The ‘I Will Get It Done Soon’ NotePad, Eco-friendly, 50 sheets by: papersquid

A Great Big Craft Show Checklist:

In my last post  I wrote about my best tips for selling at craft shows and promised to provide this big checklist of items to consider taking with you to a show. While not every item on the list is a must, I hope it will be helpful to have a list for all the aspects of your booth to take care of, including you!  Every product provides a unique challenge for display and packaging, and creating a mock up at home is a great way to test drive your booth display and plan ahead. Checking out online photo galleries of craft show booths is also a good way to get some ideas and visualize what you’ll need to succeed.

Tools:
Scissors
Pens
Clear tape – scotch, masking, packing and maybe duct tape too
String
Safety pins
Push pins and tacks
Paper clips
Clothespins
Super glue
Hot glue gun
Zip ties
Pliers
Screwdriver
Wire cutters
Hammer (if you will need to stake the tent on grass)
Water jugs, cinder blocks or tent weights – stakes if you are on grass
Dustpan
Trash bags
Tools of your trade to demonstrate your craft
Camera
Tupperware containers to transport materials to show
Dolly to carry your supplies to your booth
Water
Snacks
Sunblock
Directions/contact info for the show
Apron
Candy dish
Pocket mirror
Breath mints
First aid kit
A friend – if you don’t want to leave your booth unattended while you go to the bathroom (you’ll have to eventually!), bring a friend

Booth Decoration and Shop Information:
Signs
Brochures, catalog, free literature (optional)
Business cards (a must)
Discount coupons for your website
Portfolio (optional, great to show people who might want a custom item or to a potential wholesale client)
Mailing List
Table cloths
Additional fabric draping
Risers
Baskets
Shelving
Pegboard
Chair or stool
Backdrop
Banner
Lighting (if an option)
Mirror
Carpet or floor covering (this is also optional)

Packaging:
Bags with your shop’s name on them – we print our logo on stickers
Tissue or butcher paper for fragile items
Gift wrap
Ribbon

Finance:
Signs with prices or
Individually price each item using hang tags or stickers
Calculator!!!
Cash box with change – ones, fives, tens and coins
Squareor other credit card reader for your phone
and/or
Knuckle buster and imprinter slips
Wholesale Order forms
Receipt book
List of inventory to mark off your sales
Sales tax chart
A copy of your sales tax certificate
Notebook to keep track of your expenses during the trip – mileage, hotel, etc.
Clipboard (for customers who want to write checks, fill out a custom order or need to sign cc slips)

Don’t forget to bring your smile and interact with potential customers. Most importantly, bring lots of inventory!

Here are more craft show tips.

© Anne Burton for Handmadeology, 2012. | Permalink | 25 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Last week, we covered Part I of The Craft Show Survival Kit: The Bag.  Today, we will move onto some of The Bag’s most important contents: The Box. I consider “The Box” my crafter’s tool kit, complete with all the knick knacks that I need to put together my booth and a few extras to help throughout the day.

Now, I like to have everything in it’s place for quick, easy access during even the busiest parts of the show; so, my box has two tiers:  one for setup and display items, the other for my own supplies.

The perfect contents of your Box may differ than those listed here.  This is just a start to get you thinking about what you might need.  Hopefully, you will see a few “ah-ha!” items here that you hadn’t considered, and maybe you can school us on a few nifty tools that were missed.

Having a game plan always helps me to rest easy before a show. You can’t control the weather, the traffic, or the sales, but you can make sure you are ready for whatever the event is going to throw at you. Being organized and prepared is a sure-fire recipe for taking anyone from disappointing to confident, even if you are a slug.

Slug Bug Thumbtacks Fabric Covered Buttons Pushpin VW

The Curious Cake Shoppe and there has been no looking back since. I continue to use my passion for this community to create more, such as The Curious CanvasDFW Craft Shows

© Guest for Handmadeology, 2012. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Owl TShirt - Grey Alternative Apparel by: naturwrk

One of the things I found most stressful about prepping for my very first few shows (several years ago) was the worry that I might forget something important. It would, of course, be something I could not live without. The whole show would fall apart and I would crawl home, a disappointing slug. Hopefully, your mind is not as overactive and dramatic as mine is, but you get the point.

