Preparing for a Trade Show in Style on EMomNowTV Live

Instead of your usual old tip, I thought sharing this with you would be fun!  Last Tuesday, I spend an hour with the ladies of Entrepreneur Mom Now sharing and discussing how to prepare for a craft or trade show in style!

Here's the video:

Major takeaways?

• Have a goal in mind and share it with your team
• Four keys to trade show success:
• Draw attention
• Brand!
• Collect Information
• Act! (Follow up)
• The majority of people look 45 degrees to the right when entering, this is a good spot for a booth.
• The butt brush effect - keep aisles and space open, allowing people to move freely
• Invite people in and avoid blocking off your booth
• Create a clean and inviting booth, consider using props, and be sure it reflects you and your brand!

Want more?  Click here to sign up and have the convenience of receiving the tip in your inbox as well as even more to learn about each tip! 

Want a professional look for fall?  Get in touch with Flourish today: website, facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too!

Fall Display Inspiration

Well, back to school is upon us...  Kids are grumbling, parents are happy, and everyone is looking for fresh fall merchandise and exciting fall displays! 

It's that time of year to evoke that crisp fall feeling with crunchy leaves and cozy knits in your store.  

If you haven't set your fall displays up yet and are looking for inspiration, here's some of mine.  Enjoy!

Fall by Flourish at Cloud Nine Pajamas

Fall decor balls at Elegant Expressions

Fall Dinnerware by Flourish at Elegant Expressions

Fall Dinnerware by Flourish at Elegant Expressions

Fall Dinnerware by Flourish at Elegant Expressions

Elegant Fall by Flourish for Elegant Expressions

Fall window by Flourish for mbellish

Mabon at Where Faeries Live

Mabon window decoration at Where Faeries Live

Mabon Mannequin at Where Faeries Live

Fall furniture and decor by Flourish

Fall furniture and decor by Flourish

Want a professional look for fall?  Get in touch with Flourish today: website, facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too!

Tip of the Week and another Bonus!

Calculate your average dollars per transaction by dividing sales by the number of transactions.  This gives you an idea of how much each customer is buying and creates easy to understand goals.

For example: If your sales are $1000 (for simplicity's sake) and you had 20 customers that day, you would divide $1000 by 20. That means that the value of your average transaction was $50.00.

You can calculate your average transaction on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis! Its entirely up to you.

Want to know what to do with the information?

There are tons of things you can do! You can monitor your average transaction for things that seem to affect it or use it as a motivational selling tool! 

Having easily measurable targets to reach makes it easy to celebrate reaching your goals and breaking down those goals into small, manageable chunks makes for more celebration and more fun!

Happy selling!

Want more information on using your average transaction to your advantage? Click here to sign up and have the convenience of receiving the tip in your inbox as well as even more info on each tip!

Looking for more info, articles, and interaction? Follow us on facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too!

Bonus Tip:

Whether in a display or in a store, customers need a focal point to look at first.

Tip of the Week

Use visual merchandising to tell your customers a story.  This could be a story centered around lifestyle, colour, trend, or anything else you can imagine!

Spring table display at Elegant Expressions, by Flourish

Any display should give a customer a feeling or a sense, hopefully a good one! This is what telling them a story with merchandise is all about.

Are you having trouble getting started or do you need some inspiration? First, check your marketing calendar... how can you tie in your displays? Second, look for ideas online. In fact, feel free to visit our Pinterest page linked below! Most important of all, have fun with it and so will your customers.

Happy selling!

Want the convenience of receiving the tip, sent directly to your inbox along with even more info?  Click here to sign up!

Looking for more info, articles, and interaction? Follow us on facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too!

Tip of the Week

Do you have inventory that is over a year old?  It could actually be costing you money. It does so by taking up space that profitable product could be using and by requiring regular movement.

A store's display full of aged inventory re-mixed and ready to sell! 

Sometimes, as a shop owner, it can be difficult to let go of merchandise because we know how much it has cost and how much work we have put into selling it already. Unfortunately, the time comes where that merchandise starts costing us money. The general rule of thumb is that merchandise shouldn't hang around your store for more than a year, so you need to consider clearing out aged inventory to make room for newer, more profitable items.

