The Great Hunt, part 3

I have a few last thoughts about searching for craft shows ... hopefully they're helpful!

I mentioned in the earlier posts that some craft shows are attached to festivals or other events and in that part of the hunt, I'm looking for "craft shows".  However, sometimes shows are not included in the statewide craft show listings because festival planners don't think to advertise specifically for the show.  They advertise the festival and list the show as one of the featured events.  Nearly every small town has some sort of festival at some time during the year -- so when I'm checking the events listings for the towns near me, I look for their festival guide to see if there is also a craft show.  Once again, if the festival sounds like fun and sounds like it will attract  a lot of people, it's usually worth the gamble.

Keep your eyes open in your local newspaper in the classified ads -- in some areas, that's a common way for organizers to seek vendors.  These shows may be a bit on the smaller or newer side, but they are excellent  if you're just getting started.  Shows seem to "grow up" too -- as they grow older, they seem to get more and more juried, develop their own reputations, and have less need of being advertised.  

Some churches have craft shows to raise funds.  If the church is large or the show is well established, these can be very productive shows.  Most parishioners will support the event and will be great word-of-mouth advertising.  If it's a new show, or a small church, ask around to check it out -- or be prepared that your day may not be predictable.  Being small isn't always bad ... but it may not be a guarantee of good either.

I have, on several occasions, found show compilations online that are available for sale ... either by buying their book or purchasing their membership.  I have never purchased show information -- some such sites will give lists with either the name of a town or the name of a show -- and that's all I need to Google to find the information for free.  As I have never made these purchases, I can't address their value -- they may be worth the costs if you are heavily dependent on your craft show business (for me, my business is our second income) because some offer detailed show information (such as average attendance, etc).   I could see where someone like retirees, who are willing to travel extensively wandering from show to show, supplementing their retirement incomes might find this type of resource very helpful.  My current search method is sufficient for my situation.

When you're doing your internet search, don't avoid previous years show listings that you may find.  You can get an idea of what their dates should be (like, 3rd weekend in October) and as some shows get more established, they no longer need to advertise -- you may not find the information readily available for the current year (at least, not early enough to apply for the show -- you may not see anything about the show until it's being advertised which may be too late for application).  If you don't know who to contact now, look who is sponsoring the show or who was the past organizer and start by contacting them.  If that's not available or you don't have any luck, contact the town's Chamber of Commerce, tourism office or municipal offices -- usually you'll find someone who knows something about the show.

One more source for locating craft shows is by talking to other vendors.  I met a vendor at one show I was doing who had a bookmark for her customers with a list of the shows she was participating in over the next few months -- that little bookmark was a gem!  Not only was it a great way for her to advertise and seek repeat customers, she had been doing shows for some time and was able to tell me which shows were the most profitable.  One of the shows on her list never came up in any of my searches -- but it's been a very good show for me.   So if you attend a craft show, watch for such lists being given by vendors.  And there are other ways to connect with show vendors --- if you are part of the Etsy community, there are teams for nearly every state and many countries.  Find your local teams and ask who does craft shows.  Even if you don't want to join the team, many teams are quite friendly and by contacting the team leaders or reading the team forums, you can find out who is doing craft shows .... and who are the good bets to contact about shows in your area.  

If you are selling jewelry, keep in mind that your chances of getting in to a show are better if you apply earlier.  Due to the number of jewelry makers, many shows these days are limiting the number of jewelry vendors (usually some percentage) they allow. 

In the next few weeks, I hope to do a blog or two about preparing for craft shows -- the differences between indoor and outdoor shows, my preparation list and some of my observations for what and what not to do at shows.  Hopefully, this has been helpful for someone.  Just keep in mind that my thoughts are based on my experiences and my observations -- and if you live in another part of the country, your experiences ( and local practices) may be different.  

Catch ya soon!

