My booth set up at the Holiday Handmade Show.
I survived my first year!! It's actually been over a year since my Etsy shop's anniversary date is November 16, 2014. And I conceptualized RagsReborn a few months before I opened the Etsy shop. But I'm just gonna say 2014 doesn't really count and go with 2015 as my first year.
the staff was extremely helpful (huge shout out to Debbie and her family! P.S. all of your grandchildren are adorable!),
the other vendors were nice (and had handmade items),
my sales were good (great, actually...cha-ching!)
and I saw some familiar faces -- thanks to Lacey & her mom and my coworker, Deb, for coming out!
Two things that stood out for me at this show was -
1. The event organizer and her family: the show wasn't particularly organized but what they lacked in preparedness, they made up for in willingness to help. Each and every member of the event organizer's family (I think they are a prominent family in the church) interacted with me throughout the day. I had help unloading my car both Friday night at set-up and Saturday morning day-of-show, setting up my booth and getting chairs from church storage. Everyone stopped to shop and chit chat with me at my booth. I felt welcomed even though I was not a member of the church. The grandchildren helped me work on Christmas presents that I had brought to sew for my friends & family. I even got to babysit one of the grandchildren's pet cricket!
At the end of the day, I thanked Debbie for having me and she invited me back to the spring show. I have met many nice people at craft shows but I think she was the best.
2. The parking arrangement: this sounds silly but it made a HUGE difference. People actually used the porte cochere properly. (I had to Google the proper word for this but it's basically the valet parking drive thru thing in front of buildings.) Usually, people park all crazy and have no regard for other vendors when they are unloading/reloading for a craft show.
Everyone at The Crown Center was so polite!! The cars parallel parked behind each other and took turns pulling up to the front entrance. Everyone left enough space in between the cars, too. If there was no room to park in the port cochere, cars parked in the parking lot and waited until there was an opening to pull up. This sounds like common sense but all the other craft shows I participated in did NOT operate like this. The most surprising thing (Wes witnessed this when he came to help me pack up) was that a car drove in the wrong way but instead of just parking incorrectly, he backed up, drove around and entered the correct way. I wish I could have witnessed it myself. I think that one act alone would have been enough to restore my faith in humanity. LOL
Okay...back to "RagsReborn's first year." I have made 18 sales on Etsy! That is a big deal to me. I was only expecting a few, if any, Etsy sales since my main focus is craft shows (coming to you direct: live and in person!!). I am terrible at social media (more on that later) so I didn't think my Etsy shop would receive any sales at all. I'm going to deem this first year a success (^_^) But, I have only received 3 reviews. How do I get more people to review my products? I'm not even asking for just good reviews. I want any sort of feedback.
$$$$$ I haven't "crunched the numbers" (as Wes likes to say) but I think my books look good. I am not sure if I made a profit but I'm pretty sure I at least broke even. I sorta keep tabs on costs for craft shows and aim to recuperate my booth rental fee and whatever other costs I have figured. I did seven shows this year and I only lost money on three. That's less than half!! $$$$$
To me, sales or no sales, just being in seven shows is a win. My very first show was the Indie Trunk Show in May. Then, I gave myself a really ambitious November schedule (three shows in a row!) and I made it. I am now a pro at packing/unpacking my car (well, technically Wes is the expert since he does the packing/unpacking) & booth set up. I have come out of my shell to interact with customers. I have sold a good amount at each show and I have done a couple of custom orders that I am really proud of. I also made a business transaction.
If you like RPGs and intense board games, check this place out! It's in Norman, OK.
An old college friend also realized his dream and opened up a board game cafe with a few of his buddies. (2015...the year of dreams!) To further the "local helping local" cause, he agreed to let me outfit his store with RagsReborn pillows!! I've decided that my favorite things to sew are custom order pillows. I get to be a little more creative and I feel like they're more important than a regular t-shirt pillow. Maybe 'important' isn't the right word... a custom order pillow carries more sentiment for the buyer and I really enjoy seeing the look on people's faces when I deliver the finished product.
Now for my only complaint... I completely suck at social media! *insert angry face emoji!* I learned how to use Instagram and Facebook just this year (and for the sole purpose of furthering RagsReborn). I wasn't expecting tons of followers but I'm a little disappointed with what I have now.
I only have 64 Instagram followers and 73 Facebook likes. I know people who get that many likes per hour. I only have that many in an entire year. How do I increase these numbers??? Someone help me!! Someone pretty please "friend" and "follow" me! I post good pictures, I do status updates, I blog regularly... how do I get people to notice these things? I'm not outgoing or popular in real life and I think, unfortunately, that is affecting my social media presence. But I don't know how to fix it. I was in a young professionals group for networking but I kinda stopped going. It's just not my personality to be an extrovert. So I am calling out to you... please check out my Facebook page and Instagram account. And if you buy a pillow off Etsy, please leave a review.
This is how I blog... on the couch in my most comfortable and unflattering clothes with dogs on my lap and my lap top on the ottoman (my "ottoman top"??)
And finally a tremendous THANK YOU to anyone who has looked at any of my social media platforms, came out to a show, bought a pillow, had me sew a custom order and just said "Hey, great job!!" You guys are the best!!
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