Advertise at a home show?

[HardDrive]

Has anyone ever advertised (gotten a booth) at a home show, sporting goods expo, garden show.....anything of sort?

Was it worthwhile? Any direct business as a result? Any thoughts?

I was looking at getting a booth at the Seattle Home Show.

[porsche4life]

My parents did with their Sign Co once or twice... They even took some of the equipment down and were doing tags and stuff right there... They said it wasn't really worth all the hassle.

Keep in mind this is a small town though.

[Danny_Ocean]

Depends. Whaddya selling?

Two things I saw selling like hot-cakes at a recent Home Show were some "gadgets" (e.g. tile cutter hawked by the guy with the loud microphone hanging around his neck & the "super" drill bits that could drill through concrete and still slice a tomato) and solar home water heaters, pre-packaged and marketed as a self-install.

[MarKoBrow]

I do locally and it accounts for a good portion of my annual revenues. Home shows have provided me with a very captive audience that for the most part are ready to spend. I have found that having too much in the way of display is as bad as not having enough so a balance has to be met where the provided information speaks for itself so you can spend time with the real customers.

[Racerbvd]

Yes, but as others have stated, it depends on the product..

[HardDrive]

Its for a residential remodel business.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Its for a residential remodel business.

Nah. Not saying it isn't a good idea, but speaking from experience as someone who regularly attends home shows: I wouldn't hire a contractor from a home show. I'd find someone via word-of-mouth.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean

Nah. Not saying it isn't a good idea, but speaking from experience as someone who regularly attends home shows: I wouldn't hire a contractor from a home show. I'd find someone via word-of-mouth.

I wouldn't hire a contractor based on advertising as well. In my experience, you find the best contractors via word of mouth, and they pick you.

But we're new, and have got to get clients somehow....

I'm sure we can find potential clients at a home show. Can we find quality, non-crazy clients? Thats the question....

[Racerbvd]

Make sure that you have high quality pictures of your work, before & after, maybe a few testimonials as well.. There are still "new" people out there buying houses to rehab, but they are smarter than the earlier flippers, as they have their own money.. Good luck, have a big bowl of candy, and maybe a little Hottie to catch the eye ...

[Laneco]

Something that should be mentioned about a home show. The person(s) running your booth can make or break your business. When I talk about "break" your business, I mean that they can actually cost you present and future work.

Case in point... A few years ago we had four houses that all needed paint. Three were rentals. I wanted to find a painting contractor because this was really more work than I felt like doing myself. There was a paint contractor at the home show. I filled out the contact info and patiently waited to talk to the estimator who was running the booth. Running the booth into the ground might be a more accurate description.

The estimator was a complete smartass. Sarcastic, not particularly knowlegeable and flat out rude. I left the booth. A few days later the company called me and had the gall to try and get work. I was so pissed off that I let them send estimator jerk to the locations and provide a hard estimate just so that I could turn them down. I deliberately chose to cost them money for their rudeness AND give the work to another contractor. When they called to follow up and schedule the job, I told them EXACTLY why I chose another company.

If you are going to exhibit at a home show, the person behind in the booth needs to be friendly, knowlegeable and enthusiastic. They need alot of energy to work a home show because it is exausting. If such a person is not at your disposal, I strongly recommend you skip this...

angela

[Reg]

Originally Posted by Laneco

A few days later the company called me and had the gall to try and get work. I was so pissed off that I let them send estimator jerk to the locations and provide a hard estimate just so that I could turn them down. I deliberately chose to cost them money for their rudeness AND give the work to another contractor. When they called to follow up and schedule the job, I told them EXACTLY why I chose another company.

If you are going to exhibit at a home show, the person behind in the booth needs to be friendly, knowlegeable and enthusiastic. They need alot of energy to work a home show because it is exausting. If such a person is not at your disposal, I strongly recommend you skip this...

angela

I agree totally with the last paragraph and shake my head at the first.

Being new to the area/business I think it would be a good part of your advertising program at least for a couple shows to meet people first hand.

[Zeke]

I've done home shows. Leads are hard to run on a timely basis. You have to set an appointment within 24 hours and see them in 48 if possible or they go cold. People go to home shows looking for a "special."

It's not the type of business generation I would choose at this point.

Been in the biz now for 40 years and I have some pretty jaded opinions. If I were young and ambitious, I'd be out there in a lot of ways. Home shows would be pretty far down my list.

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Something that should be mentioned about a home show. The person(s) running your booth can make or break your business. When I talk about "break" your business, I mean that they can actually cost you present and future work.

Very, very true.

A home show is shotgun marketing which is sometimes necessary. Your booth must tell your message & invite people to ask/inquire. Give a lot of thought to your 'booth appeal'. Tasteful. As plush as you can afford but inviting.

Ian