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I have been to a couple of trade shows in my lifetime and they all have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes to visibility and exposure for an apparel company. I want to make sure you get as much as possible out of your time spent at each and everyone you attend, plus at the same time avoid all the mistakes I have made in the process. These tips below will help you avoid mistakes, be more prepared, and hopefully put you a step above all other up and coming independent brands…so don’ttell them about Dobizo .

This is a list of things you should do and know before attending ANY apparel trade show:

• Attend the trade show of course. I’m pretty sure you all know how I feel about experiencing the trade show first hand before spending money to exhibit. Some of the points I talked about in the Career Suicide: Top 5 ways to sabotage your own clothing business article. Not just to understand how fashion trade show works, but also to see if it is a fit for your clothing brand. Some fashion trade shows cater to different categories of clothing while some target certain markets like the Pool trade show. For example you would most likely see a brand like Johnny Cupcakes at pool, but not the Rocawear brand.
• Contact the buyers of stores you are interested in selling your clothing brand. Get to know them and build a relationship and see what apparel trade shows they will be attending that will benefit your business later down the line. When buyers attend trade shows they usually set appointments with brands they are interested in or brands that have contacted them and set an appointment beforehand. Send out postcards inviting stores to your booth letting them know your clothing company is going to be in attendance. Some trade shows provide a certain amount of post cards free with the exhibitor booth purchase.
• Booth decoration is an option at most trade shows. So if you decide to spend some money on that make sure it is worth your while. I would suggest doing it yourself! Booth decoration companies are pretty expensive, but if you would rather pay someone than you can use some of these companies.
• If at all possible I was able to pull it off try to acquire a buyer list from the previous year. With that in hand you will have a good sense of what stores are going to be present and the names of the buyers.
• Decide on how you will sell stock. Open stock, minimum purchases or pre-packed garments.
• Prepare a list of everything you will need to have a successful show. Business cards, flyers, pens, purchase order forms, samples of garments, shipping times, line sheets, laptop (optional), calculator. Maybe even some live models…(Just use your good looking friends )

Now that we are prepared for the fashion trade show we must know some tips to take advantage of all the time while we are there:

• Network. Yes an easy but very affective action to take while at any business trade show. Meet any and everyone possible even your competition. Exchange business cards with them get and give advice you never know who you might meet or can help you along the way. You can never have enough people talking about your clothing company.
• Keep your appointments. Have someone attending your booth at all times. Never leave it unguarded. (We had some of our stuff stolen at one trade show in Atlanta!) I have been at some trade shows were people would just go to lunch and leave their booth unattended while buyers walked right by and it was very clear that they were interested, but the sales reps. missed out, because I guess a break was more important.
• Promote. It doesn’t end once your there. Many buyers will just walk right past your booth especially when your a new clothing company. Some aisles have more foot traffic than others so you may need to pull the buyers to your booth. Make sure and bring others to the trade show so that you can tend the booth while they disperse flyers or maybe even gifts from your company. (Something small like a complimentary company pen with your website or brand name on it of course) Preferably women (Yeah I know it sounds cheesy, but it works!) anyone who has been to any kind of trade show will tell you that women will attract buyers to your booth period!
• Get buyers to your booth at any means necessary. Take advantage of any special event going on at the same time of the fashion trade show. At Americas Mart in Atlanta the Falcons were playing on the same day as the apparel trade show. One exhibitor (I’m thinking it was Artful Dodger) had a flat screen setup displaying the game at the same time the show was going on…pure genius most of the buyers were at there table watching the game while there giving them there sales pitch. Thinking outside of the box . Food is a good way to get buyers to your table or a giveaway…even candy.
• During the show make sure and watch out for good sales reps…they could be your next representative at future fashion trade shows. There is no better way to see if they are a good sales rep than to watch them in action, then after the show is over nicely introduce yourself.

The show is over your purchase order form is filled front to back now what?:

• Follow up with buyers, who might have not ordered, but showed a lot of interest in your brand. This should be easy, because you have there business card and contact information right.
• Keep store buyers who did order in tune with the process of their orders. Make sure they know if any thing comes up like late orders, defects, out of stock or anything that will affect the processing of their order.
• Last, but not least make sure you process and ship all orders out accordingly.

These are some tips that I hope will help make your first trade show a great experience and not a nightmare like the first one I attended.

If there is anything you would like to add to the list by all means leave a comment and I will edit it as soon as possible.

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