It’s every small business owners favorite time of year: holiday market season! Consumers are heading out to spend money and buy presents for loved ones. Here’s some tips for increasing your holiday market sales this season.
This week on the S.O.B. (Small Owned Business) Marketing podcast, Vivian and I not only discuss basic vendor market tips, but also share how to adapt your marketing strategies to align with the festive spirit and consumer behavior during this peak shopping season.
MARKETING HOT TAKE: Farmers markets and craft fairs are the new malls. Is this helping or hurting small businesses? Let us know what you think in the comments! Especially if you’re a small business who participates in craft fairs and vendor markets.
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Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to our Marketing Cult! Please Leave Us a Review
02:56 Marketing HOT TAKE: The Shift from Malls to Markets
06:36 Understanding Consumer Mindset During Holidays
08:25 Tips for Selling Product at a Holiday Market
19:55 The Importance of Storytelling in Sales
25:13 Choosing the Right Markets for Your Small Business
32:33 Enhancing Your Vendor Display for Holiday Markets
37:32 TLDL; Pro Tips for Selling at Holiday Markets
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*Intro* Chelsea: Hey everyone and welcome to the S.O.B. Marketing podcast. Where we celebrate to S.O.B. you are, and if you haven't figured it out yet - we mean Small Owned Business, we don't mean S.O.B...
Vivian: Listen, we know that as a small business owner you are working hard on the daily to keep your business fully operational while trying to promote it. And while some days it may feel like the business is owning you, if we're being honest with each other I bet you would admit that you wouldn't give up the insanity for anything.
Chelsea: Our commitment here at the S.O.B. Marketing podcast is to give you the real talk, what works when it comes to advertising, marketing, and promoting your business. And then what doesn't really work.
Vivian: And Chelsea and I promise to always keep the conversation real.
*Beginning of Episode*
Chelsea: Hey everybody and welcome back to the S.O.B. Marketing Podcast. S.O.B. as in Small Owned Business. We would never call you guys names.
Vivian: Never ever.
Chelsea: Nuh-uh. Before we get started, just a friendly reminder, if you're not subscribed or following, make sure you do that. If you're new here, we do something a little different around here. We have a TLDL section, too long, didn't listen. So if you're strapped for time, we totally get that. At the end of this episode, I have a chapter where I will give you a brief summary of what we talked about today. So go listen to that. Then when you get the chance, go back and listen to this entire conversation because this is a good one that is tis the season, Vivian.
Vivian: Yeah. Fa la la la la la la la la. So hopefully we want to put you guys in a festive mood. We mentioned this in one of the previous podcast episodes.
Holidays are such a wonderful opportunity because people are just in a different mindset. They're in the mindset for...
Chelsea: They're ready to spend some cash.
Vivian: Yeah, they want to bring out their wallets and they want to spend cash. For you, it's just a matter of for one, keeping your business top of mind for them and also jumping on these opportunities that you have, like holiday markets. So today's discussion is going to be centered around things that you should consider during the holiday market season that are a little different from regular markets. Because they do have their own little je ne sais quoi.
Chelsea: Exactly, there's little tweaks you can make to really oomph up your sales when it comes to holiday markets. Now, Vivian, before we get started, it's time for the marketing hot take.
Vivian: Okay, what's your hot take this week? I feel like every week I'm like, what you got this week, Chelsea? What nonsense are you bringing to the table?
Chelsea: Nonsense. Okay, so this is definitely a hot take that I want to hear from you guys about, your opinions. Okay. I feel like Vivian, farmers markets, these craft fairs, these events, they are the new malls.
Vivian: Okay.
Chelsea: They are the malls of America. Because one, malls are dying. No one goes to the mall anymore, right? But we still need a place to loiter.
Vivian: Yeah. We do like loitering, that's for sure.
Chelsea: We still want to experience that thrill of walking around and browsing and looking at things without feeling like we have to buy, we're forced to buy, it's become kind of like an event. Well, they are events, but I mean, like from a consumer standpoint, it's a, "I'm going to go to the farmer's market today and I'm going to walk around". It's something to do. Whereas, you know, people don't really go to malls anymore. So I feel like it's just replaced the mall.
