Craft Show Success!!!

If any of you reading this have ever done multiple crafts shows you know that every one you do is a roll of the dice. I have done one show three times and have had three different results. One thing that is the same, is the amount of work that goes into participating in a show. Just read my previous blog for details about all of that! Surprisingly enough I only stayed up until 2am getting ready for the craft show on Saturday. I did not know what to expect from this show. I knew it was a big show and that it has been around for years since I remember going to this show as a child. I pulled up into the high school from my hometown and walked in to check in. On my way I walked past a small room of people setting up, the gym, and found the table. I was told my location was in the small cafeteria and immediately I was not too happy. But there was nothing I could do that was my location and I had to make the best of it. I started to set up my stuff and noticed that my location was directly in front of the kitchen of the cafeteria. I didn't really think anything of it until I saw people actually IN the kitchen and other people buying stuff. It hit me! This is where they are selling food!!! Maybe this location is not so bad after all. And it wasn't. Our little room was filled with people for most of the day. Later I learned that the small cafeteria was the first room people saw when they entered the building which also helped! I had a blast, it was great talking to the customers, seeing some of my friends who came to visit, and making connections. I am already talking with someone I met at the show about a possible order for their daughters soccer team! Without even counting my money I knew I had a good day. And all of my hard work paid off. I also changed up my display a lot. I don't know if it helped but I think it made a difference. I took some pictures yesterday and compared them some pictures I took from a show this summer. For starters, I bought a three tier stand for my headbands. Before I divided them among three t-stands and placed the rest on the table because I ran out of room. The stand worked out well, because my headbands were vertical, I had more space on the table to display some speciality items. While I liked the concept of the 3 Tier Stand, I need a little more space between the tiers but the customers liked being able to see the headbands and turn the racks. I think it also helped to have product at eye level. This may prove to be more beneficial at a street fair.


For the keychains, I had them in a purple basket and then some displayed on the table. People just didn't know what they were. I found these great display stands on ebay and think it worked out great! People immediately knew what they were and liked spinning the rack to see all of the styles. This is definitely staying for future shows.

For the belts, I used another one of the stands I used for the keychains. While I think it looks better than before I still want to do something different for the belts for my next outdoor show.

The ponytail holders are also tricky for me. For this show, instead of piling them into a basket I added them to some jewelry tstands I had bought when I first started doing shows. I like those stands because they really showcase the cover button. I think for the next show I am going to put them on the other stand I used for the belts. So people can really see the variety.

As for the overall table, I think using the stands to pick the items off of the table worked out really well. As you can see from the two photos, from a distance you can really see what I am selling which will help me at an outdoor show. It also gave me more table space to add some new items and spread everything out. I think I need to test the new set up at a show I have done before to really see if it works, but I think I am on the right track. That is what is fun about having a business, you always need to be innovative and thinking of better ways to connect to your customers. Especially when doing craft shows it is so important to make your table stand out from the rest and break through the clutter.
Summer Craft Show Table:

Saturday Craft Show Table with new Displays:

Now go back to the aftermath, organizing the remaining inventory, taking some new pictures, and planning how to make my next craft show table...even better!