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hey guys today we're gonna be talking
about vending tips for small businesses
so it doesn't matter if you saw art food
clothing jewelry all these tips will
apply for all of you so I have a crystal
business called be serene and I make
jewelry so I've ended at a lot of
different types of events in the past
two years so I've ended at farmers
markets
crystal fairs club events like in the
club at night with large young people a
lot of fun college campuses a whole
bunch of different events so my
experience with those have been very
different but there are a lot of common
themes with all of those so the first
one is how is your set up have you
thought about your setup do you want it
to be a walk-in experience and by that I
mean if it's an outdoor event and you
have a canopy and it has walls on it do
you want people to have to walk into
your physical space to see what you're
selling it can be a pretty magical
experience or a really fun experience
the only downside I would say for this
is you might be a little bit
intimidating to shy people so I consider
myself shy and sometimes I just want to
look for from afar to see what somebody
is selling and if I feel obligated to
walk inside a physical space I may just
continue walking past it so you kind of
have to decide you know do you want to
invest in a full experience do you want
just one table I only use one table it's
clear what I'm selling from the front so
that's my second tip is you want your
logo and your business name very visible
so for me that's on my tablecloth I have
my crystal logo and my business name so
when people walk by they know exactly
what it is I'm selling other things you
can invest in our banners but those can
be really expensive
so if you have a canopy a banner hangs
behind you behind your table can be as
colorful or not as you want and some
people have some pop-up banners those
are big
they're expensive it's kind of it's
permanent right it's not a paper poster
you have to have a design and everything
that you want on it it's printed on it
you're spending a lot of money you're
going to use it a lot so you want your
brand name visible for people to see so
for the walking experience that's
something that you can achieve usually
for outdoor events like farmer's markets
but if you're in an indoor venue you
can't really have a walk-in space you
have to fit in with the vibe of everyone
else around you so that's why I like to
stick to just one table because it's
kind of a consistent setup wherever I go
I switch it up slightly depending on the
type of venue but if you're bending at
different types of events you're gonna
have to be prepared to switch up your
setup this is the most important tip I
have for you and it took me about it
took me 2 years to realize this which is
really why I wanted to make this video
there are a lot of mistakes that I've
made bending that I want you to avoid
the biggest tip is to collect emails
when you vent when someone told me if
Instagram crashed tomorrow would you be
able to contact your customers not
really not for me at least I only had 50
people on my mailing list when I had
this realization that I would only be
able to contact 50 people because I
don't actively collect emails that's
ridiculous so I created an email list
oh she a sign-up sheet I designed it in
canva it's so colorful people look at it
like oh what's this you want it to
attract people you want people to be
excited about signing up so the first
time I just had my email list out and
whenever I had a customer I'd say Oh
sign up for my email list and only like
10 people signed up like not many people
signed up at all the second time I've
ended with an email list I offered an
incentive if you sign up for my email
list you get a free sticker this is a
sticker as you can see it's really cute
um so I do normally sell this sticker
for three dollars and fifty cents so you
really are paying for each email so you
off you obviously don't want to offer
something that's
really gonna make you lose a lot of
money you know I saw these for 350 but
it doesn't cost 350 to make a sticker it
was a loss that I was really I was
willing to take because I think
collecting emails is that important and
I'm telling you it really is that
important so that day vending off of
offering free stickers I collected like
70 emails in one day and I had 50 only
50 emails after a whole two years of
running this business and off of one day
of offering an incentive I gained 70
more emails so you want to think about
what it is you want to offer it doesn't
have to be you know one of your products
it can be if you sign up for the email
list you get 10% off today if you sign
up for the email list it's up to you but
you want to collect emails so that you
can have email campaigns so that people
know about new products all these events
happening that you're throwing you also
want to be very intentional about what
information you're collecting so for me
I just became yoga certified I know I
want to start hosting yoga events
through be serene so even like months
before I became certified I on the email
list had a little section that said are
you interested in yoga mats so people
said yes or they said no so I could
create a sub group email list of people
who are interested in yoga so that I
knew once I became certified I would
start reaching out to those people and I
already have an audience so I don't have
to be stressed about building that yoga
group now I already have a good start so
you want to be intentional with what you
create if you need any help this is a
service I'm offering so essentially
you'd be paying for a creation of the
email list and also tips on you know
what are you hoping to achieve with this
email list so I'll send more details on
that you can find the information below
this is important so when I first
started I felt the need to have my whole
inventory on display you do not need
your whole inventory out on your table
it's going to look a mess like my lots
of cuss
I'm I just needed out alright so if you
have your whole inventory on your table
it's going to look like a giant cluster
it's gonna look it's going to look so
messy
oh my god I'm so glad I've come a long
way I've been bending for two years now
and I've refined my process so much but
it looked so messy I was so proud of it
to when I first started but now looking
back or what this is not good so I'm
trying to help you avoid this for
example say you have 50 keychains the
same the same design same keychain but
you have 50 of them put five on display
keep the other 45 underneath your table
you don't need to have all 50 of them on
your freaking table you're just taking
up space and if anything that creates a
feeling of demand if people are like oh
my god there's only two keychains left
like they must be so popular I really
want a keychain that's a really good tip
or whatever products that you do have I
recommend having different levels to it
so if you have art you don't want all
your posters to just be lying flat on
the table you want to have some propped
up leaning against something so that
customers walking by easily know what it
is you're selling so for me with jewelry
I have a necklace display that's huge
and standing up so I have necklaces but
I also do have more necklaces flat on
just a flat box jewelry display I have
bowls that people can touch certain
things and necklaces you can look at and
touch
I have stickers that are nice to look at
I have a clothing rack with clothes so
there's a lot of different things going
on but it doesn't feel messy anymore
because I don't have you know 100 of
every single thing and because there's
different levels there's so many
different things that people can
interact with if 10 different people are
at your table you want to provide an
experience for everybody another great
tip you want to think about how you
greet your customers
is it something rehearsed are you trying
to strike a conversation with every
single person that comes to your table
what I typically do
again because I consider myself a shy
person I think about my experience as a
customer I personally don't really like
having a full-on conversation with every
vendor that I come in contact with just
because sometimes it can seem really
superficial if you are going to strike
up a conversation with someone make it
interesting I usually just start off
with greedy and customer hey let me know
if you have any questions I'll just be
like oh my god yes I have so many
questions thank you for asking and we'll
just go into it so just be organic be
natural don't force it but you also
don't want to not say anything that can
appear rude you don't want to be rude
yeah so it really depends on your own
personality business cards are absolute
mess if you don't have any business
cards already made I would highly
recommend
vistaprint so I use Vistaprint
for my business cards and you order in
bulk the more you order the better deals
that you get so I think the first time
at word 500 second time I ordered 500
and now two years into my business I
realized I'm at a point where I'm going
to keep it going so I probably will
start to order a thousand at a time I
would say 500 is a good place to start
so I keep them on the two front corners
of my table just a large stack of them I
put it on a nice like marble plate it
was like a dish a dish plate from Target
it looks really nice this is great
because for people who are just looking
and not ready to buy they'll still take
a card people love taking business cards
especially if they look really good if
they have some art on it or something
I pride myself in the design of my
business card because I would want
someone to you know put it up on their
wall as art or something want to hold
onto it so people take the business
cards think and get something I'm
selling I'm like no it's my business
card please take as many as you want so
people who are not ready to make a
purchase will take your card and
hopefully turn into a future customer
they'll go on your Instagram your
Facebook your email your website and
potentially be a customer in the future
so business cards are super important
you want all that information on there
because like hundreds of people will
take your business cards so now let's
talk about
things you should purchase in order to
vend a table is the biggest essential
I'm talking about a six foot long table
you want to check though with the events
that you're venía because often they
provide tables they provide chairs if
you're doing that outdoor events
sometimes they provide canopies so you
don't want to just be unnecessarily
spending money if you know you just are
starting out you're trying it out find
of any event first see what they provide
sometimes through them you can pay an
extra fee in order to get a table so you
don't have to buy your own but yeah a
table is a great start and a tablecloth
that's really all I started with all I
had in terms of setup for a very long
time if you want to start doing outdoor
events I mentioned a canopy that is very
important you don't want to be getting
all hot and sunburned and bothered you
don't want your stuff your products on
your table either to be melting if you
have candles or soap or food you know
you don't like for me my crystals get
really hot in the Sun that is so
dangerous so canopy is important if you
have a canopy you need sandbags because
your canopy will fly away in the wind
I've seen it happen
it's so embarrassing it hasn't happened
to me but even watching it happen it's
terrible so you want weights which you
can find on Amazon I'll put a link for
that I just recently purchased foldable
shows which are so amazing because I
have my six-foot table and a shelf on
the other side facing the side so
whatever angle people are coming from
they can see some sort of product their
eye catches on to something glimmering
so you know I have my necklaces on
handheld crystals on my actual table but
on the shelves you know you can put
plants or larger crystals it depends on
what you're selling but you can kind of
switch it up or if you're doing an
outdoor event and you have your canopy I
just started putting my table kind of
closer in so a semi walkin experience
but the shows at the very front so
people who are not wanting to walk in
can kind of touch things at the front
and then be enticed to come in further
foldable shelves are great
again I'll include that I bought those
on Amazon foldable benches are great
because a lot of events are hours long
you're gonna want to sit down on some
point at some point so I have this
foldable bench it's really cute and
people are always jealous of it whenever
I show up with it because people have
these clunky foldable chairs but I have
a foldable bench which I think is from
Costco and it can fit like four people
on it it's really nice the last thing is
a foldable wagon the key word with all
of this is foldable
you want the process to be easy to put
all this stuff in your car so a foldable
wagon is nice if you have a lot of
things if you have heavy things I just
started using it I can't believe I
didn't have it before it's made my
process so much faster one thing I
haven't mentioned is how to collect
payment so I started off using a square
reader which I really liked
square when you signup sends you a free
card reader this is for swiping cards
only though most cards these days have a
chip so I ended up buying the Bluetooth
portable reader so it's like a square
it's $50 you insert the card or you can
tap your phone to it so the touchless
payment methods work with that and that
is really great I recently switched to
the Shopify card reader because I have
my website through Shopify it was just
easier for me to keep track of inventory
so if you use Shopify I recommend the
Shopify point-of-sale it just makes more
sense this has saved me a lot of stress
making a packing list for the day before
you want this list to have everything
you're most likely to forget portable
charger if you don't have one I highly
highly recommend that I'll post a good
Amazon link for that even if your phone
is fully charged and you're venting at
something for three four or five hours
and you're constantly on your phone
swiping people's cards your phone's
gonna die you need a portable charger
the other thing is cache you absolutely
need change for your customers I always
tend to forget I tend to forget this one
so the packing list really saves me
every single time about the cache though
you can't just go to an ATM and withdraw
money right before your vending event
you
need to go to the bank during the week
because you need different denominations
you need ones fives tens twenties as far
as how much it really depends I would
say a minimum of $40 in change mainly
ones and five so that's really important
you don't want to forget that because if
someone doesn't feel like using their
card or if they have cash and you're
just like I'm sorry I don't have any
change it looks bad on you and you could
be losing a customer you could be losing
potential sales so you want to make sure
that you have cash and that you had gone
to the bank during the week do not
forget to go to the bank so before the
event you need to know exactly exactly
how you want your table to look
beforehand you don't want to show up
especially if you have a friend helping
you you don't want to show up the day of
super stress and your friends like oh
let me know how I can help and you're
like I don't even know how I want my
table to look it's gonna be so stressful
I would say even practice the day before
it put on your table in your living room
put on your tablecloth put everything on
your table get some opinions from your
friends or family just see what looks
good what would you be excited for other
people to see you need to figure out you
need to figure that out before you get
to them it whoever is in charge of the
vending event will send you information
about when to get there loading
information all this stuff please be on
time
it is so stressful for you if you are
late you're gonna be so stressed you're
gonna start off on a bad note you want
to get there have time to set up
especially if it's your first time you
don't know how long it's gonna take I
think at first it took me a whole hour
to set up which honestly is not that
long some people's processes take like
their process takes like three hours to
set up so that's another reason why is
practicing the night before is great
because you need to know how long it'll
take get there on time bring some coffee
bring in great mindset maybe bring some
speakers some music get in your zone
whatever you have to do because the
setup process for me is the most
stressful part as well as taking
everything down but the setup is key
because you don't want to be stressed
you want everything to look good
so get there with enough time to do what
you gotta do okay so now let's start
talking about you taking care of
yourself because you need to show up is
the best version of yourself you want to
be calm you want to feel good you want
to look good you want to do great so one
important tip that has gone such a long
way for me it's being nice to your
neighbors you wanna you should be nice
all the time but being nice to your
Vending neighbors is so important
because when you need to go to the
bathroom someone has to watch your table
you want your neighbor to be like oh you
got no problem I got you you know you
want people to have your back if
anything goes wrong um you know a lot of
times when you vent out all day events
you have to set up at like 6:00 7:00 in
the morning I've had my neighbor vendor
say hey I'm gonna grab some coffee do
you want me to get you some little
things like that really go a long way
so be nice to your neighbor that's just
you know common sense one thing about
that too is that these people bending
around you have most likely vended out
of their events and can refer you to
similar events so if it's your first
time or even if it's your first time
asking your neighbor like hey do you
know of any other events coming up
they'll tell you about it and maybe you
guys will see each other again and just
help each other out whenever you find
out about different events because it it
really becomes a whole Vending community
and it's really amazing you want to make
sure you bring water you want to make
sure you bring snacks you're most likely
vending for hours and you're going to be
hungry even if you're at an event that
sells food you're most likely not gonna
have time to go and get food especially
if you didn't bring a friend to come
help you if your buyer so which I often
am I don't have time to leave my table
for 15-20 minutes so I bring a lot of
snacks or it brings some food that I've
prepared beforehand that's easy to eat
behind my table water you want to make
sure you're hydrated leading up to the
event it sounds like I'm preparing you
for a marathon and I kind of am because
you most likely are not gonna want to
drink that much during the event because
you're going to want to avoid going to
the restroom so you don't have to leave
your table and if you don't drink water
all day you're going to go home
feeling like crap and you don't want
that to be the case oh that's all I had
all right so hopefully these tips are
helpful to you if you're feeling
overwhelmed or you need some guidance
feel free to leave some comments if you
know in 2020 your goal is to ven for the
first time I wish you the best of luck
it feels scary but you can do it like
two years in now I'm so happy that I had
the guts to finally do it
if this is your twentieth time best of
luck to you as well takes a lot of
different times to get it right and to
feel confident in your process so thank
you for still tuning in I hope these
tips are super helpful to you and I wish
you the best of luck
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