"Tricks of the Trades": Tips for Trade Show Success

A Trade Show Tradition

I grew up attending trade shows with my mother, a small business owner who always courted the big dogs. Whether she was working a booth at a local show or pressing palms at national markets, my mother has always been a quietly gigantic character who can combine professionalism with a personal touch.

Here are a few "Tricks of the Trades" to help you separate yourself from the crowd:

• Build Connections: No matter which side of the table you're on, business is about relationships. Find out what the other party wants to get out of the trade show -- selling? Networking? New product lines? An industry pulse? When you identify your commonalities you build a bridge. When that person remembers the trade show, they'll remember you.
• Stimulate the Senses: Appearance is everything. Look good. If you're working a booth, brew coffee and bring cookies. And bring out the displays! Make it gorgeous, whether you're selling carburetors or cast iron skillets. If you're attending a show and wandering among other people's booths, carry your own business cards, fliers, even samples. Give people some tactile, sensory element that will stick with them.
• Don't Draw Lines: Whether physically or in conversation, be open and welcoming. Angle tables so that people feel comfortable walking into a physical space. Circle chairs instead of creating ranks of lines no one wants to cross. Reach out to shake hands and draw people into your space with a smile, whether you're wandering or camping out at at a booth. 

Need more? Check out Midland Displays' Trade Show page for some industry insider tips and tricks. Not everybody is lucky enough to grow up with a pro -- but you can still act like it. For a glimpse at the family business that started my fascination with marketing, packaging, and networking, you can check out The Kitchen Connection's website or follow her on Facebook.

Crafty Chic(k): One in the Hand's Marketing Savvy, Brand Management, and Cool Products

I've been watching Ashley at One in the Hand since she first got started over a year ago. From the beginning, I've been impressed with what she does -- not just her products, but her packaging. Here's why:

She's Brand-Conscious

Ashley's business fills a very specific niche. She makes nifty little re-usable cloth coffee cup coozies -- like the paper ones you see at Starbucks but infinitely cuter, and better for the environment, too.

She makes a few other accessories here and there, but she commits herself to keeping her Etsy Shop stocked with a wide range of coozies. Her customers know what she makes, what she stands for, and when and why to shop with her.

She Combines Practicality and Creativity

I know from experience that it can be hard to keep an Etsy shop stocked when you have only one pair of hands and other projects on your plate. Throw in marketing time and making a living as an independent crafter is no fairy-tale existence.

Ashley's coozies are quick, easy projects -- variations on a design that she's got down to a fine art. This is a woman who has found a way to keep herself interested and feeling creative (which is so important for a crafter, especially when your craft is also your job) while working with a basic pattern that she knows like the back of her hand.

She's Socially Conscious

Since April 2011, 10% of all Ashley's One in the Hand profits go to benefit The Emergency Fund, a local Chicago-area fund designed to give people living on the edge of poverty a leg up in times of need.

Ashley's business model espouses the new green "Triple Bottom Line" of People, Profit, and Planet. She makes a sound profit by practicing good business, she gives back to the community, and she makes products that care for the environment. 21st century consumers like that.

She's Everywhere

The key to successfully selling your crafts in the online marketpace is exposure. No matter how brilliant your skill and creativity, if you don't reach a wide audience no one will know what they're missing.

Ashley's focus on a manageable line of items gives her the time to market herself. She's all over Facebook. She blogs. I'm not entirely sure when she sleeps.

She's Ad Savvy

This is a woman who knows how to leverage online social media. Right now, Annie over at Wattlebird Designs is hosting a $20 giveaway of an item of the the winner's choosing from Ashley's One in the Hand shop.

Now, that's how to do it, folks. Interactive, promotion-based free advertising that is lighting up the web. Check out the link below to join in:

wattlebird: Giveaway: One in the Hand

The New/Old Five Jars

"This blog is not a one-trick pony. Instead, this is the chronicle of one very full life that's lived across the traditional boundaries we use to divide our knowledge."


The Year of Reinvention 

I've been a busy girl. Since I started this blog, I've gone from being a full-time archaeologist and part-time writer/homesteader to being a full-time freelance writer and farmer. When my full-time, high-demand job with benefits was cut back to part time thanks to the economic woes that have plagued us all, it prompted me to take a fresh look at my priorities.

I finally made the leap to working full time for myself so that I could be home. Here, on the farm, with my daughter and my husband and the projects and passions that I love.

In 2011, thanks to a few not-so-subtle shoves from the cosmos, I've reinvented myself.

The Five Jars

When I started Five Jars, I chose the name because in my first year of homesteading I began to explore making jams and jellies. In that first year I made five types of jellies that really made me proud -- fig preserves, fig jelly, pear preserves, peach jelly, and a stunningly yummy jalapeno jelly that my friends and family still ask for by name.

Each of those preserves and jellies had a distinct flavor and personality of its own. Each had particular demands and needs if I wanted that perfect outcome. Each was a little reflection of myself, my farm, my family, and my values.

The New Five Jars

Since I've reinvented myself, I've toyed with the reinvention of this blog. I'm ready for "relaunch." The thing is, nothing's really different. I'm the same person with the same passions as I was two years ago. But I am a far more integrated individual than I was then. I've found my balance.

So here's the idea.

Five Jars, Five Integrated Parts

So many blogs are "a crafting blog" or "a homesteading blog" or "a motherhood blog." That tactic separates us into bits and pieces of ourselves. And it just doesn't work for me.

Each of the Five Jars in this blog's name has come to represent a part of myself, a piece of that whole person. Each holds a classic piece of me, something that can't be completely separated or completely combined with any other part.

Like the name, this blog is about me. All of me. In five parts -- Five Jars:

• Motherhood. This one's pretty obvious. I'm the mother of one very small girl with one very big personality. 
• Homesteading and Food Justice. I live and work on a historic family farm that's been in my husband's family since the 1830s. My daughter is the 7th generation to live in our house. Sustainable farming using the newest and the oldest methods is my calling -- and the biggest part of our day to day lives. 
• Writing, Business, and Marketing. I pay the bills now by working full-time as a freelance writer. Most of my business is high-quality online content, social media management, and business writing. I can't separate my love of the written word from the rest of what I do -- every part of my life informs the words I put on the page. 
• Healthy Living. I have practiced yoga since I was 15 (half a lifetime ago) and sitting meditation since I was 20. When I was 25, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and have kept my chronic pain under control using yoga, meditation, a (fairly) balanced diet, and exercise. I most definitely don't look like an athlete, but my body functions day-to-day because I stay active. To me, mind and body are integrated -- separating meditation from exercise from diet seems silly. 
• Archaeology and Historic Preservation. As I've said, I live and work on a historic farm and my academic and professional background (ten whole years of my life) is in American archaeology. I loved my work in those years and will always have a passion for protecting this country's human heritage (which dates back to periods thousands of years before the U.S. even existed as a country). We're currently trying to have our property placed on the National Register of Historic Places, so I won't be ending my love affair with Preservation any time soon. 

The Shelf

If those are the Five Jars, then this blog is the shelf. This blog is not a one-trick pony. Instead, this is the chronicle of one very full life that's lived across the traditional boundaries we use to divide our knowledge.

Integration is what makes it all possible.