#323 Shows Are Back! It’s How You Leverage Them That Matters with Ana Maria Andricain
Great news, everyone, shows are back!
In-person art fairs and trunk shows are back in full swing. They can be a huge asset for your business, or a total money pit — it all depends on how you use them.
As we roll into the holiday season, my friend, Ana Maria Andricain and I want to make sure you’re leveraging in-person shows to the fullest extent to grow your business and keep those customers coming back all year long.
Ana Maria is a coach in our Momentum program and a graduate of many of our programs. She’s also the founder and designer behind the wildly successful jewelry brand, Jewel of Havana.
Her coaching specialty is creating great experiences for your customers and leveraging your sales to build an audience base of lifelong customers.
She sat down with me to share how she pivoted her business model for virtual events during the pandemic, and how she’s been crushing it this year at in-person shows.
Let’s jump right in…
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Click here to download the show notes
Adapting to Change
Ana Maria is no stranger to sudden change.
Early in her jewelry career, she built her entire business on in-person events, hauling her products to multiple shows every weekend.
That is, until she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Her treatment limited her ability to attend live events, and in order to keep her business afloat during such a trying time, she had to adapt and nurture her client relationships online.
COVID-19 presented another unexpected challenge, but this time she was fully prepared.
All of these challenges have made Ana Maria and her business incredibly resilient.
In fact, she flew past her annual sales goal in June, making 2021 her highest sales year ever!
COVID-19 was another huge pivot. Now, here we are, all these events have led to a healthy online business and active converting website.
How to Leverage In-Person Events
Ana Maria attributes her success to a balanced combination of in-person events and onlines sales.
She uses them in tandem to build her audience from every vantage point.
At shows, she collects the email addresses of every person who visits her booth. This is why it’s so important to have an attractive, branded booth, and for the artist to be standing at the booth at all times during the show.
This is an incredibly effective way to build her email list, so she can continue to nurture the customer relationship well after the show.
The Value of an Email List
When you make a sale at a live show, you get one sale. When you get that person’s email address and follow up with them, you can potentially sell to them for years to come.
Those people might even refer their friends and family to your brand, growing your audience even more. It becomes exponential.
For every show, Ana Maria recommends having both a sales goal and a contact goal.
You’re not just there to make sales (although sales are great!), you’re there to connect.
Listen to the full episode above for more tips on how to make the most out of live events for your jewelry brand.
xo, Tracy
Links:
Follow Ana Maria on Instagram!
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Flourish & Thrive Academy Programs
More Resources for Jewelry Designers
