With Christmas just around the corner I thought a few of you might be interested in getting this for your spouse (or yourself everyone deserves a gift from themselves sometimes).

Get your craft workspace organized!  It gives you so much more time to work and frees up you mind to be creative.   You don’t have to think about where you placed that tool or what that other part to this craft is.

My affiliate link is below.  I will get a commission if you order from this link.  Mention “100ship” and get $100 off the total shipping price of any purchase.

The Workbox: Black Beadboard Craft Storage Furniture – $ 1295.00 High-end craft furniture on wheels folds up into a and comes with a collapsible work table and adjustable shelves. Dimensions 31d”x36w”x72h” includes 85 canvas totes and 20 clear zipper pouches in 3 sizes.

These clear modular baskets stack to help you organize your small crafts.  Carry your crafts to the show in them.  Display small crafts in them or stick the basket under your table cloth to build height in your display.  Baskets are available in clear, blue, green, pink or orange to match any display.

My affiliate link is below.
Clear baskets do many jobs for your craft show display.

I’ve found another idea that would help make your craft show booth more professional.  The main factors to me have been portability, ease of set up and a clean professional look.

This shelving system comes from The Container Store.

This system folds flat for transportation and is made of hollow tube cast iron in a pewter finish.

Available in 3 shelf, 4 shelf, 6 shelf, 4 shelf media or 6 shelf tower there are lots of possibilities for your art or craft show booth display.

My affiliate link is below.

3 Shelf Folding Bookcase
Makes Portable Craft Show Set Up
Easy and Professional

by Shasta McLaughlin

The Extravaganza Craft Productions

copyright 2009

I’ve told you the things I did on My 30 Day Plan to Greater Profitability and I promised that I would let you know some things you can do to increase the profits your art or craft show business receives.

1.  Draw a marketing map that shows how the people you meet at craft shows are going to move from cold contacts, to warm prospects, to hot buyers.  Include on your marketing map all of your sales tools including your craft show booth, your fliers, business cards, website, blog, social networking, advertising, and more.

2.  Make sure each sales tool mentioned above (and any others you use) moves your customer through a process that leads to them buying your art or craft.

3.  Get a website.  Click here for easy instructions on how to build a website.

4.  Get your website search engine optimized.

5.  Arrange to take credit cards.

6.  Offer a payment plan.

7.  Get email marketing (auto-responders).  See my post on following up with your customers by clicking here.

8.  Create emails for your current customers.  Remember to follow the Can-Am Act for email.  Send your customers useful relevant information.  You want this to help your business reputation not hurt it.

9. Create emails for your warm prospects.

10. Create emails for your cold contacts.

11.  Sign up your customers to the proper groups above.   Ask permission before signing up people for your emails.

12.  Check if your business cards, fliers, etc. look professional and are updated.  Be certain they have current contact information.  Make sure they mention your website if you have one.

13.  Collect names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the people who are interested in your product.  Ask if they would like to be signed up for your emails.

14.  Sign up for Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Fast Pitch Networking or many others.  Let your customers and prospects know they can follow you there.  Post regularly.

15. Create a blog.  Post regularly.  Mention your social networking sites and your website often.

16.  Make sure your posts to your blog automatically post to your social networking sites.

17.  Pick up the phone and call a customer that you haven’t heard from in a while.  Renew your relationship with them.  Tell them the news from your business.  Offer to send them free information or ask if they would like to sign up for your newsletters.

18.  Send an email to customers that haven’t bought in a while.  Renew your relationship with them.

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I’ve been keeping my eyes out for ideas to share with you that would help make your craft show booth more professional.  One of the key factors to me has been portability, ease of set up and a clean professional look.

I found this versatile shelving system from The Container Store and wanted to share it with you.

The supports and shelves can be set-up in any configuration.  Supports can be set up further apart or closer together, they can also be set up facing each other or facing away from each other.  Shelves can be added at several heights to bring your crafts up to your customers eye level and add interest to your display.

With extra pieces available you can add extra supports or shelves or subtract them from your set up to make your shelves fit in any size craft show booth.

With the right hooks art could be hung from the outside of the supports as well as set on the shelves.

Link below is an affiliate link.

A versatile shelving system that can
be set up in many different layouts
to create the perfect art or craft
show booth display.

by Shasta McLaughlin

The Extravaganza Craft Productions

copyright 2009

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day. Today it occurred to me that I should share with you how I plan to do that.

Week one I worked on catching up on left over unfinished projects from previous weeks to prepare for my 30 days of greater profitability. As usual I accomplished some of the things I intended to do, did some things I planned to do later early, and didn’t accomplish some of the plan.

Week two I learned new things about my email marketing to keep my messages from being flagged as spam.  I joined a networking site I’ve been meaning to join for months when they ran a special I couldn’t pass up.  I did a client consultation which was a new service for me.  I blogged about what I was doing and I did all this while keeping up with requests for information about my business.

Week three I mailed coupons to show promoters, had  a second client consultation, worked on facebook profile and group pages.  I created a profile on Fast Pitch Networking and added a few contacts there.  I worked on cleaning out my email box, and signed up for a MySpace account, and I blogged about what I had done to make my business more profitable this week.

