Don’t forget to to visit the The Big One Art & Craft Fair in Fargo, North Dakota this Oct. 20 & 21, 2012. Also reserve your booths for the shows in Minot, ND on Nov. 2 & 3, 2012 and Apr. 5 & 6, 2013.

Handcrafted arts and crafts festival vendors contact Stacy or Lisa Frank at 701-837-6059 to reserve your show booth now. Remember to tell them thank you for listing their show with The Extravaganza Craft News.

Want more information on this and other art and craft fairs in North Dakota each month subscribe to The Extravaganza Craft News at www.extravaganzacrafts.com.

There are several ways to advertise your art and craft event to vendors. The idea is to find the most effective ways and stick with them. You must test and record the results of your advertising to know what was most effective.

Advertising is best done when it reaches a target audience. Your target audience is artists and crafters who sell merchandise at art and craft shows, advertise where they are most likely to see it.

Places artists and crafters look for shows include (but are not limited to) Art and Craft Show Publications, local Chambers of Commerce, visitors centers, fairgrounds and events centers, bulletin boards, the internet, newspapers, radio, and TV. Have a successful show already? Maintain a mailing list. Art and craft vendors also ask other artists and crafters at events they are attending if they know of other great shows in the area.

Art and Craft Publications
Art and craft publications are also known as craft fair guides, art and craft show listings, and many other names search the internet using the right keywords and you will find more than a few.  Art and craft publications contain many listings of art and craft shows. They also usually contain some advertising for event insurance, outdoor canopies for shows, displays, and art and craft supplies. They usually cover a specified area such as one state, several states, a region, or the nation. Some will also contain hints and tips, checklists, book and product reviews, display ideas, etc.

Now for a quick message from our sponsor, smile:
My favorite, The Extravaganza Craft News, covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Local Places Artists and Crafters Look for Events
Local places artists and crafters look for events include the Chamber of Commerce, visitors centers, civic centers, fairgrounds and events centers, basically any where an art and craft show might be held. Ask when booking your event if they will include your event on a calendar of upcoming events. Be sure they inform their employees of your upcoming event so they will be ready to refer artists and crafters your way.

Bulletin Boards
Artists and crafters will also check bulletin boards in grocery stores, gas stations, art and craft stores, on college campuses, in salons, at local restaurants, and many other businesses.

Hang posters, postcards, or business cards on bulletin boards everywhere you go. Be sure your advertising has a headline guaranteed to get the attention of artists and crafters who want to sell their merchandise. Don’t forget the basics a date and time for your show and a way to contact you including (at least) your name and phone number.

The Internet
The internet is a great resource and you don’t have to spend a fortune on a webpage or webdesigner anymore. You can buy a website and everything you need to run it for under $100/year. You can get one that has a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get editor) so that you can design and run it yourself or hire someone to run it for you. A website is a great place to tell artists, crafters, and customers about your upcoming shows, and to upload your applications. Need simple instructions for building a webpage visit Build a Website.

Newspapers
The problem with advertising anything in newspapers is actually reaching your target audience. Reaching thousands of people who don’t sell their art and crafts at shows probably won’t help your business as much as reaching 100 people who do.

Newspapers do have other resources available other than paid ads. Call the paper and ask about their policy for press releases, people in business, guest written articles, and calls to artists and crafters. Ask who you send them to and the correct address. Send a press release and call to artists to many local newspapers. The free resources will probably benefit your business more than paid advertising at this time, but if they won’t run your articles ask if they offer a deal on paid advertising with submissions.

Ask if they have a (printed/online) calendar of events and how soon your event will begin appearing on it. Don’t forget your contact information.

Press releases are informational articles sent to the newspaper. They inform the public of events (art festivals, craft shows, bazaars, musuem openings, and so much more) happening in the area. They are free and printed in most publications as space allows (so send yours early and often). Read Press Releases for Art Festivals and Craft Shows.

Radio and TV
Radio stations often offer a discount on large numbers of ads. Ask them if they can offer you a deal if you order ads now to advertise to artists and crafters and again later to advertise to customers. They also offer package deals for onsite advertising. Ask the radio station if they would like to sponsor your event and have their logo included on all your advertising.

I have never used TV advertising but I hear that cable ads aren’t that expensive and can be targetted to reach people in the area of your show. Again ask a TV station if they might like to sponsor your event. Feature a happy artist or crafter in your ads looking for vendors.

