I’ve Been To The Alaska State Fair

Many businesses go to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer.  This 3 week gathering is a good way to make or break your business.  While I was there I saw many businesses that are only there for that time, and open no other time of year.

There were others that did not sell much there, but handed out a lot of advertisement, and networked to make sales outside the fair grounds.

Your business can be featured at the fair.

How hard is it?

Well let me be honest, I have been to the fair on both sides;  both as an employee of a business there, and as a customer.

The preparation of going to the fair is pretty intense.  It usually takes several weeks to prepare, pack, unpack, and setup your business.  Some businesses buy, or rent tents.  Some build buildings and haul them by trailer to the fair grounds.  This is usually the hardest part.

Next is of course the paperwork that you file, and the fees that you have to pay.  Those are usually explained at the fair grounds by the administration there.  I will differ you to them.

Packing your goods is usually next, Make sure you pack some warm clothes, as well as several changes of clothes.  Your stay there will be 4 weeks give or take.  During that time you will need to have a place to stay,  Many stay in the tents that they do business in, or an RV close by.

Now that your all set up and dug in for the long haul, you will be open for business.  First impressions here last a life time,  both good and bad.  Make sure you have lots of business cards, and other advertising information, as they can help you get more business after the fair is over if you treat your customers right.

As a customer, I can not tell you how many businesses I saw up there with a good product, or good idea, that had no way of contacting them after the fair was over.  They had no business cards, brochures, booklets, etc.

As a marketing specialist, it is frustrating to see so many potential opportunities pass people by because they are unprepared.In early February of this year, the second half of Super Bowl XLVII came to a sudden, unexpected halt when the power went out, stopping play for 34 minutes.

Millions of Americans were sitting around their televisions, waiting for the game to resume and wondering what to do in the meantime. Then Oreo gave them a suggestion.“Power Out? No problem,” they tweeted in the midst of the blackout. Along with a link to a picture of an Oreo that read, “You can still dunk in the dark.”