I have learned two very important lessons since my first sleepless night before the big event.

• You cannot put a value on the peace-of-mind you get arriving at a show with everything you need and feeling completely prepared for the day.
• You are only human and you will forget things. The good news is: you can forget a LOT of things before you actually turn into a disappointing slug.

As a crafter, you are probably constantly trying to streamline and improve the production process. It is good sense to streamline whatever you can, and why not do that for your craft show prep as well?
This article is going to cover what I ridiculously call my “Administrative Bag.” The Bag is a big, red tote that I go to when I am looking for anything set-up or business related. It should contain everything you need for the business portion of your show. This may include, but is not limited to, the following items:

The Curious Cake Shoppe and there has been no looking back since. I continue to use my passion for this community to create more, such as The Curious CanvasDFW Craft Shows

Keeping track of your finances at a craft show can be complicated.  That’s why we’ve been working the past month developing the ultimate craft show solution to make your craft show season go so much more smoother!

We know you don’t want to focus on finances while at the show, so our unique system has you enter in information before the show and after the show.  Then all types of useful reports are generated showing your results from the show.  We also help you track promotional items, because craft shows also help you get sales in the future!

Keeping track of your cash and receipts can be a headache – so we have a calculator that also helps you count and manage your cash.  Keep track of up to 200 unique inventory items with as many quantities for each of these items as you want.  Tracking costs is easy with the cost manager.

Enter details about the show, manage your cash, manage your promotional items, manage your cost, and manage your inventory all with a simple spreadsheet.  Once you gather information about these areas – a craft show report is generated automatically.

You can even track up to 5 different craft shows to compare your performance.  We also have a email signup list so you can keep track of what people signed up at which show.  With this list you can go back and add them your email client and send out emails!

You can pick up the Craft Show Manager in our Etsy shop for $30.  HERE

© Guest for Handmadeology, 2012. | Permalink | 25 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Craft Show Tips, Featured

Marketing 101: Niche Markets Part 6

Packaging and Displays….Field Trip Time!

Part 1: Niche Markets

Part 2: What is your wackiest marketing idea?

Part 3:  Getting out there

Part 4:  Have you done your newsletter?

Part 5: Your Newsletter Revisited

If you have a unique product, you have probably spent a lot of time thinking about how you will display and package your item. If you haven’t, then you need to start thinking about this. Marketing professionals will tell us that how you present a product can be key to its success. My husband, whose career has been in retail, uses many of the “tried and true” ways of displaying an item. We did an earlier posting  on Marbled Musings here and here you can check out as we came up with some ideas for packaging fabrics.

If you have no idea of how to display, especially with art and craft shows are starting to pick up, then here are some ideas to help you out.

Field trip! Last Sunday we went out (in the 105-degree-plus heat) to do some research in displays. We’ve done this in the past, and it always gives us some ideas. We headed to Crate and Barrel and just started analyzing the displays. Using your camera phone, you can snap some quick pics of things you like or you think might be useful.

Once you start looking for display possibilities, you can get overwhelmed. Ideas will pop up constantly. You may also find some great new color combinations to try.

Look at what the plate is resting on. We picked up one of these display racks when Linens ‘n Things went out of business. We paid a dollar, spray-painted it black, and use it to display our notecards at shows.

Baskets seem to be the rage; I see them all the time at shows. Lots of sizes and colors, and you can look at places like Big Lots for sales. You don’t need to spend a lot of money. The key is how you actually package them. Keep in mind people love to go through items and look for what is just perfect for them.

Don’t ignore any ideas, even if you’re with a friend who says, “Nah, won’t work.” Think outside the box. This picture of a ladder would be perfect for scarves, fabrics – lots of ideas, and it is potentially quite portable. Some will work on the floor, and some on the actual table top you are using.

This small table stand could hold portfolio pictures, or any endless number of small items, fabric swatches for commissions – just let your imagination go to work.

