Craft Shows Tips and Suggestions

[Jediscroller]

As the fall season approaches and lots of folks are always looking for tips on shows, the below and the second post are copy and paste of a couple of posts I did a year or so back regarding what has worked for me over the years. Hopefully at least a few folks will find the info useful.

Introduction
The first thing you need to do before you even consider doing a show is to determine your pricing. This is probably the toughest part for any artisan. In its simplest terms, you need to cover the cost of your materials and your labor. For me, as this is a business and not a hobby, I'll add in profit to the equation. All of my pricing, regardless of type of project is calculated exactly the same way. It's simply labor + materials + margin.
The labor will vary depending on your market and how much you want to charge for your time. Margin will also be variable, again dependent on the market you're in. I also use my margin percentage to cover the costs of expendables such as finishes and sandpaper. In my case, I've worked it out to the minute and use 33 cents per minute for labor and 30% for margin. I'll use an 11 X 14 framed portrait piece with a 1/8" backer that took me 5 hours to do as an example.
Labor = $99 (33 cents time 300 minutes) + 18.94 (material of 8.47 for wood and 1.72 for blades + 8.75) = 117.94. 117.94 X 1.3 (30% margin) = $153.32 total for the 5 pieces I stack cut and framed. This gives me a minimum selling price of $30.66 each. As no one wants things priced with pennies involved (more on that later) I'll round up to $35 each as I know in my market $35 for an 11 X 14 is cheap (only experience will give you an idea of what works and doesn't in a particular market). If I make something and the costs turns out exhorbitantly high, I still price the item with the high price and either find a more efficient way to do it or if it doesn't sell drop it from the offerings. I NEVER lower the price below my minimum. I make the majority of my own frames, never use glass as I've found customers like to be able to feel the wood. My cost of an 11 X 14 Oak frame works out to $1.75 based on $3.50 a bd ft. for oak.

Something to note also on P&L (profit & loss), if you're a 1-person operation as I am, the labor is what you pay yourself. If you expand to the point where you have employees, things change a whole bunch. Other costs you should be aware of if you're formulating a business plan:
Office supplies - this includes paper, ink, computers, paperclips, etc.; marketing expenses, items such as business cards, flyers, brochures (I print my own and capture these under business supplies), show fees, jury fees ; auto expenses, keep track of every mile you drive related to the business, whether to shows, the lumber yard or staples, you can write this off at 42.5 cents a mile (2006 rate) and it is a cost you should capture anyhow; tools (these would be expendable, cheap tools such as screwdrivers and the like); capitol expenditures (large tools and the like). The IRS allows for 10% of your home expenses for a home-based business, so I use 10% of my Oil and electricity bills for budgeting purposes. When budgeting for the upcoming year, I try to keep these expenses to under 15% of gross sales.

What sells?

Well, isn't that the million dollar question...what sells?
The simple answer is...that depends, LOL. What sells great in Texas may not go over well in Connecticut and vic versa. That being said, certain items seem to go over well everywhere. Items that I always try to have in stock and have a selection of include different types of are dragons, horses, cats/kittens, Elvis, Jesus and John Wayne. Think about your location also. If you live on the shore, lighthouses and ships would probably not be a bad idea or if you're in a hunting area deer and elk would probably be good bets. If you're in a heavily Jewish area, menorahs and such would be good ideas. Several folks have mentioned living in areas with flea-market mentalities. If I were to try and sell in that type of market, I'd probably have one or 2 high-end pieces a lots of small inexpensive items. I would not lower my prices on my stuff, I would find less expensive items to make and sell such as silouettes and really simple clocks.
One other thing to keep a close eye on is what's popular at the movies. I'm not condoning using copyrighted images, but if Pirates are popular, have a few pirate themed items. Harry Potter is still immensely popular, hence I have dragons and will have wizards in my booth. There hasn't been too many big hits that you can borrow from this year (yet) but it's always good to keep an eye and an ear out. Many universities have craft licenses for a small fee that will allow you to sell cuttings of their mascots, these are sure-fire sellers if you have the opportunity.

Something that I've done that has helped my sales tremendously has been increasing the variety of items I offer. I try to have a little of everything and a wide range of prices. As I slowly develop a following, I have customers seeking me out and asking what I have that's new. I try to have at least 1 new type of item at every show I do. The prices in my booth currently range from $3 - $300, soon that will be expanded to $3 - $3000. I try to keep most items in the $20 - $30 range. This is the price range that seems to sell the most.

