I'll be a vendor at a tradeshow for the first time tomorrow, at Granite State Comic Con. My candy brand is Minty Memes (mintymemes.com - site being reworked over the next few days, fwiw ), a brand of breath mints that puts memes on every package. I will be selling those, along with other, safer products, so that I can make a profit while getting a feel of the demand and reception for my product. A mistake that I think many beginning entrepreneurs make is that they put all of their eggs in one basket and they only let themselves be interested by the one thing they are focusing on. I think it is better to put the feelers out and understand the way people react to YOUR IDEA of what a good product is, allowing you to refine and react.
I also absorb information constantly and am ALWAYS interested in learning more and knowing more, both in technology and in business, which are my main focuses being a web developer and entrepreneur. I constantly read and I constantly am working and focusing on growing as a person. I invest, but I don't put everything in one investment. Creating a business is an investment and I won't go broke doing it. I will start slow and gain momentum, investing back what I earn. This is the philosophy that I believe in.
Minty Memes is my first attempt at making memes profitable. I think the most successful Memer so far is probably the team behind 'What do you meme?', the popular game that is similar to 'Cards Against Humanity'. I reached out to them a few times to see if they distributed and stocked vendors and retailers, but they didn't get back to me yet, which isn't a great tribute to their customer service, but they are so viral right now and probably a small team, which I imagine makes it difficult to keep up with request volume. That being said, Minty Memes is my attempt; I love candy and I love Memes, so it was a natural marriage. The fact that it is a pun always helps I think and hopefully there is a demographic that loves the product. This will be a test run to see if the reception is what I imagined.
Anyway, preparation has been fun and I have learned that there is a lot involved, including table organization, making sure the product looks presentable, rules and regulations in new hampshire surrounding food preparation, etc. It has been a great learning experience and I'm proud of the product. More and more memes will be being added to them over the next weeks, this being my only physical product that I currently sell. I'm not super nervous about the Comic Con; I'm not very shy and I am friendly to everyone; I also worked in customer service for years, so I will have no problem from that front. I'm more excited than anything, to see all of the other displays, as well as experience the selling and meeting all of the fans and comic/anime enthusiasts! :)
Come on down and buy some stuff or just look. It's gonna be fun. Memes, candy, toys, funko pop. It's the table to go to. Look for the tall guy in the "Minty Memes" shirt. :D Tell any NH friends who are into comics, anime, sci-fi, movies, video games, and everything else encompassed therein! :)
AS ALWAYS, WISHES OF WEALTH AND HEALTH FOR ALL! :)