I didn't advertise my May/June shows as much as my other spring ones...so here's a recap of my flyer.
...and honestly, I'm over spring craft show season. LOL Spring craft shows are so much more stressful than holiday shows!
It's bittersweet but now at least I can breathe and relax a bit! On the one hand, I love being at shows and sewing new projects but on the other hand, three shows per month is quite the ride. Also, spring shows are a bummer! >.> I got so used to good sales last holiday craft show season (when selling only 10 pillows was considered a bad show) that I didn't have realistic expectations for this year. For spring show season, being able to sell 10 pillows was considered a miracle!! I'd be lucky to even sell 5 at a show. I was thoroughly disappointed in RagsReborn over these past eleven shows. I'm taking a break for the summer but I'll be back for the fall/holiday craft show season.
Here's a quick run down of all the shows I participated in--
<<This will be a long blog post because I did 11 shows but I hope it will help shed some light on spring shows for other vendors. If you are a vendor, please leave me your advice and comments. What did I do wrong? What could I have done to have a better season? Anything you want me to know about spring shows in general?>>
This was a wonderful event to start off the year! It was actually one of my best shows. I made good contacts (vendors, customers and the event organizer!), my auction items brought in a lot of money and I was able to sell a few pillows during our down time. And the best part, lots of money got donated to Mustang Animal shelter.
This show was okay. I broke even on costs/sales. This was a family friendly event so there was a lot of moms... moms who were a little too nosy. More than one woman approached me to tell me that it's good that I'm "having fun" and "living my dreams out" while I'm young and before I settled down to have a family. I held my tongue and just smiled while I was screaming on the inside.... Okay lady, #1. This isn't a phase; RagsReborn is a viable business and career option for me and #2. I can't "settle down and have a family"... infertility.
Anyway, the best part of this show was my custom orders. One of my customers at Quarter Mania came to this show and brought me four of her late mother-in-law's shirts. Four pillows later, she was the happiest woman at the entire event. I really made an impact on her and her family and it made me feel so warm & fuzzy on the inside. And, her daughter was the cutest thing ever! Oh and she must have contacted one of her friends because not long after I finished with her order, I had another nice lady come to me with a shirt to pillow-ify.
This was the show that my display shelf broke at ... it must have been a sign because I did terrible on sales. (;_;) It was my first goose egg show. There were lots of lookers and interest (people talked to me; picked up the items and told me how much they liked this pillow or that pillow) but no one purchased. I guess it the compliments and reception was good. I just wish I could have convinced those lookers to buy.
In my defense, this was the same weekend as the huge Devon layoffs.
This was my second show in a row with zero sales. And this was even worse... no traffic & no compliments. I was put in a bad location. A handful of vendors were put in the cafeteria with no sign directing shoppers our way. I made good friends with vendors next to me; both ladies (one sold Tupperware and the other crocheted) were craft show veterans so I got a lot of advice and our chit chat helped pass the time.
FINALLY!! A good show in terms of sales & traffic! I stayed busy all day. There was free wi-fi & breakfast for the vendors. The church volunteers & staff were so helpful and friendly. The event organizer was one of the best. I met new vendors (new as in this was their first show) so I got to be the veteran who bestowed knowledge and advice. It was a great day! I will definitely participate again.
I absolutely LOVE this show. I know the event organizer; I know the church staff & volunteers; I know the other vendors. Participating in this show is like spending a day with friends. Unfortunately, there was a shortage of vendors and slow traffic but the church was supportive, as usual. The Crown Center really advertises this show to its community. I think everyone who attends church there comes out to support the show. But, it was a lot slower than their Holiday Handmade Show. I did okay on sales. I didn't break even but still donated all money made (not just profits) to The Endometriosis Foundation. I can't wait to return to the Holiday Handmade Show-- November 5th, 2016. Mark your calendars now!
I had A LOT of issues with this show... where to begin...
1. There was ZERO, ZILCH, NADA advertising. There were only a few vendors (probably 25 booths) and even less shoppers. The show was from 10am-3pm and less than 75 people came in. If I had to guess, I would say the traffic flow was probably 50-65 people. Due to the low volume, I made no sales. Both of the ladies I was next to (Pink Zebra and a direct sale jewelry consultant) complained about the lack of advertising, so it wasn't just me being whiny. Another vendor told me that her friend attends church at the church that the show was at and even she didn't know about the show. The event organizers did not promote. The church did not promote. Mustang High School did not promote.
