Getting Through My First Year of Craft Shows

Getting Through My First Year of Craft Shows

When I started researching selling at craft shows, I was a little overwhelmed by all the information. There are just so many resources out there! I didn't know if I could take my handmade pottery to shows and make a success of it, but I decided to try. I started out around December with a small arts and crafts show and charity benefit at a local school.

I had thrown several mugs, bowls, and plates before this as practice, and I decided to take them to that particular show. When I got there, I saw that I was just two booths down from another potter with similar items! What could I do? I just set out my booth as nicely as possible, and hoped people would choose my pottery instead of the other seller's. The evening turned out okay, but I didn't get nearly as many sales as I wanted.

When I got home that night, I was determined to make the next craft show I went to more successful. I got online to research what I could do, and I found one thing I wanted to try - branding my products. I needed to build a recognizable brand that people would remember from one craft show to the next. I set out to do just this.

I started throwing and firing new pieces, but this time, I focused on a totally different niche - tea accessories. Not everything looked the same, but I tried to give all my pieces the same whimsical, Alice-in-Wonderland feel. I wanted people to pick up a piece and know that it was one of mine before they even saw the hand carved initials on the bottom.

Since there weren't many craft shows until spring, I spent all winter throwing as many teapots as I could. They're the most important part of a tea set, after all, and they're also the most difficult piece to make! In between crafting, I also started building a website that featured full color photos of my favorite works. I didn't get much traffic, but I got business cards printed so that I could pass them out at the next show.

In the spring, I went to five shows in three months. It was tiring, especially when inventory ran low and I had to quickly craft some more tea sets. However, the most rewarding part was when someone came up to me at my third show and said, "Wow! I remember these tea sets from the last craft show I was at. I couldn't stop thinking about them, and I'm so glad you're here today so I can finally get one!"

Not every craft show was successful for me, and I even lost money on one of them. Over the spring, though, my business grew substantially. Even when I didn't sell much at a show, my website and business cards drew me more business than ever before, and I started a healthy online side business, too!

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