Trying to Set Up A Booth In A Grocery Store

[davmac]

Hello,

Hope all is well. I am trying to leverage my online marketing strategies with a little offline marketing. I have a few employees I can hire to man a booth about 30-40 hours aweek in order to promote my business and drive leads.

I was wondering if anyone has had experience setting up a booth in a high traffic area such as a grocery store, shopping center, or any other high traffic venue. Trying to find out where to go or who to contact with in these locations and/or businesses to get permission to do so. Also, if possible an estimated cost to accomplish something of this nature.

If you have any experience or even advice your input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for you help in advance,
David

[Corwinnx]

Generally speaking, INSIDE the stores, you would need to talk with the manager on duty... and he or she may still need to get some kind of special permission from someone in corporate.

If you want to be 'on the sidewalk' (or in the parking lot) you'll probably have to contact the property management company or owner of the property for permission.

All that aside, retail shopping centers are not going to be nearly as targeted as you want them to be, unless you're taking 'offline marketing' to the 'stay at home mom's and dad's make start an online business' approach. It's not a bad idea, but your margins will be a lot smaller and your job a lot harder.

Businesses have more resources, already know how to run a business, and have somewhat of an inherent understanding of the need for 'marketing, so your margins are higher and you're job is less work (just try educating Joe Q Public on 'research, and business and marketing in time for him make enough money not to give up). I'm not saying it can't be done or that you shouldn't do it, or that it won't be profitable, just that you'll work harder. But if your passion is to give 'every man/woman' the 'American Dream' by all means, go do it.

If you want to set up a booth in a highly targeted area for businesses, however, try the office supply stores, chamber of commerce meetings and events, and all the business networking groups in your area, (search meetup.com.) You can usually reserve 'vendor spots' at 'events' too.

Good luck.

Warmest Regards,
Marcus

[davmac]

Thanks Marcus! The business I am trying to market is is in general area specific, but of course with the Internet age nothing is truly area specific and a very attractive opportunity concept. Stay at home Moms and Dads is exactly who I am targeting.

I definitely appreciate the advice.

Thanks,
David

[Lou Diamond]

Hello,
If you are setting up in a grocery store the only way to attract traffic is to give out some
free food samples.
They will not stop for anything else.

[Matthew Iannotti]

When I was an Army Recruiter, I used to set up booths all the time, and had success. It was easy to target my prospects..I setup at colleges, high schools, malls.

Imagine if I tried setting up outside a playground..Chances are I would meet kids and parents, not exactly the group I am targeting...

You get the picture...

The best piece of advice is to setup in an area that targets you're market. I'm not sure what niche you are in, but I'm sure there is a place that can generate you the leads you are looking for.

[Dave777]

Think of it as a joint venture! Use similar marketing tactics and make them an offer they just can't refuse. A win-win situation for all parties involved...

I use to get Free access and usage of shopping centre parking lots for misc. business related ideas by offering shopping centre management night time security in exchange by bartering required services that they usually have to pay for...

Dave

[sdcast]

thanks for the great advice. i was wondering how to get spots at gas stations. i've actually seen people selling their wares on the side of the highway. i wondered how they do that?

flea markets are good to setup too. i've made good money there, selling unique items and children stuff.

i will definitely check into meetup.com

[Rachel Embry]

I checked your link & took a look at your product. If you haven't already, you need to check out BetterNetWorker | MLM Home Business Community | BetterNetworker.com - lots of great marketing ideas there for the direct selling industry.

Is this your first go in direct sales? I ask because in my experience (which is quite a bit in this niche) new folks to the industry usually try to get a booth somewhere to pitch people on their product or biz opp & it just doesn't go too well. You'd be much better off using a "funded proposal" method where you offer people a free report in exchange for their contact info- you can do this all offline as well...I've had clients use bandit signs, flyers & printed ads to advertise their free report & the response has been tremendous.

Whatever you decide to do- make sure you calculate your potential return on investment up front: how much will it cost you to hire the people to man the booth? How much will your marketing materials cost? And how many new customers/partners can you expect to get from your efforts?

Don't just throw money at it to see what sticks- have a good plan in place first & then go after it...that's my 2 cents

Good luck to you!

Rachel

[davmac]

Thanks Everyone for the great ideas! I am excited about my opportunity and I will definitely take some of the advice to heart here. I will continue you to update you on how it is going. If there are any other ideas that have worked well for people in the direct selling business I would love to hear them. I am open for anything that works.

Thanks,
David

[goalpower]

Originally Posted by davmac

Thanks Everyone for the great ideas! I am excited about my opportunity and I will definitely take some of the advice to heart here. I will continue you to update you on how it is going. If there are any other ideas that have worked well for people in the direct selling business I would love to hear them. I am open for anything that works.

Thanks,
David

I bought a WSO on the forum sometime ago and the guy was doing something similar - yet he was in malls and was promoting a cpa diet product (probably the free acai trial bottle cpa).

He purportedly was making up to $7k per week doing this.

