10.20.2008

Can't Win 'Em All!

At my first craft fair, I made over $500. People were clamoring and clawing at my stuff like vultures over a fresh kill! And this was long before I started seriously making things, let alone thinking about branding, marketing, and all the stuff I'm doing now to ensure that my little business grows. I just showed up to a free, school-sponsored holiday fair and watched the items fly off my table. Little did I know it wouldn't always be that easy. These days, I'm investing considerable time and money in the hopes that future events will be as successful, but it's not always the case. I did a show yesterday that wasn't so great. It was poorly advertised, unorganized, in a weird location, and the few people that did show up weren't really the right audience for my stuff, especially the crusty drunk guy who talked to me for 20 minutes and invited me to a sweet party. These are things you can't really anticipate.

But some good always comes from a bad craft fair; for me, I always find ways to improve my table setup, to make it look less like a crazy old lady's garage sale. I also end up meeting nice people, like Caitlin Kuhwald, the awesome illustrator who I bought the above card from. It's easier to talk to people when no one's busy selling anything.

I'm working really hard to make a bunch of new crocheted items for my next show, YouBazaar. I know for a fact that this one will be an awesome show, and I'm super excited.

2 comments:

Tara said...

At least the first craft show gave you the idea that it can happen. My first craft show was DEAD, the only people buying were other sellers. It made me not want to do another one ever! But I just did one over the weekend, a really small one for fun and even though I didn't sell a ton, it was super fun. But man, I hope I get a $500 craft fair sometime!!!

Kim said...

Amen sista! You never know what will happen at an event. I've experienced it all, the good, the bad and the ugly. I have found the higher the booth fee the more the event is promoted and seem to do better. Like you I always take the experience and learn. So I always put a positive spin on events that are not monetarily successful. We craft because we must!