Craft Show Tips: Do's and Don'ts

I've been wanting to write a review of our first craft show experience of the 6th Annual Puces Pop DIY Craft Show for a few weeks now. This is a long overdue post.

We featured brand new items from the Holiday collection which was received with positive reviews and we even sold out of our Black Leather Feather necklaces on the first day. We made new craft friends from the show and also had a steady stream of old friends stopping by our table. Thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting us.

We also want to mention that Melanie from the Montreal based ModeMangeMusic blog featured us in her Puces POP review. Thanks Mel!

courtesy of Blurasis

Here is our compiled list of Craft show Do's and Don'ts:

1. Expect the unexpected and allow time to fix it. I left printing my banners and posters two days before the show. Somehow, one of the letters in my banner printed out white. I had no time to reprint this again, so I had to fill in the letter with marker. No one could spot the difference.

My advice: Have your posters made at least two weeks in advance to allow for error time and printer troubles.

2. Have more promotional material than expected, then multiply by 3. I ran out of business cards on the last day of the show as people would browse and then take one and sometimes, two cards. I only had 250 cards with me, but really I should have been ready with 3 times as much.

My advice: Multiply what you need by 3 is the best rule of thumb. This rule can also be applied to inventory amounts and time it takes for a task to be done.

3. Make a mock display of your table in advance. Figure out ahead of time how to best display your products and add interest. The Butterfly and Bird in Flight Cuffs don't translate well flat, so it is best to show a picture or even better, to show on a hand model.

My Advice: Wear your product and have Display forms. 

4. Make sure you keep a receipt book. On the first day, we weren't using our receipt book. However, we sold too many items that we couldn't keep track of everything we were selling.  At the end of the day, it is much easier to balance your cash box and keep track of inventory if you use a receipt book.

5. Have a helper. Find someone that is willing to help you throughout the day. I was lucky enough to have my sister help out at the show for the whole two days which helped ease customer flow and my own apprehension. You will eventually need to have a bathroom break and time to eat something, so have a friend stop by to look after the table for a while.

6. Brand your packaging. Make sure your logo is either printed, embossed, hot foiled or stamped onto all forms of packaging. I had a custom stamp made with my logo and I used this on my bags and gift boxes. Let the packaging do the talking for you.

7. Have fun. Most importantly, have fun and don't stress out too much. The sales will come!