While attending an art fair in my area a few years ago I visited with artists and crafters.  We discussed my newsletter, The Extravaganza Craft News, and if I should include artist and crafter reviews of shows.  I found this an interesting topic as I had never really considered all the pros and cons of show reviews before.

The only positive point I see to show reviews are that artists and crafts people hopefully don’t get suckered into doing bad shows where the promoter is not truly doing their best to advertise the show.

There are many factors involved in if a vendor has a good show.  Factors ranging from their financial  and emotional investment, what is happening in their lives-before, on the way to, during, and after the show, what they are selling, how they are displaying their items, their own marketing skills, their own attitudes and actions in their booth, to the purchasing habits of the customers at the show.  Even the placement of your booth and the weather (too good or bad) could affect sales at a show.

As the artist who prompted the conversation pointed out some crafters who know of really good shows wait years to get juried in.  They might not want extra competition either getting in or competing for sales so they might hesitate to tell you everything they know about the show.  On the other hand everyone who has ever experienced a bad show is pretty quick to tell you about it.

So how do you know if you can trust a show review?  I suggest using your best judgement.  Reviews by someone selling merchandise similar to yours should be more valuable to you than those by someone whose product sells in a whole different category, but then again they are your competitor.

Compare the number of bad reviews to good, remembering it’s nearly impossible to please everyone all the time.  Ask lots of questions about why people felt that way about the show and which factors might have played a part, while talking to crafters personally about shows.  When possible consider the values and motives of sources.

Better yet, attend shows as a customer if possible before entering as a vendor.  Look closely at the number of people attending, look at what booths are busy, what is selling, how much money is being spent.  If booths in one area of the show are making lots of sales while others aren’t see if the set-up allows for proper flow of traffic to all the booths.  Is your most likely customer in attendance, are people buying products that are the same style as yours and that sell in your price range?  How many competitors will there be in your category?

Remember while it is the promoters job to advertise the show, it is your job to advertise your product.  How much better would every show be if, every vendor told 100 other people about the show?

What do you think are art and craft show reviews worth their weight in gold?

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

***********************
Shasta has always been an artist and crafter. She participated in craft shows since she was a child with her mom. She has sold her own art at shows since Dec. 2005 and has promoted The Extravaganza Craft Shows. She is now the publisher of The Extravaganza Craft News a newsletter to make artist’s and crafter’s craft show booths more profitable.

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.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Looking for #art and crafts shows occupies a large amount of time for the vendor who makes a living selling at shows.  One time saving hint: knowing where to look for shows is the key to saving time looking for them.

For the longest time the only place you could find good shows was to attend a show and talk to the different vendors about the shows they had attended.  Unfortunately these show had often happened in the previous two weeks or were about to happen in the next two weeks.  Often there wasn’t time enough to get registered for them and the shared information was already forgotten by next year.

And now a brief message from our sponsor:

If you’re looking for shows in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota or South Dakota…The Extravaganza Craft News is a great place to look!

Okay enough of tooting my own horn, smile!

When I was looking for shows to attend the places I looked were:

The internet-using different combinations of keywords you will come up with all different kinds of results.  Search for combinations of: arts, crafts, fairs, festivals, antique shows, jewelry shows, gem and bead shows, trade shows, farmers’ markets, shows, show listings, bazaars, boutiques and other words to do with your craft to narrow down the search.  Include the name of the city and state to search the area where you would like to sell.  Include Christmas or holiday if you’re searching for seasonal shows.

Many sites will give you sample listings, some will have free listings, and others will have paid memberships, newsletters etc.  Hint:  Find a listing that covers your area and purchase it.  It will help you find the information you need before considering which shows to apply for.  Freeing up your time to do other more profitable tasks.

Chamber of Commerce, Visitors Centers, Community Centers, Fairgrounds-These are either the places local shows are held or they are often the sponsors of local shows.  They will usually know about which shows happen yearly and might have phone numbers for the contacts of many local shows.

Local Newspapers-Newspapers will often carry advertising for shows that are happening in their area of coverage.  Look for call to artists/crafters in the press releases as well as in community calendars, etc.

Grocery stores, gas stations, local restaurants, store windows-You will find bulletin boards in many businesses around town.  Many places will even hang posters in their windows so open your eyes and look.

Ask show promoters-Don’t forget to ask show promoters if they hold other shows or if they know of any other shows they recommend in the area.

Word of Mouth-Word of mouth is still a good way to go.  Ask your friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, and church group about their favorite shows/events in your area.  Ask other artists that you meet, attend shows and ask vendors what other shows they know of.  Keep a log and you’ll be prepared to find the shows again next year.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

There are several ways to #advertise your art and #craft event to vendors.  The idea is to find the most effective ways and stick with them.  You must test and record the results of your advertising to know what was most effective.

