5 Things To Do For A More Successful Craft Show
Do you do craft shows? Are you thinking about doing craft shows? You should because being a vendor is such a fun way to not only sell your products, but to network and get your business name out there. There are so many things you can do to draw in more customers to your booth and make more sales. My latest craft show was my most successful by far, even though my booth location left much to be desired! After my successful weekend, I really thought about what I did differently this time to make so many more sales than before. I came up with a list of 5 things that helped me stand out and make more sales:
1. Perfecting your prices: There are many formulas online to help you price your handmade goods, and this is very important to consider so that you actually make a profit from your items. Usually the formulas are somethings like 2(hourly rate + 2(profit))=retail price. From there you can raise the price in order to achieve the profit margin you desire. That being said, if you want to make sales at a craft show, do not price your items too much higher than what the online formulas give you. Having the right price can psychologically effect the customers! Even a few dollars can make a huge difference on whether someone purchases your item or passes it by. For my latest craft show, I reduced the prices of my items slightly and it made a huge difference! I was still making a nice profit per item, but the customers thought the prices were so good that they could not pass up the items!
2. Amazing booth display: This tip should be a no-brainer. Think about some of your favorite stores, whether they are large department stores, online stores, or boutiques, and they probably have one thing in common: a streamlined design that fits with their genre or theme. So what do you make for your handmade business? If you sew baby clothes and items, then your display should be cutesy and fun. If you make modern or trendy items, whether jewelry or other products, then your booth display should be sleek and clean. Do you make vintage-inspired jewelry like me? Then your booth should have a vintage shop feel and you should use vintage items to display your products. No matter what, make sure that your display fits the genre of your products and that you go above and beyond when decorating your booth.
3. Have a streamlined product line: As crafters, we tend to enjoy making all sorts of things which is great for a hobby, but when you are trying to sell your products at a craft show they need to work together as a product line. For example, something that I have been working on lately is to streamline my product line to be mostly vintage silverware gifts and jewelry. This helps not only to give your brand a certain image, but it also helps the customer actually SEE your products. When people walk around a large craft show, they tend to have "blinders" on. They are walking past so many booths that they cannot see all of the products. If you have a hodge podge of random crafts for sale, people might be confused and walk on by. But if you have a certain streamlined image and look professional, that might draw more people into your booth instead of walking past.
4. Have simple gift items for sale: Aside from your regular products (whether you sell jewelry, bath products, sewn products, etc.), have a few pre-packaged gift items for sale. For example, besides my spoon jewelry, I have a series of silverware gift items that are pre-packaged and ready to give as gifts. A few examples of these are my wedding forks (forks that say "i do, me too" on them), spoon keychains that say a variety of quotes, spoon bookmarks that also say a few different quotes (like "fell asleep here"), and other metal-stamped silverware with cute words or quotes. I package these products so that the buyer can simply give the gift to someone without much effort and it looks super cute and thoughtful! So, no matter what you sell, you should come up with some simple gift ideas that you can have ready to go!
5. Interact with the customers: As an introvert, this can be difficult for me, but it is so important to talk to the people who check out your booth. The longer you can keep them in your booth, the more things they will see. Remember earlier when I said that customers have "blinders" on when they walk past booths? This is the same for when they walk into a booth. The customers may only actually see a small percentage of your products even when they are standing at your booth! So if you talk to them, ask them questions, and even point out some of the items they didn't see, this will help you make more sales.
I hope this list helps you at your next craft show! Remember to have great prices, a great booth display, a streamlined product line, gift items for sale, and interact with the customers. An extra point I want to make is to just have fun! Good luck at your next show!
Here is a video I made about these 5 tips:
1. Perfecting your prices: There are many formulas online to help you price your handmade goods, and this is very important to consider so that you actually make a profit from your items. Usually the formulas are somethings like 2(hourly rate + 2(profit))=retail price. From there you can raise the price in order to achieve the profit margin you desire. That being said, if you want to make sales at a craft show, do not price your items too much higher than what the online formulas give you. Having the right price can psychologically effect the customers! Even a few dollars can make a huge difference on whether someone purchases your item or passes it by. For my latest craft show, I reduced the prices of my items slightly and it made a huge difference! I was still making a nice profit per item, but the customers thought the prices were so good that they could not pass up the items!
2. Amazing booth display: This tip should be a no-brainer. Think about some of your favorite stores, whether they are large department stores, online stores, or boutiques, and they probably have one thing in common: a streamlined design that fits with their genre or theme. So what do you make for your handmade business? If you sew baby clothes and items, then your display should be cutesy and fun. If you make modern or trendy items, whether jewelry or other products, then your booth display should be sleek and clean. Do you make vintage-inspired jewelry like me? Then your booth should have a vintage shop feel and you should use vintage items to display your products. No matter what, make sure that your display fits the genre of your products and that you go above and beyond when decorating your booth.
3. Have a streamlined product line: As crafters, we tend to enjoy making all sorts of things which is great for a hobby, but when you are trying to sell your products at a craft show they need to work together as a product line. For example, something that I have been working on lately is to streamline my product line to be mostly vintage silverware gifts and jewelry. This helps not only to give your brand a certain image, but it also helps the customer actually SEE your products. When people walk around a large craft show, they tend to have "blinders" on. They are walking past so many booths that they cannot see all of the products. If you have a hodge podge of random crafts for sale, people might be confused and walk on by. But if you have a certain streamlined image and look professional, that might draw more people into your booth instead of walking past.
4. Have simple gift items for sale: Aside from your regular products (whether you sell jewelry, bath products, sewn products, etc.), have a few pre-packaged gift items for sale. For example, besides my spoon jewelry, I have a series of silverware gift items that are pre-packaged and ready to give as gifts. A few examples of these are my wedding forks (forks that say "i do, me too" on them), spoon keychains that say a variety of quotes, spoon bookmarks that also say a few different quotes (like "fell asleep here"), and other metal-stamped silverware with cute words or quotes. I package these products so that the buyer can simply give the gift to someone without much effort and it looks super cute and thoughtful! So, no matter what you sell, you should come up with some simple gift ideas that you can have ready to go!
5. Interact with the customers: As an introvert, this can be difficult for me, but it is so important to talk to the people who check out your booth. The longer you can keep them in your booth, the more things they will see. Remember earlier when I said that customers have "blinders" on when they walk past booths? This is the same for when they walk into a booth. The customers may only actually see a small percentage of your products even when they are standing at your booth! So if you talk to them, ask them questions, and even point out some of the items they didn't see, this will help you make more sales.
I hope this list helps you at your next craft show! Remember to have great prices, a great booth display, a streamlined product line, gift items for sale, and interact with the customers. An extra point I want to make is to just have fun! Good luck at your next show!
Here is a video I made about these 5 tips:
Comments
Post a Comment