After countless hours researching craft fairs here are some great ideas to keep in mind as you get ready for your next craft fair.
Make sure you have a good little "survival kit". These are things that you should include: a small tool set, a first aid kit, a cell phone, extra batteries (for things like the kid's games and your cash register), snacks and drinks, a blanket and my all time favorite: the ever-so versatile duct tape!A few other things include glue or glue gun, hammer and nails, etc. to fix the crafts that didn’t survive the trip to the show and a roll of paper towels you never know when you or your customers might have an accident.
Other things that you need to remember to bring are plenty of busniess cards, any promo items, good signage, table cloths, pen and paper (write down new ideas), reciept pad or cash register and last but not least a good friend so you don't get board!
When it comes to inventory control this was one idea I came across... When we were big into the retail scene, we simply kept a hand-written log of sales as they occurred. At the end of the show, the list would be organized by the type of product sold and then the information would go into a simple database. This made inventory easy to track and we would always know what the best sellers were and what product lines needed to be filled before the next show.
Next how much money should you bring for change? Always a great question. Around $50 - $100 per day should be enough for an average sized show, when you are in your home town/area. If you are out-of town at a large show that will be lasting for several days, you will want to bring more. Remember that many people use $20 bills. And if someone wants you to provide change for a $100 bill, just ask them for something smaller, or to use a credit card if you accept them.
Always make sure to bring plenty of inventory. New and old. How much should you bring also depends on your show size. I am still looking for a good answer to this question, so if you have any ideas post them here and share with the rest.
I hope this helps you all as much as it has for me.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
THIS WEEKEND
This weekend I am particapating in my first craft fair! If you are in the Denton/Cornith area stop by and say hi. I would love to meet some fellow Crafters and Etsians. I plan to have several items that I don't have listed in my Etsy store and plan on taking custom orders as well. I hope to meet some of you!
The craft fair will be held at the The Church of Corinth there is a printable coupon on the site as well as directions.
I will let you all know how it goes and have some tips to share with you when I get back!
The craft fair will be held at the The Church of Corinth there is a printable coupon on the site as well as directions.
I will let you all know how it goes and have some tips to share with you when I get back!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Craft Fairs
Well I have my first craft fair next weekend! I am getting really excited and really nervous at the same time. I love meeting new people and showing off my designs, but at the same time I worry about how I will do, how I will be excepted, will I have enough merchandice...Not ever doing one before these questions haunt me. All week long I have had different dreams; one where I run out of things to sell (great! but then an angry momb of people come by wanting stuff and we they see I am completely sold out they begin to throw tomatoes (where the tomatoes come in I don't know). Another dream is that I am laughed at for trying to sell what I have brought or they thumb up their nose at me from being discusted at my merchandice and it's quality.
I think my biggest worry right now is to know how much to bring. Since most of my items are greeting cards I don't know how much of each design to bring, or even how many different choices to bring. Plus some of my other items (like the floral arrangements) there is only one of those so how do I let people know that they are one of kind. I never make the same thing twice.
How to disply my items is another big problem. With not a whole lot of money to spend I am trying to figure out what is the best thing to put the greeting cards in. Something that will hold them in place while still being easy for the customers to thumb through them to see what they like...what type of signage to put out. How to grab people's attention without being too obnoixous.
If you guys have any experience in this I would love all the help I can get!
Thoughout the week I will be posting different things I find that will help me get ready, so hopefully when you get ready for a show you will have the answers that you are looking for too.
I think my biggest worry right now is to know how much to bring. Since most of my items are greeting cards I don't know how much of each design to bring, or even how many different choices to bring. Plus some of my other items (like the floral arrangements) there is only one of those so how do I let people know that they are one of kind. I never make the same thing twice.
How to disply my items is another big problem. With not a whole lot of money to spend I am trying to figure out what is the best thing to put the greeting cards in. Something that will hold them in place while still being easy for the customers to thumb through them to see what they like...what type of signage to put out. How to grab people's attention without being too obnoixous.
If you guys have any experience in this I would love all the help I can get!
Thoughout the week I will be posting different things I find that will help me get ready, so hopefully when you get ready for a show you will have the answers that you are looking for too.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Organizing, part 2
Now that you have had a chance to go through everything in your work area and get an idea of what you would like to do there it's now time to look at your paperwork and filing systems. This might actually be more important than product organizing, but for many of us it's even harder. We think artistically not analytically.