Advertising is best done when it reaches a target audience.  Your target audience is artists and crafters who sell merchandise at art and craft shows,  advertise where they are most likely to see it.

Places artists and crafters look for shows include (but are not limited to) Art and Craft Show Publications, local Chambers of Commerce, visitors centers, fairgrounds and events centers, bulletin boards, the internet, newspapers, radio, and TV.  Have a successful show already?  Maintain a mailing list.  Art and craft vendors also ask other artists and crafters at events they are attending if they know of other great shows in the area.

Art and Craft Publications

Art and craft publications are also known as craft fair guides, art and craft show listings, and many other names search the internet using the right keywords and you will find more than a few.  Art and craft publications contain many listings of art and craft shows.  They also usually contain some advertising for event insurance, outdoor canopies for shows, displays, and art and craft supplies.  They usually cover a specified area such as one state, several states, a region, or the nation.  Some will also contain hints and tips, checklists, book and product reviews, display ideas, etc.

Now for a quick message from our sponsor, smile:
My favorite, The Extravaganza Craft News, covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Local Places Artists and Crafters Look for Events

Local places artists and crafters look for events include the Chamber of Commerce, visitors centers, civic centers, fairgrounds and events centers, basically any where an art and craft show might be held.  Ask when booking your event if they will include your event on a calendar of upcoming events.  Be sure they inform their employees of your upcoming event so they will be ready to refer artists and crafters your way.

Bulletin Boards

Artists and crafters will also check bulletin boards in grocery stores, gas stations, art and craft stores, on college campuses, in salons, at local restaurants, and many other businesses.

Hang posters, postcards, or business cards on bulletin boards everywhere you go.  Be sure your advertising has a headline gauranteed to get the attention of artists and crafters who want to sell their merchandise.  Don’t forget the basics a date and time for your show and a way to contact you including (at least) your name and phone number.

The Internet

The internet is a great resource and you don’t have to spend a fortune on a webpage or webdesigner anymore.  You can buy a website and everything you need to run it for under $100/year.  You can get one that has a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get editor) so that you can design and run it yourself or hire someone to run it for you.  A website is a great place to tell artists, crafters, and customers about your upcoming shows, and to upload your applications.  Need simple instructions for building a webpage visit http://www.extravaganzacrafts.com/index.php?pr=Build_a_website.

Newspapers

The problem with advertising anything in newspapers is actually reaching your target audience.  Reaching thousands of people who don’t sell their art and crafts at shows probably won’t help your business as much as reaching 100 people who do.

Newspapers do have other resources available other than paid ads.  Call the paper and ask about their policy for press releases, people in business, guest written articles, and calls to artists and crafters.  Ask who you send them to and the correct address.  Send a press release and call to artists to many local newspapers.  The free resources will probably benefit your business more than paid advertising at this time, but if they won’t run your articles ask if they offer a deal on paid advertising with submissions.

Ask if they have a (printed/online) calendar of events and how soon your event will begin appearing on it.  Don’t forget your contact information.

Radio and TV

Radio stations often offer a discount on large numbers of ads.  Ask them if they can offer you a deal if you order ads now to advertise to artists and crafters and again later to advertise to customers.  They also offer package deals for onsite advertising.  Ask the radio station if they would like to sponsor your event and have their logo included on all your advertising.

I have never used TV advertising but I hear that cable ads aren’t that expensive and can be targetted to reach people in the area of your show.  Again ask a TV station if they might like to sponsor your event.  Feature a happy artist or crafter in your ads looking for vendors.

Don’t ask more than one radio station, TV station, or newspaper to sponsor your event and ask them if they only work with specific people i.e. ABC Radio only works with XYZ News.

Mailing List

Tell artists and crafters which publications they can find your listings in.  Contact art and craft exhibitors who have attended your show in the past.  Keep them happy and they are likely to return.  Keep your list updated so you don’t waste money mailing to bad addresses.

Email autoresponders from AutoWebBusiness.com or Constant Contact make it easy to stay in contact with vendors.  I highly recommend you check out these two companies if you don’t already have some kind of automated follow up/email system in place.

Word of Mouth

Many artists and crafters still only hear about shows through word of mouth.  Keep your vendors happy and they are more likely to tell others only good things about your show.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Looking at it from both the perspective of a show promoter and artist the one thing that other vendors at shows do that bothers me the most is not including the legs of their displays into the size of their booth.

Having the legs of their display sticking into the aisles and into the booths next to them is hard for show promoters, as well as dangerous for customers and also inconveniences the vendors in booths nearby.  Show promoters are then pressed to find an acceptable compromise for everyone.

Keeping all parts of your display in the footprint of your booth keeps everyone happy.

Shasta McLaughlin
The Extravaganza Craft Productions
www.extravaganzacrafts.com

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

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.
Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

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.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

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.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

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.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

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.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.