Whether you are a small baker, a craft maker, an artisan, a small local business, or even a non-profit organization – vendor events can boost your outreach efforts. For some, events are a main source of support. Success at events is important for growth and can lead your operation to bigger things. After working in event promotion for 8 years, being a vendor myself for 4 years, and having 12 years of experience with marketing, I want to share the valuable information on successful interactions and answer the burning questions you likely have.

Layout

Choosing a layout can be a daunting task, especially since changing your mind tends to mean starting over on your set up. I’d like to reduce some of that stress by offering some tips and examples.

Ideally, you want your layout to be easy to navigate through while using what space you have. Leave ample room for safe browsing – don’t make closed in spaces where customers may trip, get snagged by a display, or bump into objects. Some events may have specific guidelines about walking space requirements – they’ll generally be very up-front with that if it is the case. My advice is to analyze your set-up through the lense of different ability levels: Would a kid be safe in this space? Would a person who uses mobility aids (canes, walkers, wheel chairs, motor chairs) be able to shop my booth? Will short people have trouble? Can tall people get in here?

Be prepared to have flexibility with your booth layout. You might be placed in a booth location with neighbors directly to your sides. You might be on a corner with two sides people could enter from. Booths might be spread out at some events. Some events you may only have a table for your space, others might have a 10-foot-by-10-foot booth space. Most events I’ve been to require you to bring your own set-up, from tables and chairs to pop-up tents and displays. A few events I’ve been to actually provided the set-up.

Most of us start out with products on tables, and it can grow into having display shelves or grid walls. What works for you will be unique.

TENT/CANOPY NOTES: Outdoor events tend to require canopies to be weighed down with appropriate weights to avoid having the wind catch them and knock them over. Some outdoor events that are on grass ask you to stake your canopy tent. Always check the rules, and FOLLOW them. I have seen six tent tragedies in my years, and four were new to being a vendor (the other two knew better). People and property can get hurt if you don’t secure a tent. I’ll include some useful options for tent weights in the suggested gear section below as well as some budget ideas. The advice I’ve heard is to have each tent leg weighed down with at least 40 pounds of weight, for reference.

Display

Your display should utilize your alotted space effectively while making your products easily available to your target customers. Of course, you have to be able to fit your display and all your products into the vehicle you have available to you! There are folding displays that can be helpful with smaller modes of transportation. I’ll get into some fun ideas, and towards the end of the post, I’ll have some suggested gear that might put you on the right track. I have had great success letting my display grow as my business has grown. Things started out very DIY, and it has gotten a little more “professional” as we go. That mentality of flexibility has been a great advantage, so I hope you are able to take confidence from my experience.

Be creative with how you set out your products for viewing, and do your best to tie in the appearance with your brand theme. You want your products to be easily seen; you want it to be fairly obvious what each product is; and you want the products to be the star of the set up (no distractions).

Cover your tables with a table cloth of some sort; bare tables can be distracting and feel less “ready.” Particularly, having the underneath of the table covered helps to close off distractions, and it can give you a good place to hide extra supplies. Choose a color that is subtle but fits your brand. Black table cloths generally compliment any set-up. Subtle patterns look good on table cloths, but I tend to avoid loud patterns.

The height of your displays should be higher in the back and shorter in the front. Cascading your products downward to the front helps your customers see everything better. Don’t block out views if you don’t have to. Taller displays should go behind shorter displays. You may utilize this concept to make the most of the vertical space in your booth as well.

Branding

Branding for your business or organization is both a simple and a complex concept. The simple part is that it is the representation of who and what your business is – hopefully something people can come to recognize the business by. The complex part gets into the details of colors, shapes, symbolism, particular fonts, promises, etc. Some brands even have guidelines about what NOT to use in the brand’s imagery. Basic branding for event marketing includes your logo and brand theme on event-related visuals. You don’t have to go all-out for any and every brand – handmade makers should especially keep it simple, as it may be easy to spend more money on branding then it would make in return.

Basic branding establishes who you are to the customer, and that is the minimum that a vendor should do for events. Having your logo somewhere noticeable in your display is a great start, especially if you are new to vending. I like having my logo and a short line about what my brand is – that is a way to draw in the target audience. You may have something as simple as a small table standee with your logo – that’s perfectly fine! Some ideas to expand upon that (if and when you can) involves branded table runners, branded banners, branded tshirts, branded shopping bags, and branded packaging.

Next-level branding is something to consider when you are able to cost-effectively add things to your overhead. These things cost big money, and their major goal is gaining impressions – which can lead to future sales but rarely immediate outcomes. These are things like branded give-away items: stickers, drinkware, pens, hats, keychains, koozies, etc. It may be tempting to get into this sort of thing early, but you’ll hurt your budget. I’ve seen businesses practically bankrupt before they start selling by getting things like branded tents, branded flags, custom event signs, and other flashy branding. I promise, you can build your brand organically without the bells and whistles. I can also promise that the average customer will not look at a seamstress booth with a wacky-inflatable-tube-flailing-arm-man and think “support small business” (unless you are building a very strategic satire-based brand, in which case carry on my epic friend). My point here is that it is okay to “look” small, especially when your brand is small. As you grow your business, your branding and display can grow with you.

