While 2015, was a year of trial and tribulation, and only 3 craft shows in the books, I certainly learned A LOT from those three shows! Let me share my tale of three completely different experiences, what I learned, and what will be done differently for 2016.
Craft Show #1– Heritage Day Festival
The main focus of this day was to promote fishing along a local river. There were only 5 craft vendors attending. Issue number 1- the event was focused on FISHING not crafts, issue number 2- the event was outdoors, and issue number 3- there were only FIVE other vendors in attendance! It was a super windy day in April, if you take a peek at the top middle picture, that would be my canopy in pieces! The wind was so extreme that day it literally grabbed my tent, twisted it in mid air, and slammed it on the ground in front of us. Did I mention about 98% of my items are breakable?! By some sort of miracle, nothing broke, but let me tell you it was a scene of mass panic as I tried to grab everything as quickly as my arms and legs would move!
The event coordinators were kind enough to allow us to move into one of their large garages for the remainder of the day (bottom two pictures). That was a life saver for my items, but it still didn’t drum up business. I think I sold about 3 items that day and 2 were to my mom and a close friend.
Lessons learned here- research your events to ensure its the right venue for you. See what other vendors might be present and what the location looks like- i.e. indoors outdoors. If you have items that are breakable, an outdoor show may not be your best option.
Craft Show #2– Dahlia Festival
The main focus of this show was the dahlia’s as well as other flowers and plants. There were only 4 vendors at this event. Issues with this event were- issue number 1- the event was focused on the flowers and not crafts, issue number 2- it was an outdoor event, and issue number 3- there were only four other vendors. You would have thought I would have learned from my first outdoor event, that this would be a no go. But I actually submitted my vendor application well in advance, so I was not aware of my dislike for outdoor events just yet.
I sat outdoors, in the middle of the summer for 6 hours, and didn’t sell one item! People walked past my booth and headed straight for the flowers. Some people stopped, browsed, and even took a card, but ultimately I lost money at that event.
Lessons learned here- same as above. And for real this time- NO MORE OUTDOOR EVENTS!!
Craft Show #3– Santa’s Village Craft and Vendor Fair (you can tell by the name, this was a WAY different experience)
The main focus for this event was……CRAFTS!!! Wahoo! I finally picked a good event to attend! The event was in November, so it was indoors at a local high school. I even had a nice facilities guy who helped me load everything in and out of the building. The event was FULL of other vendors and crafters- 80+ to be exact! This sounded really overwhelming to me at first, and I was worried with so many vendors I might not do well. That was not the case at all. The event coordinator ensured like crafts were placed pretty far away from each other. People came to this event to shop for CRAFTS! It was amazing and eye opening for me. At that moment I realized this type of craft show was for me. I need to be indoors, and at an event that’s main focus is crafting.
OVERALL lessons learned- I already touched on my lessons learned in the first 2 craft shows, but overall I would have to say there are a few things I can takeaway from all of these shows.
- Looking at my pictures above, I see I need to improve my set up. I obviously need to find a better way to display my items to make them visually appealing. I know my items are cute, but I need potential customers to see they are cute from a distance.
- I also need to improve my load in and out process, possibly by purchasing better boxes for moving items around. I have SOOO many boxes, not packaged well, it might be easier on me to come up with a better way to tackle that part of the process.
- My biggest takeaway from 2015 would have to be- Do YOUR RESEARCH!! Just because the event coordinators tell you its a good event and you will do well, does not mean that’s the case. Research the event, location, other vendors attending, and decide for yourself if it will be beneficial to you.
- You always have to take the booth fee into consideration and determine if you will be able to make the money back. Making it back and then some means you have profited!
2015 was definitely an amazing year! I am really looking forward to seeing what 2016 can do for me!!
Krystle's Craft Closet 