ONE IDea can change things
 

Here's how a "simple promotion idea" blew the roof off sales for a "Trade Show" promoter.

Here's what happened;
My wife loves to go to Antique Shows. (She had her own Antique Shoppe for years) One of her friends puts on an "Antique Show and Sale" in the local County Fairgrounds every Spring and Fall.

Last fall her "Antique Show Promoter" friend told us that she was about to "throw in the towel" and stop doing shows because the dealers weren't selling.

She promoted the Show thru ads and flyers and was able to get a good attendance at each Show BUT...the people were just not buying anymore.

After hearing this, I sat at a table in the eats section, sucking on a soda....watching.... thinking...watching....thinking.

There was an "Entry Fee" of $3 to get in. People would come in...stop at the money-collection table... pay their $3 and move to the right...usually.

They'd continue on around each aisle...stop and look at an item or two...and continue walking...acting as if they were really not that interested in anything.

I thought, "WHAT would get these people INTERESTED in looking harder at the items (there was some good stuff at the show)? WHAT would get these people MOTIVATED into BUYING?

I thought, "Let's see now; They plunk down 3 bux... walk around the Show and leave!"

HOLD IT! STOP THE PRESSES! All of a sudden IT came to me!

What if, after plunking down their 3 bux, they were handed a green piece of paper, the size of a dollar bill. What if the 4 corners of this green piece of paper had "$3" printed in big letters, 2 inches high?

What if, in the center of this green piece of paper with "$3" in each corner...were printed the words;

"BROWSER BUCKS!"
THIS CERTIFICATE WORTH $3 TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF ANY ITEM AT ANY DEALER BOOTH! JUST PRESENT THIS COUPON AND $3 WILL BE TAKEN OFF THE PRICE!"

So...I ran this "idea" by the promoter...showed her a mock-up of the coupon and she agreed to give the idea a try at her Spring Show...which I just came from.

Guess what? Her dealers just had the BEST SALES of ANY Show they've ever attended!

People who used to just walk by the booths, taking a quick glance and walking by....were NOW...STUDYING THE MERCHANDISE INTENTLY....thinking about WHAT THEY COULD SPEND THEIR FREE $3 ON!

Attendees were NOW....LOOKING TO BUY! The simple little green coupon with $3 in the corners had FORCED THEM TO THINK ABOUT "BUYING" rather than "BROWSING"!

I'm sure most of the attendees could afford to buy almost anything in the show they wanted...that wasn't the point. They had just been GIVEN $3...and the $3 could ONLY BE SPENT on merchandise at the Show!

WOW! What a POWERFUL MOTIVATOR that little green coupon was. Some dealers claimed TRIPLE and QUADRIPLE their previous sales.

And...most of them wanted in on the Fall Show and signed up NOW...to be sure to be included.

So...from a "simple little idea"...things were changed around to AWESOME proportions. An idea that came to me because I know a "little-bit" about human nature.

I KNEW that that little piece of green paper with the $3 in each corner would be "BURNING A HOLE IN THEIR POCKETS!" They couldn't stand it! They HAD TO SPEND IT!

And...what this did was take them from a "Browse" attitude to a "BUY" attitude!

Granted....some people redeemed the coupon for $3 worth of marbles or something else worth $3...BUT... for the most part, dealers reported MANY people redeeming that little green piece of paper with $3 in the corners...on items worth MUCH MORE THAT $3!

In fact, 3 or 4 dealers were overwhelmed with sales.

It was "MOTIVATIONAL MAGIC"! You shoulda ben der!

Anyway...I hope you enjoyed reading this and I gave you an example of how just a "simple little idea" can change things around 180 degrees.

So...use your noggin and THINK!

Thanks for reading....Don Alm


$800 A Day Renewing Wood Decks!

Don - this is brilliant....
 

...does everyone realize this can be applied to practically ANY type of show where things are bought and sold via booths? Man oh man ... in fact, a marketer could approach the organizers of some show or other and say "if I can raise sales to ___________(fill in blank on what might be appropriate for the particular show) - how about I get ____________(fill in blank with whatever your proposition is)" .... you leave the organizers a win-win situation ...if greater sales arent' generated (or more committement from sellers, etc.) - then they lose nothing.

Just an expansion on Don's idea that can work for everyone.

Anon.

