Slide 1: Crafts Fairs: Tips for Having Better Shows
By James Dillehay
Slide 2: Got crafts to sell? Craft shows and fairs are great ways to find new buyers and have lots of fun. Most shows are on weekends so you can use the weekdays to make your creative products. But before you start, here is a list of tips to make your crafts fairs easier and more profitable.
Slide 3: Wear comfortable clothing; something you have made is the best promotion you can give your work. Also get a pair of comfortable sneakers.
Slide 4: It helps if a friend or spouse can assist you. Setting up the booth and handling sales go more easily with two persons, but be careful not to impede the flow of traffic into your selling space. At some point, you will want to take a break; this is impractical unless you have a partner.
Slide 5: Get a toolbox to keep emergency tools and supplies like scissors, electrical and duct tape, hammer, nails, pliers, screwdrivers, string or flexible wire, and spare parts for fixtures or booths. Bring a lunch. The fewer times you leave your booth, the better chance of making sales. If you have someone to help you, it’s easier to take breaks.
Slide 6: You will need a small space on a table to carry out the transactions. Keep extra pens -- they inevitably disappear. Have a receipt book. By writing a receipt for every sale, you have a record and a copy to give to the customer. Also, legally you must give a receipt for each sale. Have a supply of brochures or flyers about you and your craft to give with each sale or inquiry.
Slide 7: Bring extra ones, fives, and tens for making change. Keep your money in a belt concealed under your clothing. Never show large amounts of cash at the shows or motels you stay at when traveling. Be extra careful when leaving the show to hide your money.
Slide 8: Be prepared to wrap up the sale as soon as possible. At crafts fairs, the more time you spend with one customer, the easier it is for another one to walk away. Have bags handy. Consider buying a carpet remnant or rug for your booth. It looks good and gives you and your customers some relief from concrete floors at indoor shows.
Slide 9: For indoor shows, bring long extension cords, power strips, and clamp-on lights with bulbs. The better your lighting, the more you will sell. Most exhibit centers do not provide adequate light for good displays. Flameproof your exhibit materials such as table covers and fabric backdrops. Almost all cities have strict regulations enforced by fire marshals inspecting each booth.
Slide 10: Many of the better craft shows offer prizes or cash awards for best display or best designer. Getting recognition is more than strokes for the ego, it adds value to your work in the eyes of customers when you post your awards in a visible area of your booth display.
Slide 11: Awards can also afford you speaking and teaching opportunities as a recognized professional artisan, another avenue for building demand of your work. Besides the publicity value, award winners may receive prize money.
Slide 12: Many state fairs and some county fairs have juried events with large cash awards. Prestige you get from such awards will almost guarantee you feature articles in your local periodicals and newspapers that like to cover local events like crafts fairs.
Slide 13: From all craft shows you exhibit at, gather a mailing list of your customers’ names and addresses. Whenever someone makes a purchase or inquiry, enter their name on the list.
Slide 14: When returning to the same city later, mail everyone on your list a postcard with details of the show and if you know it, your booth location. You can also use this list to send out announcements of special offers, limited editions, year-end close outs, and a calendar of your other upcoming crafts fairs.
Slide 15: James Dillehay is a professional craft artist and author of nine books. He has been interviewed in The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Bottom Line Personal and has appeared as a featured guest on HGTV’s The Carol Duvall Show and Entrepreneur Radio.
Slide 16: He is founder and director of Crafsu.com, a social networking site to buy and sell crafts and blogs about craft business topics at http://www.craftmarketer.com/
