What are Trade Shows and How Can I Attend?- Kaboodle Gifts

Trade shows are events that are held throughout the United States and different Countries all over the world. In this article I will be concentrating on the trade shows that are held within the United States.

No matter what niche or type of item that you sell , more than likely there are trade shows that have several vendors that represent your type of item that you sell. For instance there are trade shows for crafts, automotive parts and supplies, apparel,footware,computers,furniture,furnishings, and housewares just to name a few.

Owning your own business has its advantages. Trade shows are where buyers go to see what is hot and selling in any particular segment of the industry that they represent. Now that I have answered the first question of this article , what is a trade show? Let's move on to the next part of the title question, how can I attend a trade show?

Attending a trade show starts with first finding them. There are several shows in different states running all the time. One way to find them might be dong a search on Google for your specific niche category.

Here is a Google search for Food Service Trade Shows. Although I searched for a specific category the search is all over the place and may not give you what you are looking for. That brings me to the next way that you can find trade shows; Trade Publications.

Doing a search for trade publications in Google turns up several hits for different trades. One in particular that I like is this one. Trade Pub has several good magazines that they will mail you for free. I had to complete a qualification page to get my magazine. If you meet their target market it took about 3-4 weeks to get on their system and receive my catalog.

The last way to find trade shows is keep following this blog. I have in front of me the 2009 trade show calendar so you can plan for your next years business. You are planning for next year ?

Before I post a few trade show names and links I want to add a personal note. I know how hard it is to find good sources of information when it comes to sourcing products. In the few years that I have been sourcing products for Kaboodle Gifts ,I have come across internet sources that want your money before they will show you the goods. I have paid for one source that I continue to use today. My whole point of this blog post is to help those that are like me, Hungry! That being said here are a few sources for trade shows:

March 22-24 Smoky Mountain Spring Gift Show- Gatlinburg TN- Gatlinburg Convention Center

This show is geared to the souviner and gift industry.

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June 2-4 Licensing International Expo - Las Vegas, NV- Mandalay Bay Resort

Want to license that favorite character, team logo, original artwork?

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January 7 The Heratige Cash & Carry Wholesale Market- Gettysburg, PA.

Traditional new ideas for the home and garden.

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So here is just a few samples of trade shows. What you will need to do is provide the contact person for each show and give them your business information. Usually this means that you need to fax, pdf, or snail mail your business card and sales tax license. Each show is different and may or may not require more or less information. Then you should receive a buyers packet of information in the mail containing items like a layout of the convention center and vendors. Be preparied to write your purchace orders because the vendors will be prepaired to sell you their merchandise.

One last item. A cash and carry trade show is just that. You bring your cash and carry your product out with you. This type of trade show is geares more to the small business owner that doesn't write purchase orders.

I hope that this has helped you in your search for product sourcing. I'll be posting more trade show events in the future so be sure to bookmark this blog. Feel free to leave a link back to your blog when you comment I have removed the rel="nofollow" tags in this blog so that the posts will get indexed better in the search engines.

Scott Nash