[Rob Anderson]

wow. my exact product. i am very near to completing a ebook/product on this sort of offline marketing. mine has a strong flea market slant.
all the advice is great. so soak it all up.
i would like to add.
1. do a competition. if you have a notebook or something nice as a prize you could get a queue to sign up in the correct spot. try to make to prize relevant to your target market.
2. if you have already convinced a shopping center or supermarket to allow you in the door, double or triple up your booths. tell the manager that it is the only way for you to be effective.
3. the Jv idea was spot on. if you can give them something that hardly costs you and helps them you all win.
4. be very carefull as to how your booth looks. it must be perfect. that impression that they get will make or break you. no hand painted cardboard signs. ( not that i thought you might try that.)
5. man your booth with the exact type of person you are trying to attract. i.e. teenagers for teenagers.

i probably have a chunk more advice. pm me if you need any help.
i have 18 years direct sales and flea market/festivals and shows experience.

finally PLEASE keep detailed notes on how you organised all this. i will do a product with you when you are all done and we can sell the report through my sites and on clickbank, if you like. i would be very grateful.

[Astounding Writing Coach]

I agree. Food really attracts a lot of people. However, if you are looking to attract stay at home mom and dads, go to where THEY are involved. What activities do they do? Go there. Go to THOSE places and ask for your machine to be accepted there.

Also, have you tried single grocery stores instead of chains? They may be easier to give permission for their machines.

Also, make sure you explain to the store managers/owners what is in it for THEM that will be a good reason to allow you to leave your machine there.

I used to have vending machines and had to get them placed in different locations. The best vending machine was one I often had to refill twice a week. It was a bill collector place. I think the reason there was such high traffic is that the people doing that work were stressed out. (Gee, I wonder why?!?) The vending machines were filled with junk food and pop.

And, my husband and I surveyed the employees to see what they wanted to eat. Seasonally, they would want different things. So, whatever your machine offers, the seasons may influence the traffic, too.

My point here is the traffic you seek will be related to what the machine does, what problem it solves for the user, who would use the machine, is it used seasonally, etc.. Once you know what problem the machine solves, you can know better how to get traffic to the machine. Learn the purpose people use the machine. You might have a better idea of which stores to prospect for placing the machines. Just grocery stores may be a limited customer for you.

Hope this helps.
Susan

[AndrewCavanagh]

The biggest factor in these kind of stalls is the quality of the people manning them.

If you have someone who is relaxed, friendly and smiles and says hi to everyone...engages them in casual conversation then you'll probably do pretty well.

The second biggest factor is the designing the stall display to attract attention and draw people to it.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[davmac]

Just wanted to update everyone on my marketing strategy. I am setting up booth of course to attract individuals to mine opportunity, but I am doing a JV with someone I know that is promoting a product that will marry perfectly into the grocery store venue.

I am going to offer people in the store a $500 certificate worth of free groceries for taking a 8 minutes of their time to watch a quick informational video describing my energy opportunity's target, potential, and value. This will be done with a laptop equipped with mobile broadband connected to a 20 inch flat screen monitor.

The grocery certificate works by giving customers $25 prepaid credit cards for every $100 they spend on groceries up to $500. There are multiple stores to choose from, but I will propose to the store manager that I only promote their store for the certificate.

Here is my thoughts. The grocery certificate will capture people's attention and motivate them to view the opportunity, therefore generating leads. Most people at the grocery store intend on spending $100 while they are their so they win. My JV partner creates a customer base from the free offer so he wins. The grocery store wins because customers that may have only spent $90 that day will splurge for an additional $10 to receive the rebate. I win because I am generating interest in my opportunity.

Does that sound like sound logic and winning situation for everyone involved in the process

[Pete Egeler]

Good luck on nailing someone down for 8 minutes in a grocery store! I'm betting that it's going to be VERY hard to do.

Pete

[davmac]

Originally Posted by Pete Egeler

Good luck on nailing someone down for 8 minutes in a grocery store! I'm betting that it's going to be VERY hard to do.

Pete

Pete,

What would you suggest?

Kindest Regards,
David

[Nonny]

Originally Posted by Pete Egeler

Good luck on nailing someone down for 8 minutes in a grocery store! I'm betting that it's going to be VERY hard to do.

That's what I was thinking too. Unlike a shopping mall, where people go to browse, most people head to the supermarket with a specific goal - get in, get the food, get out. A lot of shoppers will have kids in tow too, which would make sitting through such a long presentation nearly impossible.

FWIW, I don't think I would give you a second glance, unless:

- I was shopping by myself

- I wasn't in a rush (so not if I'm picking up some items on the way home to make dinner)

- I was on the way into the store (on the way out I have items that need to get into a fridge or freezer, and I'm tired)

- There was some immediate tangible reward for sitting through the presentation - a gift certificate I could use on that very shopping trip, for example, or a gift basket. I don't spend $100 every time I shop, so making that a requirement to get the reward wouldn't always be so appealing to me. At my local grocery, people were filling out credit card applications in return for a 2 liter bottle of soda, so you don't necessarily have to provide anything fancy - just something tangible.

And even then, I'd hesitate at 8 minutes of video + a possible post-video sales pitch. Honestly, I'd find that to be uncomfortably long even if I wasn't in the middle of doing my shopping.

(And it's not clear how your logistics would work - would people be able to start watching the video at any point as it looped, or are you expecting them to wait around for the next available showing?)

Maybe you could have a much shorter 1-2 minute catchy looping video, and cards for people to fill out their contact information. Give them a flier or brochure (or email them a link) so that they can visit your web site and watch the video at their leisure.

[Don Schenk]

David,

I've priced display space in several shopping malls here in the Cincinnati area, and the prices ran anywhere from $600 to $1,800 per month for a "tiny" display area.

:-Don