Walking into my booth at any given show you will find portaits, clocks, ornaments, intarsia, furniture, shelf-sitters, victorian reproductions, boxes and whatever else I can think of to add.

Your first show

So, you've come up with your pricing, built up some stock and now you're ready to try to do a show or 2. The question is, how do you find them? Starting out is the toughest part. Local papers will often have adds for small shows, local churches often have small fairs as do local civic clubs. I recommend starting out small to get your feet wet and get used to dealing with folks. An excellent online source for shows is Art and Craft Shows, Festivals, Fairs, Expos, Concerts - Event Directory of 50,000 FREE Online Listings!. The Sunshine Artist is a good source for shows but be leary of the reviews (in my opinion) as any advertiser always seems to get very good reviews and I've talked with many fellow crafters who claim that the reviews are not very accurate. If you're in the Northeast, I highly recommend the East Coast Artisan magazine (East Coast Artisan - Successor to the Craft Digest) as a source for shows as well as some insight into the crafts scene. There are magazines for every part of the country of this type. Another magazine I would very strongly recommend is Crafts Digest. This is probably the best magazine for the working craftsman available. There's business tips, display tips, show listings, marketing tips etc. etc.

Don't expect to walk out of your first show with oodles of cash. I've met many crafters who's first show (or first few shows even) were complete busts financially. I was very lucky in that I made a whopping $20 over my booth space in my first show. The advise I received as well as leads on better shows was more than worth it. It takes time to learn the ins and outs as well as what shows will work for you. If at all possible, the ideal situation is to visit a show as a customer first and walk the show. You want to find out if you're goods are a good fit and take a look around, do you see lots of people walking around with bags or is everyone just browsing.

Part 2 follows.

[Jediscroller]

Your Display

So, we've come up with pricing, created some stock, and found a show. Now the panic sets in, hehehehe. How to display your work?

There are entire books written on this subject (not by me, hehehe). This is one of the most important aspects of succeeding at shows, a good display gets people to stop as well as giving the impression of professionalism (or the opposite). Some keys to your display. Have an eyecatcher out front to get people's attention as they walk by. On average, you have about 15 seconds to get someone's attention. You want to at least be able to get them to hesitate long enough to get an idea of your offerings. Add height to your display, nothing looks worse than a bunch of stuff laying flat on a table. This can be accomplished with table risers, small bookshelves, freestanding displays and small Christmas trees (for ornaments).

There's two basic ways to lay out a booth (with an infinite number of variations). One is where all your goods are on the outside and you stand behind your display, the other is a U shape where the customer walks in to browse. I prefer the latter. Keep the space open and not cluttered so people have room to walk around. This makes it inviting and gets them to browse longer which increases your chance for sales.

One commercially available solution are "Pro Panels." These offer the ability to hang portrait type work, as well as having shelving available for mantel clock, shelf sitters and other non-hanging items. Be aware though that these come with at a price (and a pretty steep one at that). As I'm trying to sell myself as a woodworker, I prefer building my own. For my portrait work, I have 1 X 2 framing with white lattice attached. These are made in 2' X 6' panels with 2 panels hinged together. This provides me with a very light display as well as a lot of space for hanging portraits. It also provides half a "wall" for my display. I just recently designed and built a couple of collapsible shelf/table displays that I'm very happy with. They stand 6' tall with a 2' deep table 30" up and (3) 10" shelves above that. I use 48" long shelves. They collapse completely and provide an area under which to store my bins. I use 3 of these. I currently use an a-frame with pegboard attached for my ornaments and smaller hanging items. I'm not real happy with this but for now it works. The other key to your display is table length table cloths. Pick a color that will not compete with your work. I use either light blue or green and sometimes a combination of the 2. Of course, this is 3 years in, some of my first fairs I had 1 table. The basics still apply however, add height, have a table length table cloth etc.

Selling

Now we arrive at the thing I have the toughest time with and am constantly learning. We figured out the prices, found a show, built a display and are rearing to go. If you want to make sales, do not just sit in the back of your booth and wait. You have to engage people, talk to them about the craft, say hello and most importantly, make eye contact!