Vivian: Okay. So what are we voting on then? So we're either team what?
Chelsea: Well, I have a little bit more to my hot take.
Vivian: Oh, so we're not done.
Chelsea: No, we're not done. Here's the thing. So I want to know, because I believe this is 100 % true. You can't knock me on this. Markets are the new malls. Is this helpful or hurtful to small businesses?
Vivian: Oh, okay. Tell me your take.
Chelsea: I don't know. I haven't decided. I'm going to be honest. I'm leaning towards hurtful.
Vivian: Why?
Chelsea: Because even though there's more people, they're not in the mindset to shop, right? They're in the mindset to walk around and have a good day and enjoy the sun. They're not there, and we're going to get into it with holiday markets and why it's different for holiday markets. But I feel for like regular markets, people aren't there to buy anymore. They're just there to loiter.
Vivian: Yeah. So I will take the opposition here. Either you're team Chelsea or you could be team Vivian. So my perspective is I do think this is a good shift and it does help the small business owner.
I do feel like in the last 10 years, there's been a big movement to want to keep money in the community as opposed to going to the big retail box stores like the American Eagles and all that stuff. As far as dollars and cents is concerned, we could probably find some data to see how many people or the amount that people typically spend at markets as opposed to elsewhere. I think it's a good thing. I don't think there's a way that this can negatively impact the small business owner. So either Team Vivian, you side with me or Team Chelsea, drop it down in the comments below and let us know.
Chelsea: Yeah. If you are a vendor, if you're a small business that does a lot of these craft fairs and markets and stuff like that, please, please let us know what your opinion is. Cause I want to know.
Okay, Vivian, can we go ahead and get into the meat and potatoes of this conversation?
Vivian: Yeah, let's kick it off. Let's do it.
Chelsea: Okay. I want to, I already hinted at this a second ago, but the first thing that I want to talk about in terms of holiday markets is, they're different from regular markets in the sense that there's a mind shift. People are there to spend money. It's not a loitering event. It's a, "I need to find these Christmas presents and I need to get this over with". So use that to your advantage just in the way that you think about the event.
Vivian: So your approach should be a little different and what constitutes a different approach when you're talking about setting up or participating in a holiday market.
Chelsea: Yeah, well, for one, you need to, I know we say it every time, but focus on your target audience in the sense of what makes the best gift? What are people looking for to gift? So when you are deciding what products to bring, this is where data can be super helpful. Analytics. You know, what are your best sellers?
Vivian: Y'all, Chelsea just did spirit fingers for analytics. Okay. We get super excited about marketing around here.
Chelsea: I mean, it's the bread and butter, man. It's the thing that I do every single day. That's right. I spend all day on marketing. My point is, know your products. What are your best sellers? What bundles can you create to make it easy for people to buy gifts? Also in terms of making it easy for your consumer to just pick out products, a great thing that you can do is making it very clear who this product is for. So for example, let's say, lotion. Vivian and I like different kinds of scents. I like a light, a flowery, girly scent.
Vivian: I like a very musky...
Chelsea: Yeah, I don't like that.
Vivian: Yeah. Any cedar wood, love, love. Anything that's like a wood type of scent.
Chelsea: See, I'm a lilies girl, or sunscreen. I love the smell of sunscreen. But make sure that's clearly labeled. "For your friends who like flowers" or "for your friends who like musky smells". Make it very clear. Another great example.
Vivian: The lotion probably isn't the best example. If you like musky stuff, buy this for your friends.
Chelsea: Okay, I have a better example. Better example. Bookstores. Yes. Okay.
Vivian: This one's great.
Chelsea: Yes. Romance novels. There are a lot of different kinds of romance novels. Okay, Vivian and I read romance. We are not reading the same novel.
Vivian's reading about like hockey players. I'm reading about princes cutting off their soldiers hands. Okay, two different vibes.
Vivian: Dismemberment and romance don't go together for me. I like all my characters to have all their body parts in my romance novel.