This file organizer can work for small prints, notecards – again, let your imagination go to work. Now, for more ideas, check out the stationery stores and the “back to school” sales for other organizing ideas.

Also, be on the lookout for color combinations and textures that appeal. You never knows when inspiration will strike!

We were gallery-hopping up in Sedona, Arizona one time, and we happened in to this marvelous gift store. The person who did the displays was a genius. Everything in one particular section had a music theme. It was such fun looking at everything he used to develop the theme. We enjoyed talking to him about his creativity. He always asks the clients if they want a moderate approach to the theme or “over the top.” Evidently the store owner gave him the “over the top” go-ahead for the last holiday season. She saw the results and was very concerned it was actually too much, but they had the best holiday season in the history of the store. Take a peak at his work.

Once you’ve been idea shopping, then it is time to think about possible displays. A lot of shows want a picture of your booth, and it pays to spend time working out arrangements. We had a day of photography when a group of us entered a small show. We set up a “booth” in the dining room and photographed a display of all our items. Then we did each artist separately, and after a fun day of camaraderie, we had all the photos we needed. Once you do this activity, then you will have a much better idea for the future of how to set up a display.

Don’t forget, when you do shows, to take pictures of your display. Proof you did the show, plus now you have an example to critique after the show. Here’s a sample of our display at our fund raiser for the La Conner Quilt and textile Museum.

What ideas have you gotten from visiting stores and art shows to look at product? What have you done? What ideas can you add to the discussion? Leave a comment!

Dean and Linda Moran are the owners of Marble-T Design and have been marbling for 20 years. You can see their work at “The Art of Fabric,” follow their adventures on their blog, see examples of their marbling in their Etsy shop, and watch their updates on Facebook.

© Timothy for Handmadeology, 2012. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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African Market: Art Print 24

Gearing up for a Big Show

I have been in the handmade business now for two and a half years (on Etsy for a little over a year). What started as a fun trip to the weekly farmers’/art market has turned into a full-fledged business. This wasn’t an accident, I have worked hard to build my brand and build my business.

That said, this year I decided to enter one of the big three-day art festivals as a vendor. A vendor with a tent and the whole shebang! I have done two-day shows, always indoors and not like the volume of visitors who arrive for this kind of big, summer festival. The one I plan to attend estimates 20,000 visitors. I pondered on and off for several months last winter whether I was “big time” enough to do a big show. I also had vague anxiety about what I needed to do to prepare for such a show. How much inventory would I need? Where to start?

I thought about just working hard. Work and work and work and see how much I could make. But that felt too vague, too directionless. Instead, I decided to make a spreadsheet. Yeah for the geek in all of us!

The first thing I did was decide what exactly I would sell at the big show (i.e. narrow my scope). I listed those things on the spreadsheet. I made a wild guess about how many of those things I thought I might need for inventory for the show. Next I said, “How many of that thing can I make in one day?” Now I had a calculation of how long it would take to make all of the things I guessed I would need. It came to 4.91 months. This was January and the show is at the end of July, so it was doable! (Side note:  I have written posts about pacing yourself. You need to make sure you can sustain a level of activity for the duration of your goal, so my “how many of these things can I make in a day” had limits. I only wanted to work Monday through Friday and I gave myself time in the day to fit in anything else I needed or wanted to accomplish.)

I thought about sales. How many “things” would sell in one hour given a brisk sales day? I thought, 20. Twenty seems like pretty brisk sales in an hour – that means one thing sells every three minutes. If that were to sustain over the course of three days, I had a number of how many “things” would sell. Is that number less than the number I guessed for inventory? YES!

I decided, based on my calculating, that I could make enough inventory to do a big, three-day show. Putting it on a spreadsheet gave me the game plan. I knew exactly what I had to do every day in order to accomplish the inventory goals. I also knew what supplies I needed to buy. If I’m going to make 200 purses, I need at least 200 magnetic snaps. Did I have enough metal to make jewelry?  How many boxes and bags for packaging? I didn’t have to guess, it was all written down in that spreadsheet!

