Gift Focus - Nov/Dec 2018 (Issue 110)

Which trade shows do you attend and how are they important for the business? We usually attend five trade shows a year: Top Drawer Spring, Spring Fair, PG Live, Home & Gift and Autumn Fair. All of these shows have been important to us for a variety of reasons. Since adding gift lines to our offering, we have been testing other shows like Pulse, Top Drawer Autumn, The Food Shop & Deli Show and the main Scottish and Irish trade fairs with great success. Shows are an important source of new business – we open new accounts and find a good number of sales leads at every one. Over time, customers can drop off for all sorts of reasons: closing down, changing offering, etc. You need to replace these customers with new ones as often as possible. We also find shows hugely valuable for working out what sells well for us and why. We keep our ear to the ground on how the market is doing in general and see where we fit into it and how we stand out. We also use it as a chance to catch up with suppliers and network with other exhibitors to identify opportunities for cross-marketing and so on. We source new designers, licensing opportunities and new distribution deals. How important is it for the business to be active on social media? I think any business not getting involved with social media is missing a trick. We’ve been on social media since 2009, and it is such a valuable way of engaging with your community, customers and suppliers. It can help to strengthen relationships and opens up a whole world of opportunities. We integrate our social media with our blog to talk about issues relating to retail, business and personal development. It links with our PR and marketing efforts, and our blog feeds into our email marketing too, keeping us relevant for retailers. Social media wraps it all up in a conversation and dialogue that engages with our industry. I use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp for business every day. We get new prospects messaging us on Facebook every week and have even taken orders on Messenger. Customers have approached us after seeing our Instagram page, and journalists have written about us after seeing us on Twitter. Our use of social media has led to awards, huge business deals and positioning ourselves at the centre of the card and gift industry as a source of influence and value to others in the community. It does take time, and you need to understand how it works, so get good advice before starting. We have plenty of tips for retailers on our blog. Do you have any advice for new traders? Figure out what pain in the world your product alleviates, understand how you are different from everyone else and sing about it in an engaging way that makes you stand out from the crowd. Pay attention to the market, to the cashflow and to the sales, but don’t let them drive your reason for being. Shine bright, contribute, engage and have fun. Work to live – don’t live to work. I learned this early on in my career, and it has served me really well. What are the goals for Blue Eyed Sun for the future? The name Blue Eyed Sun comes from Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall . It’s about the end of days, injustice, suffering and pollution. This is where change begins. We want to create and distribute beautiful products that help the world. Whether it’s cards handmade with love in the UK on FSC boards that help people connect and stay close to one another, environmentally friendly bamboo products that reduce single-use plastic waste or other products that help to alleviate suffering, our goals are all about change for the better. The main goal of Blue Eyed Sun in the future is to distribute mindful and meaningful products that unite hearts. For further information, visit blueeyedsun.co.uk giftfocus 51 company profile