9/30/2008

Strange and Happy Weekend



I am just now coming down from the high of this weekend. I had an amazing time at the Strange Folk Festival. I didn’t see much of the place beside my little corner of the pavilion but that was all I needed. I met a lot of lovely, creative people and got some great feedback about my work. And I had sales that exceeded my own expectations. I had a goal and I sailed right past it, which felt wonderfully validating.

The pictures are from Saturday. I learned a lot on this day and made a few minor but important changes on day 2, which resulted in even better sales on Sunday than Saturday. I de-cluttered the table a bit by leaving more scarves and scarflettes back. I put fewer of the wire bracelets out but put them in the front and center since I found that they drew people in but they rarely ended up buying one. I only sold one of the wire cuffs but many times people started out looking at them and ended up buying one of the yarn wrist cuffs.


I wore one of my necklaces on Sunday so people could see them in action and put them in a more prominent spot on the coat rack. I ended up selling 2 of them on Sunday to a sweet woman and traded one for my Strange Folk memorabilia item. I also kept my quilt racks much more organized on Sunday. I let them get chaotic and overfull on Saturday so I think people were overwhelmed and didn’t want to take the time to dig through them. I kept them single-file and color arranged on Sunday and put more out as they sold.


I was also much more calm and confident on the second day which I’m sure helped. I hovered a bit too much the first day and since I’d only brought an uncomfortable lawn chair I spent most of the day on my feet. Sunday I brought a stool and I was much more comfortable. I made several large credit card sales that I know I would not have made without Propay so I’m glad that I made that investment.


My favorite customer was the girl who said she had seen my wristcuffs on my website and came out that day to find me. I also loved the woman who stood at the table just taking it all in for about 5 minutes and then said I just love the way your mind works. That was the best compliment I could have asked for.

7 comments:

manchester fat acceptance said...

Your table is quite welcoming! I'm so glad you exceeded your sales targets. Thanks for posting your reflections and ideas because there is some great advice in there.

Lindsey said...

Congrats! I'm a little intimidated by craft shows, as a seller. As a buyer I love them! How cool is it that a customer went there just to find you! I hope she bought something.

Forkeeps said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE your banner!

Lenox Knits said...

Thanks! I love my banner too. I should have mentioned that I got it from www.madeforfun.etsy.com. It is fabric letters!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your first craft show. :o) I love going to these shows and see all the beautiful handmade stuff.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the advice! It looks like your craft show was a lot of fun. I definitely can't wait until I have enough stock made up to do a show. Do you have any suggestions on what to prepare and how many items to have for a show?

Meg said...

Your booth looks great - nice and warm - ready for fall!

 

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