Anyone been to the Baby Shows?

[theauthor]

I'm thinking of selling something at the Baby Show and trying to work out how much interest there would be.....would anyone mind me doing a little straw poll of 'would you buy this...'?

I'd have to mention the product so thought I should ask first as don't want to be accused of promoting it for free which is not what I'm trying to do (and the product isn't really on sale yet anyway!)

I promise I am a genuine Mumsnetter - have been for about two or three years but namechanged here (important when I'm moaning about whatever on AIBU!!)

Apparently 25,000 visitors go to the show but surely some of them will be there with their partner/ mum so actually you're looking at an initial target market of about half that?

It all feels a bit like that Apprentice task where they were selling wedding dresses at the wedding show!

bump...

have been to the scottish baby show for the last two years and there are some good products there and it is interesting to find out about new stuff. suppose it depends on what you're selling as lots of the people seem to have very young babies and i went when i was pregnant with DS looking for information/bargains

It's a book I've co-written which is a guide to baby equipment/ products. It's published a few weeks before the next show. It covers Everything from how to choose a pram to which type of steriliser is best ie. electric steam/ microwave/ cold water. We'd probably sell it for a pound less than the RRP it will be sold for in high street bookshops or the same as Amazon (when you include P&P).

Do you think you'd have been tempted Fled?! It would be around £8 and I just think that given most people going to the shows are interested in baby products by definition, it makes sense. But I need some reassurance as it's a big commitment!

Oops forgot to name change. Luckily I had only recently adopted Alvin and hadn't posted about my excrutiatingly embarrassing bad habits/ darkest secrets!!!

Damn I liked that name but will have to change again now!

I went to the one in Earls court 2 years ago, dd was 4 weeks old. I probably would have bought it, although probably more use when you're pregnant and looking to buy all that stuff than when you've got baby. Can you promote it through Bounty/Emma's diary, or those pack that go out to pregnant women?

I think including a leaflet with Bounty is a good idea....will look into that.

I wonder what the mix of visitors is - pregnant vs. those who've already had their baby? I'd guess 50:50. Will ask the organisers.

I'd guess that a lot of people would buy it based on the feedback we've had and research we did before writing it BUT it's a question of getting them to hear about it and we can't afford to advertise on here and our publisher's pockets aren't very deep!

I have been twice and I think, from memory, that there were more people there with babies than pregnant. I know the first time when I was pg we got free tickets via NCT antenatal classes. I think it's important to know the ratio and even, if possible, how far into pregnancy people are (if they have any way of recording that data?). The thing is that you go there to check out and buy equipment and you may have already done some research so I would think that many visitors may actually need your book earlier. Could you get some sort of advertising out with the pre-show publicity? Sponsor some part of the show or something like that? Good luck!

Hi
We are looking at some sort of deal with them. Can't say too much here obviously.

There are SO many ways to reach this market it's quite daunting!

I just wish we could advertise on here as I think it'd be perfect for the products section - will have to see how we do initially!

I guess the ideal time to buy it would be at around five to six months - after that all important 20 week scan but before people have bought too much.

You can afford a stand at the Baby Show but not to advertise on here? My impression is that stands are quite expensive.

We would be offering them a service so get it at a discounted rate.

TBH I was surprised at how much it cost to advertise on here as I really want to do it!

Ideally we'd do both!!

I have worked at the Baby Shows - NEC and London - for various companies/organisations over the years (NCT several times, a birth pool company a couple of times and the launch of the first mumsnet book).

The mumsnet stand was quite hard work in attracting people - I did it with some other mumsnetters. We had copies of the book and posters about the site and were very happy to chat to people about the site. We didn't sell many books though but it's difficult to say whether the publicity helped the site at the time.

Yes most people are there with partner/friend/mum so you could undoubtedly at least halve the footfall to find your potential audience. And as you are targeting quite a specific time during pregnancy, I'd say much, much smaller.

Sue - great info! I did have a vague recollection of a Mumsnet stand for the book so that's really helpful.

Sorry for the confusing name change by the way!

Definitely don't have the budget for Bounty in that case!
Yes I guess it would cost a fortune given the packs are given to pretty much every pregnant woman in the UK. I escaped being subjected to them receiving all but one of them when I was pregnant for some odd reason.

hi - sorry for not replying earlier but it does sound interesting for a 1st time mum. I havent been to NEC or Earls Court baby shows but there were lots of pregnant mums-to-be at glasgow. My only concern would be that paying for information that is readily available if you are prepared to look for it/ get it from different places. up here in the sticks, am not sure people would be prepared to pay over £5.

without putting a dampner on your ideas, are you sure there is a market for such a book when this information is available free on for example, this website.

Well the idea is that it's a one-stop-shop for info. The internet is wonderful of course (especially MN ) but it's sometimes nice to grab a book and look in one place and have a balanced view succinctly presented. After all, general pregnancy information is available online but many of us buy a book like 'What to Expect When...etc.' anyway.

There are loads of conflicting views and almost too much info out there on baby products, so what we're doing is paring it back and making things simpler. Actually I suspect you could segment parents to be into the ones who just want easy, low effort answers and those who love researching things for ages.

Btw it is absolutely definitely targeted at first-timers and will be bugger all use if you are on baby no. two or more and have half the stuff you need if not more and already know what you want/ need.

Fled - don't worry you aren't dampening my enthusiasm as it's already too late! Written, done and dusted and will be published in three weeks time!

all i can say is good luck! i do think its a good idea but (and i can only speak for the area i live in) do watch how you price it.

chipmunks, there used to be a quarterly magazine that did something similar. I presume it is no longer available?

Fled - pricing was in the hands of my publisher but to be honest with the kind of discounts on offer on Amazon it is more like £6.50 than the cover price anyway.

Sue - haven't seen that mag for a while but not sure.

But I also think the mag was quite focused on specific brands' products whereas we've written a guide to the overall decisions you need to make plus provide objective lists of what you really need/ might like to have as against what retailers claim you need!

We do cover specific brands as 'star buys' for the main product categories but we aren't primarily about discussing the merits of say a Bugaboo versus a Pliko, rather about what to consider when choosing a pram, a steriliser or whatever.