Your branding should take on a sort of theme to hold it all together. Some themes include posh, shabby chic, rustic, urbana, industrial, organic, earthy, vintage, retro, royal, farmhouse chic, and modern. You’ll find ways to tie lots of aspects of your business into your theme, such as the business cards, the display appearance, the packaging, your social media pages, and eventually your advertisements. Much of this comes with time – while big corporations can come out the gate with this all planned out, our small businesses take one step at a time. And that’s perfectly fine!

Information for attendees

Some attendees shop with their eyes, and some will shop with dialogue. Be sure to have visual information for those who are less talkative. Every item should be clearly labeled with pricing (some events and localities require this anyways). Your brand (like who you are) and what you do should be obvious and/or stated on signage. And your contact information (or social media accounts) should be easily available for those who might reach out later. If you can, have business cards on hand to give to those who purchase AND those who take a good look without buying today. You may go as far as having a printout of options or information about what you do. Printing large quantities can be pricey and less environmental, so you may consider using a single large print of your information that customers can take a picture of. I highly suggest QR codes for websites, socials, and pay links – this helps cut down the time and frustration of typing on touch screens!

Be prepared to share about yourself and your products or services. You are competing with tons of things for each person’s attention everyday, so take the opportunity to connect directly and give your potential customers the human side of your operation. In my experience, people appreciate and support big effort in small business – show them that! Some work speaks for itself, but much of what people see would be better justified with a personal explanation. This is why it is incredibly important to greet everyone who comes near your booth or table.

You can fill silence as your customers look around with details about what you do, why you do it, how long you’ve done this, what it involves, what the benefits are, how you help people with your craft or service, etc.

Greeting everyone

If you’re anything like me, you may be introverted. Maybe even avoiding conversation. If you are an entrepreneur or self-employed (or otherwise vending at events), your success is going to require coming out of your shell and tapping into your inner charisma. You don’t have to believe me, but I believe in you – you got this! What you most certainly DO NOT want to do is sit quietly in the back of your booth as people walk by.

You will drastically increase your rate of engagement at events by simply greeting every single passerby with a polite “hey there”, “how’s it going”, “good morning”, “good afternoon” – any small talk sort of thing. It may feel awkward at first, but trust the process. You will gain confidence as time goes on. People are conditioned to acknowledge polite greetings, and they know you aren’t being rude. Obviously, you don’t want to interrupt long-winded conversations or carnival-bark at everyone as they pass through. Be considerate of your booth neighbors, and don’t pull customers away from them – let people browse naturally, of course. But you don’t want anyone to go by without having at least a gaze into your display. If they aren’t interested, they’ll keep walking (most likely they’ll return a polite greeting as they walk). However, many of the people you greet will reconsider passing you by and at least slow down to take a closer look.

As those who come in to see your display take a cursory glance, you now have an opportunity to chat with them about your products or services, as described in Information for Attendees. Trust me when I say that I have literally seen customers who were very happy I had greeted them when I did – it’s easy to spend all day at an event and still miss the stuff you love to see.

Using the Sales Cycle

Once you are talking to a customer, every conversation becomes a potential sale. Take care to keep it genuine – you don’t want to give the impression you are a used car salesman. Think of it like this: you are advocating for your products or services. This is your baby; your heart and soul; you nurture this thing from its inception, now advocate for it to others. You may have heard of the sales cycle before. You’ve maybe even noticed it in use on yourself. If you’re not familiar with it, buckle in. You’re about to learn a big secret to how to increase your successful closings!

What is the sales cycle? A sales cycle is your repeatable roadmap that transforms prospects into customers.

The general sales cycle goes like this:
1. Prospecting & Research
2. Contact/Connect
3. Qualification & Discovery
4. Presentation & Demonstration
5. Overcoming Objections/Negotiation
6. Closing
7. Following Up/Nurturing

How can I apply the sales cycle to my specific products? Comprehensively through asking yourself a set of careful questions regarding your products or services.

First, who is your target market? What audience will purchase your products or services? Hone that in, and seek out events where the event audience includes your target audience.

Then, remember that thing before about greeting everyone as they pass by? That is the second step, connecting with the potential customer!

Next, we refer to the process of qualifying the customer. You ask the customer questions to determine if they are a good candidate for your product or service. If your product fills a need, ask questions regarding that. If your service is only for homeowners, find out who owns and who rents. If you make cute things, ask what their favorite cute thing is. If you make gifts, ask what their recipient is into. Sometimes you learn here that the person you’re talking to wouldn’t really benefit from your product or service, you can wind down the conversation and let them browse in peace. Or maybe they are looking at one of your products, but the conversation tells you that they would greatly benefit from a different one of your products. Proceed from there to the presentation step.

