Key Principles
Key Principles of a Successful Rug Event
What message should I communicate?
Your event will offer high quality, handknotted Oriental rugs with a good mission and at a great price.
What aspects of the rugs should I emphasize?
- Fair trade is able to foster an incredibly high quality of carpets that many other carpet stores do not carry.
- Our commitment to fair trade and our devotion to doing business as a non-profit keeps our retail prices competitive.
- We get endless comments from customers around the US that we not only have the most unique, quality pieces that they have seen, but also that our prices are extremely attractive.
- Our rugs are a win-win situation for all involved. Focus your message on the unique qualities of the rugs and the way your event will empower artisans.
How much should I spend on promotion?
- Plan to spend at least 5 percent of your projected sales (Check your Rug Event Agreement for your rug event’s projected sales.)
- Some stores who choose to spend more than 5% of their projected sales do so based on the philosophy that their rug event promotes their store year round as new customers drawn by the rugs continue to shop at their store.
- Even if you operate with a small budget, advertising and promotion can be extremely effective with adequate preparation time. Be creative and look for those promotional ideas that are free!
The way I look at it, the ads for the Rug Event also have the name “Ten Thousand Villages”, our location, and our store contact information on them. An ad like that does double duty, even though it is for the Rug customer audience. Others (craft buyers) are still being reminded of our name and location. It keeps the Ten Thousand Villages name coming across in a variety of ways.
Ten Thousand Villages
Souderton, PA