My show season is finally over and guess what I have learned.

AlyxAndrea Design is nearing it's first anniversary in a few months and it has been one hell of a ride. Tents blowing away, failing miserably at product photography and wasting hours and hours learning how to properly use social media.  But I also got to know a TON of new people.  I have seen an amazing amount of talent at art and craft fairs and have a new on-line family at Etsy - https://www.etsy.com/teams/7512/promotional-frenzy-team

This last weekend was my last show of the season and I wish I could say I'm sorry to see it end.  I'm unable to continue through the winter because I was excepted into this amazing graduate program at UW-Madison.  I will be attending classes every Saturday for the next FOUR YEARS!!  I won't have full summers off but rather a few weeks and since I spent so much time and money preparing for shows this year I should really probably keep doing a few shows a year.  If for nothing else but to maybe make the cost of my tent back.

Today I'd like to share a little of what I have learned in the hopes that I can help someone else avoid some of my misfortunes.

First and definitely most important....buy a good tent!!!  I was unsure if my fibromyalgia would allow me to do shows so I didn't want to spend a ton of money in case I wasn't able to do it.  BAD idea! Although the wind gave all of the vendors trouble and the fair ended up being cancelled due to wind my tent was the only one the lay broken in a heap.

Second, create displays that are easy to store and transport.  I thought I was being all creative by finding some fun treasures at a thrift store but they turned out to be a big pain in the bottom. 

Does and Don'ts

DO...Chose a display stand that is sturdy                  
DON'T...Use fun little decorative candle holders that blow over

DO...Get as much display space out of as little weight and space possible          
DON'T...Use Bulk wooden easels that are heavy and don't store easily

DO...Have plenty of vertical display space                  
DON'T...Fill all of your table space with flimsy candle holders and bulky easels 

DO...Devise a good plan for storing your product      
DON'T...Put each item in little baggies and expect that you will not eventually get sick of putting 70 items in 70 bags and instead throwing them all into a big pile that later turns into a big tangly mess

DO...Make sure everything is secure on your displa          
DON'T...Use pretty little ornament hooks and twist them onto your display and expect that they will hold anything.....at all....

DO...Make sure you have enough space so that the customer's eyes can focus on individual pieces
DON'T...Squish everything together and expect people to see anything but a big pile of color

                            

DO..Have different price ranges that are easily identifiable        
DON'T...Mix everything together so that when someone picks up your best piece and looks at the price tag they don't quickly run out of your booth

So yes...I have some work to do if I'm going to do more shows.  I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do for next year's display but I know what will be in my garage sale next year.

I also learned a little about how to pick shows that best fit your product.  If you sell $5 items that were made in China you will probably do well no matter where you go and certainly take away from the people who labor over handmade products and pay themselves $2 an hour to try and compete with your prices.  But if you put labor and love into a product that was made in the backyards of you customers there are a few things you should consider when looking for shows.

1. Pick shows that do not allow commercial products.  (However, the show I did this last weekend said they didn't allow commercial products but there were several booths that did.  I'm assuming they have a few things that they make themselves then the rest is all made in Thailand.  However, I'm not sure how the packaged dips vendors made it in.  Doesn't matter....not going back to this one next year anyway.)

2. Try to find juried shows.  These shows are less likely to have commercial products and more likely to have vendors with similar price points as yours.

3. Avoid themed festivals.  If 100,000 people are going to a festival which is featuring the local harvest - cranberries, corn, pumpkins etc. that doesn't mean there will be 100,000 people looking for a nice handmade product to tote with them through carnival rides and games. 

4.  Don't think your saving a buck by focusing on shows that have low booth fees.  Higher fees means more advertising and a history of having a good turnout filled with people ready to spend money on local, handmade goodness.

5.  Figure out if you are an "art" or a "craft" vendor.  If you are a crafter, go to "craft fairs."  Have a ton of each item you sell and price them to move.  The woman selling $2 kids hair ties must have sold a million of them on one of the slowest shows I went to.  The only customers where families with small children.  Moms were all too willing to shell out 2 bucks to make their kids happy because they got to buy something.  However, I can only imagine how little the vendor actually makes per hour when you factor in the labor time.  I also got to know a woman who sells painted gourd bird houses pretty well.  She needs to keep her cost down to compete and people still complain that they are too expensive.  The products you see in big box stores are cheap because they are made in 3rd world countries where labor costs are in the cents not dollars.  You can't expect a person with American bills to pay to live off of a few cents per hour.  But this women creates because she enjoys it and goes to shows because she loves talking to new people all day.  

     My husband spoke to a vendor who makes gorgeous and very good quality metal yard art.  She had this intricate garden bench that was VERY reasonably priced considering how very long it must have taken to make.  I customer asked her the price then quickly replied "F*** you, that's way too expensive."  This handmade metal bench that would last a lifetime was less than $200.  I can not image getting something similar from a retail store for anything less and who knows where it was made or how long it will last.

     If you are an "artist" go to "art fairs."  Customers are expecting to pay for art which inherently is more expensive but also more labor intensive and hopefully of good quality.  Kids hair ties and $3 trinkets will not likely be at these shows.  

