Vendor Fairs and more. . .

On Sunday, I was at a Holiday Shopping Extravaganza vendor fair in Round Lake, IL. It was a very nice fair. Well run by Michelle Meyer. Michelle is a Tastefully Simple consultant. Check out here site: www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mmeyer I have tried many, many of their products and have enjoyed them all. Thanks again, Michelle!

While I was really hoping that I could gain some interest in that area, I wasn't disappointed that I (hopefully) booked a show. J The rule is that it isn't a real booking unless they are on your calendar, and since I did not get a date from this woman, I can only wait. . .

Boy, I would love to get more Illinois reps! While I enjoy the social side of vendor fairs, I dislike that the ones that are out of my immediate area takes up so much of my time. The drive for Sunday's event was about 1 ½ hours each direction. So before taking into account setting up, being at the event, and breaking down, I'm already 3 hours invested. My goal, when I take on these further distance events, is to try to generate interest in the business opportunity. How much more sense it would make for a local lady, ya know? Not to mention that part of the draw to these fairs is that it is an opportunity to get some shows booked. If the drive is far, I'm less likely to really want to book numerous shows out that way.

So, if you know anyone in Illinois that likes to organize, or had the desire to become better organized, and desires to get in on a ground floor direct sales opportunity, please send her my way! I will be very grateful. ;-)

But, I digress. I want to tell you about my new friend, Ewa. Ewa is a soon-to-be blogger (right, Ewa? J) and multi-talented mother of two! She creates these adorable hair accessories. Check out her site here: www.babiesnblooms.com In addition to raising her children and running her own business, she and her husband also run their own plumbing business as well! Talk about multi-tasking! I enjoyed chatting with her during that event.

Ewa also turned me on to a friend of her's blog. www.classychaos.com What a fun blogger. Her content is light and relatable. Check her out as well. J

Wonderful Vendor Fair!

I had a very good experience with tonight's vendor fair.  Maybe I'm a little biased because it was at "my" school (the school where my children have gone), but I don't know.  My typical experience at vendor fairs is fair to bad.  I tend to feel them to be not the best use of my time.  There is always an upfront cost, plus often a donation requested, and then I have not had sales at my table at prior fairs, so I spend money to basically get my company in front of people.  It is a form of advertising, and I will take part in some (particularly if they are close), but I'm never looking forward to them.

However, tonight I made sales at my table - several sales, in fact.  I have one definite party booked and I am hoping that the interest expressed by a few others turns out to be something!  I also had people that asked for my catalog - so many people that I ended up having to "refresh" my catalog stand thingee several times (I took the catalogs from the hostess packets I had brought with - - yes, I was totally prepared -- always be ready for success! :-))

Congratulations to Kim B for winning in my Looker/Booker drawing! 

In effort to stay up on things, I decided to add the contacts made to my Outlook right away, and send Kim an email letter her know she won!  However, now I'm tired, and Michael is wanting me to lay down with him, so I'm off to bed!