Set Up At A Home Show Today...

Max10

Last Home Show of the year this weekend.. I deal mostly with Replacement windows,Sunsetter Awnings,Gutter Guard and Siding at the home shows. Its amazing how many sunrooms were on display there....had to be like 6 to 7 different companies. There seems to be a lot of new home builders at this one...The shows in the spring really didn't bring out the New Home Builders...Some of there displays were amazing...had to cost a bundle...I have probably $4,000 tied up in my displays but some of them must have $15,000 to $20,000...There seems to be a lot of roofing companies also unlike the spring and summer shows...Hopefully we get some good attendance at this one...I was in on in May that had only 100 people come through...All of us vendors packed it in a day early, that one cost me $1,500 and the promoter never showed his face that Sat or Sunday ...live and learn. Most of the shows really pay off for us...we hit all the County Fairs during the summer keeps us busy..One thing I noticed about the fairs is that there is not as much competition and your company gets a lot more exposer...with the thousands of people that pass through...but the leads are not as good...At the Home Shows some people have actual measurements of there windows. Its going to be a long Weekend!!!

Double-A

GL. I hope you have a great show.

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Max10

we never did one in the fall.... hopefully we get a good turn out...suppose to get cold up here this weekend might help a bit...

Tscarborough

One thing I always did when I did home shows was partner with a related business and share costs.

Since I was doing pavers/retaining walls, I would hook up with both sunroom outfits and sportcourt vendors, and I would always involve a nursery to have the booth "planted". We would build a much larger display than any of us could afford alone, and the sheer scale of our display brought in major traffic, as well as winning "best of show" awards.

Max10

Some companies had 5 to 10 guys working on the displays....You only have 2 days to set them up...One of the hardest things is waiting in line to pull your truck close enough to the doors to unload...I'm glad we did it today because there was still a lot of vendors not there yet...tomorrow its going to be a mad house there..

ruskent

Next year is going to be my first year doing home shows. I see my self pulling alot of long weekends next year.

Do you find home shows fun or boring after awhile?

Matt

Tscarborough

I enjoy doing shows, but they are a grind. The booths that are duds are those in which the persons manning them view it as duty to be endured, while those that are full of people and generate leads are those in which the people manning the booth use it for what it is and at least pretend to enjoy it.

Find yourself a yardstick to use as a prop, and do not sit in a chair (I do not even get chairs for the booth). It also helps to have enough personnel so that you can work 2-3 hour segments instead of having to stand there for 8 hours.

I have done booths from local associations with 20 attendees up to the World of Concrete with tens of thousands, and everything in between.

Trade shows are what you make of them.

Thewoodman

I have done a couple of shows, and I have always enjoyed talking to the people. My wife tells me that I have the gift of Gab. That probably helps a little.

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Max10

I enjoy the shows much better then the fairs...The fairs seem to last forever!!! You could only eat so much Fair food...The fairs are much cheaper to get in then the shows...The average 10 X 10 spot at a show ranges from $750 to $950...and they run usually Friday night..all day on Sat and Sunday...The Fairs range from $275 to $400 for a 20 X 20 spot and run for a week or more...

Glasshousebltr

I haven't done a show since the 80's. I used to have a room addition with several different types of glazing and extrusions combined that I could assemble in short order. I had some cool stuff to fill her up as well.

That's a good point about not sitting TS.

Bob

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Bob

Mike Finley

Those are good tips. Also people are reluctant to approach a dead booth, people will avoid them like the plague, but a busy booth creates it's own attraction, people want to know what the buzz is about.

Max10

Thats the truth, soon as I start talking to someone it seems like my booth gets crowded...There is certain times of the day at the shows were you get a lot of traffic...Sat 10am until 3pm after that it seems to die...same with Sunday...anytime after 6 on the weekends the shows are dead...and there open until 10!

dougchips

How do you draw a crowd if a crowd will not gather without a crowd. I think i just confused myself.

I was reading on-line about people that make a living doing magic at trade shows in order to draw a crowd.

Tscarborough

One bored guy sitting at a table will not draw a crowd. A couple of people moving around talking to the crowd as they pass, and amongst themselves, will feed on itself. Of course, it helps if you have a cool booth design, too.....

Mike Finley

Yeah, that's the ticket. It pays to go to some of these things and just study the dynamics of what is going on. Your observations can be priceless. Just look around at people's booths, at how they are set up, how they are maning them, see what booths have more traffic and why, analyze it all.

Max10

It was a long weekend! The show was pretty dead..I knew the attendance wouldn't be good in the fall had to give it a shot...over all I set up 6 appointments for windows ..handed out a lot of info on or company...The biggest thing was my Gutter Guard protection...hopefully I will be getting a lot of calls for it. I sell it mostly as a (Do It Yourself) product...it nice keeps me off the roofs Sold a lot of it at the fairs this year..All in all I am glad I did the fall show...I really wont know how good it was for a couple of weeks..

HepaCore

Theres another great show in Wash,DC coming up next year. Strongly recommend it.