Inventors with novel products should always try to find the
right buyer who can see where the product might sell. The best way
to find those buyers is at trade shows.
Exhibiting at a major show is expensive. The PPAI Expo, for
example, charges $1,395 for a 10-by-10-foot booth, but in the end
it's cheaper than calling many customers before finding the
buyer who will adopt your product. Trade shows help you find buyers
as well as meet sales agents and master distributors looking for
new products.
Walk around the show and find booths with products priced
similarly to yours, and sell to the same types of stores you want
to sell to. Ask people in those booths who their agent or
distributor is for the state you live in. Once you contact that
person, he or she is often willing to give you a list of agents or
distributors nationwide.
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Success on Display
One reason stores don't like to carry a novel product is
that people won't be looking for it or know what it is.
"At shows, we displayed our product in a dark booth in which
the cubes really showed well," Vanderschuit says. "They
don't show as well in a blister package, [so] we've
developed a display that shows off the cubes. We're working to
get stores to carry it."
Don't develop your display until after you visit stores to
see what kinds of displays are used for new products. Sometimes,
they'll sit at the end of an aisle or in a point-of-purchase
display by the cash register.
Once you see what displays stores like, design similar ones for
your product. You may even need two or three if you plan on selling
to a variety of stores. Your best bet is to have them ready when
attending trade shows.
One of the most important steps is to find out what obstacles
you will face. Keep your eyes open to possible markets, and exhibit
at trade shows. It's a simple formula, but as Vanderschuit has
proved, it works. The market does want novel products. It's
your job to keep pushing until your product is accepted. If you do,
you could match Vanderschuit's success.
| | SHOW AND SELL | |
| The Electronic
Retailing Association, which represents direct-response marketers
that sell on TV, the Internet and radio, is hosting its annual
trade show October 12-16 in Las Vegas. This show is great for those
who've invented a product with broad appeal. Many
direct-response advertisers will be looking for new products and
will set up exhibits that detail the products they've
successfully sold. The show can be a good opportunity to talk to a
number of service providers who could help you launch your product.
For more information, visit www.retailing.org
or call (800) 987-6462. |
Don Debelak is a new-business marketing consultant and author
of Think Big: Make Millions From Your Ideas. Send him your
questions at dondebelak34@msn.com.
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Originally published in the September 2002 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine
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