Let’s face it, we want the kids to feel success at the TREP$ Marketplace. Preparing them for an independent experience is a big part of that feeling of success, but in the end, one of the biggest contributors is attendance at the Marketplace. No matter how great your plan, product, or pitch – without customers, it’s going to be a struggle. So how can we make sure we are getting the audience the entrepreneurs deserve?
- Choose the right time of year for your school and for your customers. December is probably best, because of all the holiday related shopping, but you have to know your school community.
- Choose the right time of day – Can parents who work attend? Have you considered all your options?
- Encourage great products. Try to include products kids love, products adults love, services for during the event- like carnival or tournament style games, even balloon animals and face-painting!
- Publicize online! Use social media to promote. Post video ads of the kids pitching their products. Add to the calendar on the school website. Encourage parents to respond to the Marketplace event on the TREP$ Facebook page! Ask the parent association for help.
- Submit the press release to your local papers! We have included one in the Publicity Guide for you to customize. People are busy. They need reminders coming everywhere they look.
- Promote in school. Get the school community excited to attend. Host a “preview day” for the students to view, but not purchase from the businesses. Permit the students to practice their pitches in person during lunch or in visits to the younger classes. Remind everyone on the morning announcements. Display the student advertisements in the halls. Have a free raffle for kids who attend.
- Tell the young entrepreneurs they need to be responsible too! Are their friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and neighbors coming? Did they invite them personally?
- Get more people involved. Invite community organizations to participate in TREP$ by helping at workshops, hanging signs at their businesses, etc. Word spreads when more people are invested.
- Hang a banner or post a sign in the front of the school for the week preceding the event.