How is it costing us money? Aged inventory takes up space and ties up inventory dollars that could otherwise be spent on new, more profitable merchandise. It can also add clutter to the store or space, inhibiting sales of new product. Once you consider that, consider also how many times you've paid someone to move that product or moved it yourself. Not only is their time worth money, but so is yours! What could you have been doing to make the store money instead of moving aged merchandise?

Okay, that's great, but what are some solutions to this problem? Sign up to receive the tip of the week, sent directly to your inbox, and receive the answer plus a special bonus tip this week!  (You may have noticed that I got a little busy last week and was unable to keep up with my tips.)  All you have to do to sign up is click here!  Is that not working for you?  Send me an email and I'll add you manually.

Have you got questions for Melissa? Check us out on facebook, twitter, Pinterest, the flourish website, or send Melissa an email.

Fixtures Close Up Favorites

I first found Fixtures Close Up on Pinterest and now I look forward to my daily fixtures emails, so I asked Tony Kadysewski if I could share some of my favorites with you!  He generously agreed, so here they are in no particular order!

Also...  These are just the favorites I found, there are so many more gems all over the Fixtures Close Up blog.  You can find everything from big box retail solutions to high end boutique solutions, so set aside some time to go digging!

Industrial and Rural Chic Combine

Image Courtesy of Fixtures Close Up

This is a great DIY project for your store!  Be sure to merchandise any unique configurations neatly to really maximize impact.

Do-It-Yourself Store Fixtures

Photos Courtesy of Simplified Building Concepts and Fixtures Close Up

What a great industrial look for menswear!  If you're not handy, though, be sure to get help from someone who is.

Do-It-Yourself Wood Box Display

Image courtesy of Goncalo Pinho and Fixtures Close Up

What a fun fixture to put together yourself and it wouldn't even be overly expensive!

Haberdash Designer Peg'd Board

Image courtesy of Dezeen, Haberdash and Form Us With Love, as well as Fixtures Close Up

What a fun display!  This could be done anywhere in-store, just be sure it's a feature area!  It could also be a fun backdrop in a simple window with a mannequin.

Plaid on a Pegboard

Image courtesy of Fixtures Close Up

Okay, pegboard usually isn't the go-to material when we think of visual merchandising, but here it is looking good for menswear!  This is pegboard done right.

Lingerie in a Bell Jar

Image courtesy of Fixtures Close Up

Do you really want to make something feel special?  Put it in a bell jar!

Jack Daniel's Barrels as Decor

Image courtesy of Mark Steele Photography, Display and Design Ideas, and Fixtures Close Up

Ahhhh...  Doesn't it just make sense?

Wash Tub Bulk Bins

Image Courtesy of Fixtures Close Up

I've loved this fixture from the first time I saw it and it makes a great DIY project for items sold in bulk!

Store Self-Dispenses T-shirts

Image courtesy of Shop Design Gallery, Streetology, and Fixtures Close Up

Ahhhh...  A good colour flow just makes my heart happy...

Shoe and Sock Color Cross Sell

Image courtesy of Fixtures Close Up

Add on selling at its best!  They say visual merchandising is the silent sales person for a reason...

Have you got more favorites?  Link to them in the comments section below and don't forget to follow the links (headings) to the actual articles from Fixtures Close Up.  There, you'll find more info and additional photos!

Have you got questions for Melissa? Check us out on facebook, twitter,Pinterest, the flourish website, or send Melissa an email.

Happy Selling!

Tip of the Week

Father's day is June 16 this year in North America.  If you don't have a plan for Father's Day merchandise yet, now is the time to make one!

Nike men's and women's golf display at Pineridge Golf Resort by Flourish Design & Merchandising

Even if you aren't ordering specific merchandise for Father's Day or aren't typically a Father's Day destination, it doesn't hurt to pull together some quick and easy Father's Day gifts in an easy to spot location.  Wives, partners, and kids may not have been planning to make their Father's Day purchase that day, but a well placed display can easily change that!

This display could be on the front end of a fixture, on a table, or near the cash register. Any prominent place that fits will do!  If you're not bringing in anything special, gather together items from throughout the store that would make a great Father's Day gift!  If you have some manly cards and gift wrap, don't hesitate to pull those in as well.