Re: ONE IDea can change things
 

I've seen this technique used before on trade shows and I agree it's a great idea. There's also an added benifit (beyond increasing sales) and that is getting people to the show itself.

You can draw in those who don't want to pay to attend the show (or "pay to shop") since since they are being returned their attendence fee in mercandise credit. In fact, I have seen it where the coupon is for more than the amount of the attendec fee (for example the fee is $ 3.00 but the coupon for $ 5.00). This way not only are they getting into the show "free" but are also being "paid" to attend. What a bargain from their vewipoint (execpt of course the need to buy something to reap the benefit!) Catalogs do this a lot to obtain new customers. You pay for the initial catalog (of course they send additional ones at no charge to exisitng customers) and are given a merchandise credit for more than the price of the catalog. If you look at a lot of the catalogs you get in the mail - you'll notice a lot of them have a "price" for the actual catalog on either the front or back.

Tam

> Here's how a "simple promotion
> idea" blew the roof off sales for a
> "Trade Show" promoter.

> Here's what happened;
> My wife loves to go to Antique Shows. (She
> had her own Antique Shoppe for years) One of
> her friends puts on an "Antique Show
> and Sale" in the local County
> Fairgrounds every Spring and Fall.

> Last fall her "Antique Show
> Promoter" friend told us that she was
> about to "throw in the towel" and
> stop doing shows because the dealers weren't
> selling.

> She promoted the Show thru ads and flyers
> and was able to get a good attendance at
> each Show BUT...the people were just not
> buying anymore.

> After hearing this, I sat at a table in the
> eats section, sucking on a
> soda....watching....
> thinking...watching....thinking.

> There was an "Entry Fee" of $3 to
> get in. People would come in...stop at the
> money-collection table... pay their $3 and
> move to the right...usually.

> They'd continue on around each aisle...stop
> and look at an item or two...and continue
> walking...acting as if they were really not
> that interested in anything.

> I thought, "WHAT would get these people
> INTERESTED in looking harder at the items
> (there was some good stuff at the show)?
> WHAT would get these people MOTIVATED into
> BUYING?

> I thought, "Let's see now; They plunk
> down 3 bux... walk around the Show and
> leave!"

> HOLD IT! STOP THE PRESSES! All of a sudden
> IT came to me!

> What if, after plunking down their 3 bux,
> they were handed a green piece of paper, the
> size of a dollar bill. What if the 4 corners
> of this green piece of paper had
> "$3" printed in big letters, 2
> inches high?

> What if, in the center of this green piece
> of paper with "$3" in each
> corner...were printed the words;

> "BROWSER BUCKS!"
> THIS CERTIFICATE WORTH $3 TOWARDS THE
> PURCHASE OF ANY ITEM AT ANY DEALER BOOTH!
> JUST PRESENT THIS COUPON AND $3 WILL BE
> TAKEN OFF THE PRICE!"

> So...I ran this "idea" by the
> promoter...showed her a mock-up of the
> coupon and she agreed to give the idea a try
> at her Spring Show...which I just came from.

> Guess what? Her dealers just had the BEST
> SALES of ANY Show they've ever attended!

> People who used to just walk by the booths,
> taking a quick glance and walking by....were
> NOW...STUDYING THE MERCHANDISE
> INTENTLY....thinking about WHAT THEY COULD
> SPEND THEIR FREE $3 ON!

> Attendees were NOW....LOOKING TO BUY! The
> simple little green coupon with $3 in the
> corners had FORCED THEM TO THINK ABOUT
> "BUYING" rather than
> "BROWSING"!

> I'm sure most of the attendees could afford
> to buy almost anything in the show they
> wanted...that wasn't the point. They had
> just been GIVEN $3...and the $3 could ONLY
> BE SPENT on merchandise at the Show!

> WOW! What a POWERFUL MOTIVATOR that little
> green coupon was. Some dealers claimed
> TRIPLE and QUADRIPLE their previous sales.

> And...most of them wanted in on the Fall
> Show and signed up NOW...to be sure to be
> included.

> So...from a "simple little
> idea"...things were changed around to
> AWESOME proportions. An idea that came to me
> because I know a "little-bit"
> about human nature.