Chelsea: Not necessary for me. You don't need to have all your body parts. But clearly labeling like hey for your fantasy romance lovers, check this out. For your rom com romance, check these out. So just labeling things and making it very clear who the product is for can help your consumers feel more comfortable making that purchase. Because that's the other thing. It can be scary buying someone a present because you don't know if they're going to like it or not. I mean, you and I don't have that problem because we know each other too well. But in general, sometimes it can be difficult buying people presents. So when you are clearly labeling these things, you're taking away that fear.
Vivian: Well, and I do think that helps with, even if it spurs an open conversation with someone to let yourself go into more detail about what your products or services are. I think that's good. So if on your display, like Chelsea is saying, you're incorporating something that says if you're selling books, if you're selling any type of soaps or anything, anything that gives it more of a descriptor as far as who would love this type of product during this holiday season would be really wonderful. Cause like you're saying, they're like, Hey, I have a friend who happens to like all these things or that's their personality type.
One of the things I'll tell you from personal experience, you and Hector. We have a brother, you guys, his name is Hector. Chelsea and Hector are more alike in the sense that they both like Dungeons and Dragons and stuff like that.
Chelsea: I was waiting for the descriptor you were about to use. Okay, thank you.
Vivian: Nerdy, geeky, you know, those kind of descriptors. But the reason I bring that up is, it is out of my element when I'm going to buy him a gift like I have before. I've gone to a Christmas market. There was a particular vendor that made these like 3D print things for people who played Dungeons and Dragons to keep their dice and their cards.
Chelsea: It was a dice holder.
Vivian: It was a dice holder. For me, I don't know anything about the game. But I asked the vendor, I said, hey, this is my brother. I described him. This is the games he enjoys to play. They said, yes, this is perfect. This is actually made for that particular type of game. This is what it's used for. I did feel like it won me brownie points.
So, don't be afraid to, during this time, utilize your display to kind of create some of that engagement so people do feel like they can approach you, ask questions, because they're buying for other people that maybe it's out of their element. They may not be certainly familiar with it. The more information you could give them, then the better they're going to feel about their purchase. That they found the perfect gift for that person.
Chelsea: Well, I have two things. I don't want to move away from products yet. One, put in the comments if you think Vivian would be good at D&D.
Vivian: I'm a really bad storyteller, so I feel like I wouldn't be.
Chelsea: I feel like she's, she's not bad at improv. Here's the thing. You wouldn't be the dungeon master. So you're not telling the story. You're just interacting with it.
Vivian: Okay. So now just because you told me that I feel like I need to be the dungeon master. My goal in life now has to become a dungeon master.
Chelsea: Okay, if we were ever doing this Vivian, you would not be the dungeon master. I need to make that so very clear. Not you.
Vivian: We should get shirts printed that say Vivian for dungeon master.
Chelsea: No, no. My second thing is, because I don't want to move away from products just yet, think about smaller presents as well. Don't leave that out. So maybe stocking stuffers are popular. I bring this up because your smaller products, you know, if you're crafting them, it might be easier to make a bunch of those. So definitely consider that, what's something that I can pump out that's popular, that could be an easy, simple, little gift. Think of that. I believe in the past, Vivian, we talked about testers or samples. Something you can do at a holiday market as well. When someone makes a purchase here's a little sample.
Vivian: That's perfect. Well and also think of it this way too, this is a wonderful opportunity if you're selling at these holiday specific events for your business to be introduced to people that may not know your business. Whether it's through samples or stocking stuffers or something like that, I think that's a great segue where you can pitch that to the person that's buying to be like, hey, these are great stocking stuffers. Let me give you an example of this. Something that came to mind as you were saying, we know a couple people that do crochet and they sell their products at events. Right now there's this phenomenon. We were just talking yesterday, Chelsea introduced me to the whole, what was it? The vampire.
Chelsea: The Demon Hunters?
Vivian: Yes.
Chelsea: The Netflix movie with the K-pop artists and the Demon Hunters.
Vivian: She explained it to me and all I could think was this is kind of like gem back in like 1980 something.
Chelsea: I told Vivian I don't know what that means.
