What do you do after a jewelry craft show?
You evaluate.
Why and how?
I had a jewelry craft show last weekend. I meant to let you know all about it , but just could not get enough time to write the post.
It was free, a no- booth- fee show and that is why I had taken it. But was that a good thing? You tell me your opinion at the end in the comment.
My story:
I thought before signing up what would I lose? I'd get some exposure, know more vendors and people, see what people liked, what they picked up and put down. Was price an issue? It would give me all these valuable insights.
So I took all my inventory, did a practice show display at home, spent 8 hours on preparation ( not making any jewelry), took my tent and all my things, woke up five o'clock on a Saturday morning and headed for the show.
In the show I spent the whole day, that is ten hours from prep work to breaking down. At night I was so tired I just took a couple of pain killers and slept.
Half of next day went unloading and recuperating.
What was it like:
I found the tent had to be set on shredded bark. It is a farm. I was wearing an open toe shoe!
There was no traffic other than the vendors. Many of them were grouchy because they were at the back and no one knew that they existed. The promoters asked only donations from us but charged $15 tickets as entry fee from public which we did not know before applying. This discouraged outside traffic.
My neighbor vendor was a deaf lady in a wheel chair. When I saw that her friend/partner brought some card board slabs to roll the wheel chair for her friend with a big smile on her face, I had a different perspecitive. They sold bath products.
They were my only customers but bought $60 worth of stuff. I bought from them too, which gave me a nice soothing bath later at night!
One thing I learned - to take notes objectively. Here are the points I took notes on that may help you in such situations. I got it from Rena Klingenburg's e - book Ultimate Guide to your Profitable Booth which I bought. It has many good ideas.
No I am not an affiliate of this product, just a fan of her website. Here are the points I checked after the show:
Event:A&Z show in Martinez:
Date:Oct 2014.
My expenses (show fees, advertising,
transportation, lodging, food): Minimal with in $5
My income (sales total; was it what you
expected?): $60. Quite bad but they say you have a profitable show if you have made 10 times the booth price. I did.
The show itself (well advertised? crowd
size? problems? would you do this show
again?): No crowd. No I'll not.
My promotions (What pre-show promoting
did you do? Did it pay off?): I e mailed my earlier clients. No ad cost
My booth (location, size, pros and cons): Putting up a tent on wet bark chips was not fun. But it did not have any wind, or other weather problems. So not very bad.
My displays (what got attention, what
didn’t work, what was a pain?): I got compliment for my booth but it was a pain. I need to simplify it.
My jewelry (what sold, what was ignored,
what did people ask for?): $10 - $20 stuff. Lots of compliments for hard work but no sales.
My customers (age groups, personal
styles, spending levels, who browsed, who
bought?) : I had only 3 customers Age 45- 60. Female. But younger visitors appreciated the style.
My overall sales (small sales, big sales,
single purchases, multiple purchases? bought
for self or gift?): For self.
My specials (how did sale prices and
volume discounts do?):
My packaging (what worked, what
didn’t?):Worked well.
My pricing (most popular price point?
prices right for this show?):$10
What should I do?
More rings and simple earrings under $20, $15 and $10 range.
The biggest thing I learned from this show is: The deaf lady in the wheel chair had a big smile and did not complain like us, other vendors! . Her radiance and positive attitude was contagious . And with all kinds of inconveniences we chat with sign language and body language, helped each other and had a pretty good time.
You evaluate.
Why and how?
I had a jewelry craft show last weekend. I meant to let you know all about it , but just could not get enough time to write the post.
It was free, a no- booth- fee show and that is why I had taken it. But was that a good thing? You tell me your opinion at the end in the comment.
My story:
I thought before signing up what would I lose? I'd get some exposure, know more vendors and people, see what people liked, what they picked up and put down. Was price an issue? It would give me all these valuable insights.
So I took all my inventory, did a practice show display at home, spent 8 hours on preparation ( not making any jewelry), took my tent and all my things, woke up five o'clock on a Saturday morning and headed for the show.
In the show I spent the whole day, that is ten hours from prep work to breaking down. At night I was so tired I just took a couple of pain killers and slept.
Half of next day went unloading and recuperating.
What was it like:
I found the tent had to be set on shredded bark. It is a farm. I was wearing an open toe shoe!
There was no traffic other than the vendors. Many of them were grouchy because they were at the back and no one knew that they existed. The promoters asked only donations from us but charged $15 tickets as entry fee from public which we did not know before applying. This discouraged outside traffic.
My neighbor vendor was a deaf lady in a wheel chair. When I saw that her friend/partner brought some card board slabs to roll the wheel chair for her friend with a big smile on her face, I had a different perspecitive. They sold bath products.
They were my only customers but bought $60 worth of stuff. I bought from them too, which gave me a nice soothing bath later at night!
One thing I learned - to take notes objectively. Here are the points I took notes on that may help you in such situations. I got it from Rena Klingenburg's e - book Ultimate Guide to your Profitable Booth which I bought. It has many good ideas.
No I am not an affiliate of this product, just a fan of her website. Here are the points I checked after the show:
Event:A&Z show in Martinez:
Date:Oct 2014.
My expenses (show fees, advertising,
transportation, lodging, food): Minimal with in $5
My income (sales total; was it what you
expected?): $60. Quite bad but they say you have a profitable show if you have made 10 times the booth price. I did.
The show itself (well advertised? crowd
size? problems? would you do this show
again?): No crowd. No I'll not.
My promotions (What pre-show promoting
did you do? Did it pay off?): I e mailed my earlier clients. No ad cost
My booth (location, size, pros and cons): Putting up a tent on wet bark chips was not fun. But it did not have any wind, or other weather problems. So not very bad.
My displays (what got attention, what
didn’t work, what was a pain?): I got compliment for my booth but it was a pain. I need to simplify it.
My jewelry (what sold, what was ignored,
what did people ask for?): $10 - $20 stuff. Lots of compliments for hard work but no sales.
My customers (age groups, personal
styles, spending levels, who browsed, who
bought?) : I had only 3 customers Age 45- 60. Female. But younger visitors appreciated the style.
My overall sales (small sales, big sales,
single purchases, multiple purchases? bought
for self or gift?): For self.
My specials (how did sale prices and
volume discounts do?):
My packaging (what worked, what
didn’t?):Worked well.
My pricing (most popular price point?
prices right for this show?):$10
What should I do?
More rings and simple earrings under $20, $15 and $10 range.
 |
| These adjustable rings were a hit and sold most. |
The biggest thing I learned from this show is: The deaf lady in the wheel chair had a big smile and did not complain like us, other vendors! . Her radiance and positive attitude was contagious . And with all kinds of inconveniences we chat with sign language and body language, helped each other and had a pretty good time.