Lastly, don't forget to top it off with a well placed sign.  Something as simple as "Father's Day is June 16th" or "Everything you need for Dad" is great.  

Happy selling!

Tip of the Week

Don’t have enough money for brand new fixtures?  Check Kijiji or Craigslist for used fixtures, interesting furniture pieces, and anything else you can use in the store.  Then paint them all the same colour to unify them in the space.

I, personally, tend to use Kijiji the most.  You can search the item you're looking for exactly or just browse if you're not sure!  By doing this, you'll be able to find all sorts of interesting items that nobody else has.

Be sure to check the quality of the piece before making your purchase.  Check joints, give it a wiggle test to make sure it's sturdy, and make sure that it's solid wood and not a laminate/particle board product so that you can re-finish it as you please.

Once you've gathered your unique items, give them a few coats of paint or stain in the same colour to unify them within the store!

Lollipop Love - Twisted Tissue Lollipops

I thought it would be fun to include some blog posts about creating props, so I've been waiting for a great prop project to blog about!

There's no sense in beating around the bush, so here it is...  The Twisted Paper Lollipops tutorial!






These Lollipops were created for a tree in Festival of Trees Edmonton (for the University Hospital Foundation), but could be used in a window display, candy shop, or for a party!  All you need to do is use your imagination... and get comfortable in front of the TV while you twist the tissue paper for them.

Supplies:

• Tissue Paper in Various colours, plan for approximately 6 pieces for a small lollipop and at least 10 for a large one
• Strong, sharp scissors
• Glue or strong adhesive of your choice
• Paper Plates
• Chopsticks or other sticks
• Cellophane if desired
• Tape
• Ribbon if desired
• Something to protect your workspace

Start by cutting your paper plates into desired size.  It helps to at least cut the lip off the edge, allowing the plate to flatten a bit.

 

Then begin twisting your tissue, one sheet at a time.  Plan which colours you want for each pop and twist according to how many you think you'll need.  It's faster and easier to twist first and glue later.

 

Next, it's time to get ready for glue!  Remember to protect your surface before adhering the tissue!  Twist the pieces together and begin by gluing in the center of your plate.

Rotate and twist around the glued down center, gluing every inch or so.  I used hot glue which adheres quickly, but beware: hot glue burns!  It's actually really tough not to burn yourself when working with hot glue and tissue paper.  I'd love to hear other adhesive suggestions in the comments section below, just not that double sided tape didn't work very well and I don't recommend it.

Keep twisting and rolling your tissue around (twist sections together and adhere with a dot of glue when you need to attach a new piece) until you reach the end.  Once you've filled your paper plate completely, finish it off with a dot of glue and trim the end.

 

Now you're ready for what comes next!  Some might want to leave them like this, others may want to just add cellophane, and I added a stick.  This gave them the traditional lollipop look and created some stability so that I could wire them to the tree.  It all depends on what you're planning for their end use!

 

I attached the chopsticks to the backs simply by breaking them apart and adhering them with electrical tape in white as you see below.

 

Wrapping them in cellphane is easy, just cut a piece large enough, wrap, and twist around the stick.  Then tie a ribbon around it!

 

I used curling ribbon to tie first and trimmed it down so that it would be easy to cover up.  I did this so that I didn't have to worry about making it pretty, I just needed to think about getting it tight.  Pretty comes next.

 

Next, I trimmed the cellophane at the bottom by giving it small snips and then tearing pieces off.  Last, but not least, tie it with a ribbon!

If I was going to use it somehwere where the stick could be seen, I would have painted the chopsticks white or purchased white dowels, but since the stick would be mostly hidden, a bare chopstick worked!  Boy am I glad I saved them...  Sometimes hoarding pays off I guess, wink wink! 

 

 

Use your imagination for colour combinations and lollipop applications!  Mine were in this tree, but yours could be used anywhere!  Just plan for an hour per lolli...  That's how long it took me, anyway!  If you have any suggestions for adhesives or speeding up the process, I'd love to hear them.  Otherwise, enjoy your new tissue paper lollipops!

 

Do you need ideas for props or displays in your store?  Feel free to contact Melissa of Flourish Design & Merchandising or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest!