So we launched our Brand officially at Top Drawer on 10-12 September at Olympia London.
http://www.topdrawer.co.uk and what a great show we had – we have met some lovely people and exciting news we took our first trade order!
Above: Kim celebrating our first trade order
Below: Entrance to Olympia London
As we entered the show every morning we wondered what the day ahead would bring… conversations with independent retailers interested in our product, lots of passers by who looked, looked away… looked back again… others hovered, smiled, grabbed a business card and scurried off, some stopped, touched, commented and praised our new and unusual socks and others came on with real interest, keen to take our info pack with trade prices and food thought that they would be in touch and others happily left their details so that we could make contact and keep them updated on our ranges.
Trade fairs are great to exhibit your brand – to build brand recognition – it takes time for people to acknowledge a new brand. In some cases people have to see the name over and over before they gain any trust or interest in a brand so you have to persevere and have belief in your own brand.
There are lots of tips online available for exhibiting at trade fairs we like 10 great reasons to exhibit at a trade show here
Our stand looked great, slightly modified by Premier Events since our soft launch at Spring Fair http://www.finchandbelle.com/blog/spring-fair-nec/– full of new products, gorgeous imagery and Kim and Faye eager to chat to people and tell them about our brand!
Kim was very excited when the ladies from https://twitter.com/BathStagShop came onto our stand – loving our product and wanting to “wear them now” quote Debbie. They picked out their favourites from our range and placed their order… just like that! Thankyou ladies we really were very pleased and as our first order both ladies were lucky enough to take away a free pair of F&B socks so they really could wear them now!
One chose the Gold Vertical Lurex http://www.finchandbelle.com/shop/gold-lurex-vertical-stripe/ and the other chose Tapestry Sheen http://www.finchandbelle.com/shop/tapestry-sheen/ both gorgeous socks and both ladies left very happy!
The show continued and despite no further ‘on the spot’ orders we are sure we will have follow up orders from our visitors in the coming months!
So back at the office and we are busy preparing the order for BathStagShop, G-dog is giving all the products a QC check and Faye is inserting the branded tissue and swing tickets ready for boxing up and delivery! All of our products are handled with love and care and we take pride to ensure the quality is top standard. After all this is a brand worth investing your feet into! You will never wear any of your other socks again when you wear Finch and Belle socks!
Starting out is tough, whether you are setting up your own business in services, launching a new product or your own brand means you have to do lots of talking, lots of marketing and lots of sharing so that people get to hear about what you have to offer.
Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool; talk to everyone, everywhere and watch your business grow. There are lots of bloggers out there with views on how to best market your brands and how to exhibit so have a read of some of our favourites https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236427 and https://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/7-tips-market-business-effectively-trade-shows/