Present or demonstrate your product or service to the qualified customer. This may mean letting them try on jewelry. Or showing them how a fidget toy works. Or presenting options for colors, sizes, or types. Give the customer ideas of how they would use this product. Ideally, you want the customer imagining themselves owning your product. It’s important that you believe in the product so that you can pass that confidence to the customer.

Overcoming objections is a key to selling your own products. Some days you’ll find that most of your sales came from people who originally avoided it. Are you being pushy? No, you are setting the facts out even when things seem negative. Let’s go over some common objections and great answers to them.

"No thank you, I didn't bring cash with me today."
-"I do take card as well if you see anything that speaks to you."

"That's out of my budget, sorry."
-"Totally understandable. I'd be happy to do a custom piece within your budget. Would you mind sharing your price point with me?"

"I could just make that myself."
-"Thank you for your feedback. My products are handmade from renewable resources."
-"Thank you for your feedback. My small business supports my homestead."
-"Thank you for your feedback. Purchases here support [insert non-profit]."

"I can't justify buying that until payday."
-"No problem, would you like me to follow up with you next week?" [Take down contact info.]

"This is really nice, but it's not my thing."
-"Thank you so much for the compliment! These do make great gifts, too!"
-"[insert holiday] is coming up, don't forget about gifts."

"I like this, but I just recently bought [something similar]."
-"As a local business, I'll be around at upcoming events. Here, take my card and follow my socials to see where we'll be next."

Now for the hard part that isn’t so hard after all: closing the sale. This should be a smooth transition. For most, it’s a matter of exchanging the product for the payment, easily done. For some, you might need to collect details for a custom creation or for a service. This is where you confidently say, “awesome, let me get your contact information and put together the order for you to approve.”

The last part, following up and nurturing, is generally for business-to-business sales. You may need to use this step if you do custom work or planned to check in with a potential customer at a better time for them.

Selling might be a little shaky at first, but practice will get you to new levels all the time. Keep at it!

Taking breaks

Events tend to go for 4 or more hours. You’ll need to plan to take breaks, especially for longer events. Bathroom breaks, food breaks, a chance to sit down – do what you need to to get through the day. Often, a booth neighbor or and event worker will be happy to watch your booth for a few minutes to be sure no one takes your stuff while you are gone. I usually take my cash drawer key with me anyways. Stay hydrated, don’t skip meals, and give your back and feet a breather if you need to. When you do a show alone, you could even get a little table sign that says something like “be right back” for when you step away.

Bringing help

Sometimes, even those of us who work alone will need to give in and ask a friend for help. Long events and super busy events are a great example. If you have at least one person with you, you can take turns taking breaks. This way the booth is never unattended. For busy events, your friend would ideally be able to help you talk to customers. Teach them your sales cycle!

Supplies for unexpected circumstances

A lot of events don’t have tools or supplies available for vendor set up. I have kept an emergency set of supplies that I have found super useful at random times (sometimes to help my booth neighbors).

My emergency supplies includes:
sunscreen
bug spray
scissors
tape
paracord
paper towels
a philips screwdriver
a flathead screwdriver
extra phone charger
hand sanitizer
zip ties
flash light

You never know when you’ll need a small solution in a pinch!

On a budget

We all start from the bottom, and some of us have to wing it a bit. That’s okay! It can even be endearing to customers. No shame. Here are some ideas for tackling your vendor needs on a budget.

Pictured here is a cute display of pendants hung on a repurposed vinyl record which was heated, bent, and painted.

First bit of advice for a budget: consider repurposing things you already have or things you can get by thrifting or buying used in your area. Sometimes, just posting in your local groups on social media that you are looking for something might get a response from a nice person who just wants to give theirs away!

Table covers:
thrift table cloths
bed sheets (Twin size top sheets fit a 6-foot table with total coverage. Full size would fit 8-foot tables.)
dollar-store party disposable table cloths

Tent weights:
cinderblocks with tie-downs
fill buckets with cement, add tie-downs
playground sand into buckets or jugs, add tie-downs
kettlebells with tie-downs
fill 4-inch PVC pipes with cement, add tie-downs (use lengths you can handle, add more for more weight)

Branded packaging and bags:
Printable sticker labels that you print and stick yourself
A custom rubber stamp with your branding which you can stamp your packaging with yourself

Tiered shelves for displays:
Spice racks
shelf organizers
stacked books under a nice cloth
fabric-wrapped boxes of different sizes
cake displays

Table signs:
dollar store acrylic photo stand
photo frames

Suggested gear

From inside the industry, I’ve seen tons of useful items that have made life easier for some vendors. I will share those with you here. Please note that external links here may be affiliate links. Affiliate links help to support this blog. I appreciate any support!