Bohemian Mermaid Palace

At long last, Part 4 of a series I'm calling (5 Steps to) Get Started Selling at Craft Fairs . Read Step #1: Find Your Shows , Step #2: Booth Display , and Step #3: Marketing Materials . Money Talk Okay, now we are getting down to business. I think most of us start out just making things because we love to, we are compelled to. Soon we have boxes of things, and then begin trying to sell them simply because we want to make more. At some point you can't help but consider making a living doing all the things you love most. And I fully believe in that dream. But now after so many years, I can tell you... while it is possible, it is not easy. Very few artists I know make a full time living, where they can buy houses and support families. For that you need some real business finesse, a way to sell consistently in multiple venues, and probably mixed with teaching classes or other service based offerings. I don' t have any data behind it , but this is what I've

Part 3 of a series of posts I'm calling (5 Steps to) Get Started Selling at Craft Fairs . Read Step #1: Find Your Shows and Step #2: Booth Display . Marketing Materials   Even at the dinkiest of shows, you have the opportunity to get your name and your work out into the world. I think it's the most basic marketing requirement to have a card to give out to your customers, with your contact info and what you make. People will see plenty of other booths throughout the day. If they are interested enough to buy your work or ask for a card, give them something to take away that will keep you in their minds long after they get home. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it should be a good reminder of what they saw in your booth, and where to find it later. My big 3 I have 3 marketing items I always give out in my booth - flyers, business cards and hang tags. I print all of them with my computer on card stock. You can get fancy stuff printed online fo

This is part two of a series of posts I'm calling (5 Steps to) Get Started Selling at Craft Fairs . Read Step #1: Find Your Shows .   Booth Display Figuring out a booth display can be a little overwhelming at first. So many options and issues to address. You might not have much product to display or money to spend. I suggest, for this reason and many more, you find a friend you can share space with. That cuts your booth fee in half, gives you less space to fill, and a helper during the show for breaks and whatnot. In time you will grow more stock and maybe a desire to fill a whole booth alone. Help and company are still nice to have. Start by looking at other vendors' displays for ideas. You can find samples of booth setups all over the web , search for "booth shot" or "craft booth" on google or pinterest. If possible, attend some craft shows and pay attention to the displays of booths selling the types of crafts you make. Take notes,

 [*Updated* 2019] Since I posted 5 Essential Tips for Craft Fair Selling , I've received some questions about how to get started... finding shows, figuring out a display, etc. Since I never get tired of these topics, I put together a list of 5 steps to get started selling at craft fairs . They got pretty long so I am splitting them into a series of posts. I hope they are helpful!  Start Selling at Craft Fairs #1:  Find Your Shows Start Your List You probably already know of a few craft fairs that happen in your area. The first step is to start a list. To organize my show list, I use my google calendar. I love Google calendar because there is room for notes, links, and you can color code different aspects (like my deadlines are code red, so I can see them easily).  When I find a potential show, I add it to my calendar along with the pertinent info including cost, type of show, web site, and whether the ap is online or has been requested. If I'm really int