My First Sales Event

For the past few weeks, I've been working feverishly to get enough bibs done in time for Sammie's Holiday One-Stop-Shop fundraiser. This was my very first sales event where my bibs were put out there for all to scrutinize, take an interest in, and maybe even make a purchase! I was anxious, excited, and most of all, nervous. To save myself from major disappointment, I set my expectations really low. I'd be happy if I sold one. I sold five! It seemed like everyone who approached my table and listened to my spiel thought my product was clever, practical, cute, and wished they had it when their kids were infants.

After talking with and observing the shoppers, I learned a few key points. Color attracts a lot of attention and is an important factor. Duh! The woman across from me was attracting so much attention and sold a ton of stuff. She makes very colorful, vibrant, and funky/retro patterned skirts for toddlers and little girls. I almost bought one (actually two) myself but upon closer inspection, I saw that some of the seams were coming apart and a bunch of other quality related stuff but I won't elaborate because I'm not here to bad-mouth another mompreneur's product. The skirts are obviously just for dress-up fun and probably not meant to withstand the active lifestyle of a toddler. One or two washings and I'm certain it'll start to fall apart. Oops. That was bad-mouthing. Sorry. Still, that didn't matter. They were beautiful and sold like hot cakes. I was truly impressed and totally jealous.

I tried to emphasize the problem-solving aspect of my bib and the quality of the different fabrics (100% cotton terry cloth, micro fiber terry cloth, 100% organic terry cloth, and bamboo terry cloth--my favorite). Most people didn't seem all that impressed or interested in the different fabrics. The only colors I offered were white, beige, and yellow. You know, natural unisex colors. Interestingly, out of the five that I sold, three of them were the bamboo. It's more expensive than the regular cotton and microfiber. I think they chose the bamboo mostly because it felt nice and not necessarily for it's green properties. So I'm going to have to alter my strategy. I think I'll narrow my selection down to just the eco-friendly fabrics and try to offer them in lots of cool colors.

I also learned that I'd be facing some challenges with my target market--parents with infants. New parents won't know to expect the stinky-neck syndrome ahead of time to stock up like they would with things like diapers and bottles. Experienced parents no longer have infants so they just wished that they would've had this bib when their kids were babies. So what would have to happen is that experienced parents buy this as a gift for their new parent friends. Exposing my product to the right people is going to be very challenging!

Overall, I was happy to be able to share the inspiration behind my product to others who could relate. I can only hope that it impacted them enough to share it with their friends. I'm going to take a break from bib making for a few days to clean my house (a little bit) and curl up on the couch with my husband and dog. We've got a couple of Netflix dvds that have been waiting around to be watched for too long. Soon after, I'll scour the internet for color!