaker:or it could be just getting on and saying so excited.
Speaker:It's the first day of this show.
Speaker:The show will be open in a couple of hours.
Speaker:Can't wait to see you.
Speaker:I'm just anticipating all the people that I haven't seen now
Speaker:since last,
Speaker:last year.
Speaker:And can't wait to see you.
Speaker:Bye. By the way,
Speaker:if you don't know about the show and you live in
Speaker:such and such community,
Speaker:come join us and then tell where the show is.
Speaker:Things like that.
Speaker:Driving over there,
Speaker:you could do a live right in your car is you're
Speaker:going over.
Speaker:Just picked up my coffee,
Speaker:all my products loaded up.
Speaker:I'll be there shortly.
Speaker:Anything like that is always so interesting.
Speaker:You can also day of the show.
Speaker:This is still preparation,
Speaker:but show documentation as you're getting ready day of show,
Speaker:what your table looks totally bare do like a before and
Speaker:after. Here's how it looked when I came.
Speaker:Here's how it looks now.
Speaker:And we are all ready for the show to open.
Speaker:The other thing that's fun behind the scenes before the show
Speaker:actually opens up,
Speaker:or people are coming in is talking with other vendors that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:maybe they're friends of yours.
Speaker:So you can just chat.
Speaker:Like, how are you feeling about the show today?
Speaker:Looks like it's going to be good weather.
Speaker:So excited.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:what is normally your best seller?
Speaker:Like almost interviewing other people in the other booths.
Speaker:I want to move on to now the third point in
Speaker:terms of different ways to use social media for your craft
Speaker:shows. And this is a personal angle when you're a handmade
Speaker:product business owner,
Speaker:people buy also because they want to support you as the
Speaker:owner of the business.
Speaker:And the way that you can get people comfortable and close
Speaker:to you is by showing them who you are by being
Speaker:personal with them this morning on my Instagram account,
Speaker:in my stories,
Speaker:I was talking about some little quirks I have when I
Speaker:go into the office and things I do in the morning
Speaker:before I start working and they're goofy and they're just little
Speaker:quirks about me and you might find them entertaining.
Speaker:You can laugh along with me or at me.
Speaker:I don't care whichever,
Speaker:but it shows you a little bit more about my personality.
Speaker:And that's the type of thing that I'm talking about here.
Speaker:When I say share a little bit of who you are
Speaker:as a person you might get on and talk about why
Speaker:you do shows,
Speaker:you might also show some little secrets of being an exhibitor,
Speaker:like what you bring to eat during the day.
Speaker:Or I know someone who used to take 20 minute naps
Speaker:in her car.
Speaker:She had someone working her table with her,
Speaker:but she would sneak off once in the middle of the
Speaker:morning and once in the middle of the afternoon.
Speaker:And she just needed like a break 20 minute nap did
Speaker:it for her,
Speaker:but it was always a secret.
Speaker:Like she snuck out and went into her car,
Speaker:took her little nap,
Speaker:then snuck out of her car and back to the booth.
Speaker:And she was good to go,
Speaker:but that's just something she needed to do.
Speaker:So from a personal end again,
Speaker:what types of things are there,
Speaker:do you make sure that you're always drinking enough water?
Speaker:Do you have a special water container and why is it
Speaker:special to you?
Speaker:Anything that's personal like that again,
Speaker:brings your audience closer to you.
Speaker:So any little secrets,
Speaker:okay. Does as number three and number four during the show.
Speaker:So much opportunity for social media messaging.
Speaker:There obviously booth traffic.
Speaker:People are looking at your table and or the traffic just
Speaker:going down the aisles of the shows.
Speaker:Let's say you're out at a community show and it's on
Speaker:the streets.
Speaker:You can be showing how crowded the show is,
Speaker:how nice the weather is.
Speaker:Again, remember when they're local shows like this,
Speaker:you can continually have interest if you have people coming in
Speaker:from your community,
Speaker:because it's only right down the street or 10 minutes away
Speaker:from their house to keep building attendance to the show,
Speaker:pictures of you,
Speaker:interacting with your customers.
Speaker:I really suggest and recommend for a number of reasons I've
Speaker:talked about in prior episodes about having somebody work the table
Speaker:with you have them take a picture of you checking out
Speaker:a customer,
Speaker:not checking them out,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:like ringing up a sale and checking out,
Speaker:right? Or you're interacting or just talking with a customer,
Speaker:or you can even do shots where your hands are on
Speaker:the table or you're showing something.
Speaker:It doesn't always have to be.
Speaker:Someone's face all those,
Speaker:both video and still shots are great for social media.
Speaker:And it's great for the future too,
Speaker:not just for during the show.
Speaker:So make sure you're thinking about that and taking advantage of
Speaker:that while you can,
Speaker:as I'd mentioned,
Speaker:where you can chat with your friends before the show,
Speaker:you can also promote vendors during the show.
Speaker:If you have someone who can watch your table,
Speaker:once again,
Speaker:take your phone and go over to some other booths with
Speaker:interesting products,
Speaker:maybe they're brand new vendors.
Speaker:How grateful will they be to you?
Speaker:If you've come over and do a quick little interview with
Speaker:them on your Facebook live,
Speaker:I do this a lot.
Speaker:When I'm at trade shows,
Speaker:I'll go up and down the Isles and show people who
Speaker:aren't able to come to the show,
Speaker:but who should know about some of these products,
Speaker:I'll show them the products.
