How to Gather Rockstar Vendors for Your Next Event

If you are hosting a convention, trade show, or sales event you know that filling the room with participants is only half of the battle – your first priority and focus are ensuring your event is maxed out with vendors and presenters. Today, we'll give you tips for success when it comes to vendor recruitment and event planning as a whole.

“If you build it, they will come” - Kevin Costner, 1989 Field of Dreams.

Vendor Recruitment Game Plan

To keep the good times rolling we want to set you up for success to ensure your event is SOLD out! Whether this is your first event or your 100th, consistency, communication, and transparency are your keys to success.

Kick-Off Your Planning with a Plan

Set up a team kick-off meeting. You’ll want to cover the following when it comes to event planning:

Vendor Communication

Once that planning meeting is over, you should have a good understanding of the vendors you are hoping will participate, those that you need to attend, and finally, those that MUST be there. Now, it’s time to recruit those vendors! Make sure you treat all your vendors of interest the same – consistency is key. If you have a tiered pricing model, your communication may be slightly different, but your overall message shouldn’t change.

You might want to create a marketing sales plan to recruit your vendors. The more vendors you have, the greater the appeal for attendees to come.

Vendor recruitment plan can include:

Tip: Be creative with your sales package. Ensure the package aligns with your event brand. You want your vendors to get excited about the event, so make the package special. If the budget is available – get creative with the packaging by customizing the envelope or box the information will arrive in - #BeBoldStandOut

On-Site Support – Before, During, and After the Event

Your vendor recruitment plan worked and you confirmed a vendor – congrats! Now what?

Don’t let the time leading up to the event go to waste. This is a great time to increase vendor networking. And yes, we have some suggestions for this too!

Pre-Event – Execute Your Rock Star Vendor Communication Plan

Final Tips

Have fun and good luck at your next event!

What’s a Brand Ambassador and Does Your Business Need One?

When it comes to how to spread the news about your business, that’s where a brand ambassador (or a multitude of them) comes into play. A brand ambassador is essentially a person that helps you influence customer sales by posting on social media, networking with community members, and discussing your business in a positive way, among other things. The title, position, or reference to a Brand Ambassador is not a new term in the marketing world, however, not all businesses acknowledge the need.

Types of Brand Ambassadors in Texas

Did you know that EVERY business has at least one Brand Ambassador? Yes, even your business! 

The truth: YOU are a Brand Ambassador for your business. Whether you are just starting out or have a staff of thousands, each and every person on your team is actually certified as a Brand Ambassador of your business.

Your Brand Ambassadors are all around you – and some may not even work for you (right now) - but let’s take a look at some of the specific brand ambassador roles.

ALL Employees

From the owner of your business to the individual that greets your clients as they walk through the door - each person is a Brand Ambassador. Some individuals may wear the title more often depending on their role, but consider every employee a Brand Ambassador and educate and celebrate their contributions to supporting the business.

Marketing Team

It shouldn’t be a surprise that your marketing team is one of the most official Brand Ambassadors. They’ve helped create, curate, and promote your business and your brand. They may even have some of the official titles such as Brand Coordinator or Brand Manager. 

Sales Team

Your sales team is 100% Brand Ambassadors – this is a job requirement. Your sales team should be specialists in understanding the business mission, and products and supporting your clients. 

Dedicated Brand Ambassadors

More and more companies are creating a dedicated team of Brand Ambassadors (paid roles) to attend community events for the purpose of promoting the business – they are the #BeBoldStandOut team! This team is not always about making sales, but more so about encouraging brand awareness, networking, and product education. 

Next time you are at an event look around and see if you can identify those Ambassadors (look for their Tents) – they will be the ones handing out free ‘stuff’, getting crowds excited, and having a blast promoting their business. 

Friends & Family

Of course, your brand ambassadors might not be directly involved with your business. Your friends and family (and the friends and family of your employees) can act as Brand Ambassadors, too! If they believe in you, your business, or who you work for, they may be excited to share and promote your business.

Clients

Some of the BEST ambassadors are your own clients! When your clients invest in you by buying your products they are now officially/unofficially your Brand Ambassadors. If they are happy with the service or product you provided, they will share that with their friends and family members. (Keep in mind that if they aren’t happy, they’ll share that as well, so make sure that each point of contact with the client leaves them feeling satisfied.) 

How to Fully Utilize your Brand Ambassadors

A brand ambassador is only as good as the tools and education that he or she has.

In House

If you have a team, it’s time to let them know they ALL have a new title “Brand Ambassador” in addition to their current job title. Their job, like yours, is to represent your business and its brand. 

Next, you need to suit up your ambassadors with the tools they need to represent your business. We encourage you to make a big deal of this – a new title is pretty exciting! 

A launch party can make a great statement about the importance of each team member. Remember, you want to make your Brand Ambassadors – your team – feel official and excited about their new endeavor.

How To Launch Your Brand Ambassadors:

Tip: When your employees are not in the office, they are still your ambassadors. Your employees will be fielding questions or curiosities from their friends and family regarding where they work and why they work there. Make sure they have the information they need to speak confidently about your business.

Provide the Necessary Tools

Once your employees know about their new positions, you’ll want to ensure your marketing team (paid and unpaid) has all the tools ready and available to get you and your business out there. 

Consider creating a Brand Event Plan to keep all of your members on the same page, no matter what the event. You’ll want to make sure your plan includes a custom-branded All In Canopies™️ Tent, Table Cover, and Flag and enhance your kit by including giveaways, business cards, and information sheets. 