Don’t ask more than one radio station, TV station, or newspaper to sponsor your event and ask them if they only work with specific people i.e. ABC Radio only works with XYZ News.

Mailing List
Tell artists and crafters which publications they can find your listings in. Contact art and craft exhibitors who have attended your show in the past. Keep them happy and they are likely to return. Keep your list updated so you don’t waste money mailing to bad addresses.

Email autoresponders from AutoWebBusiness.com or Constant Contact make it easy to stay in contact with vendors. I highly recommend you check out these two companies if you don’t already have some kind of automated follow up/email system in place.

Word of Mouth
Many artists and crafters still only hear about shows through word of mouth. Keep your vendors happy and they are more likely to tell others only good things about your show.

List your show with The Extravaganza Craft News now!

Have you used Google's Adwords keyword tool to find out what words people are using when they are searching to buy arts and crafts? https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS#search.none

I visited an Etsy store and right clicked to view the source code which is what the search engines use to view your store. What I found is:

< meta name="keywords" content="fancy stone necklaces, wire wrapped pendants, hangings and suncatchers, stone bracelets, stone chain necklaces, men's collection" >

I typed those keywords into Google's Adwords Keyword tool and learned.

 stone bracelets High 9,900 5,400
 wire wrapped pendants Medium 2,900 1,900
 fancy stone necklaces - - -
 hangings and suncatchers - - -
 stone chain necklaces - - -
 men's collection - - -

So what this tells me is that the keywords stone bracelets has high competition (meaning many other people are using those keywords to sell their stone bracelets) but only receives 9,900 global monthly searches and only 5,400 local monthly searches not enough to support any business.

I didn't see the keywords metaphysical jewelry (which the owner of the site often uses to describe her jewelry). The results for metaphysical jewelry were High competition 590 global monthly searches and 390 local monthly searches.

The key to using Google Adwords and selling art online is finding long tail keywords that buyers use not browsers.

Browsers get online and start their research using general terms. If they are looking for jewelry they may search for the keywords "jewelry" then as they learn that what they really want is jewelry made of a certain element they add that word to the search. For instance if they want a semi-precious stone or silver, gold or a pearl. When they learn the specific name of that element their search gets even more specific. At this time they are probably using a 3-4 (sometimes not always) keyword phrase known as long tail keywords.

Now they are using keywords that specifically describe the product, they are now ready to buy. This is when we want them to visit our website, Etsy store, or Artfire.

Using general search terms like jewelry, jewellery or jewellry gets 13,600,000 global monthly searches but these people will generally not be prepared buyers and by the time they are prepared buyers they won't find your shop using these general keywords.

Very rarely is anyone going to find your site if you use keywords that people either aren't searching for or there aren't enough monthly searches for.

Keywords with high competition will mean that your site has to be highly optimized to be listed high enough on the search engines to rank.

The ideal keywords would have low competition, 10,000-100,000 local monthly searches, and describe your product exactly in 3 to 4 words.

All of the information above tells me either people aren't looking to buy metaphysical jewelry or the site owner hasn't zoomed in on the correct keywords people are searching for when they are looking to buy her product.

This information holds true whether you are selling on Etsy, Artfire, or your own website.

Learning where to place keywords is as important as using the correct keywords to optimize your site for both search engines and for your human visitors.

To receive a free 30 minute review of your site like the one above or to get help learning what keywords are best for your site and where to place them email me.

Hi Shasta, 

I think of you so often. I hope your website, email and all are ok now and that you were able to restart everything ok. Hope everything is ok with the children and your family.

I want to thank you again for all the help you gave me in the fall even though a lot of the time I now feel like I am going under the radar screen with my shop. My sales are improving and I got over 3000 views in dec and made $800+. It was busy for a while. It got busy again last week for some reason and then now nothing.

I will need eventually to connect with you again to try to understand the shop stats etc. I am not sure how to track where people are coming from and what gets their attention.

Jeanne Costello of the Passionate Pearl

Visit Summerfest in Evergreen, Colorado happening Jul. 21 & 22, 2012.

Arts and crafts festival vendors contact Becky Guy at 303-674-0056 to reserve your booth now.  Please thank then for listing this show with The Extravaganza Craft News.

Want more information on this and other art and craft fairs in Montana each month subscribe to The Extravaganza Craft News at www.extravaganzacrafts.com.

I was going through some old information I had gathered for my business when I found this article on how doing arts and crafts makes people healthier.  In this time of economic uncertainty and worry we could all use better health.