Speaker:You can do the same thing at craft shows.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's giving exposure to people.
Speaker:So why wouldn't they be interested in you doing that next
Speaker:thing? And this is a big one,
Speaker:testimonials. Nobody does this until I tell them to.
Speaker:And then they're so happy that they know about this.
Speaker:Someone comes up and says,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I absolutely love your sugar scrubs.
Speaker:I use them all the time.
Speaker:I don't know what I do without them.
Speaker:I will take five,
Speaker:ask them if you can record what they just said.
Speaker:They just said it to you.
Speaker:So it was natural.
Speaker:Ask them if they would repeat that.
Speaker:And if they would be okay with you recording it,
Speaker:many times people will.
Speaker:So virtually what you're doing is you're getting a testimonial in
Speaker:the moment.
Speaker:If they're not interested in having their face on camera,
Speaker:then ask them if they'll do an audio,
Speaker:just an audio recording,
Speaker:and then you just press record and you can even prompt
Speaker:them. Thank you so much for coming and sharing how you
Speaker:feel about the product.
Speaker:What were you saying?
Speaker:And then they can go from there and then you can
Speaker:take that audio and either use it as audio or transcribe
Speaker:it, you know,
Speaker:make sure you've gotten their agreement.
Speaker:That it's okay.
Speaker:That they,
Speaker:you, you use their name,
Speaker:but then just write it down as a quote,
Speaker:you might feel a little bit uncomfortable at first.
Speaker:And some people might say,
Speaker:no, you know,
Speaker:I really don't want to do that.
Speaker:And that's fine.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:let them go.
Speaker:If that,
Speaker:if they're not interested,
Speaker:that's fine.
Speaker:But you'd be surprised how many people will say yes.
Speaker:And they feel honored that you've asked them a golden opportunity
Speaker:for collecting testimonials.
Speaker:And the final thing,
Speaker:we talked this in a prior craft show,
Speaker:tips and talk also,
Speaker:but bad weather.
Speaker:Remember a craft show can be,
Speaker:make or break.
Speaker:If all of a sudden it's start pouring rain or gets
Speaker:freezing cold or super windy because everything is falling over.
Speaker:If that happened,
Speaker:have a planned backup.
Speaker:And what is that plan?
Speaker:Backup, social media.
Speaker:Everyone has made a mad dash for their cars.
Speaker:So instead be standing in your booth,
Speaker:turn on your Facebook,
Speaker:live, tell everybody the situation.
Speaker:Guess what you guys I'm here at the X and X
Speaker:show. And unfortunately,
Speaker:now it's pouring rain.
Speaker:Everybody's leaving,
Speaker:but I have such great products here.
Speaker:I've decided that I should be sharing them with you and
Speaker:then do a show right there.
Speaker:Tell them to go to your website and purchase,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:somewhere where you have your shopping cart.
Speaker:Maybe you have Facebook shop right there where they could purchase
Speaker:there. However,
Speaker:you'd want to manage it.
Speaker:You would plan that in advance,
Speaker:but you can save a craft show that you're at physically.
Speaker:If there's bad weather,
Speaker:just by going on Facebook live and selling from there.
Speaker:Instead, you can also use this backup plan.
Speaker:If traffic through a show is really slow.
Speaker:You're just not seeing anything happening for some reason,
Speaker:or maybe there's a lull in the day.
Speaker:Also at the end of a show,
Speaker:you know how sometimes like the last hour before things are
Speaker:shutting down,
Speaker:traffic starts getting light there's product left,
Speaker:and you can say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:We've got just a few things left.
Speaker:These are special sense that I normally don't have available all
Speaker:the time.
Speaker:I have two or three left of,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you show what you have and you say,
Speaker:first come first serve,
Speaker:claim it.
Speaker:And you've got it.
Speaker:So two really powerful ways of saving a show that doesn't
Speaker:seem to be performing for you either because of weather or
Speaker:slow traffic.
Speaker:Let me go ahead and summarize here.
Speaker:I'm talking about ways to use social media and overlay that
Speaker:on top of your craft shows.
Speaker:So you're using them together to make your shows the most
Speaker:powerful that they can be.
Speaker:The first is when you sign up for the craft show,
Speaker:make sure you announced to everybody that you're going to be
Speaker:there and talk about the show as well as yourself.
Speaker:So that's the first one.
Speaker:Second one is document your show preparation.
Speaker:So before the show,
Speaker:what are you doing to get ready?
Speaker:And then also the day of the show,
Speaker:what are the steps you take to get there?
Speaker:And then the third one is personal.
Speaker:Why do you do shows?
Speaker:What are tips,
Speaker:tricks, or little kind of fun,
Speaker:little personal things that you do at your shows,
Speaker:any secrets that you have are always good.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:those juicy things,
Speaker:people feel like they have an inside look when you do
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:And then during the show,
Speaker:make sure to take pictures,
Speaker:go and interview.
Speaker:Other people promote other people's products,
Speaker:not just all about your table testimonials,
Speaker:grab testimonials right there when you can,
Speaker:and then use social media.
Speaker:If for some reason the show isn't going the way you
Speaker:want weather or slow traffic,
Speaker:social media can play such a huge role in craft shows
Speaker:and it can be so,
Speaker:so powerful when you integrate these two things together face-to-face shows
Speaker:and then the social media overlay,
Speaker:you will see your sales go up and up and up.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I may get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours,
Speaker:share your handmade products with us.
