Digital and creative: h+h cologne @home presents professional knowledge for the handmade business

Good products and competent consulting are a prerequisite for companies that want to convince their customers on a day-to-day basis. What brick-and-mortar retailers can do beyond this to survive in these especially complicated times, reinforce their customer relations and reach new target groups - this will once again be the focus of the h+h cologne workshops in 2021. Because even if h+h cologne is exclusively taking place as a digital format this year: Nobody has to do without the successful and interesting workshops of the international trade fair for handicraft & hobby supplies!

The trade visitors will have ample opportunity in the scope of two digital workshop rooms to inform themselves about the latest trends or innovative marketing measures and adapt ideas for their own business. The spectrum of workshop themes is practice-oriented and diversified, just like the trade visitors of h+h cologne are used to.

Learn to tap into the potential of social media
The social media expert, Mikaela Ioannou, for example is examining how the pandemic has changed the buying behaviour and what expectations the customer is placing in the retailers as a result. Because if the customers can't go to the stores, they make their purchases from home. But what possibilities do the shop owners have to come into closer contact with the customer? The "Facebook 2021 - new opportunities" course provides tips for fast, creative action in addressing the customer, precisely where he happens to be. And because Instagram and WhatsApp business is becoming more and more popular as a means of direct communication between buyers and dealers, the media scientist provides tips in the course entitled "Digital in the retail trade: Instagram shopping and WhatsApp business" on how these channels can be used to remain in contact with the customer and win over new buyers.

“Rock your Instagram Stories” is the name of the workshop with Susi Strickliesel. This is an interactive beginner course. You are already busy posting photos on Instagram, but haven't dared to try Stories yet? In this workshop, Susi Strickliesel shares her very own tips so that participants can actively use this Instagram function for their company or blog. Trade visitors, who are interested in this course should create their own Instagram profile beforehand, if they have not done so already.

Perfectly staged products
If you have an Instagram presence, one of the questions that arises is how to fill it with attention-grabbing product photos. This is where Tanja Kosub comes in. In a practical workshop, the stylist & set designer for advertising photography conveys how to turn product photos into customer magnets. Because a photo attracts our attention in a tenth of a second. Or maybe not. In just a few steps and with the right props, Tanja Kosub shows how an optimal image composition can be achieved and effective product photos staged. And of course, they do not only have to be used on Instagram.

Addictive creative ideas
Of course, one can (re)discover and try out new and old creative techniques in many workshops this year again. The stylist, florist and freelance editor, Jutta Nowak, shows how easy it is to create an eye-catching statement hoop for walls and doors with tubular yarn made of paper. Furthermore, plenty of valuable information is provided on the new paper yarn material and its creative potential. The course by Nienke van der Zwan is about expressive plate painting. Inspired by the ancient Aboriginal art of dot painting, once back home she experimented to find her own style and technique. In her workshop she demonstrates how simple and entertaining it is to transform ceramic into amazing dot painting art. But beware: This workshop can lead to addictions. In the Netherlands one is talking about the #stipstijlvirus!

“Zippers” and animal pompoms
The tailor, Inge Szoltysik-Sparrer, is well-known from television, where together with Guido Maria Kretschmer she recently served as a jury member to find the most talented hobby sewer in Germany in the second season of “Geschickt eingefädelt”. At h+h cologne, she will demonstrate different ways of placing zippers perfectly on clothing. Or how about something "cuddly" for a change? Then Petra Hoffmann's course is perhaps the right choice. Under the motto "Head seeks stomach with heart", the self-employed designer and author's course shows how pompom templates can be transformed into a cute, cuddly friend. The participants pack an animal pompom, cut it into shape and prepare it so that it can be mounted onto the special pre-produced body. Incidentally, the required material is dispatched to all of the people, who have booked this course, in advance.

Self-organisation: the secret of success
The first step towards success is often the most difficult: self-organisation. At h+h cologne 2021, Kati Müller helps workshop participants successfully overcome this hurdle with a “Bullet Journal”. The 46-year-old founder of the label "Malamü" initially gives an introduction to the topic and then it immediately become hands on. All participants receive a 5-point plan for more focus on their own success factors and start their journals in the workshop.

It pays to be quick off the mark: Secure admission tickets now!
Admission tickets for these and further courses are available immediately from the Ticket Shop of h+h cologne. It pays to be quick off the mark, because the maximum number of participants is strictly limited for all workshops and the applications will be processed according to their date of receipt. Furthermore, some of the courses require active, practical participation. This is why the participants are sent a package containing the materials needed in advance. The cost for a workshop that involves the dispatch of material is Euro 35, participation in a workshop that requires no materials is Euro 25.

A complete overview of the workshop programme is available on the h+h cologne website at https://bit.ly/3l3JQER. Admission tickets for the trade fair and for the individual workshops are available from the Ticket Shop of h+h cologne at https://bit.ly/2OJFtTe. Access to the event platform is not yet possible for visitors, but as soon as h+h cologne @home is also open for visitors, the latter (if they have already purchased an admission ticket) will be informed automatically per e-mail. This will happen a few days prior to the opening of the fair in the course of a so-called "soft opening". From then onwards, the visitors will be able to enhance their profile, establish initial contacts, arrange appointments during the trade fair and note down their programme highlights prior to the official opening of the trade fair.