Other ways that arts and crafts make these times better for us all. They give us a job and income that only we control (job security). They also give our local economy a boost as the more money we make selling arts and crafts the more money our city, county, and state will have circulating in it. So buy local handcrafted items and enjoy selling them for your health.

Can Quilting Really Promote Good Health?

May 2005 – La Mesa, California – Around the world, there is an increasing awareness of the health benefits derived from participating in various forms of art.

In hospitals across the US, doctors, nurses and patients are discovering that participation in the arts – including quilting, dancing, listening to music, and working with beads, clay and collages – is beneficial to the healing process, and in staying healthy. As a matter of fact, last year more than 300 health and arts professionals gathered in Alexandria, Virginia for the 13th annual conference of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH). This group is slated to meet in Alberta, Canada in June 2005, and will combine its conference with Partners in Healthcare.

Stories abound of patients suffering from cancer, ALS, Diabetes and stress-related diseases, whose recovery has benefited tremendously from their participation in various forms of art. Once considered on the fringe of healthcare, the arts are being used by a growing number of healthcare institutions around the globe. Here in the US, the University of Washington Medical Center uses art in its entrance to create a friendly, welcoming environment and reduce the stress of actually walking in to their hospital. Quilts, paintings, sculpture and musicians scattered throughout the hospital continue the theme of relaxation and reflection through art.

Frequently patients are given directions to offices or labs with references to sculptures or the Healing Garden. Nurses are known for taking a piano break, and providing soothing live music in the corridors. Artists work with patients teaching them new art skills so the patients can express themselves creatively during their stay in the hospital.

And what’s the Quilting Connection?

The Society for the Arts in Healthcare sponsors the Healing Gardens Quilt Show, a collection of 27 quilts made by Northern Virginia Quilters. These quilts are currently on tour and available for members to display in their healthcare facility. Each quilt depicts a plant currently under study or being used as a potential source of cancer-fighting drugs. This display uses art to educate people about a healthcare issue.

While men and women find joy in making “happy” quilts – baby quilts, wedding quilts, graduation or friendship quilts – many find relief in making quilts that depict life’s tragedies such as divorce and death. A case in point is the AIDS quilt project which now contains more than 44,000 quilt panels; each panel memorializes the life of a person who died of AIDS.

And, if quilts and making quilts can be helpful in healing, won’t it be helpful in preventing illness?

It must! Advice from healthcare professionals around the world includes engaging in constructive, creative activities as well as contemplative activities. Quilting is all of that. During the planning and construction of a quilt, all of your contemplative and creative talents are tapped into. As a matter of fact, many quilters report that they get completely “lost” in their quilts time and time again, thereby providing relief from life’s stresses and promoting good health.

So, the next time your spouse or other family member asks you about your quiltmaking activities, just say “I’m doing it for my health!”

© 2005, Penny Halgren. Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who hosts www.How-to-Quilt.com, Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters, and seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to have a positive learning experience.

One day I was riding in my sisters car. The roads were slick and the car slid off the road into a deep snowbank. The car was very stuck and trying to drive it out did no good. Along came a car with 5 guys in it. They couldn’t pull the car out using their car. They all got out and stood at different points around my sisters car then lifted up her car and put it back on the road.

One guy couldn’t have lifted the car alone, but together the 5 of them easily moved it.

Business is like lifting heavy objects. Doing it alone it’s too heavy but with many people working toward the same goal it becomes light.

Craft businesses often go out of business before they even get a good start when business owners try to do it all alone. There is just too much work to do and too many things to learn for one person.

Have you noticed that KFC and A&W teamed up? Have you thought about why they would do that? I have.

KFC and A&W are in direct competition with each other.

They chose to work together because they share costs and reach a wider customer base.

• They rent/own one building instead of two as well as sharing equipment.
• KFC and A&W share advertising costs. They put out one ad with both chains specials mentioned.
• They both use one set of employees rather than each company having to hire their own.
• KFC and A&W foods compliment each other. You might want rootbeer and ice cream with your fried chicken and mashed potatoes. You might want fried chicken and mashed potatoes while your friend wants a coney dog and tator tots, and everyone wants a rootbeer float. Both companies get more sales by working together.

In the business world working together is called a Joint Venture (JV for short). Jeff Dedrick says doing a joint venture isn’t like if I would make $1000 selling jewelry and my friend would make $1000 selling hair bows that we would make $2000 together. He says that if I would make a $1000 working alone and she would make $1000 working alone it’s possible that we would make $5000 working together.