Vivian: The other thing is Labubus right now are really popular. To your point, if you're looking for something small and quick that you can pump out to have as a stocking stuffer it'd be cute if you were a crocheter to do like a little, lafoofoo, a fake labubu thing that someone could put in a stocking for a kid, right? It's engaging and this and that. So I love that you're saying some of these things that you could do that are easier to make or quicker if you're sewing soaps, maybe having the smaller size soaps that would fit in stockings, things like that, but they serve as introductions to the bigger products that you have as well.
Chelsea: Vivian, two things with that, going off of what you just said. One, make sure you are adding business cards to all of these things. Vivian, do you know how many times I've bought something from a vendor? They didn't give me their business card. I don't remember who they are, and they're gone. I feel really bad about that. I don't remember names. So I need those business cards. So don't miss out on that touch point, on being remembered.
Vivian: Let me lean into that and say this. If you just heard that and you're like, well, duh, but think of it this way. Chelsea and I have made it over the years, our purpose to try to give or shop as much with small businesses during this timeframe, as opposed to giving our money to some of the bigger brands. The way we do that though is we're very intentional when we give the gift and saying, that's a local business, right? That's somebody that's based here in Charleston, that's based out of Columbia. Then you kind of give the backstory. Having business cards in there so that they can include it in the gift is key because then that for you is quote unquote free advertising. They then know how to get connected with you. If they like the product they're gifted, they may want to repurchase and therefore they need to know where they can find you online, where they can find you at all this stuff to make those purchases. So don't discount the simple things like that. Okay. Be sure that you have extra business cards on hand, which also comes in handy when you're going to remind them.
Chelsea: Ooh, that you do commissions. Now two things. One, if you're at a holiday market and you still have time to do commissions and make the Christmas deadline, tell them that. That's huge. If you're at a holiday market, you're not going to meet that deadline. That does not mean you don't mention that you do commissions. Just make sure that you're very clear. Hey, this won't come in on time for Christmas, but maybe it'll be a week later. Maybe it's close enough that it's still a holiday present. Or hey, maybe they have a birthday in January or birthday coming up or it's just that they're interested in what you have to offer and later on they might remember, hey, you do commissions and they come back to you. Don't discount mentioning that you can create something specific for them just because of a holiday timeline.
Vivian: Deadline.
Chelsea: Deadline. That's the word I was looking for.
Vivian: Well, and if you have people like me who, my friend and I, Karen, we joke about this. Sometimes we don't get together until like February, March for our Christmas exchange. Even though we talk to each other every day, but sometimes our stars don't align to where we can meet up for a good dinner. We have been known to exchange gifts towards February. For people like that, maybe the timeline isn't as stringent and maybe they're shipping it and they're waiting until after December 25th anyways. But it is good for future knowledge and commissions are likely the place where you guys are going to make the highest profit margin. We just want you to be aware it is an appropriate time to bring that up to somebody.
Chelsea: Yeah, absolutely. I also want to remind everyone that your story is something that you should always be talking about, not just for holiday markets, but for all markets, but it's still something that I want to bring up. So we're going to talk about it.
Storytelling can have a huge impact on someone's decision to make a purchase. I have an example, it's going to be a little vague. Tim and I, my partner and I just celebrated our anniversary. We went to Tybee Island, we went for Pirate Fest.
Vivian: That's some way to celebrate your anniversary. It was great, matey. Give me that booty.
It's all those romance novels I read you guys.
Chelsea: Apparently.
They had a vendor market and so we're going through the vendor market. I'm looking at stuff. I saw something that caught my eye and once the small business owner told me the story about his products, I was like that is so cool. I have to make a purchase.
Vivian: Oh really?
Chelsea: Yes. I'm being vague because it's a Christmas present for Vivian.
Vivian: Yes, I made the Christmas list this year. I was a good girl. I love it.
Chelsea: And she gets a birthday present this year too. She's really killing it right now.
Vivian: I mean, hello.
Chelsea: So, sorry I'm being vague. But my point is, I was already a little interested, but once he got my attention, we had a conversation. He was like, hey, this is the story behind these products. I was like, wow, that's really cool. That's something that when I gift it to Vivian, I'm going to tell her, look how cool this is. It makes it one, a more meaningful present. One and two, he made a sale that he might not have.