The Great Hunt

How do I find good craft shows to participate in?  Because of our ministry, we usually move every 6-15 months and usually the moves are to entirely new states.  All the advice I've seen about finding good craft shows says that you should attend one year as a customer to get a feel for the show, then apply the next year if you want to be a vendor.  I don't have that luxury ... I'll probably be gone next year.  So how do I pick the shows I apply for?

I start my internet search by using Google.  I use key words "craft show" then the cities and towns in my very near area.  I make a list of my finds with a few pertinent details -- date, location and fees if I can find them, and whether the show is part of a festival.  If the info is available, I also note how long the show has been in existence and whether it's juried.  Then I use alternate phrases like "craft fair", "art fair" and "art show" and keep googling.  I also expand to include the state, rather than the specific towns near me.  I've found that some states have very organized directories -- those are wonderful!   I also check the various towns for their own Chamber of Commerce, visitor information or city events listings.  Compiling this list can take some time but is well worth the effort.

Once I have my list, I begin the sorting process.   I first eliminate anything that is both a Saturday and Sunday sale -- our ministry comes first and we've committed not to do sales that take us away from our Sunday worship.  Most shows want the actual vendor in attendance, not just a representative .. and some are very specific about it.  I then look at distance -- how far is a show from my location?  I like to keep them within 45 miles, although if a show sounds really great, I'll go further.  I next look for juried shows -- even if I've missed the application deadline, I"ll check to see if they have space available -- sometimes they do, especially if someone dropped out.  In my experience, a juried show that has been in existence for many years is a good bet -- they will likely have quality arts and crafts with a good reputation which usually draws serious buyers.  But sometimes, that's not the kind of show available .. so then what?

Open shows can be good or bad .. and there are several factors that I look for.  How long have they been an event?  Are they supporting a school, team, or community group?  Are they part of a festival?  What is their booth fee?  If I can find out previous attendance and how they advertise, that can be valuable information.  The longer they've been around, usually the better they are and the better they're known.  A long running annual event will generally attract repeat customers and because of word of mouth, will have a larger customer base.  Those shows benefitting an organization will depend on how actively the community is involved -- and I can't always tell that by looking online.  I've done one show benefitting a fire department that had hundreds of people -- another show, in the very next town only had about 150 attendees.  Festival related shows have also gone either way.  I've come to the conclusion that if the festival sounds like lots of fun to ME, the show is worth the gamble.  The 2 best shows I've ever had were part of festivals .... as were the 2 worst shows I've ever had.

Often the booth fee can be an indication of a show's success.  For one, shows with higher booth fees have bigger advertising budgets.  Most of the shows I do fall in the $50 - $100 range.  Shows that are cheaper are usually poorly advedrtised, with fewer attendees -- and lower profits.  Shows that cost more require that I sell a lot more just to break even. 

Organization and a "friendly professional" attitude are also factors that I consider.  Once I've decided to apply to a show, I generally contact the organizer to make sure there's space available.  Their response is important to me -- how quickly they respond, the tone of their message and how organized they sound are critical factors.  There are some shows I've thought sounded like good possibilities until I heard from the organizer.  If they sound like they don't have a clue what's going on, I avoid it.  If they sound cranky, I avoid it.  I do like shows that have applications that can be downloaded from the internet or are sent as attachments in that response email -- it seems that if someone is tech savvy enough to make their applications electronically available they are savvy enough to use tech as one of their advertising tools.  Frequently, the potential customer who is tech savvy is usually better educated, younger or from a higher economic demographic -- all of whom tend to be better spenders.  And since my objective is to make sales, it's nice to have customers who want to spend money.

When I first started doing craft shows, I did all open shows.  They are usually less investment up front and don't require displays that are as professional.  Every juried show I've seen required table skirts and sometimes other display options.  The profits weren't as large in those early shows but I learned a lot from them.

There are other kinds of shows for the crafter to be involved in and there can be differences in shows in different seasons ... next time!