So how do you make joint ventures work for your art or craft show business?

1. Choose someone with similar products but not exactly the same.

• Jewelry-Handbags-Accessories-Clothes-Other Types or styles of Jewelry-Makeup
• Woodworking-Furniture-Home Decor-Pillows-Curtains-Florals-Pictures-Light Plate Covers-Wood Carvings
• Pottery-Table cloths and place mats-Furniture-Florals
• Body Care-Embroidered Towels-Bath Fixtures
• Rugs-Furniture-Lamps-Curtains

2. Choose someone with a different style than yours if you choose a product that is very similar to yours. For instance two Asian jewelry artists can work together if one does very elaborate work and the other does only very fancy work. They would be able to offer products that closely match their target audience but would be able to offer a wider variety of price ranges, making more sales. Both jewelry artists would be experts in the same field and able to share information on the use and care of Asian jewelry.
3. Ask show promoters if it’s okay to share a booth or rent two booths next to each other and mix products.
4. Make an agreement to know each others products and to offer them equally if someone is looking for that item. Offer each others product as an upsell or downsell.
5. No one likes to work for nothing. Be honest with your partner and keep good records making sure they get paid for their items that sold.
6. Evaluate partnerships and adjust or discontinue as necessary

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day. Today it occurred to me that I should share with you how I plan to do that.

Week one I worked on catching up on left over unfinished crafts and business projects from previous weeks to prepare for my 30 days of greater profitability. As usual I accomplished some of the things I intended to do, did some things I planned to do later early, and didn’t accomplish some of the plan.

Week two I learned new things about my email marketing to keep my messages from being flagged as spam. I joined a networking site I’ve been meaning to join for months when they ran a special I couldn’t pass up. I did a client consultation which was a new service for me. I blogged about what I was doing and I did all this while keeping up with requests for information about my business.

Week three I mailed coupons to show promoters, had a second client consultation, worked on facebook profile and group pages. I created a profile on Fast Pitch Networking and added a few contacts there. I worked on cleaning out my email box, and signed up for a MySpace account, and I blogged about what I had done to make my business more profitable this week.

Week 4 what I accomplished.

• Power Pay contacted me but then never got back to me. I guess I still need to call them next week.
• I remembered that I had a Linked in account and had a new member join there.
• I found my friend that was already on MySpace and reconnected with her.
• I created an email I can send to all my customers and prospects reminding them that they can follow me on my blog, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Linked in. I need to finish formatting it and send it to everyone. I remembered to tell a client over the phone that they could follow me all these places.
• Worked on creating my profile on Fast Pitch Networking. Added a few contacts there.
• Worked on cleaning out my overly full email box which got even fuller despite my efforts.
• I blogged about my experience working toward greater profitability this week.

Here is what I didn’t accomplish.

• I still didn’t get my accounting done.
• I didn’t call the people I just mailed free newsletters to in the last few weeks to ask them what they thought of the newsletter. It is probably too late but I will try to fit this into next week anyway. Call your prospects right away they are only interested about 7 days!
• I didn’t create any articles to send to show promoters that will encourage them to list their shows with me.
• Since I didn’t write the articles I also didn’t start calling my huge list of show promoters. Obviously I didn’t sign them up in my email marketing system.
• I didn’t get the article written for my newsletter although I have some very good ideas to write about.

I hope that this series is inspiring you to work along with me to improve your businesses profitability by doing something each day that will make your business stronger. I know that I’m a bad example but I would really suggest that you write your goals down on a calendar. This way you can truly see what you did accomplish and will remember what you didn’t get done so you can work on it in your spare time or in your next 30 day plan.

The plan for the next 8 days:

Day 24-Write and send a quick email to all my customers from the past asking them how their businesses are doing? Tell them how my business is doing and showing them where they can get more information from my business. Sort of bring them back to take another look at my business.

Day 25-Write the article for my newsletter.

Day 26-Finish writing my book.

Day 27-Clean out my email box.

Day 28-Do my accounting

Day 29-Create articles to send to show promoters who haven’t listed with me yet.

Day 30-Call show promoters and ask them if I can send them free articles.

Day 31-Blog about my 30 days to Greater Profitability for my art and craft show business.

Entry 4 of 6 in the series My 30 Day Plan to Greater Profitability.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Art and Craft Show Expert Shasta McLaughlin provides articles, hints and tips, checklists and more for artists and crafters that sell handcrafted products who want to save time looking for shows, packing for fairs, and get more sales at festivals. Now she is revealing how to collect your customers contact information, follow up with them and make more money while working less. Go to http://www.extravaganzacrafts.net to get her newsletter, The Extravaganza Craft News, that will help you avoid mistakes, save time and money when preparing your craft show booth.