Vivian: Yeah. The other thing is, to your point, it can push someone into making the purchase, right? So it can be the one thing that determines whether or not they're going to buy from you. But then the other part of it too is, not to get all sappy on you guys, but remember the biggest thing with gift giving, I think, is making the other person feel seen. I know Alex, my husband always tells me, you're a very intentional gift giver. My thing is, the gifts don't ever have to be expensive. I just want someone to know, hey, when I saw this thing, I thought of you. And the reason I thought of you is because of X, Y, and Z. To Chelsea's point, that story could be the thing that helps them to relate to that person, I know you so well, and I know the things that you value and you prioritize. I found this business owner that is in line with that. Therefore here it is.
The other one that comes to mind is we've talked about them before. There's a candle maker here in the low country that particularly started with...
Chelsea: Wax melts.
Vivian: Yes, they're wax melts. I'm sorry. They purposefully don't make candles because they had a family member's house who burnt down. They thought, we want to still create this product, but in a way that is safe and won't have the probability of setting a house on fire.
Chelsea: Yeah, and a big part of their business is education and informing people like, hey, these are safer alternatives because candles can be dangerous.
Vivian: Yes. So things like that, think about it, sharing your story. If anything to it's a time where everyone's...I want to say everyone's in a good mood, not always a true statement, but for the most part, these events are extremely enjoyable because everyone seems to have this type of holiday cheer with it. So utilize that. I don't want to say take advantage of it, but if someone gives you their ear for a little bit, go ahead and tell them why you started that business and why your products and services are different and what sets you apart from everything else. You could find that connection somewhere in there.
*S.O.B. Community Halloween Ad*
Chelsea: Ahh! I'm sorry. I'm sorry, your marketing really scared me. No, no, it's fine. I just have some thoughts, but I can't share them with you unless you join the S.O.B. Community. You won't just get my professional opinion, but also Vivian's, and other small business owners like you sharing their thoughts. That's weekly accountability, but don't get spooked. If you can't make a weekly call you'll get access in our membership dashboard to the recording, along with a discussion forum that's accessible 24/7. Visit skool.com/sob to sign up today to get instant access and weekly support. That's S-K-O-O-L dot come slash S-O-B.
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Chelsea: Vivian, I do want to make a point. Storytelling.
Vivian: Do it. I know you're going to do it anyways.
Chelsea: Can I just say to everyone, I'm sorry that I point a lot. I'm not meaning to be aggressive. I'm not trying to come at you guys. That's just my personality.
Vivian: Yeah, YouTube viewers are probably like dang.
Chelsea: She's over here gesturing at us all day. I just want to make the point that storytelling can be very effective, yes, if you're in the right event or market.
Vivian: So you're saying not all holiday markets are created equal?
Chelsea: No. No, and this is a rule that we should be following for all markets, not just holiday markets, but it's still relevant and I do want to talk about it. Make sure you are doing the research when it comes to picking which markets that you want to be a part of. Have you done the market before? How did it go? You know, what were your best sellers? Think about that kind of stuff. If you haven't done the market before, make sure you're talking to past vendors.
You're talking to the event organizer. You're asking questions. What's the target audience? What's your foot traffic like? Who's going to be there? Because if you sell expensive, very intricate vases, you probably don't want to be at a church bazaar because I don't know if that's the right audience that are willing to spend that kind of cash.
Vivian: Right. You do want it to be aligned and I will always encourage you to be a sleuth, an internet sleuth. So what we want you to do is if you have not attended this holiday market before, we want you to go online and look for any clues that can help create a full picture for you of what the event is. So go on Facebook, use that search bar, see if anyone has posted photos of this event in years past. What can you tell from these photos? Can you see how busy it is? Can you see what type of vendors are there? Can you also look to see how much advertising or promotion they had done for this event? Because that's going to be a big indicator to you if you're going to get a lot of foot traffic that day. All of this is going to play into using that information so that then you can make very good decisions about what type of inventory do I need to take out there? Do I need to double my inventory? Should I not? All of that is co-mingled and it all kind of depends on the events you choose to participate in this holiday season. So we want you to go out there and actually look for it. Don't just sign up for something and go into it blind.
