First Expo DONE ✅
Hello! As you can tell by the title, I’ve exhibited for the first time. And you can probably tell by the image, I had a good time.
Since leaving my safe, corporate 9-5 behind, I’ve been networking for about 3 months now. In that time I have gained so many wonderful connections, received a lot of knowledge and insight, gained 3 clients and now exhibited solo for the first time! This was the first South Yorkshire Business Expo by Island Networking in Wath-upon-Dearne - my local area… easy commute for me. 😃 The team behind this event, Adam Bradley and Phil Morton, set this exhibition up with the goal to make it affordable for small businesses… and they succeeded! It was lovely to see so many flourishing businesses, people and conversations in this small area which is smack in the middle of Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster.
Full of marketing knowledge and being new on the scene as a Solopreneur living on savings, whilst building up my client list, I had to think of how I could attract people to my stand whilst on pretty much a non-existent budget; without relying on the obvious essentials: a roller banner and some business cards. People at expos are like magpies, and like typical Brits, they grab anything and everything that’s FREE. These are typically pens, coasters, bags, sweets, notebooks and product samples. I would’ve loved some pens and other branded materials with my logo on, or a cool design, but unfortunately these were just out of my budget - plus it isn’t unique, you can guarantee 99% of stands will have pens. Being a service based business, I obviously couldn’t offer product samples. So instead I decided to show off what I can do through some A5 brochures, full of my knowledge and client success stories, and my iPad showing images and videos of my portfolio on a loop - and yes the battery lasted all day! The sweets (which were my brand colours… details🤌🏼) also helped, some people kept coming back for those!
I also needed a lead generation magnet. Most stalls have a competition to win a bottle of alcohol or a hamper, but I wanted something a little different that also told me these people are interested in my services. I came up with “drop your business card in the bowl to WIN an Amazon voucher and £300 OFF one of my services” (the bowl being from my kitchen 😂). A few business cards were dropped in. 👀
I conducted a little marketing experiment at the expo 👀 I made two even piles of my business cards - one pile showing the front and the other showing the back, which includes my face and contact details. 100% of people who attended my stand picked up a card from the side which showed my face. What does that tell you? People buy from people, they want to know the person behind the business. A friendly face is much more welcoming than a corporate logo. So get your face on your business cards!
I absolutely LOVE this business card holder that Daryl uses, so fitting!
I had many interesting conversations and lots of positive feedback.
People love my brand colours
My content is getting noticed and people love it, especially the video of Matisse helping out in the studio last week
Fellow Entrepreneurs love and appreciate what I’m doing and encourage me to keep going
People love the shiny business cards I recently created for clients, Nick Holland Author & Biographer and my mum’s business, Restorative Creativity (Myself and Jasmine will be marketing my mum’s business soon, I’m hoping she’ll join LinkedIn and get networking)
By the time the event was finished, I was exhausted. Once we all packed up, I enjoyed a drink with some of my connections then went home for a nap then ordered a Domino’s… which I definitely earned. For those of you wondering: Tandoori chicken, onions, peppers and gherkins with the garlic and herb dip of course, and cheesy wedges. 😋
When I first started networking, I was surprised by how supportive the business community really is. Going at it solo is scary but I’m enjoying this journey so much. To show my gratitude, I’m dropping some special mentions of some of my connections who exhibited/attended the event yesterday:
📸 Antony Baker of Focussing on Photography, who took these fab shots of the event. Thanks for letting me use these!
👏🏼 Adam Bradley, Director of CRM and Phil Morton, thanks for setting this up!
⛳️ Steve Wilkinson, who is always fun to be around and loves Golf.
🏡 David Whittlestone for your Will and self-employment mortgage needs, and Daryl Horsfall for when you’re selling your house. Fun fact: David and Daryl’s network event was the first networking event I ever attended.
🖨️ Michael Dickinson for your printing needs. Thank you for printing my brochures and Matisse’s treats last week!
👨🏻💻 Scott England of Web & Go for your Wordpress website (I just design them, back end of Wordpress isn’t for me)
📝 Jonathan Anescombe for any insurance needs.
🎙️ James Marriott if you want to start a podcast.
🖥️ Jake Bower of Resolve IT.
🪄 Tim Neale who is all about empowerment and believing in the power of yourself! Like Tim, I’m a huge believer in manifestation, so we have such a good vibe going on.
🐈⬛ Kat Derbyshire of Black Kat HR, my stand neighbour.
🗂️ Charlotte Saxton of the Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce.
▶️ Laura Blackburn of B Animated, I wish I had the patience to learn motion graphics.
📈 Zoe Wadsworth, I attended her strategy day this week! Full review will be coming in a few months 👀
🫱🏼🫲🏾 Stephen Farr who is passionate about helping small businesses. We actually had a very interesting and exciting chat before I wrote this blog.
🎗️ Sophie Barnett fundraising manager of the rotherham Hospice.
This event raised over £1500 to support 4 amazing charities: Rotherham Hospice, Mums In Need, SCCCC and Survive Strive Thrive!
