Last week, I exhibited at the Buyer’s Market of American Craft with a group of students, faculty, and alumni from the university where I teach.
One of the things we did was set up hard walls for out booth. Because we were all showing jewelry, hard walls certainly weren’t necessary. In fact, we were the only booth in jewelry that had hard walls. (The show provides pipe and drape as part of the booth fee.)
Not only did this make our booth stand out, it got me thinking about the choices people make when it comes to setting up their trade show booth.
So often, I see people looking for the path of least resistance. “What’s going to be the easiest to set up?” “What will be the lightest to transport?” “What’s going to cost the least?”
I can’t say I don’t sympathize with this mindset. Those walls aren’t the easiest things to store, transport, and set up.
But they are more than worth the extra trouble.
Beyond the visual impact they provide (it really helps the booth stand out) I think they communicate something else to potential buyers. They communicate a willingness to go the extra mile.
If your tendency is to only do the bare minimum (whether it’s your trade show booth, your website, or some other aspect of your business) what does that communicate to potential buyers about other areas of your brand?
Do you want to be known as the business that only puts in the bare minimum?
Or as one who goes above and beyond?
Now I’m not saying you need to start schlepping heavy walls to every show you do. But the next time you find yourself making a decision to do something because it’s the easiest or costs the least, ask yourself “what does this really say about my brand?”
Hi Megan,
Very timely post in that we are looking at revamping and up grading our site.
Where was the show at and if you don’t mind my asking how did you transport the walls? Were the walls normal materials or something more involved.
Trying to make this a huge learning oportunity here. 🙂
Best of Luck and hope to hear from you……..Deb
Deb –
The show was in Baltimore. They also do a winter version in Philly.
We drove the walls to the show in a rented Uhaul van, and home using my husband’s pickup truck. I am debating shipping the walls to the next show via freight. The walls are framed out using 2x3s and the surface of the wall is thin plywood.
hope that helps!
As always your posts really give me business pointers to think about. I had a recent experience in mailing one of my pieces and I totally effed up by not putting more thought into securely mailing the piece and it broke…because I didn’t put in the extra effort wrap it.
I won’t make that mistake again!
I have worked at craft shows for professional artists and it is ALOT of work putting up a booth but at the end of the day, hard work pays off with how your work is displayed.
thanks again Meagan for the great tips and insight!
It was a long 2 weeks without your posts!
I think not a lot of people wants to buy from a business that only puts in the bare minimum… It doesn’t send a great message about the brand (cheap brand, lazy brand…) so why customers would want to be associated with that brand by buying their products?
Your booth looks amazing!
Great post Megan. It was great seeing you at the Buyers Market show. Your booth looked awesome at the show. Very classic with clean lines and it matched what you were showing. I learned so much from the workshop there. Hope you did well. Now back to thinking about my own booth design.
The demands of making a living while having a full life necessitate balancing our work with its potential to be lucrative. The booth looks lovely, but did your efforts actually increase sales? I find that in the current economic climate, buyers can be wary of booths and products that “look expensive”.
Karen – I don’t think all buyers are put off by a booth that “looks expensive” It’s true that the current economic climate has forced many to pinch pennies, but ultimately that’s not my buyer or my customer. My pieces aren’t cheap, and I don’t want to communicate that with my booth. It someone is turned off by the “expensive” aesthetic of my booth they weren’t my customer to begin with.
And ultimately, that’s what’s most important to keep in mind. You need to match the message of your brand to the type of customer you want to attract.
It’s true, care and attention to detail are important. But the truth is doing these trade shows is such an expense, and the fact that someone is even traveling across the state and spending money on booth fees, plane tickets and hotel says a lot, I think. In the end it’s about the product, even if a catchy booth display invites people in. I could be wrong…if sales went up, then it would be worth it.
Ann –
I couldn’t agree more that it is ultimately about the product. However, shows are so large that just having a good product isn’t enough. You have to be able to draw people in.
I also think it’s a common misconception that just showing up at a show is enough. It’s not. This is the kind of thinking that leads to disappointing sales. Showing up is only half the battle, if you aren’t doing every in your power to bring buyers in and generate sales than the basic expenses of doing the show will be wasted.
Hi Megan
Another thankyou, an interesting post and great to have the make an impact/go the extra mile re-enforced. My previous job involved Fair Trade handicraft exhibitions and one of the biggest challenges was to get our volunteers to go the extra mile with their displays. I will pass you post on to my successor & embrace some of your ideas here at our store.
We are contemplating a tour of my husbands filigree jewellery in New Zealand next year, will keep your photos on file to give us some ideas when/if that eventuates.
Best wishes, Ruth
I really struggle with my booth, as I have 2 very different product lines. I have 3 big shows this fall, and want my booth to look more professional/polished than it has in the past.
Food for thought.