Parts of this 7 part series have been reprinted with permission from the article “7 Common Disconnects In Retail Business” by Pam Grimm of Ideaco.

7 Common Disconnects In Retail Business

4.  Assuming not Assessing: When a staff person could speak about products, she often told everything she knew about it before asking any questions. Most of the time the information was not even relevant to the question or need. We found most staff members don’t bother to probe for information to meet a customer’s need; they download all they know in hopes they have covered it.

How to Assess A Customers Needs

They say to assume makes an @$$ out of you and me. To assess what a customer needs you need to ask questions and hear the answers. Don’t get ahead of yourself and spill everything that you know about the product instead simply answer the question. When you’ve answered the question if they don’t say anything wait a few seconds and ask another question, it could be that they are considering one product over another or how much money they have to spend or it could be that they are waiting for you to ask for the sale.

Questions that might help you know what they would like are:

1. Are you buying for someone special today? This tells you if they are looking for childrens items, items for teens, adult items or items for the elderly.
2. Are you buying for a special occasion? People need different kinds of things for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and everyday.
3. Are you looking for a particular style? Depending on your craft your merchandise will have some varying styles some things might be more modern or contemporary, others might be more country, some things will be Victorian or classic. Things like jewelry will vary from an abstract random pattern to a symmetrical pattern that repeats itself. Some of your items may have an Americana flair while others might have an ethnic flair from other regions. Some items will be more natural while others may be more synthetic, some may be recycled.
4. If they are buying for themselves you can ask if they are buying to match a particular outfit? What color is it?
5. What are their favorite colors?
6. When the choices have been narrowed you might ask if you have answered all their questions.

Your job at this stage is to discover their questions and answer them while narrowing the choices. It’s a fine art but you’re a creative person you can do it!

Entry 4 of 7 in the series 7 Ways for Your Art or Craft Business to Outsell the Retailers. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

I was looking on the internet for cool things to share with you all when I came across this calculator for quilters.

FabriCalc - Using this convenient little tool, you will never again need to guess how much fabric to buy, how many strips to cut, how wide to cut your strips or how much your fabric will cost.

Don’t forget to to visit the Commonwheel Artists 38th Annual Labor Day Arts & Crafts Festival in Manitou Springs, CO this Sep. 1 to 3, 2012

Handcrafted arts and crafts festival vendors contact Julia Wright at 719-577-7700 to reserve your show booth now.  Remember to tell her thank you for listing her show with The Extravaganza Craft News.

Want more information on this and other art and craft fairs in Montana each month subscribe to The Extravaganza Craft News at www.extravaganzacrafts.com.

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day. Today it occurred to me that I should share with you how I plan to do that.

• Day 1-Set a goal to do something to make my business more profitable each day for 1 month.
• Day 2-Make a plan. Get out a calendar and write down the goal for each day until calendar contains one goal for each day. Make each goal one that can be accomplished in a time frame of 1 day to 1 week.
• Day 3-Finish writing down goals on calendar. Breaking larger goals down into step by step goals if necessary.
• Day 4-Clean office so I can find everything I need to accomplish goals.
• Day 5-Do projects I’ve been putting off for the past month or so especially accounting.
• Day 6-Finish projects I’ve been putting off for last month.
• Day 7-Blog about my experiences this week.

Entry 1 of 6 in series My 30 Day Plan to Greater Craft Show Profitability. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Art and Craft Show Expert Shasta McLaughlin provides articles, hints and tips, checklists and more for artists and crafters that sell handcrafted products who want to save time looking for shows, packing for fairs, and get more sales at festivals. Now she is revealing how to collect your customers contact information, follow up with them and make more money while working less. Go to http://www.extravaganzacrafts.com to get her newsletter, The Extravaganza Craft News, that will help you avoid mistakes, save time and money when preparing your craft show booth.

Lets face it selling handmade jewelry is tough. Handcrafted jewelry artists need every advantage they can get. I found an article I think will help.

Face Shape and Jewelry Choices by Barbara Van Look of Fire Mountain Gems is a very informative article. I thought it might help jewelry artists suggest the most flattering jewelry choices for their customers faces and increase their sales.

http://www.firemountaingems.com/encyclobeadia/beading_resources.asp?docid=A21B&WT.fmg_linksection=1K2B4BPKRVB81&_rid=173300.1704.459736&WT.mc_id=NL100511H_2#roundface

With the economy the way it is everyone is strapped for cash.  Artists and crafters can always create inexpensive gifts for Christmas, but it usually helps to have some ideas on hand for inspiration.

