So. Had the craft show today. It went well, despite my lack of preparation! I was lucky to have a friend at the table that is a seasoned craft show seller, and brought many essential items. However, we really learned a thing or two about how a show goes, from start to finish. Here is what I learned today, transposed into some rules to live by:
#1) Organize, price and tag your items BEFORE you get to the show! I had everything worked out, but my friend was in charge of buying the earring hang tags so I had to put my earrings on them and handwrite the prices on. First off, the handwriting made the earrings look “garage sale” and cheapened the beauty of the pieces, so I won’t be doing that again. If you don’t have everything you need : GO OUT AND BUY IT BEFORE THE SHOW! BIG mistake on my part.
#2) Have pieces grouped by seller, look and price. Our pieces were all over the place, mixed together and had unsightly handwritten hang tags on all of them. Many of them were laid on the table due to lack of display racks. We will be buying more for the next show!
#3) Invest in some ambient lighting. Having beautiful jewelry displayed on a table in any manner under only the fluorescent lighting available at many shopping facilities, churches and schools where craft shows are held does little to highlight the sparkle and beauty of a piece.
#4) Use a white tablecloth. Items don’t show up as well on a darker color.
#5) Have displays for all your merchandise. A few items can be laid on the table, but it should be a few, not most. This tends to look haphazard, and gets disorganized very quickly by browsers. You don’t want to be in front of your table all the time, reorganizing items and blocking customers from seeing items.
#6) Get business cards. Bring them to the show. Have them in a holder so people can take them.
#7) Instead of having every single thing tagged, group items together. For example, if you sell beaded name badge holders put a few out with a tent card stating “Name Badge Holders - $12″ and lay some of the merchandise next to this sign. Don’t have all your merchandise on the table, if someone looks interested let them know you have more options behind the counter to choose from.
#8.) Have some signage. List your shop name, policies (”We take cash, checks, credit cards, etc.).
#9) Vary your display items. For example; have some earring racks, t-bars, vertical and horizontal displays, hang things from wrought iron stands. Vary it so all the displays don’t have the same exact look. This creates visual interest.
#10) Make a lot of items. I was lucky to have a sale, I only brought 20 things. It was the best I could do, being in class until just this last Tuesday. I mostly went for the experience and got what I was looking for, plus scored a sale!
#11) Don’t get discouraged if you don’t sell a ton. You’re getting exposure, and each show is different. You’ll get there!
That’s what I learned today. I have to admit, I did just jump in blindly and didn’t look up checklists, etc. like I should have. It went well anyways. It was fun to walk around a bit and see how other sellers had set up their displays. Some were not as nice looking as ours, some were far better, and some were almost identical. You’ll find your style and setup will become a snap once you’ve done a few shows.
Golden Rule: No matter what happens, go with the flow and have a good time. You can always change what didn’t go perfectly next time. It’s how we learn.
I’m sure there’s more I’ll learn along the way, and as I do I’ll update my blog to give you fresh, new tips every time!
Enjoy, good night and good luck. 