Week 4 what I had a new member join my Linked in account and contacted her right away with other places she could get more informaiton.bbI found my friend that was already on MySpace and reconnected with her. I created an email I can send to all my customers and prospects reminding them that they can follow me on my blog, facebook, twitter, MySpace,  and Linked in.  I still need to finish formatting it and send it to everyone.   I remembered to tell a client over the phone that they could follow me all these places. I also worked on creating my profile on Fast Pitch Networking and added a few contacts there. I blogged about my experience working toward greater profitability this week.

This last week while checking my email and cleaning out my inbox I made a horrible mistake and downloaded a malicious file. I spent the whole last week trying to back up my files so I can reformat my computer. I didn’t accomplish many of my goals except blogging about this weeks experience.

What I learned over this 30 days is that although I didn’t always accomplish everything I set out to do by having a goal every day and working toward it I did improve my business. I am confident that my business will be more profitable in the future because of the efforts that I made this month.

Next time I will blog about the many things you can include on your 30 day Plan to Greater Profitablility.
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by Shasta McLaughlin

The Extravaganza Craft Productions

copyright 2009

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day. Today it occurred to me that I should share with you how I plan to do that.

Week one I worked on catching up on left over unfinished projects from previous weeks to prepare for my 30 days of greater profitability. As usual I accomplished some of the things I intended to do, did some things I planned to do later early, and didn’t accomplish some of the plan.

Week two I learned new things about my email marketing to keep my messages from being flagged as spam.  I joined a networking site I’ve been meaning to join for months when they ran a special I couldn’t pass up.  I did a client consultation which was a new service for me.  I blogged about what I was doing and I did all this while keeping up with requests for information about my business.

Week three I mailed coupons to show promoters, had  a second client consultation, worked on facebook profile and group pages.  I created a profile on Fast Pitch Networking and added a few contacts there.  I worked on cleaning out my email box, and signed up for a MySpace account, and I blogged about what I had done to make my business more profitable this week.

Week 4 what I accomplished.

• Power Pay contacted me but then never got back to me.  I guess I still need to call them next week.
• I remembered that I had a Linked in account and had a new member join there.
• I found my friend that was already on MySpace and reconnected with her.
• I created an email I can send to all my customers and prospects reminding them that they can follow me on my blog, facebook, twitter, MySpace,  and Linked in.  I need to finish formatting it and send it to everyone.   I remembered to tell a client over the phone that they could follow me all these places.
• Worked on creating my profile on Fast Pitch Networking.  Added a few contacts there.
• Worked on cleaning out my overly full email box which got even fuller despite my efforts.
• I  blogged about my experience working toward greater profitability this week.

Here is what I didn’t accomplish.

• I still didn’t get my accounting done.
• I didn’t call the people I just mailed free newsletters to in the last few weeks to ask them what they thought of the newsletter.  It is probably too late but I will try to fit this into next week anyway.  Call your prospects right away they are only interested about 7 days!
• I didn’t create any articles to send to show promoters that will encourage them to list their shows with me.
• Since I didn’t write the articles I also didn’t start calling my huge list of show promoters.  Obviously I didn’t sign them up in my email marketing system.
• I didn’t get the article written for my newsletter although I have some very good ideas to write about.

I hope that this series is inspiring you to work along with me to improve your businesses profitability by doing something each day that will make your business stronger. I know that I’m a bad example but I would really suggest that you write your goals down on a calendar.  This way you can truly see what you did accomplish and will remember what you didn’t get done so you can work on it in your spare time or in your next 30 day plan.

The plan for the next 8 days:

Day 24 -Write and send a quick email to all my customers from the past asking them how their businesses are doing?  Tell them how my business is doing and showing them where they can get more information from my business.  Sort of bring them back to take another look at my business.

Day 25-Write the article for my newsletter.

Day 26-Finish writing my book.

Day 27-Clean out my email box.

Day 28-Do my accounting

Day 29-Create articles to send to show promoters who haven’t listed with me yet.

Day 30-Call show promoters and ask them if I can send them free articles.

Day 31-Blog about my 30 days to Greater Profitability for my art and craft show business.

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by Shasta McLaughlin

The Extravaganza Craft Productions

copyright 2009

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day. Today it occurred to me that I should share with you how I plan to do that.

Week one I worked on catching up on left over unfinished projects from previous weeks to prepare for my 30 days of greater profitability. As usual I accomplished some of the things I intended to do, did some things I planned to do later early, and didn’t accomplish some of the plan.

Week two I learned new things about my email marketing to keep my messages from being flagged as spam.  I joined a networking site I’ve been meaning to join for months when they ran a special I couldn’t pass up.  I did a client consultation which was a new service for me.  I blogged about what I was doing and I did all this while keeping up with requests for information about my business.

This week I got less accomplished than I had intended but what I did do I feel good about.

Week 3 what I accomplished.