> I KNEW that that little piece of green paper
> with the $3 in each corner would be
> "BURNING A HOLE IN THEIR POCKETS!"
> They couldn't stand it! They HAD TO SPEND
> IT!

> And...what this did was take them from a
> "Browse" attitude to a
> "BUY" attitude!

> Granted....some people redeemed the coupon
> for $3 worth of marbles or something else
> worth $3...BUT... for the most part, dealers
> reported MANY people redeeming that little
> green piece of paper with $3 in the
> corners...on items worth MUCH MORE THAT $3!

> In fact, 3 or 4 dealers were overwhelmed
> with sales.

> It was "MOTIVATIONAL MAGIC"! You
> shoulda ben der!

> Anyway...I hope you enjoyed reading this and
> I gave you an example of how just a
> "simple little idea" can change
> things around 180 degrees.

> So...use your noggin and THINK!

> Thanks for reading....Don Alm

I have one question about this idea...
 

Hi, Don --

From a marketing standpoint, your idea is clearly a sales stimulant. It excited me, and my first thought was how I could apply this since I myself display at craft shows.

My second thought, though, was this: whose pocket does the $3 come out of?

The show's owner, who puts the whole thing together, makes money two ways: from admission charges and exhibitors' display fees. If the $3 comes out of his share, it could be pretty costly.

For example, a fair-sized show would have about 100 exhibitors and traffic of about 5,000. If the exhibitors' fee were $50 (typical for a show this size), that would make his total revenue $20,000. Covering that $3 browser buck fee would reduce his revenue by $15,000 and that's probably unfair since print and radio advertising costs can run pretty high. And that's before the cost of the venue itself, security, etc. The show could end up making no money at all.

Having the vendors individually absorb that $3 sounds more fair but some exhibitors are always more popular than others, so inevitably a small percentage would carry the brunt of the costs. Hopefully, the sales volume would help offset the lower profit, especially if customers purchased more than one item. This is, of course, the ideal scenario and the one you described in your post.

However, there are always plenty of bargain seekers at craft shows and these are the people who will want to maximize the value of their free $3, so they'll spend as little as possible (and try to dicker the price down, too). If they target items under $10, then vendors accepting those $3 browser bucks could not only lose most of their profit but even lose money on that particular sale. Too many browser bucks and the vendors would make no money for the show, either, and will decline to participate again.

As I said, this is indeed a GREAT idea, but to my view there's a glitch in covering the cost of implementation. Dividing the cost equitably by raising exhibitors' fees wouldn't really help. In the example above, in order to cover the $15,000 (traffic of 5,000 X $3) each of the 100 exhibitors would have to pay an additional $150. I doubt there'd be many takers at that price.

The best answer might be to raise the admission fee to $5 and take the browser bucks cost out of that. Coupled with a slight raise in exhibitors fees ($10-$15) and the cost is spread around to all with a stake in the success of the show.

I'm going to mention your idea to a couple of organizers of local shows and see what they think. There should be a way to make this work for everyone.

Thanks for posting such a great idea!

Eve §:)

Re: I have one question about this idea...
 

Eve,

You raised some very good concerns. Here's a few more ideas on how to absorbe the costs: a slpit between the merachant and organizer (the merchant can then redeem the coupon for half price form the organizer for example). Have sponsers of the show (this can really help defray advertising costs if one of your sponsers is a local radio station). Have the coupon attached to an iformation sheet - handy one would be a layout of the venue or interesting tidbits relating to the theme (antiques, crafts, etc) of the show - and then charge advertising for the flyer/info sheet. Set-up an area where you sell bottles of pop or water to those thirsty buyers walking from booth to booth (of course the coupon wouldn't apply to the drink items) to help recoup your costs. Those are just a few of the ways the organizer can help cover the coupon costs and you can combine any of the ideas together. Also, I'm sure there are plenty of other ideas out there.

I'd be interested in how the situation was resloved in Don's original post.

Tam

> Hi, Don --

> From a marketing standpoint, your idea is
> clearly a sales stimulant. It excited me,
> and my first thought was how I could apply
> this since I myself display at craft shows.

> My second thought, though, was this: whose
> pocket does the $3 come out of?

> The show's owner, who puts the whole thing
> together, makes money two ways: from
> admission charges and exhibitors' display
> fees. If the $3 comes out of his share, it
> could be pretty costly.