So it was nice to have this link shared with me.  Thanks Jasmine.

100 DIY Gift Ideas for the Cash-Strapped College Kid

By Amrendra Singh

If you have decided to try your hand at setting up at craft shows, festivals, or flea markets, then you’ll need to have the right craft show display to make your wares stand apart from the rest. This is especially important if you are selling something like jewelry or any other staple craft show item. Having a great craft show display can make a big difference between having someone walk right by you or stop for a look and hopefully a sale. Here are some great ways to create an eye-catching craft show display.

Craft Show Display Basics

When you first get started you will have to purchase the right equipment and this can be a bit of an investment, but if you think you will continue doing shows then you’ll need the following:

• Canopy or tent – The proper canopy or tent will protect your goods from rain and sun. Delicate crafts made from fabric, paper or handmade clothing can become damaged from just a few hours of direct sunlight.
• Tables – Most craft show displays require at least table or two for their set up. Buy the lightest, easiest thing to carry around. You can find many aluminum models that fold up with ease and can be tucked away in almost any vehicle. Don’t forget a small chair for yourself.
• Weights – Make sure you carry weights, large water bottles that can be filled, or small sand bags. You will need to tether these to your tables or tent with bungee cords in case of a windy day.
• Display cases – No matter what you are selling you can find the right craft show display case for your items. Look at retails suppliers or ask other vendors. A thrift store can give you some great items on the cheap.
• Quality fabric – Cover your tables in bright fabric. Take your time to come up with a great color scheme for your craft show display. Work your tent color, table covers, and products into a harmonious craft show display.

Beyond The Basics

Once you have the basic equipment that you’ll need for your craft show display then you’ll need a few creative ideas to get people into your booth.

• The set up – Make sure that your tables are positioned in a way that is easy for customers to see. Keep your tables near the front of the tent so people can walk by casually. Don’t expect people to walk to the back of your booth, it may seem obvious, but people want to keep going unless something really interests them.
• Height – Try hanging things from the tent to catch people’s eye from afar. This can work for a lot of items. If you can’t do that, make sure you vary the height on your tables. Use small shelves, boxes, or other display items to give the tables a richer feel.
• Mirrors – Always bring a mirror for people to look at things they may want to try on.
• Signage – Have a banner or business cards on display is a great idea. Even if someone doesn’t want something today, they can come back and find you or email you.
• Pricing – For many people seeing clear price tags on items is very helpful. Lots of shoppers don’t feel comfortable engaging in chitchat over every item in the booth. If you are getting really busy, this will save you lots of time from answering questions.

Hints To Keep You Ahead

If you are a newcomer to the festival scene then you may not yet realize what an ally other vendors can be for you. Although they may seem like the competition and in some cases they are, they can also help give you invaluable advice. Remember to always respect your boundaries with your craft show display. Most arguments between vendors center around just an inch or two! When space is at a premium people can become very territorial, just remember to take care with your craft show display and stay on your neighbor’s good side. He’ll be the guy you entrust with your craft show display when it’s time for a bathroom break. Follow these tips to have a great craft show display no matter whether you’re a newbie or a festival regular!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amrendra_Singh

I was reading a post by Carla of Cobweb Corner and it got me thinking how she got her prospects (people in her craft show booth) into the buying mood making them buying customers.

Read her post here:
Jewelry Shows – There’s Something about a Sale

The internet marketing gurus I’ve been studying suggest creating a loss leader (a product you lose money on in the beginning to get people buying). They often offer a free product to gain the trust of the prospect and charge shipping on the product because if the customer would pay for shipping they are a qualified buyer.

The thing I didn’t see in her post was after she had her craft show prospects in the buying mood, what she did then.

The thing I’m learning as I study marketing is always offer an upsell or a downsell when a customer is making a purchase.

When you have a customer making a purchase always offer them a complimentary product (meaning a product similar in style or nature to the one they are already purchasing) as an upsell. You can even offer a product that is twice the price of the original one they are buying. Keep offering additional upsells as long as they keep saying yes.

When they say no, offer them a down sell. A down sell can be another lower priced product, a discount on the whole set, or a payment plan.

Tell me what you offer as an upsell or downsell.