It has been three months since the Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 Southside Business Expo and I am just now finally writing about my first major experience as a business owner. It came like a whirlwind, as I saw the event listed on the calendar the Tuesday before. (The Expo was on a Friday.) I wasn’t even a Chamber member yet, though I was planning on becoming one at some point. So Tuesday afternoon I was in contact with the (very nice) people at the Chamber, became a member, and signed myself up for the Expo.
Preparing for the Expo
The largest constraint I faced was not knowing how many people would come by my booth, which made it difficult to decide just how many promotional materials to print. Some things were going to be simply for show, something that people could look at as they stopped by but not take with them. But there were many questions that would not be answered until I was actually there, which made the preparation process rather difficult.
Another challenge I knew I would face at the Expo was that it was a Business-to-Consumer expo. Not many consumers really need professional design services, with the exception of event invitations. Even then, most people rely on templates or pre-produced invitation sets.
Seeing as I only had a few days to prepare for an event I had no prior experience with, I was a bit stretched in many different ways. I immediately called my sister, who is also my accountant and business adviser. I had already been brainstorming over the 5ish hours from when I saw the event on the calendar to when I was officially registered for it, so I ran my ideas past her and we brainstormed together of the most efficient, economical, and effective ways to promote Point Brake.
From that conversation I decided on having a few different things:
- brochures
- portfolios
- Free Estimate coupons
- business cards (of course)
Thanks to the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten (from my fiance, Shane), I was able to print anything that I needed on my new printer. Due to the time constraint, however, I decided it would be better to opt for Brochure Paper from HP than to have to score and fold 200 brochures. I also used a product from Gartner Paper for the coupons which I had been wanting to find a use for anyway. I didn’t have time to order paper for the portfolios, so I turned to my ever-faithful paper supplier at RIS Paper who was able to get me sample sheets of what I needed.
I’m glad (and lucky) that I took a few shortcuts with the paper, because I was still up literally all night Thursday night folding brochures and assembling the portfolios. Some of the brochures were still printing when I left to go set up my booth for the Expo that morning, but I was still overly prepared with the number that I had.
The Expo Experience
Not many people stopped by the booth. Most looked at what I had sitting out as they walked by slowly, some didn’t even look. As I suspected, my services aren’t of much use to consumers. I did, however, talk to one of the other vendors at the expo who needed a website. Nothing much came of that aside from more practice of the estimate process for me, and an acquaintance in the Chamber.
Though I didn’t gain any clients out of the Expo, it was still a great experience for me. I met some wonderful people in the Chamber, and most of all brainstormed for the B2B Expo coming up in September. I just registered for it today, and I’ll definitely be spacing out the preparation for it over the next month and a half! Hopefully with more time to prepare, I’ll be more prepared and well rested that day instead of staying up all night the night before. I’m hoping to have an interactive display, brochures, (better) business cards, and a better quality and larger (size) portfolio.