Karen said: “The booth looks lovely, but did your efforts actually increase sales?” This is what I’m curious about as well. Since you’ve done this show before, you can likely track sales for a number of years… did this make a discernible impact on your profits? I know presentation is important (critical!), and I personally use hard walls for my artwork out of necessity (though they are 4′ display walls, not full 8′ walls), but there must be a point of diminishing returns, no? I looked into LDL shipping recently for long boards for an installation and the prices were around $700, so the walls certainly can’t be cheap to ship. I remember seeing your displays at Cain Park several years ago — you used rolled printmaking paper with windows cut out to display your jewelry. It stood out in my mind as the most simple, clean, elegant display in the show — and the cost was minimal. As an artist, spare no expense. As a business, where do you draw the line?
Chris – I’ve actually only done the summer BMAC show for the last two years, but I my sales were 4x more than they were the previous summer. (However, I did have the walls last summer as well.) In my experience, an increase in sales can never be attributed to one single factor, more likely it has to do with a combination of my presentation, my improved sales skills, and the type of buyer that was at the show.
I tend to only take the walls to shows I can drive them to, which does cut down on the expense. However, I ship a crate to many shows that would be within very reasonable driving distance. For me, the reduction in stress (not having to drive/carry stuff myself) and the improvement in quality of the display pieces far exceed the extra cost.
Yes, I did use those paper displays for a number of years, and was always reasonably happy with them. But they weren’t without their problems. (They didn’t hold up well over time, I was constantly having to remake them, people actually found them confusing.) My goal in my new displays was to keep that same clean aesthetic but build something that was a little more hardy.
I would also add, in regards to those paper displays, that even though they were inexpensive, I would still consider them going beyond the bare minimum, because there was a lot of thought and design that went into them.
Going beyond the bare minimum doesn’t mean it has to cost a lot, just that you are focused on not taking the easy, same as everyone else, route.
thanks for the reply! And interesting to hear your thoughts re: previous displays as well. I agree that there was a lot of thought and design in both. This has been something I’ve been dealing with recently, so I appreciate your perspective. One of the challenges I face with my work is that people don’t understand how it is made. I invested in some nice dye-sub banners showing the process, only to find that few people really looked at the banners! While they’re nice to have, I’m questioning whether it was worth the money for just a visual backdrop. I’m in the process of creating a physical sample board to see if that helps. I guess part of doing shows is the constant tweaking!
Your booth is a beautiful display. It creates a sense of appreciation and value of the products you are selling. It draws the potential buyer in. I can easily see myself meandering through the display, enjoying the clean, quiet elegance of the booth. I agree that effort, whether in a booth, website, or blog site make a difference. I find myself staying and scrolling or strolling through areas that are attractive, well thought out, well laid out and easy to maneuver. It makes the experience more enjoyable, and it creates a desire to return and see what’s new. Costs and time are certainly important factors. But, if you can feasibly go the extra mile, I believe the impact is valuable and lasting.
Megan, I love reading your blog, and almost always agree with your point of view. But being a retailer (in addition to a manufacturer of my own product line) when I attend trade shows as a buyer it really makes no difference to me whether the walls are hard or have curtains. The extra mile for me would be more in the friendliness of the vendor, literature available for me to take home, and maybe some eye catching detail, whether it be pretty ribbons, a beautiful banner or something else. (being in the craft industry that decorating of the booth is a big deal at the shows I attend) Hard walls would be easier to decorate and display on, that much is for sure. I might always add I love to go the “new” area, where the displays are much more minimal, to see what new and exciting products are hitting the market. I guess what I am trying to say, a good buyer will not discount a company based on the walls of their booth.
Thanks for your great posts.
This is fascinating, because I recently noticed my own negative reaction to an under-dressed booth, while attending a local fair (as a buyer) the other day.
I walked past one visual artist’s booth a couple of times, before finally slowing down to check out her work. The art itself was lovely and well executed, but the absolute lack of imagination in her booth design left me feeling disappointed. Just plain white fabric walls, a white tablecloth, and a few easels of framed paintings.
I thought to myself, “We artists are such eccentric, creative souls… shouldn’t that creativity be reflected somehow in the aesthetic of our displays?”
Now granted, as I sit here self-importantly typing, I’ve yet to actually participate in a live show… but I’ve been cooking up display ideas for two years. When I finally get the courage to step out there, having visual appeal will be a top priority. 😉
I would be drawn into the booth shown here. It not only shouts “quality”, but it showcases the product with its simplicity. Participating in a show is expensive and a lot of work, as several commenters have noted, but I disagree that the work should be expected to stand on its own. Even if someone thinks they are only paying attention to the work, every extra effort exerts influence, even if only on a subliminal level. Why not go all in, if you’re going to do it at all?
Megan! Thanks for the post. I created some beautiful hard walls for my last trade show here in the Pacific Northwest (my home turf). Clients/Fans loved the result and although I’m not positive my sales were significantly higher I did receive a lovely artist award. I’m sure my display helped on that front!
As I now prepare for the Philly Museum Show in November I am faced with the huge challenge of flying across the country. Do you use hard walls for your West Coast shows? Any easy inexpensive solutions for those of us who are flying a very long distance to a venue? Feel free to direct me to past blog posts in case I missed a critical one!
Thanks Megan!
Oop, I noticed an answer to my cross country question above. (You ship a crate rather than bring walls.) Any additional advice?
