Jeweler in the Dishwasher

Once I THOUGHT I finally had the design that I wanted for Jeweler in the Dishwasher, I knew I needed to find a way to reach several buyers all at once. I did some research to determine what the best way of going about this was, and found that trade shows are a fantastic resource. In January of 2008, I found the International Housewares Show, but when I checked the dates that this event took place, I realized that I didn't have enough time to jump through all the hoops that were necessary in order to attend that show. All I had at the time was a prototype, and as it turned out, it was a design that would be changed several times. I decided to make attending the 2009 show one of my goals.

In March of 2009 I attended the International Housewares + Home Show. I was a newbie in the trade show arena. Sure, I've attended trade shows, but I never paid attention to the exhibitor side of things. I quickly found that attending and exhiting are at opposite ends of the spectrum. To say the least, I was overwhelmed when I stepped into the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, IL.

I guess I thought that a couple of people would be interested in my product, maybe ask a few questions, maybe give me a little feedback on my idea. I was not prepared for what took place. My niece, Diane (she is the one standing in the above photo) did a lot of my graphics for my booth, and has been a great help to me since this whole concept started. She attended the Housewares Show with me, and although we can now laugh about how hectic things were while we were there, it was no laughing matter at the time.

The first day of the show, we had neatly set up my product, Jeweler in the Dishwasher, and the displays for the product, as well as the brochures, samples....everything I thought we would need. We sat quietly, waiting for the first visitor to show up. I was prepared for a visitor....and then another visitor...one at a time.....I wasn't prepared for GROUPS of visitors! One buyer wanted to know the price, and when I told him what the MSRP was, he said the price was too high. The next buyer wanted to know the price, so I cut my price, but it was still too high. Then the next buyer came along, and asked my price, so I lowered it again, and then I was told that it was TOO LOW!! When the next buyer came by and asked the price, I responded with a question: "What do you want me to say? What price should I charge?" I found that if I expressed to the company representatives visiting my booth, that this was my big debut with my product, they were willing to give me a little mini-lesson in whatever issue was baffling me. My confidence was shaken a time or two, but thankfully I met some people that told me to stick with what I felt was right and don't let anyone push me around. Once I did this, I enjoyed all that went on, sadly, it took place on the last day I was there. Norman, from As Seen on TV & More was especially helpful, and I learned a lot from him. I took all that he said to heart, and I realized that if someone wasn't happy with my price, or if they questioned the sensibility of my product (without even trying it) then that was okay. There will always be people that LOVE my product, and people that don't want to try my product. I'm looking for the people that LOVE my product!

I was quite thrilled when the Director for Home Appliances and Cleaning Products at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute came by my booth. Even though I was too busy to speak with her, my niece was able to give her all the information about me and my product. Carolyn was kind enough to place Jeweler in the Dishwasher on her blog.