On December 9th I had my first Bling On A String Trunk Show! I've been brainstorming about doing a trunk show since August. And it took me that long to get enough inventory made....it's not always easy getting jewelry made with a baby in the house! When all was said and done I had 60 pieces of jewelry available for sale at the trunk show. I was nervous if that would be enough, or if people would be disappointed that there wasn't very much jewelry to choose from. I finally decided that I had to start somewhere and I could always explain that to people if they brought it up (luckily no one did)!
The days leading up to the show were really busy for me! Making sure every piece was tagged with a price, cleaning the house, stressing out, making and sending invitations and evites, and did I mention stressing out? I finally know how an artist feels before their first art show. Would people like my jewelry? Would they think it was over priced? Would they think it was poorly made? Would any one show up? The doubts were endless.
I invited around thirty five people to the trunk show. I had nine people attend. I tried not to let that discourage me. I've been told to always expect a fourth of the people you invite to attend an event, so I guess I did pretty good! I did have one lady attend who did not make a purchase, which of course hurt my feelings. I mean, I for one always intend on making a purchase (even if it's a small one) if I attend a trunk show or a direct sales party. I mean, that is the purpose of going, is it not?
I included a few special offers at my show. I entered guests into a drawing for a free necklace for every $20 that they spent. By the end of the night I had seven entries! I also marketed my slinky bracelets at a "buy two, get $5.00 off", which was a big hit. People loved my large slinky bracelets!
Here's a picture of one of my large slinky bracelets that is currently available for sale at
www.blingonastring.etsy.com After all was said and done, I had sold fourteen pieces of jewelry! I made a deal with my husband, that I would take 25% of my sales and invest it back into my business. I'm hoping that amount will allow me to replace the items that I sold and hopefully make a few more pieces. I figure this way I can slowly build up a decent inventory for future shows! I do hope to have a trunk show at my house every season (four times a year). I would also love to have people volunteer to host a trunk show at their house. I would give them a few hostess "bonuses" as well.
For those of you who have been encouraging and praying for this little venture of mine, I really appreciate you! You know the saying that God works in mysterious ways? Well, I am a firm believer in that. Back in my days of selling real estate, I always knew that if I worked really hard to generate business that God would see my efforts and would reward me. It would never be a result that I expected, but it always panned out nevertheless. For example, I would do mail outs to my entire neighborhood in hopes of landing a new listing. The following day I would receive a listing referral from a friend. In my heart, I always knew that God was rewarding my efforts. The same seems to be true for my Bling On A String business. I had several people tell me that they couldn't attend my trunk show but that they would call me one day just to come by and look at my jewelry. Well, of course people will say that, but do they follow through? Usually not. However, a week later a girl from MOPS that I invited called and said she wanted to come by! She purchased a pair of earrings. I totally wasn't expecting that, but it made my day! Then, the following day, another pair of earrings sold from my etsy store. The bonus was that the person who bought it was a complete stranger. I love it when random people discover my shop and like what they see!!!
Here are some of the pics from my trunk show. Of course, I forgot to take pictures until it was already over, so some spots on the table look a little bare.
