Jennifer Melnick Carota of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania writes:
“I am an expert bargain shopper and ‘give-ologist’ known as the Gift Therapist. I have a ton of fun teaching folks how find fabulous gifts on a shoestring budget.
“I recently combined all of my bargain shopping tips and gifting advice into my first book titled ‘Shop Smart, GIVE MORE’ and I have been asked to speak about it next month at a regional Women’s Expo in the Pittsburgh area.
“I have purchased table space where I will sign my books throughout the two-day event, but wondered if your Hounds had any creative ideas on what other types of informational products I could develop and sell at the Expo, as well as the upcoming gift giving season.
“The event begins October 11th. Yikes!
Yikes is right, Jennifer.
Luckily, information products are among the easiest to create because you can outsource the work to a freelancer, and sell the products electronically, which requires no up-front costs. I just wrote an article on “Outsourcing Tips for Hiring Freelancers” at http://tinyurl.com/3lfklp
But electronic products probably won’t sell very well at the trade show. So let’s see what other ideas my Hounds might have for creative tchotches or other items you can create quickly to sell.
How about it, Hounds?
Jennifer,
Have your content in at least three different formats for the three different learning styles and different “wow” factors. You can absolutely have them available for October 11. You’ve already got the book. Record the tips you’ve got and create an audio CD for your auditory learners. And take tips from your book to make a quick and easy card deck of tips, one tip per card. That makes three products, plus you can bundle any two or three of them to have more to sell since some people will want all of what you’ve got.
As for Joan’s comment about the difficulty in selling digital products at a trade show, an easy way to do that is by creating a certificate for download, and sell that much in the same way a gift certificate would be sold. In fact, selling a gift certificate for gift-giving information would seem ideal for your content!
Paulette
http://www.PublishingProsperity.com
My first thought is to create a 2009 calendar that shows a different tip for each month. It markets your book, and it’s also a gift in itself!
Jennifer,
Look inside your own book…What tools do YOU use when you shop? Shopping bags/totes? Retractable tape measures? Notebooks filled with sizes, measurements, pattern names, colors, etc.? Walkie-talkies? Calculators? Batteries in different sizes? A spare lightbulb? Pens on lanyards? Notepads? Magnifying glass? Conversion charts? Digital cameras? Powdered drink mixes in tiny packets?
Draw from the “tools required” in order to be a savvy shopper, and focus on making these available to your shoppers! Sell yourself, and the rest will follow!
I would love to chat with you…email@ilovespinach.com
Burgundy L. Olivier
A tip sheet on ideas for putting money aside for gifts. Or a list of ways to personalize gifts. If there are some tools/items you recommend for personalizing gifts, sell those.
This is another idea for sales: Could you put together some sample gifts to display and sell?
Jaimie
Everyone’s dream is to finish holiday shopping in one trip. I would love to see a concise gift guide for one-stop shopping – whether it’s at a department store or ebay or Amazon.com. Can you make a guide that will give me ten solid gift options for everyone on my list?
As a wine educator, I recommend buying a bottle or two of wine as a classy gift. Can you put together a list of top rated wines that are a steal and some ideas on how to create a food pairing basket around your featured wines?
Good luck!
Kathleen Lisson
I suggest that Jennifer create laminated bookmarks showing a “Top 10” list of tips from her book – folks are always drawn to lists as a quick, easy way to get info. But don’t give away all the secrets – use it to entice folks to buy the book to learn the really good tips! And of course she should print her website on the bookmark and have the color scheme match her book and/or website. Good luck!
Hi Jennifer,
Maybe you can go on vistaprint.com and order magnets. You can put some tagline like “Stuck on Great Gift Ideas?” …Or What to Give? And then offer a discount off their first order or session with you or maybe a small discount off the book (but not as great as the deal you will offer on that day).
If you have promo videos already created or can quickly create one or two maybe you can offer one or to of those along with some of your simple tips and maybe a client testimonial or two and a link to your book order purchase page. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, just have quality ideas. Then burn them to a cd and sell them for $1 or $2 each. Don’t worry about professional packaging, just get creative with your theme and use a shoestring as a ribbon or something. Alternatively, if you have a slow burner, most fedexkinkos now do that with a few days notice.
Good Luck.
Shonika
http://www.teenentrepreneurblog.com
How about “green” type shopping bags with ‘Shop Smart, GIVE MORE on it. For each bag sold, give one to a women’s shelter.
Why not introduce a side theme of giving to charities? This could create a lot of goodwill and profile for Jennifer – and I’m sure she already has a favourite charity she could link to, with permission of course. She could create a lot of positive associations and potential sales by linking her “giving” theme to the general trade show, especially for women are trying to finds gifts for those family members or friends who have everything – and it would truly be in the spirit of giving. Perhaps her local Breast Cancer or Red Cross chapters would be a good start? Good luck, it sounds like a book I need to get for my own sister!
You want to sell your books, right? At expos most people are looking for freebies. I would think up some free “gifts” for your customers that remind them to buy your books later or to thank them for buying that day. How about bookmarks printed with a few of your tips or a mini calendar with the October promotion days marked or a Card listing your favorite stores (see if you can get the listed stores to pay for this one).
I would also decorate your table by displaying some of the great gifts you list on your site. You want folks to see the gifts and say – that’s a great idea – it gives you credibility.
Thank you all for such wonderful ideas! And they are very doable for me in such a time pinch. I knew I could count on the hounds to help! Now I must get to work! Hugs to all!
If how to find/bargain for art is on your list of tips, do you have relationships with any local artists or crafts people? Or do you know someone who does?
If so, ask if they have smaller items you could take on consignment or on a wholesale basis. You’d add interest to your booth in addition to providing examples of great finds.
Best of luck!
Cheryl Pickett
http://www.publishinganswers.com
Why don’t you collect email and physical addresses with the promise that they will get something special in return – a discount on your next product, a free tip sheet, first notice of your next event/product, never before published guides, etc.
Many people love to be the ‘first’ to know something or get something. Just think of fans waiting in line overnight for first viewings of movies, first purchasings of electronics, etc. So why don’t you offer your audience an opportunity at a ‘first’?
If you don’t already have a mailing list (email list is very inexpensive and invaluable), you should start. It’s a great opportunity to ‘sell’ to your target market over and over again – and you don’t even have to have the product ready in time for the event. All you need is an idea for the soon-to-be-released gift and a sign-up sheet!