Here are Rachel and me standing in my finished booth! I thought it turned out pretty cute for my first trade show and to be on such a tight budget. Obviously, I would have liked to have had different flooring, but I was still very pleased with how my booth turned out.
Ok, so I have had about a week to really think about what happened at the show and to try to make the best of it, but honestly, the show was highly disappointing. I had a blast getting to hang out with Rachel and am so thankful that she was able to fly down to help me, but the show was seriously a bust.
I had debated on whether or not post my true feelings about it all. I thought that perhaps I should just write about all of the great things that happened and play up all of the positives. And while I could do that, I think that most of it would be fluff. So, instead, I give you the truth.
Friday was the first day of the show and I still hadn't had a single buyer walk into my booth come lunch time. I think that it was about 5 hours into the show that I finally had someone walk into my booth. I was utterly distraught over this. How had I worked so hard on my product to not have a single person take interest in it. Thank goodness for Rachel who did everything in her power to perk me up, when I was ready to go back to the hotel and cry. It didn't help that the booths near mine were hopping! Seriously, I saw the booth next to me take about 10 orders in the first couple of hours.
I had a couple more buyers stop in my booth that day, but still no orders. It was still the first day, and I figured that many more buyers would not actually come until the weekend. So, I held my head high (or as high as I could get it) and got through the first day.
My parents were also a life savor the entire weekend. They played cab driver as they drove Rachel and myself all over Dallas. They also came to work my booth for about an hour every day so that we would actually sit down and relax for lunch.
Saturday's traffic was a little better, but still not great. My booth was in the isle right off the elevator and was on the way to the restrooms. With that said, I thought that there would have been a lot more foot traffic than what I saw. I had imagined going to a trade show and having the walkways be filled with people, sort of like the malls at Christmas time. That is not what I saw. Anywhere in the show.
Rachel and I made friends with the ladies over at May Arts who were all so sweet. They were pretty shocked at the lack of buyers at this show. And, from what I heard all over the show from vendors and buyers, the show was extremely slow. I had great feedback from everyone that walked in my booth, but still no buyers.
I even heard a couple people walk by and say, "oh, emilee rose, I saw them last year." Really? And my personal favorite was when I over heard, "we don't need to stop there, I bought their holiday line last year." Seriously? Because I didn't sell my holiday line to them! Almost everyone that walked in my booth had "recognized" my products and no one could remember from where. It was very odd.
Saturday passed and Sunday was here. For sure someone would come back to my booth to place an order. But not a single buyer that came into my booth came back to place an order. I offered free shipping for ALL orders placed at the show and even reduced my price of my paper dolls as a show special. That didn't seem to really matter.
One thing that I did notice is that the Dallas market had three isles for the "paper" category. In that "paper" section, there were only a handful of stationery products. All of the other booths, I would have categorized as "general gift." There were even stuffed animals in the paper section!
Also, the products that were displayed at this show were mostly mass produced items made in factories all over the world. I asked one vendor where their product was made and she said very matter-of-fact-ly, "China, of course." My products were lost in this show and many of the buyers did not seem interested in the fact that my stationery is all made and produced by me. I didn't really hear much of a response from our "buy local" pitch either.
Also, the products that were displayed at this show were mostly mass produced items made in factories all over the world. I asked one vendor where their product was made and she said very matter-of-fact-ly, "China, of course." My products were lost in this show and many of the buyers did not seem interested in the fact that my stationery is all made and produced by me. I didn't really hear much of a response from our "buy local" pitch either.
And as much as I liked my booth design, it did not fit it at all with the rest of the show. All of the booth designs were very typical. I had only seen images from the National Stationery Show and their booth designs looked fabulous! This show was mostly about just showing your product, however that may be.
There was another vendor at the show, that was very crass to put it lightly, that told me that the reason that I didn't have any buyers come into my booth was because it wasn't pretty. Really, lady? Thank you for that encouragement. Many of the booths at this show used the white curtains provided in their booth and set up directly on the white skirted tables that came free with the booth.
On a high note, I learned A LOT. I had some great product ideas come from some buyers and met a lot of really nice people. I learned that I probably could have benefited from purchasing some lighting and some other what-to-do's for the next time I exhibit at a trade show. Though, I don't have a plan for doing that any time soon!
So, what's next for emilee rose? I am most definitely not giving up on my line. I still like it and think I just need to find the right niche. I am working on photographing everything to (finally) update my etsy site and will then work on contacting local stores directly about carrying my line.
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