How to Get the Most out of A Craft Show

You’ve been accepted to participate as a vendor at a craft show and you know what you need to do to get ready, but how do you make sure you get the most out of each show you attend? I’m going to share a few tips with you that I’ve learned along the way. What makes a show successful will vary from vendor to vendor. Some of you will have a certain goal for sales you would like to make, others will hope to have some custom orders placed and if you’re just starting out maybe you just want to make as many connections as possible. Whatever your goals are there are a few things you can do to help reach them.

Promote, Promote, Promote…

If you think all you need to sign up for the show and when you get there the crowds will all be flocking to your table you could be disappointed. Some shows that are established will have their following and many shows also are very successful with their advertising and there will be crowds just waiting to spend their money. But you can’t always count on that and some shows might be new and need everyone’s help to promote in order for everyone to have a successful show. This is the time to put to use all of your mailing lists, social media, networking groups, contacts and anything else you can to promote the show and make sure your fans know you will be there. That way even if the organizer doesn’t promote the show well there will be people coming to see what you have and hopefully you will make some extra sales through them. If all the vendors in attendance did this then that could mean a much larger number of customers in attendance. Also use the show as an opportunity to promote your business by handing out business cards or promotional material, take email addresses for newsletter subscriptions and let customers know about upcoming shows you will be at.

Demystifying RSS Feed Readers

I don’t usually write posts about anything related to the technical side of blogging but today I realized that this is a topic I need to address. If you’ve been following me for a while then you know that a couple of months ago I switched from using Blogger to WordPress to publish my blog. The only thing I missed about Blogger was the straightforward way for people to choose to follow me. When I left Blogger had been quickly gaining followers. Since using WordPress I have noticed my pages views increasing drastically but gaining followers has been slow. Last week I was chatting with a few friends and they told me they don’t know how to follow a blog that doesn’t have the “follow me” choice that blogger has. A lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that if these friends want to follow my blog but can’t figure out how then how many other people out there don’t know how to either. So I decided I needed to write a post with some basic tips on how to follow blogs. This isn’t my area of expertise so I will keep it simple and brief!

Choosing the Right Craft Show For You

How I Display My Wool Wrapped Bangles at a Show

There is no exact science to choosing the right craft show that will bring in tons of sales for you. So much of it is based on the customers that day, who the other vendors are, the weather and of course the state of the economy. That being said here are a few tips I’ve learned to help you at least narrow down the shows that will be more likely to work for you.

First is to establish who your target market is and attend shows that will attract those people. If you make gourmet dog treats then shows that market to dog lovers or in areas that have many dog owners would be your shows of choice. But if you make metal spike studded punk rock jewelry you might not do so well at that craft bazaar at a retirement home…although it’s not impossible!

Great Reads for Creative Entrepreneurs

I just wanted to take a quick minute to share something that I think is a great bit of information. If you’ve never come across Blacksburg Belle then I highly recommend you take a look at her site. Today I just want to share with you a link to a list of books she calls her 10 Must Reads for Creative Entrepreneurs . If you’re like me and you love to read everything you can get your hands on then I suggest you take a look. I’ve started working on the list with the very first one, Unmarketing by Scott Stratten. Now that the holiday craziness is past, there is no excuse not to get reading! I’ve already read several chapters and I can tell it’s full of great information. Take a look at what April has to say about each book and I’m sure there will be at least a couple you will find helpful to meet your goals for 2011. ♥

http://www.blacksburgbelle.com/2010/12/10-must-read-books-for-creative-entrepreneurs/

I Wish I Was Here!

I love making treasuries on Etsy. And I get so excited when I’m included in a Treasury made by someone else! Today I was included in this gorgeous treasury by the Etsy Shop Chicki (www.chicki.etsy.com). Thanks so much to her for including me is this inspiring collection! I’m working on a bracelet right now that’s been inspired by the colours here and I can’t wait to list it! Take a look below to see for yourself how beautiful the collection is.

Now if you’re an Etsy Seller or a Blogger you might be asking yourself…how can I post treasuries on my blog? Well I didn’t know either until I little while ago but it actually couldn’t be easier. I found a link that explains it very clearly and shows step by step instructions. You can find the information here http://www.handmadeology.com/new-etsy-treasury-tool-quickly-add-any-etsy-treasury-to-your-blog-or-webpage/

Pricing Your Handmade Items to Sell

Pricing is definitely one of the trickiest and one of the most important decisions you will have to make when you start selling your handmade items. Take it from me it’s something I struggle with and agonize over often! 

Pricing your items to just cover your costs or slightly higher will seem great when you’re selling a ton of things and thinking that means you’re wonderfully successful. Sounds like a fine idea if your only goal is to cover the costs of supplies for your hobby, so what’s the harm? By doing this you’re hurting not only yourself but also everyone in the handmade selling community.

Take into consideration that even if this isn’t your full time job you still deserve to be paid a fair hourly wage. What is your time worth? There is so much emphasis recently on buying imported “Fair Trade” items to make sure workers in third world countries are being paid a fair wage, so I don’t understand why so many skilled local artisans think it’s okay to pay themselves only pennies an hour. On the other end of the scale don’t pick a random dream salary. Base