It was then just a matter of work ethic. Every weekday since January I have been in the studio working. Why am I spending time typing this? Because I hit my goal! I’m at 100% inventory. Anything I make now is additional inventory – of course, minus any sales in the meantime.

I’m still going to the Tuesday night market. That is giving me a gauge to see what is selling this summer, and I have time to adjust slightly before the big show. I have kept my Etsy shop and my website low-key since January, too. It’s all about focus and where you need to put your energy.

I don’t know yet if I guessed right. Things beyond my control can play into how the show goes like rain storms or my location in the park or gas prices. But everything else is in place and under control. I will write a post in August to let you know how it went!

Do you go to big shows? How do you determine your inventory levels? I’d love to hear from you.

© Sharee for Handmadeology, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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One of the best ways to grow your business is to diversify. We have been selling wholesale and consignment  as well as vending at craft shows for over 8 years now and we have come to realize we just need more opportunities!  We thought what about trade shows? They seem like such a great way to sign up a lot of new wholesale accounts all in one spot. Although, they are a large investment and in some ways  are vastly different than a retail show so I thought I should really learn from someone who has been there and done it well!  Dinah Coopstradeshow panel discussion featured at this years School House Craft conference happening this September in Seattle! Hope you’ll join us and see if tradeshows might be a route you’ll want to consider for your business.

1. How did you know that your business was ready for the investment and work involved with doing a trade show?

For me, I was at the point where I wanted to both gauge the interest in my products on a national level and also to see how my production system worked with a larger volume. It made sense to invest the money to take this leap, so that I could learn about where to take my business next.

2. How is a trade show different than selling at a retail indie craft fair?

Of course the biggest difference for a trade show is that you are selling to sellers, not direct to customers. Retailers will be paying you less than half of what they are going to sell your products for. Your profit is dependent on the mark up you have built into this , and the volume of products you sell.

Some other differences:

You are showing samples of products that are then shipped later or made to order as opposed to having all of the items that you have available to sell in your booth. Your display needs to quickly tell your story and allow potential customers to easily see, understand and touch your product range.

Information that you can provide about what are your most popular styles, how much of your collection is needed to tell your story in a retail setting, and ideas about how to display your products all help to market your products, particularly to smaller retailers.

At a minimum, you need basic selling materials, usually a line sheet with product images and nos. and a price sheet order form on which to write your orders. I found a promotional postcard with a branding photo and my information to be essential as well. Many vendors also have printed catalogs.

Booth preparation takes some additional planning in regard to booth display, transportation and lighting. You are competing with possibly thousands of other sellers, and as expensive as outfitting a booth might be, you must work harder to present an interesting and> professional image to sellers.

Pre show marketing and post show follow up take on a grander scale as well. There are exciting opportunities that come up that you can’t pass by, no matter how busy you are, including potential blog and magazine stories and special exhibits that will take place during the show itself.

3. Do you create a pre – show and after – show marketing plan? How critical do you think this is to getting new accounts?

Definitely you cannot rely on people happening upon your booth. For a first show, it is helpful to learn about all of the opportunities that the show offers and submit work to every possible exhibit and press opportunity that comes up. For example, at the NYIGF, for each show they hold a Sustainability Display at the front of the show. By submitting work for this juried exhibit and getting work into it, I greatly increased the flow of traffic to my booth.

After you exhibit just once, you can develop a list of retailers and press who have shown interest in your work. Using a program like Big Contacts you can then send out follow up notes, keep interested parties informed about new products and send invitations to following shows. This list can then grow exponentially with each show, increasing the traffic to your booth, show by show.

Maintaining contact and interest in your retailers is critical to keeping the account alive once you have it.

4. Do you get more wholesale account orders during the show or in your follow up after?

I found that buyers came to the show to buy—it feels like the majority of orders are written at the show itself. However, following through with interested parties afterward yielded new accounts and reorders as well.
5. Do you create specific press marketing materials for any publications that visit your booth during the show?

Although I really think that this would be ideal, I had this as a lower priority that I didn’t get to and it didn’t prevent me from getting some wonderful inclusions in interesting blogs and publications.