I’ve used hard walls and I’ve used lace curtains hung around the perimeter of my booth when I first started. The curtains were pretty but I needed free standing shelves and lattice panels to hang things from.
The thing that I feel is more important than the walls s lighting. You can have a lovely booth with lots of detail and imagination having gone into it but if it’s dark so that the work isn’t highlighted, the walls don’t matter. The lighting on the picture above is very dramatic and imaginative and that’s what draws my eyes and says “come, see what I have”!
I totally agree with your thoughts here and I love your booth! I think when I see something this well done it gives me confidence in the fact that the product has the same integrity. And it isn’t always about money, this can be done in so many ways. Sometimes just the sense that someone has put in the extra time to make it special says a lot about them as a crafter/entrepreneur. I find that I am most interested in this part of whatever I am doing..in my painting, in my vintage shop, (ok maybe not in my cooking) that this ‘making it better’ part is what keeps me interested and challenged! Thanks for the post!
I love the booth and agree with the idea that you MUST go one step further than everyone else.
Especially with jewelry, it’s very easy to slip into the ‘buy 50 foldup faux leather necklace stands and plop them on your black velvet tablecloth’…just like the 30 other jewelry vendors in the show.
I am CONSTANTLY thinking and re-thinking display ideas for ease of accessibility, theft-deterrent and uniqueness.
Can I ask? 🙂 Your upright necklace ‘boards’ at the back? Are they actual boards? Love them, they show off the necklaces beautifully.
Earrings are my bane, so hard to display gracefully without resorting to mundane earring stands.
~brenda
Hi Megan,
Thanks for the great tips.
A little off topic here but I think I saw Michele Mahone on tv (who does the Hollywood gossip on The Australian Today Show on weekends) wearing one of your steel leaves necklaces!? I could be wrong but it looked very much like it.
Do you approach celebrities (their reps) to offer them your pieces to wear? Just curious, of the benifits of this if you do 🙂
Hi Megan,
Solid advice as usual!
It looks like I’m not the only one looking for more details about your actual booth construction. Would you consider writing a post on that? I for one would be so grateful.
I agree that it’s so important to do something special for your booth design – and yours looks amazing by the way! In the trade shows I do, here in Australia, it’s almost expected that your booth is going to look great and be creative, so it’s quite the challenge to come up with something that will stand out with all the other amazingness around you.
I have a show coming up in a couple of weeks and this time around have decided to invest in a larger spot. This means I am trying to cut on booth display and freighting costs to still keep in budget, but I’m finding it a really enjoyable challenge to still come up with an amazing booth with those restrictions. While it will be a cheaper set up, I think it’s going to be even better than my last few. Fingers crossed!
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Hi Megan,
I totally agree that going that extra bit does make a difference. First impressions are lasting and can really help/hinder your brand identity.
Your booth looks amazing and you really do stand out!
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I was thinking about this, and thinking about the subconscious decisions people make… to me, I think part of the effect of the hard walls is that it makes your booth look like an actual shop, rather than a booth/stall. And people behave differently in shops than they do in markets, and have different expectations. I think, in a market, with its open spacing and temporary fittings, people get into the mindset of bargain-hunting. Whereas, in a jewellery shop, you’re more in a mindset of paying for quality. And what you did there was build a shop in the middle of a sea of booths, and I think people probably walked into your space and immediately took on a different mindset. Clever!
I love your display! I am looking to go a similar route, how did you make your tables, or where did you get them? Also with the hard walls, how do they stay standing, you must have some sort of bracket or do they just hold each other up due to the corner? I am a little last minute, but am interested in doing a partial wall for my next show, maybe for 1 corner of my booth, does that seem odd? Thanks!
Can you further explain the walls and how you put them together?
Patty – the walls are made from thin plywood and 2x3s and are held together in the back with carriage bolts and c-clamps.
I just recently was given booth space (in trade! Oh yeah!)
I don’t want to use the drapes- an am trying to find instructions on creating the plywood or foam core walls- my question is… how do you keep the walls from falling over of they are essentially frames covered with a piece of plywood? What is at the base to keep them sturdy and anchored?
Your booth is fantastic- the dark gray with white is gorgeous, modern and highlights your jewelry so nicely!
Perfect timing for me with this post! I appreciate all of your info and advice, and your booth looks awesome!
What lighting would you recommend? I am getting ready to do a round of bigger/nicer shows and I’m a bit intimidated about things like lighting…I’ve never really had to worry about it would you suggest clip lights, so they can clip on a table and overhead if need be? Around how many would you use for a normal 10×10?
Thanks for any and all advice! I love your blog and I appreciate it do much!
I love your display booth, looks perfect with your brand image and highlight your jewelry.
I’m preparing for my first wholesale show, the ACC Baltimore wholesale show in February and stuck on what to use as lighting for my corner booth, I’m flying from Vancouver to NYC then either drive or fly to Baltimore.
What do you use for lights? Track lights? Hard to see from your photo … I’m hoping that I can pick up lights in Baltimore for the show instead do shipping my tracks from Canada.
What do you recommend?
Thanks.