Chelsea: Absolutely, Vivian. Also, this is another tip that is for all markets, but also holiday markets, and I want to bring it up. Vivian, do you know what I'm going to say?
Vivian: Emails, emails, emails, emails.
Chelsea: Sorry, y'all. We're talking about email marketing again. Markets are a great opportunity for you to get people onto your mailing list. Okay. Whether you use a QR code, or whether you have a pencil and paper for people to write down their information, get people onto your email list. Now, remember, make sure you're being very clear about your intentions and that you get consent to send out marketing emails to them. One, but two, I love, well, I love email marketing, but I love email marketing for the holiday season. This is why I want to bring it up for holiday marketing. Let's say someone was interested in your stuff but they're not ready to buy. If you get them onto your email list and you can continue to create those touch points. You can say "hey you guys saw you guys at the market here's you know our inventory online. Final reminder this is the date you have to purchase before the cutoff to get it for Christmas".
We've had this discussion before. Those extra touch points can be the thing that pushes someone over the edge so that they're willing to make a purchase with your small business. So holiday season, perfect time to do an email campaign and holiday markets are the perfect opportunity to get new email subscribers onto that list.
Vivian: I am so glad that you brought this up and let me pivot this from a slightly different perspective. The other side of that coin is also that if you guys are going to be selling products or services at holiday markets, you want to take full advantage of letting past customers, potential customers know where you're going to be in case they want to buy in person. So if you have an email list already and you're going to be at maybe three events selling for the holidays, let them know where you're going to be at. Utilize and leverage that email list to say, where you can find us this holiday season or pick up your personal bottle of elderberry syrup.
Chelsea: You said personal bottle. I was thinking of alcohol. I'm sorry.
Vivian: Elderberry syrup. I'm thinking health and wellness, please keep those sniffles away.
Chelsea: I was thinking, who's at a farmer's market selling bottles of vodka. That's where my mind went. I was like, what are you talking about? I'm sorry, y'all.
Vivian: Bottles of elderberry syrup. That's where I'm at in my 40s. But you see what I'm saying? I just want to be sure that if you're going to be spending your time and resources to go out and promote your business at these events, why not utilize that email list you already have to let people know that are in the area? Like, hey, if you want to shop with us in person, come join us on this day from this date and time.
Chelsea: I'm going to take it a step further Vivian. You should be doing this with your social media as well. Not just once, not just one shout out, hey we're going to be here. You need to constantly remind people.
Vivian: Put it on your stories, put it on your posts, maybe make a carousel post out of it. Remind them the week before, remind them three days before, remind them the night before.
Chelsea: Yes. Maybe a final reminder the morning of.
Vivian: Or even just whether you're going live, it doesn't require you even talking or doing anything like that, maybe just showing the event, showing you setting up, or hey, we're officially ready this morning for the Christmas holiday extravaganza, whatever it is.
Chelsea: Just remember, you need to be constantly reminding people. Be the broken record because most people aren't going to notice that you're a broken record.
Vivian: Yeah, and just a friendly reminder, we say this often.
Chelsea: What if it was an unfriendly reminder?
Vivian: Okay, just an unfriendly reminder. We say this often, but these algorithms, because they change what they're doing all the time, just know that when you post something, not all of your followers are seeing it. That's why we say repetition is key and don't feel bad about it. It's something you have to do to promote your business. What's the worst on what's going to say about you? My gosh, she gets on there and promotes her business every day. Shocking. How dare they? Right. Okay.
Chelsea: Love it. Okay, Vivian. I think now we're going to focus specifically on holiday markets, and I know you want to talk about the actual booth.
Vivian: Yeah, I do. I want to just encourage you to maybe, because there is a mindset shift in the people that are going out and spending money that day. Everyone's got this holiday cheer and all that going on. I think there are some questions you need to ask yourself leading into these events. One of them. Do I even want to change my setup? Is my setup good or is there any way for me to improve on it or do I want to incorporate holiday decor? Do I want to do anything different? The other thing is because it is prime time for selling. Like Chelsea said, if you are going to incorporate stocking stuffers, travel sizes, anything that's a little different or departure from what you usually do. Be sure that you're set up, you know where you're going to place it. Just because you don't want to wait till the day of or the night before to be hashing this out in your head. Just have a game plan. Maybe set it up so you can see it before the event.
