This week I participated in my first Art/Craft Fair! I spent the days leading up to the event cutting/signing prints, making spreadsheets and pricelists and organizing work. I was existing in a state of excited nervousness, so curious as to how the event would go, and yet so paranoid that I would forget something important. I can’t tell you how many times I checked and double-checked to make sure I had packed my square reader…

Thankfully, the day was awesome and went off without a hitch. I made a lot of new friends, (other booths as well as customers) and learned a great deal. Can’t ask for much more

In the space in between sales as I sat at my little booth, I tried to keep track of what I learned and what I might do differently for the next fair. Here’s a quick little rundown of what I came up with;

1.) Watch out for loading zones.

I accidentally drove past the orange cones and right into the walkway for loading/unloading. I felt so stupid.

2.)Load up car the night before.

Packing everything up at 8 am seemed like a good idea then, but as I trudged back and forth to the garage nervously checking the time, I realized the loading should have been done the night previous.

3.)Label EACH item with a price.

I had my items grouped together, with one price tag applying to a whole area. I.E, Bookmarks = $10. No one looked at the tag, everyone expected to see a price on the back. I didn’t mind rattling off my prices when people would ask, but it would have saved everyone a bit of time if the information they wanted was in the place they expected it.

4.) SUNHAT.

It was 89 degrees and sunny.

5.) Include location on the sign.

A lot of people were interested if I was local or not, which was interesting. Had I written “Miami, FL” on my signage, it may have saved my customers a bit more of their time.

Overall, I had a blast. It was a beautiful day, well organized and a portion of the booth fees and entry tickets went to a great cause. (Wounded Warriors). I can’t wait until the next one!