> For example, a fair-sized show would have
> about 100 exhibitors and traffic of about
> 5,000. If the exhibitors' fee were $50
> (typical for a show this size), that would
> make his total revenue $20,000. Covering
> that $3 browser buck fee would reduce his
> revenue by $15,000 and that's probably
> unfair since print and radio advertising
> costs can run pretty high. And that's before
> the cost of the venue itself, security, etc.
> The show could end up making no money at
> all.

> Having the vendors individually absorb that
> $3 sounds more fair but some exhibitors are
> always more popular than others, so
> inevitably a small percentage would carry
> the brunt of the costs. Hopefully, the sales
> volume would help offset the lower profit,
> especially if customers purchased more than
> one item. This is, of course, the ideal
> scenario and the one you described in your
> post.

> However, there are always plenty of bargain
> seekers at craft shows and these are the
> people who will want to maximize the value
> of their free $3, so they'll spend as little
> as possible (and try to dicker the price
> down, too). If they target items under $10,
> then vendors accepting those $3 browser
> bucks could not only lose most of their
> profit but even lose money on that
> particular sale. Too many browser bucks and
> the vendors would make no money for the
> show, either, and will decline to
> participate again.

> As I said, this is indeed a GREAT idea, but
> to my view there's a glitch in covering the
> cost of implementation. Dividing the cost
> equitably by raising exhibitors' fees
> wouldn't really help. In the example above,
> in order to cover the $15,000 (traffic of
> 5,000 X $3) each of the 100 exhibitors would
> have to pay an additional $150. I doubt
> there'd be many takers at that price.

> The best answer might be to raise the
> admission fee to $5 and take the browser
> bucks cost out of that. Coupled with a
> slight raise in exhibitors fees ($10-$15)
> and the cost is spread around to all with a
> stake in the success of the show.

> I'm going to mention your idea to a couple
> of organizers of local shows and see what
> they think. There should be a way to make
> this work for everyone.

> Thanks for posting such a great idea!

> Eve §:)

6 Ideas ?
 

Food for thought. A few random ramblings:

1. Have each vendor create a tip sheet, booklet, subscription, or report that explains some "secrets" of their crafts, and make that *at least* a $3 cost (preferably more.)

2. Restrict the use of the $3 coupon to an item selling for ______ or more, or a certain class of items.

3. Have each vendor use the $3 for an offer available from their website or through the mail, as well, which creates breakage.

4. Double or triple the value of the $3 coupon on items that sell for more than _______.

5. Let the people use the coupon for popcorn or some other things such as cups of iced (tap) water or iced tea, where the cost is almost zero.

NOTE: If only 33% of the people actually use the coupon, the real net cost is only $1.00 to everyone ($3.00 x 33% usage.)

6. Make available to all the vendors a subsequent service such as a low cost ad in the promoter's newletter for a cheap cost of say $50, and let the vendors turn in their redeemed coupons from the show for credit against *up to* 50% off the $50 cost of the ad, and now the coupons are a profit center for the promoter.

Just a few random ramblings,

Chip Tarver
<
Your NoCost Coach
Never a Fee - Ever!

Available only by sending a blank email to

[email protected]

> Here's how a "simple promotion
> idea" blew the roof off sales for a
> "Trade Show" promoter.

> Here's what happened;
> My wife loves to go to Antique Shows. (She
> had her own Antique Shoppe for years) One of
> her friends puts on an "Antique Show
> and Sale" in the local County
> Fairgrounds every Spring and Fall.

> Last fall her "Antique Show
> Promoter" friend told us that she was
> about to "throw in the towel" and
> stop doing shows because the dealers weren't
> selling.

> She promoted the Show thru ads and flyers
> and was able to get a good attendance at
> each Show BUT...the people were just not
> buying anymore.

> After hearing this, I sat at a table in the
> eats section, sucking on a
> soda....watching....
> thinking...watching....thinking.

> There was an "Entry Fee" of $3 to
> get in. People would come in...stop at the
> money-collection table... pay their $3 and
> move to the right...usually.

> They'd continue on around each aisle...stop
> and look at an item or two...and continue
> walking...acting as if they were really not
> that interested in anything.

> I thought, "WHAT would get these people
> INTERESTED in looking harder at the items
> (there was some good stuff at the show)?
> WHAT would get these people MOTIVATED into
> BUYING?