When it comes to paperwork the number one answer from my fellow Etsians was to use a computer program like Excel or iWorks to document all your expenditures and profits. Another great thing to do is to have bins, photoboxes, expanding folders with all your receipts, invoices and other paperwork. smittenkittenorig goes one step further and organizes her paperwork by each month. Then at the end of the year she hands everything over to her accountant. I recommend using an accountant, spend the $125-150 to get their expertise. It's a tax right off and they can help you save money in places you would never expect.
LisasLovlies says she makes up "grocery lists" in different notebooks to keep track of sales, orders, designs - measurements and other related paperwork. And lolbaby says that she uses Google Earth to keep track of her sales and where she ships to.
For keeping tracking of my schedule I use the calendar on my phone. It's always with me and I can set an alarm if I need to. Our favorite contributor TheWorldsDresser prints out a weekly schedule from Outlook. Each day has her appointments/meetings along with 2 hours of crafting, 1 hour of promoting (posting, creating or handing out samples...) and 3 hours of studying. I also recommend color coding your schedule. Pick different colors for different reoccurring things in your life. Business meetings, craft fairs, kids schedules, dates, dr appointments, etc. That way at a glance you can look at your schedule and know what type of things you have going on that day.
Email is another thing that needs to be organized. Most email systems have folders systems that you can utilize. Keep track of your custom orders, inquires, purchases, billing and anything else that you need to organize. Wrapsberry swears by this, along with bookmarking pages that she needs for supplies, blogs and sales/marketing tools. These can be but into folders as well for easy access to your information.
If you have more ideas please post them in the comments here. Or if you would like me to cover another topic let me know. I love sharing knowledge, whether it's mine own or borrowed. I like to help those around me the way that others have done for me. Thanks for reading!
When it comes to paperwork the number one answer from my fellow Etsians was to use a computer program like Excel or iWorks to document all your expenditures and profits. Another great thing to do is to have bins, photoboxes, expanding folders with all your receipts, invoices and other paperwork. smittenkittenorig goes one step further and organizes her paperwork by each month. Then at the end of the year she hands everything over to her accountant. I recommend using an accountant, spend the $125-150 to get their expertise. It's a tax right off and they can help you save money in places you would never expect.
LisasLovlies says she makes up "grocery lists" in different notebooks to keep track of sales, orders, designs - measurements and other related paperwork. And lolbaby says that she uses Google Earth to keep track of her sales and where she ships to.
For keeping tracking of my schedule I use the calendar on my phone. It's always with me and I can set an alarm if I need to. Our favorite contributor TheWorldsDresser prints out a weekly schedule from Outlook. Each day has her appointments/meetings along with 2 hours of crafting, 1 hour of promoting (posting, creating or handing out samples...) and 3 hours of studying. I also recommend color coding your schedule. Pick different colors for different reoccurring things in your life. Business meetings, craft fairs, kids schedules, dates, dr appointments, etc. That way at a glance you can look at your schedule and know what type of things you have going on that day.
Email is another thing that needs to be organized. Most email systems have folders systems that you can utilize. Keep track of your custom orders, inquires, purchases, billing and anything else that you need to organize. Wrapsberry swears by this, along with bookmarking pages that she needs for supplies, blogs and sales/marketing tools. These can be but into folders as well for easy access to your information.
If you have more ideas please post them in the comments here. Or if you would like me to cover another topic let me know. I love sharing knowledge, whether it's mine own or borrowed. I like to help those around me the way that others have done for me. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Favorite Sayings
I am getting ready to create a new line of greeting cards that I hope to have done for Christmas.
They will feature "Favorite Sayings"
So I am holding a contest to get some ideas. Please add your favorite sayings to the comments on this post and the "Winners" (the ones who's sayings I pick to be in the line) will get a free copy of a card of their choice from this line. I will announce the winners at the end of the month and post the winning card designs so the winners can choose.
You may enter up to 5 different saying, but if more than one saying is picked you will still one get one choice of card designs. The "sayings" can pertain to anything for any occasion.
Thanks for your help and I am looking forward to what you all come up with!
They will feature "Favorite Sayings"
So I am holding a contest to get some ideas. Please add your favorite sayings to the comments on this post and the "Winners" (the ones who's sayings I pick to be in the line) will get a free copy of a card of their choice from this line. I will announce the winners at the end of the month and post the winning card designs so the winners can choose.
