Expert Tips for Selling Your Work at Craft Shows

OK I will jump in. Thought it was informative. I would have had the camera at a lower angle so that instead of me looking down at everyone I would have been looking eye to eye so to speak.

What no video ? Edward

That was great Bob!!! I found many little nuggets of wisdom in it. It was also great to be able to see and hear from one of my favorite artists. I have 2 of their titles and will soon be getting the Zodiac book. This was a great idea. I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much! Thank you Judy and Dave! It was really great to hear from you!

Bob, thank you for conducting and posting a great interview with two fabulous people. The Information was clear and concise. My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting them at the last open house, and it was great to hear from them again. I love Judy's designs and have cut many of them for my granddaughter; I have also designed and cut a few of my own animals (mainly dinosaurs) for her. George

This Is A Very Helpful Interview. Being That I Am Just Starting To Sell My Works And Have Yet To Go To Any Shows Let Alone Be A Contributing Vendor I Can use Any Help I Can Get. My Biggest Problem Is Taking That First Step. May Be You Could Do One On What It Takes To Get A Book Published And Out On The Market. I Don't Travel Too Well And Would Like To Try Selling A Book Of Patterns As I See The Petersons Also Do. Thanks Again, Jay "Hammer" :013[1]:

I loved the interview. would like to see something on pricing your work i am a rookie but would like to get into this for my retirement years or so i can retire sometime. lol Jerry

I loved the interview. would like to see something on pricing your work i am a rookie but would like to get into this for my retirement years or so i can retire sometime. lol Jerry Jerry, You might want to check out this thread. Lots of info on pricing and doing shows in it. There was a lot of good info presented in the interview though I don't agree with only sending mailings regarding upcoming events to a select group of customers. I'd recommend sending the mailings to everyone on your mailing list. Some folks will travel quite a distance to look me up and one customer can make the difference in the show. The ones who are willing to travel to see what's new are also typically my biggest spenders. I'd also be curious to hear how they deal with the insurance problem of insurance for their business while carrying children's toys. I had to basically drop toys from my line-up due to problems getting business liability insurance.

What a very nice couple, oh your all right to Bob ;) Enjoyed the video greatly.

I have a question... In the books, it says may be used for personal use only. Does that mean I'm not allowed to make and sell their puzzles? I've made many, all for gifts, but they, (the puzzles), would be great to add to any future offerings at shows.

Hi gang, Thanks for the feedback. That was literally our first attempt at a video...we're still learning and experimenting. As for making puzzles to sell, if you're making one or two of each design, it's no problem. If you've found that one puzzles sells really good, and you want to make 20 for you next show, we usually suggest that you drop the Petersons a line. They are active on the show circuit, and it would be disconcerting for them to set up a booth next to someone who has 20 of one of their dragon puzzles on display with no forewarning. You're not permitted to take the design and have it laser cut or cut on a CNC router to mass produce it. Bob

Bob . Was there a viewing time for the video ? I have a black screen . Open Seezme ? Roger

Ramjet and anyone else having issues viewing the video: This uses Adobe's Flash player to display this video. If you have not done so already you may need to upgrade your flash viewer. You can download it from: Adobe - Adobe Flash Player. After that has been downloaded and installed the video should display for you. If it doesn't please let me know and I can look into it further. --Claudio

Just wanted you to know that the interview with the Petersons was very informative. Learned some new tips that I'm going to give a try to this year. I also have repeat customers at a specific show we do each year and the whole sending postcards or email/newsletter idea must have slipped me by long ago when I first started selling. I certainly agree with Dave's tip at the end, don't ever ask someone if you can help them find anything, you will usually get a quick "no thank you, just looking" response. Be in your booth, but not in their way. Let them know that if there is anything you can help them with to just ask. This may not be the place for this, but I just wanted to say Thank you to Scroll saw Woodworking and crafts for featuring my Stalking Leopard pattern in the magazine. I have had a huge amount of response from just that pattern alone. To those of you that have commented, thank you, you have lifted my spirits and have let me know that what I'm designing is not in vain, there are others out there that enjoy cutting the patterns I design. Looking forward to the 2009 contest. Ok, I'm off my soap box now,Take care and happy scrolling Kerry

And just where is your entry for the 2009 contest???? Maybe everyone's waiting till closer to the deadline... :(

Shannon, Actually I just finished cutting the last of three designs I'm considering entering. Is that to many? I'm making a custom frame for one to go along with the theme and I still need to take pictures of the last one. I will be sending the photos real soon. The response concerning the Stalking Leopard has been more than I could ever imagine. Scrollers have sent photos of their completed portraits and they all look great. I have been so tempted to post the finished cuttings on my blog, but I have decided to wait until the contest. Hope I can hold out that long. Thanks for asking and I can't wait for the results of the contest. (Why oh Why is it so far away???:frown_old:) Kerry

Three is not too many - enter as many as you wish!

Interesting and valuable info let me ask about the market at this time are the sellers noticed a lack of interest in purchasing your product, I have not done anything that i would want to sell at this time but I feel that I am making progress at this time.

Just logged in to see what I was missing out on with my invisible Spring issue and much to my delight found the video. Very impressive for what looked like a first or second try. I have to agree about lowering the camera and if possible put the camera closer. I presume that you must have had only one person doing the interviewing and ran the camera on automagic. 1 cameraman and 1 interviewer would be fantastic. Again, info was great and looking for more of the same in future issues.