Starting a Shoe Shine Business:

With todays job market uncertainties, many people are a considering working for themselves. There is a great appeal to the thought of being able to leave your dreary nine to five job and become financially independent. We love the notion of being able to “fire our Boss” and becoming our own bosses.

In fact there has been a dramatic shift in the past few years from people who used to work for an employer who have switched careers to running their own businesses.

I’m sure most readers will not find the concept of a shoe shine business very appealing at first. We may envision some poor individual bent over some rich man’s expensive shoes, laboring away to please him , with the shoe shiner’s hopeful expectation of receiving the client’s benediction and a few lousy cents. We envision the lowly shoe shiner, pathetically grateful, bowing humbly while repeating his many thanks to the point of annoying his customer.

I know that may sound rather sad, however I’m sure that this is the image we get when we think of a shoe shiner sitting at his shoe shine stand patiently awaiting, and ever thankful to having another customer.

Well times have changed.

Harry Klein is the perfect example of the successful entrepreneur that has climbed the ladder from humble beginnings to becoming the proud owner of North America’s most successful Shoe Shine business, The Klein Shine.

Having said that, just like any other business, it has not been an easy climb. To become truely successful, Harry Klein has had to become an unstoppable one man marketing machine, spending hours every day calling prospective clients and pitching them on
his unique shoe shine service. Mr. Klein’s objectives were clear, he understood the niche market he was in and realized that the
best way to exploit and capitalize on the services he offered was to enter into the trade show entertainment business sector.

Since 2003, his KleinShine Shoe Shine service has “shined” at literally hundreds of trade shows and conventions all over North
America and Europe earning him the moniker ” The King of Shine” amongst his peers.  As funny as that may sound, he has become
the highest in demand shoe shiner in North America today.

What makes his shoe shine business so succsesful, is the fact that his shoe shine stand can drive an immense amount of traffic to his client’s trade show booths. This in turn has helped his clients boost their sales without having to be too pushy with trade show attendees.

A shoe shine stand is a powerful marketing tool for any trade show booth exhibitor, it offers a useful free service to customers, it keeps visitors at an exhibition booth longer than any other type of trade show entertainment. Having a shoe shine stand at a  booth also give the sales represenatives a chance to break the ice with potential clients in a casual manner.

However owning and operating a shoe shine business is not for everyone. There is the grueling task of building a steady clientel, not to mention the long hours standing at the shoe shine booth shining customers shoes, and just as importantly, one must develop the necessary skills on how to shine shoes at a professional level. A professional shoe shiner must also have the proper equipment, such as a comfortable, attractive professional quality shoe shine chair that is easilly transportable,and not to mention a professional shoe shine kit that can accomodate every type of shoe.

In conclusion, operating a professional shoe shine business requires determination, drive, good marketing skills, great shoe shining skills and also a little investment for the right equipment. Howver, if you have what it takes and have a passion for this type of endeavor, you can find yourself in a very prosperous business .

How a Shoe Shiner Can Drive Traffic to Your Trade Show Booth.

Planning and organizing a trade show exhibition requires meticulous planning, knowing what your business’s needs are and understanding your goals.

Trade show exhibitions are some of the best ways to attract customers in a given market as long as you know what you are doing. You may have a good grasp on your market as a whole and understand the needs of your potential clientel, however creating a proper marketing strategy for a trade show exhibition that will be effective for your business is another matter.

Having the best product or service in the world will not help attract visitors or generate sales if your trade show booth is not optimized for drawing traffic and alluring customers.

This is one area where many inexperienced trade show exhibitors often fail.  Any good entrepreneur knows that proper presentation is the key to success. However, understanding a concept in principal and actually knowing how to implement the right fundamentals is another thing altogether.

Nowadays, many trade show exhibitors will look for ways to attract visitors to their booths by hiring event entertainers.  Trade show booth entertainment comes in many forms, from using magicians, models and musicians to name a few to help attract those coveted customers.

The problem that many trade show exhibitors make is that they will hire entertainment that does not fully complement the product, service or image of their companies. Although it is important to drive traffic to your booth, it is also important that the medium used to attract your clientel does not clash with the image you are trying to project.

Everybody wants to be entertained and recieve something for free, this is what your goal should be when considering the right type of trade show booth entertainment for your exhibition.

Having a shoe shiner who is not only great at polishing shoes but also great at engaging the crowd is one way to kill 2 birds with one stone. This way anyone opting for a free shoe shine will benefit from a great service while being entertained. This always creates a great opportunity for the trade show sales representative because it gives them a chance to chat casualy with any potential client sitting in a shoe shine chair.

If you happen to be looking for a great shoe shiner for your next trade show , you will be very intersted in this gentleman, Harry klein. Harry is one of the best shoe shiner/ entertainers in the business these days.

His shoe shine service has developed a reputation for attracting multitudes of visitors to his client’s exhibition booths over the past years. Having a background in theater Harry knows how to keep his customers engaged and entertained. His service has helped many of his clients trade show exhibitions acheive phenominal success. His shoe shining service offers great entertainment,a high quality service and  drives traffic for his clients.

So if you are looking for ideas about how you can stand out from your competition , consider The Klein Shine Shoe Shine service for your next trade show event.

Shoe Shine Service for Trade Shows

For many years the shoe shining service or shoe shine stand in our society has slowly evaporated into the mists of time it seems.  There was a time when a shoe shine stand would be a common site in public areas, such as bus and train stations and many other visible places in town. Now when we think of shoe shining, we tend to think of some sort of old fashion trade that has disappeared. We think of a past era akin to the good old days when things were simpler and there was true quality and sincerity in what people did.

Well times have changed. We are a more cynical generation, this is the world of fast food, television and disposable items. When do people have time to sit and get their shoes shined in today’s hectic society?  When do people actually receive a quality service for a great price
nowadays?  When does somebody actually have any real sense of pride in what they do anymore ?

Well its funny how things change and how things stay the same.

What I mean is that shoe shining has experienced a bit of a renaissance in the past few years. You may be asking yourself how can that be ? Where have there been any shoe shine stands around lately ? Well for one shoe shine stands have become a great attraction at trade show booths in the past couple of years.

Many savvy trade show marketers have been turning towards more innovative ways to attract attendees at their booths. Gone are the days when a trade show booth merely had to exist to drive traffic. In these competitive and tough economic  times, a good marketer knows that he /she will have to think outside the box and offer something new and exciting that will entertain yet offer something of quality that people can really appreciate.

People have grown blasé over the usual gimmics used to attract and “entertain” at trade shows. Slot machines, giveaways, magicians and show girls will probably attract visitors to a particular exhibit, however in many cases these ‘attractions’ are more like distractions. It is nice to
attract people around your booth but it is important that the focus is your company’s product or service and not the pretty girl with ample body parts prancing around in a bikini.

The beauty of having a shoe shine stand as an attraction is that it offers a valuable service, is entertaining, and most importantly keeps people at the exhibit longer than most attractions.

Remember, a potential customer will have to sit for a few minutes while getting their shoes shined and this can offer a great opportunity for any sales rep to break the ice in a casual manner. It’s one thing to have someone distracted by  cheap ‘entertainment’  , its another to be able to use that attraction as a tool to engage in conversation with a potential client.

This is why the shoe shiner and his /her shoe shine stand is growing in popularity with not only trade show exhibitors , but also car dealerships, banquets, cocktails, and many other types of events.

It is a traditional service that offers quality, entertainment and class. So the next time you are planning to participate at a trade show event, or planning any other type of venue, remember that you can always count on the shoe shine service to create a quality attraction that people will appreciate and remember.