My First Craft Show

My first craft show was the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Holiday Bazaar, in Columbus, Ohio that took place on December 2, 2022. With four months to prepare, I called upon my engineering background and created a Gantt chart, or my road map, to plan all the phases of this project. My goal was to have at least 70 pens and 40 bottle stoppers to sell. Would I meet the goal?

Being a newbie to craft shows, I did not have a clue of what materials I needed and how to prepare. What was I to do? Well, I did what everyone would do, perform a Google search, and get loads of information about craft shows. After sifting through all the information, I found one website, Made Urban (www.madeurban.com), that I utilized frequently.

Now that my goals were set, I needed to order materials, display stands, and gift packaging. I already had sufficient materials in stock to get started while the additional materials were on order. For four months, most of my days were spent making pens and bottle stoppers.

November 28, 2022
All products for the holiday bazaar are finished. The goal was met. Checked that all materials and the display stands were ready to go. Packed all materials needed for the show and checked off against the packing list. I was ready to go. Three days before the show and taking a much-needed break.

December 1, 2022
Arrived at Nationwide Children’s Hospital to set up my display table and stage supporting materials. My wife and my daughter Michelle are helping me set up the table. (We replaced the red tablecloth with a black tablecloth the next day because we felt the products stood out better on black.)

December 2, 2022
7 am, its show time. Soon, the midnight shift is off work and descending on the vendors. Many first shift workers arrive early to shop while the vendors are well stocked. Attendee traffic was strong throughout the day. My daughter Michelle, who has a degree in Marketing, is my business coach. Through her coaching and guidance, sales were robust, and the bazaar was a success.

What I Learned
Although many things went well for my first craft show, there were a few things I could have done better. Below are some of the best practices that I learned from Michelle that I will apply at the next craft show.

•    Always stand next to or in front of the display table. Engage the customer with a greeting or short conversation, and a short introduction of my business and products. Ask the customer if there is a something they are looking for.
•    Avoid sitting behind the display table unless it is necessary to conduct business. It is a passive position and is not conducive to engage and draw the customer in to look at my products.
•    Have a note pad to write down customer information to follow up with for possible sales. Follow up with the customer within two days of the show.
•    Have 10-15 gift bags made up in advance with business card inside. Speeds up the checkout process when dealing with several customers at the same time.
•    Spare the technical details about the products. Does the customer really need to know them? Only provide if the customer asks questions that require that information.
•    Have a narrow table or small shelving unit to stage gift bags and supplies.