OK, so working one day at a carnival booth may not get me into the inner workings of carny life, but it is a different environment.
For those that do not know, my daughter started a business called Kids Roar last year when she was 8. She sells her products on the web; she does speeches and puts on events.
To pump up sales we decided to try a booth at a local fair. Here are some observations from the first day.
- I didn’t realize so many people still smoke.
- Teenagers love carnivals and buy silly things at them.
- People are very guarded at a carnival, even when a little kid tries to hand them a piece of paper.
- Vendors buy a lot of stuff from each other. The steak and shake booth was responsible for half of Alexandra’s sales yesterday.
- People do not notice stuff lower than 3 feet off the ground.
- The crowds have more tattoos than the carnies.
- Always have a back up plan. Many parents bulked at Alexandra’s items that are over $10. She gave them the option of buying 3 small plastic horses for $1 so that kids did not walk away with nothing. Some adults bought these from her just because they wanted to contribute to her success.
- It is possible to create a buzz in schools. Kids were coming up to Alexandra and saying they had studied her in their class, and that what she is doing is cool
So ends my carny diary for day 1. Absolutely something outside of my comfort zone, which means I am learning a lot. We will return to your regularly scheduled buzz marketing on Monday.
