By Cheryl Hill
I recently participated in my first ever home-based business expo. Since my home business is tarot card reading, and I had created a CD for others who don’t know how to read the tarot, I decided to give this route of advertising a go. Previously, I’d sold my disc on eBay and through ads, but I decided that I would like the one-on-one contact with potential clients and/or students.
I burned, labeled, and sleeved about fifty CDs, printed one hundred copies of a handout containing a blurb about my product, and then I readied the poster-size sheet for card layout that was included in the price with the CD. I boxed up my business cards and then placed all of this into my carryall bag.
I arrived at the hall one half hour early. A lot of the exhibitor tables were already set up. I walked past booths that exhibited ways to make money by selling: chocolate (that didn’t make you fat!), jewelry of all sizes, prices, and styles, health drinks, diet plans, kitchen gadgets, purses, insurance, money planners, and much more. These companies had large displays on and around their tables. Life-size cutouts of their company’s logos loomed behind the sellers, and their tables were skillfully dressed. At my table, I felt woefully under-exposed. I had no logo, and after unpacking my CD’s, cards, flyers, and card layout sheet, I felt I was only going to cover about three feet of the six-foot long table. I decided to improvise and unfolded and laid flat a few of the large card layout sheets, divided my flyers and business cards placing these halves on opposite sides of the table, and placed my CD’s in the middle. Almost immediately, a few of the vendors came by my table. I found out very early on that commenting, “Interesting…” means, “Good luck, you poor soul. Maybe someone will buy what you’re selling.”
Most people are afraid of what they don’t know about. This was evident when during the day, I’d have some people say the dreaded, “Interesting…” then they would take a step back from my display as if they had stumbled upon a table of evil, and move on. But on the other side of the spectrum, I’d have people, after hearing my short pitch about how anyone can learn to read the tarot cards with the help of my ebooks on CD, pluck down their hard-earned money. But, I have to say, the most interesting people I met that day, were those that had the same kinship with not only the tarot cards but with the metaphysical. Their encouragement and spiritual comradeship lessened my feeling of being the minority with my own personal home-based business product.
At the end of the day, I packed up my table and thought over my first expo experience. I learned a lot from the other vendors and customers I had met. From vendors, I learned that if you don’t believe in your product—no one else will, either. And as far as customers are concerned, I learned to not take their rejection of what you have to offer directly.
The tarot is a wonderful tool, and it can be used personally or to make a living. Whatever the case, I felt gratified to provide those who purchased my product with a means to help them start their own home-based business.