Craft exhibition/show tips

Hope you had wonderful weekend!

On Saturday, there was power shut down for maintenance, hence no sewing for the entire day.  I was documenting my craft show experience and then I thought I would like to share some tips and tricks.

Last week, I participated in By Hand from the heart show.  It was an awesome experience and worth all the hard work put in . This was my first craft show so I did some home work and it was successful.

Planning

Do list: My day always start with a Do-list without it i feel lost.   First step, I did the Do list for the entire show preparation, things required for the show like number of products to make, catalogue for custom make,price tag, order form, vinyl/cloth banners,stand/shelve to display, table cloth ,stationery to carry etc.  As usual the list was very long and I'm not a super women to do all the work myself. So second step is to delegate

Delegate: So I delegated some jobs to my near and dear like designing banner/business card/flyer, get them printed, buying the shelve for display, tag all the products, preparing catalog etc. That was great help from my well wishers.  I was able to fully focus on my products.

Remember to check the checklist as and when you finish the task  

Presentation
Do you want your customer to feel good when they reach your table.  Then let us be presentable. This doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money on display.

Name sign: When I go to craft show I would prefer to known who you are. And it is really important to have name sign or banner. I display 6x3 feet vinyl banner at the door.  Then I prepared a 6 x 2 feet cloth banner for my stall .   I also wore T shirt with my business name painted on it.  

Mock trail: Keep it simple and arrange your stuff neatly. I did a mock trial table set up at home. So it was easy for me to be organized, prepared and display the products.  Remember to take photo of the set up.  This will be very useful when you actually set everything up on the day.

Display your stuff: Because this was my first craft; I didn't want to invest too much.  I got stand from thrift store for display, painted them and used wooden cloth pins to  hanged all my bag.  You also have theme set up for your display, which I'm planning in my future shows.

Hello: A simple hello and a smile makes lot of difference.  Try to connect with people, there are customers who would like to know more about your product.  People did asking me about my fabric collection, pattern catalogue, and recycle project. They were also interested for custom make.  I had order form ready with pattern codes which was very useful to take orders. This enabled me to interact with customers  

Promoting

Advertise: Do the advertising to get the word reach people through Facebook. twitter, blog ,forum, other networking website or press.   In fact I emailed my friends and family, circulated the flyers and by word of mouth. If organizer have website for show, make sure you  promote your item.  You will be surprised to see how much everyone will be interested to support you.

Business card: You always want you customer to come back to you for more business.  Carry your business card and give to other vendors, customers - easy way of networking.  Give out as many cards as you can, I  did put one card for each sale.   We never know people may come back after some weeks or months later.

Price tag: We always hear "How much is this?" .  Tagging and pricing your product is important thing to do.  Tagging allows the customer to have a glance or browse through the cost of the product rather than afraid to ask for the price.

Finally have some fun bring your friends to help you and accompany you throughout the show.  I'm thankful to my husband for supporting and helping throughout the show. We had great time.