2. This show was a fundraiser for Mustang High School's Project Graduation... strangely enough, no one from Mustang High School came out to the show. Every show that I have ever participated in has volunteers; volunteers to answer general questions, to help unload your car, to booth-sit for you if you need a potty break... this show had NONE. Where were all the graduating seniors? If we are spending our Saturday fundraising for you (the graduating class of 2016), why would you not come out and show your support???? This absolutely blew my mind. I guess students of Mustang High School are just extremely ungrateful.
3. There were no concessions. We were there all day and there was no food & drinks. Luckily for me, my mom and Mike came out and brought me lunch. In general, if a craft show has food, more people come out to shop. They come for lunch and stay to shop. Duh! I guess the event coordinators haven't heard of this concept. The Pink Zebra consultant next to me drove all the way to this show from Enid. She didn't bring food or water because she expected there to be concessions. Her husband couldn't come to Mustang from Enid to bring her food. Poor lady had horrible sales AND starved to death all day!
4. The only thing the event coordinators cared about was collecting their tax forms. I have a feeling that they've gotten in trouble with the Oklahoma Tax Commission before so they are very diligent about tax forms now. When I arrived in the morning, the only thing that was explained to me was the tax form. No one told me where my booth was or if I could purchase breakfast. Just, "Don't forget to fill out your tax form and pay your taxes collected at the end of the day." As I was setting up my booth, the event coordinator reminded me again that I needed to collect taxes and pay her at day's end. Toward the end of the show, her husband reminded me again that I needed to collect taxes and pay him at day's end. Then after the show was over, her husband walked around to personally collect our tax form and money. I had enough! I gave him my form and when he noticed that there was no money attached, I told him that I didn't sell a single thing because no one came to the show. Did he care? Nope. He just took my form and walked on to the next booth.
I wanted to do this show because 1. I grew up going to Will Rogers Park and have lots of fond childhood memories there so this was my way to "give back" & 2. In my mind, I thought I would do really well because I'd be one of the few craft booths there so I'd stand out and have little competition. Unfortunately, I set my expectations a little too high.
The event organizer needed craft booths to be in the Exhibition Hall with the educational booths but everything had to be garden/outdoor/floral themed. I had to sew completely new inventory for this show (34 pillows). I worked SO hard for this show and I didn't even break even in sales. (;_;) It was pretty devastating but that wasn't the Garden Festival's fault. The festival itself went very well. The event organizer was very helpful and professional, all of the booths were strategically placed and there was high traffic all day long. I would estimate that over 1,000 people came to the festival.
Although my sales were dismal, I enjoyed the show (if I hadn't been a vendor, this was an event I would go to as a spectator). I got to browse many locally grown plants, flowers & herbs, I bought some homemade dog treats from Butterbites and I got to catch up with a vendor friend of mine.
A good show to end the spring season!! Yippie \(^_^)/ This was Trinity Free Will Baptist Church's second annual craft show. There were only 7 vendors and less than 50 shoppers but I see a lot of potential in this show. I will definitely be returning next spring. There were 4 handmade booths and then Scentsy, Paparazzi & Jamberry. (Always a good show when there are more handmade crafts than direct sales!) The church staff was very friendly. Jessie (a church member) helped me unload my car in record time. I asked him if he could carry in my trunk of pillows and he ended up carrying in everything!! The pastor was present at the show all day and various members of the church community stopped by to show their support. At the end of the day, the show organizer was open to suggestions.
Although there wasn't a huge turnout in customers, I sold more pillows here than I did at Cleveland County Fairgrounds, Wilmont Place Baptist Church, and The Festival of the Broncos craft shows. And, best of all, I got two custom orders!! One was from a lady who wanted pillows from six button-down dress-shirts that belonged to her husband and the other order was from the Scentsy consultant for two small pillows.
Swirls Gifts & Treats with Jennifer, RagsReborn Gifts and The Last Supper.
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