Check out our recent article on ‘How to Maintain Brand Consistency at events to learn more.

Outside the Business

It’s also important to take special care of the ambassadors that are outside your business, including your customers, family members, and friends.

As a thank you to your clients, beyond their purchase, you may want to consider giving a token of appreciation – a shirt, a hat, or a shout-out in your Facebook Group. Your clients are now part of your marketing plan, so remember to keep them in the loop with regard to your brand and business.

Likewise, feel free to suit up your friends and family with t-shirts and fun giveaways they can use in their daily lives. Having a community of people wearing your branded gear can be really exciting.

Your Business Needs Brand Ambassadors in Texas

No matter what industry you work in, your business has and needs brand ambassadors. The key: knowing who those ambassadors are and utilizing them to their fullest potential. 

Contemplating a trade show or a marketing event? With the right equipment to work with, your brand ambassadors will look great and feel successful. Contact All In Canopies™️ today for your custom-branded canopies, advertisement flags, table covers, and more. We can’t wait to be your brand ambassadors, too!

Brand Ambassadors in Texas

How to Surround YOU and Your Business With Greatness

Your business is thriving — why? Did you do it on your own? Did you engage with a bunch of people to make your dream a reality? Did you craft the best business display? Set up the best business custom tent? Did you attend seminars? Did you reach out to people to talk about your ideas? 

Or, did you do it all on your own — on an island?

It's More Than a Business Custom Tent

As much as we want to assume we can do it all, we can’t. The reality is that we need to surround ourselves with greatness in order to succeed in building our businesses. Greatness is more than having business custom tents. In fact, greatness comes from our mentors, leaders, competitors, community, friends, and family.

But what if you haven’t launched your business, or maybe you are just starting out and you haven’t surrounded yourself with ‘enough’ greatness yet? Not to worry! There is no time like the present.

No matter whether you are already surrounded, or are looking to expand your reach, we have some great tips on how to surround YOU and your business with greatness.

Step 1: Build Your Confidence

It’s time to park the shyness, rip off the Band-Aid of perceived shame, and stand tall! In order for your business to be successful, you need to evaluate yourself first. This could come in the form of taking a course to learn more about the industry or focusing on self-care and balance. 

In the business world, one way to help build your confidence is to work with a Mentor or Business Coach.  

Mentor Coach

Fit will matter in finding the right mentor coach for you. Find a mentor who is in the industry that you are in or someone you admire in the business world. Once you have zeroed in on a Mentor ask them out for coffee and see if you and your mentor are a good fit. Tell them about your business, and then be honest (dare we say vulnerable) about why you have asked for their support. You need a confidence builder — you need to practice and you need honesty. 

Business Coach

Business Coaches can be worth the investment, but finding the right one can be a challenge. Fit matters here, too. A Business Coach can help you hold yourself accountable to your personal and business goals. If you are questioning or need to be challenged with regard to your business strategy, a coach can help walk you through your roadblocks. 

When looking for a business coach, do you your research and take advantage of their FREE discovery calls. When you find the right fit, you’ll have someone to keep you motivated. 

Step 2: Networking, Networking, Networking

Once your confidence is in check, put it to the test and get yourself out there. Surrounding yourself with greatness will require a lot of networking. Networking is easy-peasy if you put yourself in the ‘right’ situations. Sitting at home and blogging all day is not networking. Attending seminars in your industry, reaching out to leaders for coffee to pick their brains, or hosting seminars to give back to your community or industry are just a few ways that you can network with others. Plus, when you talk to others, you get the opportunity to share your knowledge, including where you get your business custom tents. 

Where to Start Your Networking?

Networking is easier than ever in this digital age. Take some time to search out local businesses, entrepreneurial, or commerce groups. Even your own personal groups can be considered opportunities to network: mom groups/play dates, baseball teams, kids' school councils, or your local church. Any opportunity to introduce yourself and potentially talk about your business is networking.

Check out the Communities/Organizations that All In Canopies™️ partners with!

Memberships Can Have Their Perks

We love membershipsand much like networking — we are already engaged in quite a few. We love to give back to the community, learn from our peers, and use every opportunity to network through our memberships.

In most cases, memberships will come with a cost, but you should consider that cost to be an investment in you and your company. If a Membership is offering a meet and greet – go. If a membership is hosting a speaker that interests you – go. Memberships can be a great way to find and surround yourself with like-minded individuals. 

Network With Your Clients

Having a client is a business relationship which means that they are part of your network. 

Your client has bought or invested in you for a reason – it could be due to your product, your service or maybe what your company and your brand represent. Now, let’s reverse the conversation; they like your company, do you like theirs? Is there something about their business that motivates or inspires you? Taking the opportunity to learn from your clients can help your business grow as well. Who knows, they might even give you feedback on the business display that first attracted them to you!

Surrounding Your Business with Greatness

Remember the old saying "what goes around, comes around?" Well, this applies to surrounding yourself with the right mentors, coaches, organizations, and clients. Make a good impression, embrace the knowledge they offer, and apply it to your own business as necessary.

Look around — are you and your business surrounded by greatness? If not, what’s your plan to get yourself out there?

If you plan to attend a networking conference or just want to have your brand noticed in the community, check out All In Canopies’ custom-branded event gear. We have business custom tents, advertisement flags, table covers, and everything else you might need to make your business display the best one yet. Contact us for more information.