6. Talk to your neighbors.  It is inevitable that you will go to shows that don't fit well with what you are trying to sell.  Talk to the other vendors and find out what shows work for them and why.  

7.  Don't give up and don't get discouraged.  If you have made it as far in your trade that you are considering showcasing your work you are probably doing something right.  You're not going to do everything right at first. Your prices may need adjusting, you signage my be lacking or your display might not be working right but all you can do is learn and make improvements.  Like any small business it is common for people to lose big bucks the first year.  Learn from you mistakes and try not to look at the customer that just keeps walking as a sign that your product isn't good enough.  You just need to find the right venue and have a display that works well for you.  All of that takes time and practice.  

    

   

I survived!!

Yes, my anxiety had me a little neurotic this last month or so waiting for my first craft fair.  I started making my unique jewelry designs less than 4 months ago and even though I have not sold much it has been a whirlwind.  I started a website, a shop on Etsy and I'm trying to master the world of on-line sales (much more complicated than I could have ever imagined).  I was able to get my jewelry displayed in a store and I am involved with the group that is working on establishing a community market in the small town I live.  Then I was in a craft fair for the first time.

The fair was in a gorgeous new building in down town Madison WI.  The parking was very limited and apparently the organizers did very little advertising.  The only advertising anyone knew about was ads in the student newspapers.  We all know that college students are not known for having a lot of money.  So, the turnout was very low.  I have some mixed feelings about this.  If it had been really busy I would have been really anxious and may have felt really overwhelmed and unprepared.  BUT, as it turned out I just barely sold enough to cover my booth fee and I did not cover the cost of transportation and food for the day.

I was able to meet a lot of the other vendors and enjoyed getting to know some really remarkable artists.  I still have to go through the business cards I collected and I will make sure to give a shout out to them.

I am fairly happy with my display and got a few positive comments.  I few people really liked the business cards, tags and banners my amazing husband designed for me.

Overall, I loved the set up, the other vendors and how my display turned out but I definitely would have liked a better turn out.  I'm signed up for another fair in March for a fundraiser craft fair and fashion show.  So, we will see how that goes.  I'm still debating whether or not I want to apply for any more for this year.  If I do I also need to make sure the times are shorter.  Seven hours in a chair I am not used to is too hard for my Fibromyalgia.  I am still very sore today so I probably shouldn't put my body through that again.

Etsy Teams and Another First

It's been about 3 months since I first opened a shop on Etsy.  I took a picture of a necklace I made using my phone, uploaded the pic to my store and added a price.   Absolutely nothing happened because the picture was terrible and the description was worse.

Then I discovered teams.  Teams are little forums with groups of people with common interests.  There are teams for asking questions or posting new items or for just about anything you can think of.  I found a lot of good information and even got a full shop review from the "Helpful Relevancy Team."

The best team a person could ever find is the "Promotional Frenzy Team."   You need to have 500 people following your shop in order to join which I had to work really hard to get to.  But once you are welcomed into this amazing group of people that are becoming friends the rewards are limitless.  I have gotten a ton of advice on how to improve my pics, descriptions and other aspects of selling on Etsy.  My views have skyrocketed because everyone on the team must participate in activities which involve promoting each others items on Etsy and with social media.

I can also thank these incredible people at  "PromoFrenzy" for helping me get my first sale. It happened less than a week after I was allowed to join.

I spend a lot of time on this forum both chatting with team members and promoting their items. It's fun and extremely helpful.  If I'm feeling discouraged I get encouragement, if I'm having difficulties with my photos I get advice, if something positive happens I get applause.

I've actually withdrew myself from most of the teams I joined initially because they were basically just post and run teams.  Meaning you post a link to your item and it just sits there and no one does anything with it.  Basically a huge waste of time.

One other fairly helpful team has been the "Wisconsin Craft Fair Explorers."  They don't seem to be terribly active but I found out about a craft fair that will be in Madison on February 9th.  So I applied for the "Art from the Heart Craft Fair" which is juried and got excepted. I was really excited for about 2 seconds and then I realized that I had no idea what craft fairs involve and I have nothing to use for a display.

So I started Googling and got some ideas.  I decided to see if I could find anything unusual to use for displays at thrift stores.  I hit the jackpot on my first try.

The store had a ton of these new but not put together well table top easels.

I bought 6 for $6 each!!  I tightened the screws and good as new.  I also bought 2 tall candle holders with leaves that will be great for hanging necklaces off of.

I used ornament hooks to hang necklaces off of the raised part of the easel and ta da.....

I'm still a little nervous about the fair.  I'm not much of a salesperson, I'd much prefer to give things away.  Plus I'm terrified that no one will like my jewelry.

I took the 2 days before the fair off work so I can prepare and also shield my co-workers for my neurotic self.  I'm sure I will be a nervous wreck and I will wonder around asking everyone I meet if I'm nuts for thinking I can do this and complaining I'm going to fail miserably.

Of course I'm fairly certain I will be just fine and I really do think I design jewelry that is unlike anything else available for people to buy but also beautiful and looks good.  Sometimes there is a reason why no one makes something - it's not good but I don't think my design is one of those things.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/121146895/elegant-pale-pink-and-mint-bead-and

So if you are anywhere near Madison WI on February 9th, stop by Union South on University Ave. for Art from the Heart.