The Fall season is here! The busiest season for sellers in all ways and especially at craft shows and other events. Shannon Ferraby, author of Success Unwrapped, spills the tea in her book and our blog series. She'll guide you, A-Z, through the world of event success, boosting sales, snagging loyal customers, and unwrapping your business's potential.
Up next is B. B is for...Bags.

Here are some ideas of what to put in your shopper bags:
- a business card
- a thank you note for their purchase
- consider a sweet little treat to bring a smile when they find it
- warranty, guarantee and exchange information
- any specials you are offering soon
- a list of upcoming shows you will be attending
- any instructions they might need to use your product
- how to join your VIP customer group on Facebook
- an invitation to post a photo using what they just purchased and tag your business page, to be entered into a contest.
- how to find and follow you on your social media pages.
- something they are likely to keep with your website on it. What would you keep? A pen? A sticky note pad? A magnet? A cute sticker?
Every single piece of marketing material you place in the bag needs to be labeled with your website, phone number, email and social media addresses. Consider that shoppers have different preferences for communicating. Perhaps you love texting and contemplated only putting your number to text as your contact information. Don’t do it! Provide every means to contact you and allow them to reach out in the way that best suits them. Don’t put contact information on just your business card, for example, and assume since it is there the rest do not need it. They may only keep one thing out of everything you put in the bag. If it’s not the business card, they will not be able to contact you. Considering 88% of business cards are thrown away within the first week, that is even more reason to label everything; the business card alone will not suffice.
Wouldn’t you love to add, not just sales at your events, but repeat orders online to your Fall selling season? Get creative, add value and get pre-stuffing those bags! -Shannon Ferraby, Success Unwrapped