> I thought, "Let's see now; They plunk
> down 3 bux... walk around the Show and
> leave!"

> HOLD IT! STOP THE PRESSES! All of a sudden
> IT came to me!

> What if, after plunking down their 3 bux,
> they were handed a green piece of paper, the
> size of a dollar bill. What if the 4 corners
> of this green piece of paper had
> "$3" printed in big letters, 2
> inches high?

> What if, in the center of this green piece
> of paper with "$3" in each
> corner...were printed the words;

> "BROWSER BUCKS!"
> THIS CERTIFICATE WORTH $3 TOWARDS THE
> PURCHASE OF ANY ITEM AT ANY DEALER BOOTH!
> JUST PRESENT THIS COUPON AND $3 WILL BE
> TAKEN OFF THE PRICE!"

> So...I ran this "idea" by the
> promoter...showed her a mock-up of the
> coupon and she agreed to give the idea a try
> at her Spring Show...which I just came from.

> Guess what? Her dealers just had the BEST
> SALES of ANY Show they've ever attended!

> People who used to just walk by the booths,
> taking a quick glance and walking by....were
> NOW...STUDYING THE MERCHANDISE
> INTENTLY....thinking about WHAT THEY COULD
> SPEND THEIR FREE $3 ON!

> Attendees were NOW....LOOKING TO BUY! The
> simple little green coupon with $3 in the
> corners had FORCED THEM TO THINK ABOUT
> "BUYING" rather than
> "BROWSING"!

> I'm sure most of the attendees could afford
> to buy almost anything in the show they
> wanted...that wasn't the point. They had
> just been GIVEN $3...and the $3 could ONLY
> BE SPENT on merchandise at the Show!

> WOW! What a POWERFUL MOTIVATOR that little
> green coupon was. Some dealers claimed
> TRIPLE and QUADRIPLE their previous sales.

> And...most of them wanted in on the Fall
> Show and signed up NOW...to be sure to be
> included.

> So...from a "simple little
> idea"...things were changed around to
> AWESOME proportions. An idea that came to me
> because I know a "little-bit"
> about human nature.

> I KNEW that that little piece of green paper
> with the $3 in each corner would be
> "BURNING A HOLE IN THEIR POCKETS!"
> They couldn't stand it! They HAD TO SPEND
> IT!

> And...what this did was take them from a
> "Browse" attitude to a
> "BUY" attitude!

> Granted....some people redeemed the coupon
> for $3 worth of marbles or something else
> worth $3...BUT... for the most part, dealers
> reported MANY people redeeming that little
> green piece of paper with $3 in the
> corners...on items worth MUCH MORE THAT $3!

> In fact, 3 or 4 dealers were overwhelmed
> with sales.

> It was "MOTIVATIONAL MAGIC"! You
> shoulda ben der!

> Anyway...I hope you enjoyed reading this and
> I gave you an example of how just a
> "simple little idea" can change
> things around 180 degrees.

> So...use your noggin and THINK!

> Thanks for reading....Don Alm

Here's how it worked on me...
 

> It was "MOTIVATIONAL MAGIC"! You
> shoulda ben der!

> Anyway...I hope you enjoyed reading this and
> I gave you an example of how just a
> "simple little idea" can change
> things around 180 degrees.

> So...use your noggin and THINK!

> Thanks for reading....Don Alm

Don,
Great idea - as always I love reading your posts.
For people that are thinking this can only be
used for 'display' type events - think again.

The idea of money burning a hole in your pocket
is a very powerful motivator. It worked on me!

Here's the story. When I first got started
intently studying online marketing in 1999. I
didn't know who to turn to. I bought 3 books.
1. Make Your Site Sell
2. Marty Foley's Online Goldmine (I think that's
the title)
3. A $500 expensive course from Ken McCarthy
because it was endorsed by Dan Kennedy.

Now Ken did something pretty slick (which for
some reason he stopped doing) he gave me $500
credit towards any web work his company would do
for me in the future.

That $500 I just spent on tapes and manuals was
sitting there waiting for me to use it. And I'll
give you one guess who I used to put up my first
website....

....Of course - Ken's company.

So if you give Don's idea some more thought -
you'll see it works in tons of applications.

Thanks again Don for reminding me.

-Yanik




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