Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Craft Show Recap!

My very first craft show is now behind me and the verdict? I was ridiculously over prepared! I was so set for anything to be thrown my way! But no! Instead I got to spend a nice relaxing day with lindsay cutting out felt circles for future flower brooches and tending to a small sprinkling of sales. Honestly, that is probably the best way for a first craft sale to go (instead of a crazy exhausting gong show) - especially since the rest of my afternoon was spent driving back to kamloops to see aidan knight (and we are the city) perform at the loft. But now I've got that first craft show under my belt and a fair amount of craft sale infrastructure ready for future sales! Behold a nice collage of images I snapped up from the show:


Oh! Don't I look charming sitting behind my table (well cluster of tables?)! I can't believe how perfect that bang of mine looks - and even on a "day after I washed my hair" day! And I'm also quite pleased with the fantastic layout of goods thanks to the genius brainstorming lindsay did with me! I can't even think of anything I'd really change for future shows (well - except trying to go to better advertised craft sales with 100x more customers). I'm thinking about maybe figuring out a better display option for my postcards but the borrowed pastry tray seems to do the trick for now. I was also expecting better sales out of the fabric rings and flower brooches (I didn't sell a single brooch!), but it just goes to show you how unpredictable customers can be!

So let's sum up my premiere craft show experience lessons with (you guessed it) a list!:

- sterilite tote bins are awesome
- bringing loads of business cards is a great idea (and will hopefully be doing more shows based on those contacts too)
- don't stress out so much (hah - easier said than done)
- look into the craft show's advertising scheme before signing up
- bringing a crafty friend to help out is wonderful (thanks linds!)
- you can never predict what is going to happen
and...
- there is such thing as being over-prepared!

Even if it wasn't a very successful sale in terms of income it was still a great experience overall. I learned a lot, I tested the waters, and I now have a somewhat better idea of what to expect and look for in future shows. I think I'll aim on trying to get into a craft sale in kamloops next time to test the water here (and because of the supreme convenience and liklihood of friends/family driven sales), but we'll see. Any thoughts?

6 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've done ONE craft show and it was a total flop. Just one sale and barely anyone showed up - it was really badly advertised. So I made a loss. Boo. But I'm glad you enjoyed!

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  2. everything is a learning process.

    alot of craft markets i pick up everyones business card, procrastinate all day then jump on their website that night determined to buy what i had been procrastinating about. I think alot of it is just getting your product seen so you are fresh in peoples minds :)

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  3. Way to go! Your setup looks so very cute. Even though you didn't make a ton of sales, I think the exposure is just as important. I still have not done the craft show thing. You are totally brave to have done your first :)

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  4. Sounds like you had a really great day!! Congratulations on your first show! I can't wait until I'm able to do something like this, too! :)

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  5. First crafty show! woot! Great job kate, I hope more success to come!

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  6. Nice set up. Very professional looking. And please, a HAIR comment? Sheesh. You and your hair! :P

    I hope the Thursday things work out!

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