As people walk toward your booth a friendly greeting is often all it takes to get them to walk in. Don't turn into a used car salesman either. I normally will just say good morning or good afternoon. Be happy, be positive. When I notice people paying particular attention to a piece, I'll mention something about that. Often times people will be enraptured by one of the more intricate pieces and that usually opens up a question or 2. Something I do as well when I see people spending time looking at my clocks I'll offer up that all of the clocks are made with solid hardwoods and that the movement is guaranteed for life. I also mention when they're looking at my ornaments that the colors are all natural woods and that no paints were harmed in the creation of them. Most people don't realize or don't know that woods come in colors other than brown (I use purpleheart, redheart, mahogany, maple, etc. for my ornaments). Be prepared for questions such as "Do you make these yourself?" With my slightly sarcastic streak sometimes I have to take a deep breath before I answer. I have a standard answer for that question now, "Yes, it keeps me out of my wife's hair." This usually illicits a chuckle and often breaks the ice (not to mention often garners a sale). No matter how bad a day you're having, never haggle with people, I just politely say no as soon as they start to ask if I'll take X dollars for a piece. Try to remain standing during the show, at the very least, buy a director's chair so that you're at eye-level with people as the pass by.

Also, never lower your prices during a show. Have business cards available. I used to leave them out, now I only hand them out when asked. You'll get different opinions on this, some folks say to have them available for the taking while I've found that I get better results by giving them on request and use less cards. Create a mailing list for people to sign up for. I have approximately 500 customers' names on my list and I send them a little reminder when I have a show coming up. I have notes for those that have purchased from me. Something else I do which also increases sales dollars is include a 10% off coupon for that specific show. I have several customers who have little asterisks near their names, these are folks who either always search me out and buy something or have spent a big sum with me. These folks I'll send a Christmas card and a complimentary ornament to. This helps them remember me and it really helps in building sales. Keep track of everything you sell, how much it sold for, what show, etc. I know that I sell more ornaments at the Breath of Spring craft fair on the first weekend of April than at any other show. I also know that one of my biggest spending customers seeks me out at this show for new items (average purchase from this person is $150). I also know what items sell the best for me and know what to build more of and what types of things to expand on. Oh, never judge a book by its cover! I had one person who was somewhat disheveled browsing my booth, I treated him as I would any other customer. He spent nearly $300 in the end. Be nice to kids too, they have allowance money to spend. I see a lot of crafters who are rude to teenagers, I treat them as I would any other customer. Granted, they typically don't have the money to buy my higher priced items, but often they'll buy one of my $20 clocks as a gift or a portrait for themselves. Teenage girls around here love Elvis and Marilyn for some reason and I can always count on them to sell to this overlooked demographic. I've had kids bring their parents back and talk them into buying something as well. Treat everyone the same, thank them whether they make a purchase or not and remain positive.

Summary

A few closing thoughts are in order. For those folks who can't sell high-end pieces due to the local market conditions, the best advise I can offer is don't try then. Identify your market and cut pieces appropriate to it. Something that I didn't really touch on too much was reducing costs. The most obvious is stack cutting, this allows you to produce multiples of the same item in essentially the same amount of time as one piece. I stack cut everything I can, including clocks, shelf-sitters, etc. Try to find ways to streamline what you do, every minute spent not producing is lost revenue. Build things in groups, i.e. get all the stuff cut, do the assembly of mulitple items, finish stuff etc. Find reliable sources for supplies, look for sales on expendables (sandpaper, finishes, clock movements, etc.). While it's unlikely (not impossible but very unlikely) that you'll get rich selling your stuff, you can make pretty much as much as you want provided you're willing to work at it.
Most importantly, remember to enjoy yourself!

[Jim McDonald]

Kevin--
Great information. BobD should make this a sticky somewhere!

[BobD]

umm...Jim...Kevin already made it a sticky... <GRIN>

Bob

[Jediscroller]

Umm Jim,
It is a sticky.

[Jediscroller]

I'm sorry, but that's just funny. We both posted the same answer at the same time.

[greatdane2]

Thanks for the lesson, wish I had read it when I started. Getting the right product at the right price to the right fair is an art in itself.

Alan.

[azbison]

Kevin,

Really good stuff. I'm headed to a real craft fair this weekend in the mountains and am looking forward to putting a lot of your advice to use.

Thanks,

[bearfretworks]

GREAT STUFF Kevin!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to you this fall.

[Dragon]

Thanks a lot Kevin for all this information.
Diane