You may enter up to 5 different saying, but if more than one saying is picked you will still one get one choice of card designs. The "sayings" can pertain to anything for any occasion.
Thanks for your help and I am looking forward to what you all come up with!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Organizational KEY, part 1
Organization for a business is KEY, but for so many it becomes a forgotten thought or a last minute scramble. There are many reasons why you should take a moment and rethink your organization, first and foremost it is much easier to stay on top of things when you know where they are and how they are progressing. Second, and just as important, it will help you keep your sanity! Instead of scrambling to put together an order or to know what bills are do when or what you need to follow up on you can keep it all organized and be less stressed. Yes, less stressed! Now I am not talking OCD type organizing (not to offend anyone) just some simple tools that you can implement in your day to day work to put your ying and yang back into it's place, at least for this part of your life.
Now, I took the liberty of asking some of my fellow artists on Etsy to help me compile a list of their favorite ways to stay organized. And after 13 pages of answers and more still coming in, here are just a few of my favorites.
Overall I think the most popular answers were drawers, boxes, bookcases, some sort of object to place all the chaos in. While this is all well and good, most of the time it just becomes a contained chaos. Of course there were some that answered me with their whole system like TheWorldsDresser who wrote me a dissertation on how she kept organized. Amazingly organized! But I am not sure that we all have to go to her extreme. Please don't get me wrong, my goal in life is to be that organized, but I know I will never achieve do to lack of concentration. So I think somewhere between just drawers and queen of organization is where we will aim.
Our first stop is the drawers, boxes and bookcases. One way to keep them from becoming chaos is labels. Use the labels on the outside to let you know what's in each drawer; paper, tools, beads, etc. Then when you open the drawer have it sectioned as well. Do it by what's easiest for you to remember. Color, style, size, type. And the biggest thing to remember is to put things back when you are done! Don't let them get piled on top of each other, you will forget what you have out, lose something, spill something...well you get the idea, chaos.
I guess where we should have started is where you do your work. Have a designated place, even if you are in tight corners you can still have a place to work, it just might be more work on your end to stay organized so you can put things out of the way when you are done. I myself, have an office upstairs, but I don't use it. I now have a 6 month old son getting ready to start crawling at any moment so being confided to my office is not practical at the moment. So I moved everything to my dining room downstairs for the time being. That way I am close to him if he is playing and I can still get some work done. In this space I have my computer, since that is what I use the most, along with my printer, scanner, and a small flat file for papers, greeting cards and other things that I am using at that moment, but that I can change out as I need to. I almost always have a sketchbook as well that I am using to keep my latest ideas and custom orders in. I also have a small card table set up to actually do the physical parts of my work; the painting, cutting, gluing, etc. When it comes to this type of stuff get things that you are able to work around. I got my tables at Ikea, which is a great place to get organized cheap and still keep your style! But for some like kateisgreat80 they buy a fancier cabinet that holds everything and stores it out of the way. Great for small spaces and if you have small children. You could do the same thing with a repurposed Armour or TV cabinet.
If you are working with something that has several steps to it, you might want to think about having different areas set up to hold the items as you work on them. inediblejewelry says that each of the different areas set up for making their charms also has the tools they will need to complete that task. Another great idea, so you are not running around trying to find something especially if you are working with time sensitive materials.
StarletTwinkie had a great idea if you are working with something that needed multiple pieces to it. Use a clear pocketed shoe hanger bag that hangs over a door. Easy access to all your pieces and you can see what's inside them. If you can't find a clear one, just tape one of the pieces to the outside of the pocket so you know what in there.
TheWorldsDresser also recommended photographing every single one of your creations to make a catalog in a power point document separated by medium. Great for these reasons
-When you have a juried show you have a place to pull pics from without looking too hard
-If you have electricity at your show, bring a laptop and have the images rotate - it brings folks over
-If you do home shows it allows people to get a good grasp of your work and helps them decide on custom orders
-If you intend to sell to shops, you have a portfolio of your work all ready to go (have it professionally printed and bound at an office supply store) without lugging every piece over.
Like I said she gave me a dissertation. Amazing!
Design4u says that flower pots are great for holding paint brushes, markers, decorative scissors, etc. I have found that this coffee mug organizer works great too!
That should give you a good start on you product organization, next time we will cover paperwork, final products and scheduling. Hope this helps and a big thanks to all who supplied me with answers.
