[Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts craft shows

Sun Oct 3 18:32:00 UTC 2010

I was sitting here beading on a very bigh project, an encrusted medieval 
collar necklace that has taken me three years to do, buecause I lost my 
sight before I had it finished, and just this past few months I am now able 
to continue on with it and complete...thanks to the encouragement of people 
here who ARE doing whatever they want to do and give us the guidance and 
encouragement that we too can continue to do things.
Anways, I love Joyce's comment about NOT reducing anything you have at the 
end of the day. First of all, can you imagine how P***ed off you would be if 
you were a morning customer and bouth something for $20 and now walk by the 
booth and see the same thing for $10??? You would have lost your customer 
forever, and you probably would have to give the first person back a refund 
because they would be so furious. And you would have taken away your own 
integrity forever.

But, I am also thinking about something that is important to me because I 
sell jewelry that is made from real stuff - no cheap clasps, wire, or fake 
anything...all the good stuff you cannot buy in a JoAnns or Michaels-

I DRESS to fit my product. Do you think I could sell anything if I was 
wearing a T-shirt and Jeans???? No Way, I dress like the woman I plan to 
sell my jewelry to - I wear a lovely hat if suitable, and I am careful to 
match my clothing and look very elegant - I want to look at good as the 
beautiful jewelry I am selling. If it is an outdoor show, I wear my jeans 
till I get things set up - then I go to a restroom and put on my outfit for 
the day.  I always DRESS well and it makes people feel good just to see me 
because I feel good about ME and what I make to sell.

I have two friends who make soap and lotions. One dresses in her usually 
medieval style of clothing - she is a member of SCA, and she always dresses 
very well with shawls and long skirts, and her hair is long and beautiful. 
Her soap is packaged so beautiful you just want to hold it in your hands - 
it is wrapped in wonderful fabrics and tied with lovely ribbons -

The other soap maker I know is a modern well-heeled woman. She looks like 
she is dressed to the 9s at all times when she is out there with her lovely 
soaps. She has samples open for people to use he creams so test the smells 
and to see how luxurious they feel on the skin.
She wears beautiful and expensive jewelry that is hand  made to advertist 
the jewelry of other vendors like me, and her clothes are always very nice.

How you look is very important to what you are selling. It reflects your own 
aesthetic, and the quality of what you make. Don't overlook the importance 
of appearance when selling your items. Your appearance, as well as your 
people skills are what helps to make you get good sales. ok, back to my 
beadwork...bye for now. Lynda
Lynda Lambert
River Road Studio, Since 1976
www.lyndalambert.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Blindhands at aol.com>
To: <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2010 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Starting a Business in Crafts craft shows

> One thing I can say about Craft Shows or maybe a couple of things as I
> don't know how to just say one thing...
>
> You will not know unless you try it.  No one here can give you enough
> information on a particular craft show unless they have done the one you 
> are
> talking about and is selling the exactly same things that you are going to 
> be
> selling and the same amount of people show up that will show up at the 
> show
> you  do, and I won't even get into weather,if it rains, what else is going
> on that  same day that might change attendance, etc.
>
> One thing I can say that doing a large craft show you will hear a lot of
> comments from your potential customers that you will never know from 
> selling
> your items online, wholesale etc.  After a show you can evaluate comments
> like: Love the color, hate this smell, do you have more of this?, sold out
> of  that  very quickly, cost too much, gee this is the cheapest I have 
> ever
> seen this, there was 20 other booths that had the exact same thing that I
> had,  how can I make mine different and stand out?, etc.
>
> This is worth doing a show.  When I was sighted before I would do a  show 
> I
> would go to the show I was interested in as a customer.  I would  case out
> to see what things they had for sale, attendance if folks seem to be 
> buying
> and check out other crafters prices.  I was a professional crafter  before
> I went blind and that is how I learned all of this.
>
> After going blind I did have a sighted friend that would be my eyes and I
> would drag her to places to check out things, but I had done my homework 
> in
> the  past and kinda new which shows when I went blind to try to get in.
>
> Many of the shows are juried shows and you have to have pictures or slides
> or I really don't know with the technology out there today what they use,
> but it  had to be pictures of what you are selling and pictures of your 
> set
> up  booth/tables.  So you need tables, table coveringsand displays. You 
> will
> need a canopy if you are going to do out door fairs, too.
>
> Not all fairs are juried, not all fairs have good attendance.
>
> If you go to a church fair and all that is their is a few good crafts,of
> course you will always find jewelry there and they are having a white
> elephant  sale, you need to know that if you are selling a good quality 
> item at a
> competetive price your sales may not be as good.
>
> Last, but not least, if you have a price say $10 for a bottle of something
> in the morning when you are starting out at the end of the day when you 
> are
> ready to break down that item is still worth the $10.  I never heard that
> an employee  gets paid less in the afternoon for his hourly pay then he 
> got
> in the morning for his hourly pay.  So beware of those folks coming at the
> end of the day and looking to purchase your items at a discount.  If you
> have somethinng you want to get rid of cheaper offer it in the morning to
> encourage sales and interest in your booth.
>
> OK I said enough.  Class over...
>
> Joyce  Kane
> www.KraftersKorner.org  (http://www.krafterskorner.org/)
> Blindhands at AOL.com
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