6. I have heard it take three years for buyers to consider you a serious vendor at a trade show. Did you find this to be the case?

I think that is more true of the larger retailers, but I found that with many of the smaller ones if they were interested in you, they were willing to give you and your work a try without having a large history at a show.

I did also have the experience of a larger retailer contacting me more than a year after seeing more extensive approval process.

7. Are there any big lessons you learned you’d like to share with us about your trade show experiences?

An important thing to keep in mind once you enter the show world is that you need to be developing new products for every show (every 6 months), in order to keep interest up in your work. Thinking through a strategy on how this can happen while maintaining the other time commitments with your business is key.

The booth shot:
Dinah Coops Design Booth at the New York International Gift Show, Handmade section.

The product shot:
PaperStone tablemats and coasters by Dinah Coops Design.

Andrea Porter is one of the organizers behind the upcoming School House Craft Conference as well as one half of Matthew Porter Art. The line features her husbands children’s books, art prints and clothing. They sell through out the US and Canada.

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Industrial Growth - Earring Tree

I was poking around the forums one day and was very surprised to read a question regarding whether one should set up and sell at a craft fair. I guess I just presumed everyone started at the craft fairs!

Yes! You should sell at a craft fair. There is no better way in the world to learn more about your target market and your customers. You have instant feedback as you watch your customers browse your products. Who stops by? Who lingers? Who buys?

Find a small venue in your community. Maybe a farmer’s market allows crafters; maybe there is a small art fair at a local church or community center. Those venues tend to be smaller and less expensive and of shorter duration than the big art festivals. It is a good way to get your feet wet.

First you need to make sure you have a state sales tax id. You probably already have one as a seller on Etsy. Most states require you to collect and pay sales tax on items you sell. Craft sale organizers are required by law to only allow sellers at their venue who have valid sales tax ids. They will ask you for the number, require a form, or ask you to sign a form stating that you will collect and pay sales tax. If the craft sale organizer is then ever audited, they have their bases covered.

Second, you should find a portable table that you can set up for your display. If your venue is in a community center or church, they frequently have tables you borrow for free or rent for a nominal fee. Practice setting up your display at home. Think about treasuries as you do so! What catches your eye? How many products should you display at once? What kind of table covering (if any) will showcase your items? Will you choose a color scheme? It’s a lot of fun figuring that out.

I started at our local farmer’s market with my 24”x24” table. It cost $5 per market to set up and the market lasted an hour and a half. From there I graduated to the holiday craft fairs at the local churches and community centers. After that I opened my shop on Etsy. I opened my Etsy shop after receiving feedback from customers asking how they could find me when they got back home. I didn’t even have business cards to hand out back then!

Now I’m set. I have my business cards directing customers to my Etsy shop and to my blog. I have coupons that I tuck inside every purchase for free shipping from my Etsy shop and another coupon to give to their friend back home for free shipping, too.

Let me know how your craft sales go. What fun!

Find me at www.aShareeDesign.etsy.com

Or check out my blog at www.aShareeDesign.blogspot.com

© Sharee for Handmadeology, 2012. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Keeping track of your finances at a craft show can be complicated.  That’s why we’ve been working the past month developing the ultimate craft show solution to make your craft show season go so much more smoother!

We know you don’t want to focus on finances while at the show, so our unique system has you enter in information before the show and after the show.  Then all types of useful reports are generated showing your results from the show.  We also help you track promotional items, because craft shows also help you get sales in the future!

Keeping track of your cash and receipts can be a headache – so we have a calculator that also helps you count and manage your cash.  Keep track of up to 200 unique inventory items with as many quantities for each of these items as you want.  Tracking costs is easy with the cost manager.

Enter details about the show, manage your cash, manage your promotional items, manage your cost, and manage your inventory all with a simple spreadsheet.  Once you gather information about these areas – a craft show report is generated automatically.

You can even track up to 5 different craft shows to compare your performance.  We also have a email signup list so you can keep track of what people signed up at which show.  With this list you can go back and add them your email client and send out emails!