As I started drafting this post for the third time, I realize this is going to have to broken out into multiple posts. Which is fine, I like writing. :)
So: Behind the Booth: Part One - I've decided to sell my craftiness. How to begin?
There are lots of options out there now! (Overwhelming, really.) Etsy, Craftfoxes, Craft Shows, just to name a few - there are literally dozens of websites now that do similar programs as Etsy. Some of them may be local to your area, even! Some people sell their stuff on Craigslist, some on EBay.
Since this is "Behind the Booth" I'm going to be focusing my energy in helping you have a successful craft show experience. Many crafters I've talked to say this is the most difficult venue for them to work with, while I've always found it to be my most successful. Of course, by most successful, I mean that I've never lost money on a craft show - and I'm one of the few I know who can say that! It's not uncommon to not do well your first few shows, but I want to try to give you as much of a leg up as I can.
Choosing a Show -
This is the most difficult part for me. Every show has a booth fee, set up time, take down time, and display to prepare. Some show coordinators are wonderful and willing to share all the information you need ahead of time, others are impossible to get a hold of. The important things I use as criteria when planning my show schedule are:
- Budget for the year. How much am I willing to spend on show fees for the year? (My first year this was highly dependent upon my profits from my first show, so it was re-evaluated at that time.) Basically before I plan my schedule I figure out the budget for shows that I have available, realizing that I'm also going to buy more materials, etc. My first year I had a show budget of $300.
- Seasons I want to show in vs. seasons I want to take a break. You have to have time to actually make your crafts. You also will need time to rest. After doing this for a few years, I book one or two shows in the summer (Including the big 3 day one I do for 4th of July) and every other weekend from the top of November through Christmas. My goal is to do 6 shows at Christmas time. That way I can January to do commissions, prep for the July show during the whole spring, and spend my fall working for Christmas.
- Consider locations. You have to account for travel in your expenses for a show. Will you have to bring your own tables / display / inventory? Will it all fit in your vehicle or will you need to rent one?
This year, I managed to do the Forest Fair, and 4 different Christmas shows - two were back to back weekends, I won't break that rule again! The Christmas events were all small, one at a Senior Center, one at a historic schoolhouse, one at a church, and one in a private residence! The size of the venue doesn't matter, it's how you set up, what you've got, and how you market yourself that matters. For example, if I do a church show that costs me $75 for the booth, $80 for the rental van to bring all my stuff over, 6 hours of set up and 8 hours of showtime and 4 hours of take down time, I've spent $155 out of pocket that I need to recoup, plus the cost of my items. If I sell $500 worth of product, then I make about $300 in profit. So I made $16.67 per hour in profit. Anything over $14 by this calculation (Profit made divided by hours invested in setup/take down, in this case 18) is a good show. I needed a standard that made sense to me! If I don't make at least $12 on this standard, I won't do that show again. So far I only had one fall short! And some have gone far over!
Some crafters overlook the small church/school shows in favor of putting all their budget into the big convention center shows, but I think this is a mistake. I tried this route one Christmas. I did sell a lot of product. But after doing my calculations for the day, my overall profit was about $9 per hour of work put in! The booth cost so much, and took so much time to put together, in the end it wasn't really worth it for my product. (Your mileage may vary, of course! Some products seem to do very well in these shows. I've just not had that experience with my sewing work.)
I look at it like this: If I can spend $350 to do one day at the big shows, or I can spend $350 and sign up for 4-6 smaller shows, why wouldn't I do 4-6 smaller shows? I'll get more exposure, more opportunities for commissions, and for my products I do better with lots of small sales anyway in the long term. Plus, ask around, your definition of a 'large show' might be different than mine, anyway. I did a church show this year that had a $75 booth fee. I thought ok, it's going to be 50ish vendors. When I showed up for set up, there were almost 200!
Finding the Shows -
This is the hardest part for me. I grab the event pages from the paper as soon as I can, I hit the internet and search for shows in my area, and I network with other crafters online - I'm part of an Alaskan Crafters Facebook Group. On top of that, every show I've done has resulted in someone inviting me to come do their show as well. Since I make a lot of stuffed animals, my product lines aren't seen at many shows, and I get lots of invitations to come do others as a result. (I also make small quilted items, Christmas ornaments, lots of fun things, but the stuffed animals stand out.) I selected my first shows by thinking about ones I had attended the year before that I might want to do again.
Locations -
Really research the locations where you are planning on doing a show. Have they done shows there before? Is this a yearly venue? The 4th of July show I do is in its 40th year this year, everyone knows about it, and many people come up on vacation and make it part of their plans. The historic school house I did this Christmas season was having a show for the first time in half a decade, and so we had a low turnout - and yet I still did pretty good. Next year will be even better! Find out things as much ahead of the day as you can.
- Will you have a table, or will you need to bring one?
- Is it warm/cold/drafty/stuffy in the building? Will having a few hundred bodies in a cold building make it warm enough to be fine without a sweater?
- Will there be food available to purchase, or should you bring your own snacks? (The answer is always bring your own snacks, just in case, but it's nice to know ahead of time if there will be some to purchase.)
- What will be the size/shape of your booth? Will you be able to set up additional tables / display racks easily?
- Can they accommodate you if you need to be on a ground floor/need an elevator?
- What is the lighting like? Will you need to bring extra, will the sun be in your eyes (or your customer's eyes) for half the day if you don't bring some tape and tissue paper to cover the window above your booth or your neighbors?
- Get to know the person coordinating the booth spaces. Offer to help with layout design for the show in exchange for getting to pick your booth assignment. Help anyway, even if that's not an option, and they'll take your help into account when determining spaces.
Remember, when you are considering your needs for set up at a show, it's not just about bringing your inventory in and out, it's also about marketing. Determine where people are going to be coming in to the show. Get a spot that is in a easily accessible popular location. In venues that have stairs to the second floor, I always try for a spot near the stairs, or near the front door. Some shows are assigned randomly, and you don't know what you're going to get - don't worry, just apply some simple marketing rules to your booth and you should do fine! My next blog will be about marketing and booth design! See you then!