Chelsea: That's my favorite tip. Set up your, set up your setup. No, set up your vendor table before the event. So you can figure out all the kinks.
Vivian: Yeah, for sure. I think there was something you wanted to mention about specifically holiday markets.
Chelsea: I do have one more pro tip y'all. Gift wrapping.
Vivian: People are like heck to the no I'm not doing that. I even like wrapping my own gifts.
Chelsea: Well, here's my point. You can charge people a little extra, you can say, oh, for $2 extra, I'll gift wrap it for you. One, people like Vivian love that.
Vivian: I do.
Chelsea: Yeah, because they don't like to gift wrap stuff. They're like, oh, I don't even have to worry about gift wrapping. So I can buy this present and be completely done. You're making it easy for your consumer and you can make a little more money.
Vivian: Yeah, and that plays into the display because if you were going to offer something like gift wrapping, you obviously need to have space and a little like station for it to make it as easy as possible for you, that doesn't hinder people looking at your products and it's not taking away from your product display and all that. So that is something you'll want to think about ahead of time.
Chelsea: I also want to say, maybe don't offer this if you're a bad gift wrapper.
Vivian: I mean, I would pay $3 for really bad gift wrapping.
Chelsea: Would you? Okay, I'm just saying this as someone who's bad at gift wrapping. There have been times where I've given Vivian a present and there's like an extra strip because I didn't measure it right. So it was still showing. I had to, yeah, no, maybe get someone who is good at gift wrapping.
Vivian: Well, that leads me to also remind people that with these events, if the foot traffic is a lot higher and you're not used to working in an event that is so busy, you may want to reach out to family members, friends. Or if you have staff members, maybe you have employees, which is great, you could tap into and say like, hey, would you work this event with me? Then that way you could give them very specific direction on what you want them handling, whether it's the payments or talking to the customers or the gift wrapping, whatever it is.
The other thing is gift wrapping doesn't have to be so literal. You could just get bags, stick it in there and put that nice paper in.
Chelsea: Okay, so I take it back. If you're bad at gift wrapping, do that instead.
Vivian: Well, and also we talked about business cards earlier. That gives you an opportunity to drop a business card in there so that the person that receives the gift knows where it's coming from.
Chelsea: Yes, love that. I have a little side tangent before we get into the TLDL.
Vivian: It can only be little though. If it's too big, I'm going to...
Chelsea: No, no, no. It's a little one. It's about getting people to help you with events and stuff like that. Vivian and I have a display. I guess when this episode comes out, it's already up there. But we haven't put it up yet, for Scarecrow in the Square in Summerville, in downtown Summerville. I asked Tim if he would help us set it up. It's a witches' cauldron. He said, no, I'm not helping you because I don't support your witchy problems. So maybe find someone who is willing to help you no matter what.
Vivian: Yeah, find someone that's aligned with your values and if they're not witchy values I mean kick them to the curb. Bye bye Tim.
Chelsea: Seriously.
Okay, TLDL, too long didn't listen. If you skipped ahead to this chapter, I'm going to give you a brief summary of what we talked about today. But when you get the chance, go back and listen to this entire conversation. So today we talked about holiday markets. They're a little different from regular markets just because people are going in with the explicit intent to buy presents. So small things that you can do. You might want to change the type of products that you're offering to better fit presents. You might want to change your vendor display, add a little extra like gift wrapping, stuff like that. Keeping in mind, getting people onto an email list, small things that will help you make those connections with people so that they can one, not only make a purchase with you, but also keep you in mind in the future.
So friendly reminder, if you are not subscribed and I can see the numbers y'all, so I know a lot of you are not subscribed or following, make sure you do that and pretty, pretty, pretty please leave a review. t helps us get in front of other small business owners, and that's what we want to build a marketing cult. If you have a specific topic you want us to talk about, you can leave us a voice message.
Vivian: Yes, go to our website, sobmarketing.com.
Chelsea: Yes. And you know what? Go be the best SOB you can be.