Craft Show Tips....

I did a tiny little craft show this weekend up in Dekalb, IL. There were seriously about 15 vendors and were in the parking lot of a Caribou Coffee shop. The turn out however was EXCELLENT! It goes to prove that LOCATION is everything! It was on a MAIN road where everyone driving saw the tents and signs, it was at a coffee shop where everyone getting coffee had to pass us to get in, it was in a parking lot of a strip mall where we were pulling in people from other shops too! Yay! So when you sign up for one make sure it's not in a nowhere location! (This I tell you from experience! I MYSELF got lost on my way to my very first craft show!! If the vendors with maps can't find it, who can???)

Bring business cards! Bring LOTS of them and preferably bring a holder for them! (I left mine at home and it was WINDY!!!!!! A great tip I have is to print a coupon of some sort on the BACK of your cards!! (use a coupon code) Then you know when people from the show are buying things! This past weekend I used a code with the workd Caribou*** on it and so far I have had THREE sales from there! How cool is that? It's great knowing where they are coming from.

Have a tent! Seriously, if the rain comes down your stuff is safe AND if it's a beating hot day, you are in the shade! It was a crazy day on Saturday! A bit chilly in the early morning during set up, but then it got rainy as the show opened and then in the afternoon it was hot hot hot! (OH and it was verrry Windy! So be sure to weigh your tent down!)You don't have to get a big, fancy EZ-Up tent right off the bat, you want to test the show waters first before you make such a large investment. The one I am using in this show is a simple, green one with no sides from Target. It was on sale for 18.88. I use water jugs to weight it down. Simple and re-usable! More tips to follow tomorrow!!!