• I did mail  my coupons to show promoters.
• I had a  second client consultation.
• I learned something new about my facebook profile and group page.  Added links to my group from my profile page.
• Worked on creating my profile on Fast Pitch Networking.  Added a few contacts there.
• Worked on cleaning out my overly full email box.
• Signed up for a MySpace account.  You can follow our posts at http://www.myspace.com/extravaganzacrafts.
• I  blogged about my experience working toward greater profitability this week.

Here is what I didn’t accomplish.

• I still didn’t get my accounting done.
• I didn’t call the people I just mailed free newsletters to in the last few weeks to ask them what they thought of the newsletter.  It is probably too late but I will try to fit this into next week anyway.  Call your prospects right away they are only interested about 7 days!
• I didn’t create any articles to send to show promoters that will encourage them to list their shows with me.
• Since I didn’t write the articles I also didn’t start calling my huge list of show promoters.  Obviously I didn’t sign them up in my email marketing system.
• I didn’t contact Power Pay and get signed up to accept credit cards.

I hope that this series is inspiring you to work along with me to improve your businesses profitability by doing something each day that will make your business stronger. I know that I’m a bad example but I would really suggest that you write your goals down on a calendar.  This way you can truly see what you did accomplish and will remember what you didn’t get done so you can work on it in your spare time or in your next 30 day plan.

The plan for the next 7 days:

Day 16 -Call the people I sent newsletters to.  Ask them if they would like to receive free articles.  Sign them up as prospects.

Day 17 -Create articles for show promoters.

Day 18 -Call show promoters and ask them if they would like to receive free articles to make their businesses more profitable.

Day 19 -Call Power Pay and get set up to accept credit cards.

Day 20 -Find my friends who are already on MySpace and try to connect with them.

Day 21 -Do my accounting!

Day 22 -Write article for my newsletter.

Day 23 -Blog about my accomplishments this week.

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by Shasta McLaughlin

The Extravaganza Craft Productions

copyright 2009

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day. Today it occurred to me that I should share with you how I plan to do that.

Well last week I worked on catching up on left over unfinished projects from previous weeks to prepare for my 30 days of greater profitability. As usual I accomplished some of the things I intended to do, did some things I planned to do later early, and didn’t accomplish some of the plan.

Here is what I did accomplish.

• I kept up with incoming orders and new requests for information while getting my kids ready to go back to school.
• I published my monthly newsletter that I try to accomplish the last week of the month (although it won’t be due out until the next week).
• I learned something new about my email marketing that will keep my messages from being flagged as SPAM as often.
• I worked with a new client doing a phone consultation on building their website (this is a new service I offer).
• I  blogged about my experience working toward greater profitability this week.
• I joined Fast Pitch Networking (www.fastpitchnetworking.com) which was planned to come later in the 30 day plan.  Hey they had a good “sale” going where it is only $4/month for a year, I couldn’t pass it up.  If you join Fast Pitch Networking look me up.

Here is what I didn’t accomplish.

• I really didn’t get my goals written down on a calendar although I do have them planned out in my head.
• I didn’t get my accounting done and it has been falling behind a few months now.
• I didn’t get my office really clean (instead I worked on my daughters room and it is greatly improved).

I hope that this series is inspiring you to work along with me to improve your businesses profitability by doing something each day that will make your business stronger. I know that I’m a bad example but I would really suggest that you write your goals down on a calendar.  This way you can truly see what you did accomplish and will remember what you didn’t get done so you can work on it in your spare time or in your next 30 day plan.

The plan for the next 7 days:

Day 8 -Get my coupons sent out that I mail to show promoters each month.

Day 9 -Call the people I just mailed free newsletters to in the last few weeks.  Ask them what they thought of the newsletter and if I can sign them up for a free report and to receive further information from my company.  Sign them up as prospects in my email marketing system if they say yes.

Day 10 -Do my accounting.

Day 11 -Create a few articles to send to show promoters that will encourage them to list their shows with me.

Day 12 -Start calling my huge list of show promoters and ask them if I can send them free articles that will help make their businesses more profitable as well as articles that will make their vendors businesses more profitable.  Sign them up in my email marketing system.

Day 13 -Continue calling my list of show promoters and sign them up for the articles in my email marketing system.

Day 14 -Contact PowerPay about getting a system in place to be able to accept credit cards.

Day 15 -Continue getting PowerPay set up and blog about my experiences this week.

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by Shasta McLaughlin
The Extravaganza Craft Productions
copyright 2009

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day. Today it occurred to me that I should share with you how I plan to do that.

Day 1-Set a goal to do something to make my business more profitable each day for 1 month.
Day 2-Make a plan. Get out a calendar and write down the goal for each day until calendar contains one goal for each day. Make each goal one that can be accomplished in a time frame of 1 day to 1 week.
Day 3-Finish writing down goals on calendar. Breaking larger goals down into step by step goals if necessary.
Day 4-Clean office so I can find everything I need to accomplish goals.
Day 5-Do projects I’ve been putting off for the past month or so especially accounting.
Day 6-Finish projects I’ve been putting off for last month.
day 7-Blog about my experiences this week.

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