Below is a list of stores to look at when trying to get organized:
Ikea
Duluth Trading Co
The Container Store
Target
Any office supply store and ebay
Now, I took the liberty of asking some of my fellow artists on Etsy to help me compile a list of their favorite ways to stay organized. And after 13 pages of answers and more still coming in, here are just a few of my favorites.
Overall I think the most popular answers were drawers, boxes, bookcases, some sort of object to place all the chaos in. While this is all well and good, most of the time it just becomes a contained chaos. Of course there were some that answered me with their whole system like TheWorldsDresser who wrote me a dissertation on how she kept organized. Amazingly organized! But I am not sure that we all have to go to her extreme. Please don't get me wrong, my goal in life is to be that organized, but I know I will never achieve do to lack of concentration. So I think somewhere between just drawers and queen of organization is where we will aim.
Our first stop is the drawers, boxes and bookcases. One way to keep them from becoming chaos is labels. Use the labels on the outside to let you know what's in each drawer; paper, tools, beads, etc. Then when you open the drawer have it sectioned as well. Do it by what's easiest for you to remember. Color, style, size, type. And the biggest thing to remember is to put things back when you are done! Don't let them get piled on top of each other, you will forget what you have out, lose something, spill something...well you get the idea, chaos.
I guess where we should have started is where you do your work. Have a designated place, even if you are in tight corners you can still have a place to work, it just might be more work on your end to stay organized so you can put things out of the way when you are done. I myself, have an office upstairs, but I don't use it. I now have a 6 month old son getting ready to start crawling at any moment so being confided to my office is not practical at the moment. So I moved everything to my dining room downstairs for the time being. That way I am close to him if he is playing and I can still get some work done. In this space I have my computer, since that is what I use the most, along with my printer, scanner, and a small flat file for papers, greeting cards and other things that I am using at that moment, but that I can change out as I need to. I almost always have a sketchbook as well that I am using to keep my latest ideas and custom orders in. I also have a small card table set up to actually do the physical parts of my work; the painting, cutting, gluing, etc. When it comes to this type of stuff get things that you are able to work around. I got my tables at Ikea, which is a great place to get organized cheap and still keep your style! But for some like kateisgreat80 they buy a fancier cabinet that holds everything and stores it out of the way. Great for small spaces and if you have small children. You could do the same thing with a repurposed Armour or TV cabinet.
If you are working with something that has several steps to it, you might want to think about having different areas set up to hold the items as you work on them. inediblejewelry says that each of the different areas set up for making their charms also has the tools they will need to complete that task. Another great idea, so you are not running around trying to find something especially if you are working with time sensitive materials.
StarletTwinkie had a great idea if you are working with something that needed multiple pieces to it. Use a clear pocketed shoe hanger bag that hangs over a door. Easy access to all your pieces and you can see what's inside them. If you can't find a clear one, just tape one of the pieces to the outside of the pocket so you know what in there.
TheWorldsDresser also recommended photographing every single one of your creations to make a catalog in a power point document separated by medium. Great for these reasons
-When you have a juried show you have a place to pull pics from without looking too hard
-If you have electricity at your show, bring a laptop and have the images rotate - it brings folks over
-If you do home shows it allows people to get a good grasp of your work and helps them decide on custom orders
-If you intend to sell to shops, you have a portfolio of your work all ready to go (have it professionally printed and bound at an office supply store) without lugging every piece over.
Like I said she gave me a dissertation. Amazing!
Design4u says that flower pots are great for holding paint brushes, markers, decorative scissors, etc. I have found that this coffee mug organizer works great too!
That should give you a good start on you product organization, next time we will cover paperwork, final products and scheduling. Hope this helps and a big thanks to all who supplied me with answers.
Below is a list of stores to look at when trying to get organized:
Ikea
Duluth Trading Co
The Container Store
Target
Any office supply store and ebay
Monday, October 1, 2007
FIRST MONDAY SALE!
I am running a sale today only 20% off anything in my store, except the accordion cards. And with everything $30 purchase or more you will recieve a free gift! Stock up now for Christmas! Custom orders are welcome and the discount applies to them as well! Check it out!
TP Design
Thanks and happy shopping!
Also check out this thread for other sales from Texas Artists!
First Monday Sales
TP Design
Thanks and happy shopping!
Also check out this thread for other sales from Texas Artists!
First Monday Sales
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