Preparing for an Art or Craft Festival

1: Never leave your booth unattended. If you have to take a bathroom break get a friend to watch your booth or make a deal with the booth next door to watch each other's booths when you need a break.

2: Keep organized. Have one station for people to buy your work at and keep all your business stuff there. Stow empty boxes and extra merchandise out of sight.

3: Bring lots of business cards. Make sure as many people as possible who come through your booth get a business card, if you have brochures make sure they get those too. Some people just can't make up their mind the day of a show whether they want to buy something so make sure they are able to contact you later.

4: Have a Guestbook. Have visitors sign your guestbook if they want you contacting them about future shows or to be added to your mailing list.

E-Z Up Express II Sun Shelter

This economical version of the original E-Z Up Shelter is ideal for picnics and parties, arts and crafts festivals, and fairs. It sets up in less than a minute and has a steel reinforced truss system for maximum durability and strength. The patented elevated center provides the greatest headroom of any Instant Shelter in its category - 11' 2" at its peak. The 210-denier white polyester top stays attached to the frame once you affix it with four hook and loop fasteners, and the powder-coated steel frame will stay rust-free for years. Lightweight for easy portability, the Express II shelter opens to a base size of 10 ft × 10 ft, and folds compactly for storage. It also includes a heavy-duty roller bag. A two-year warranty is provided.

1: Keep hydrated. Make sure you bring plenty of water with you.

2: Wear sunscreen. You probably will not spend all day under your canopy so make sure you don't get burned.

3: Watch out for the bugs. If you are doing a festival in mosquito or black fly country wear insect repellent.

4: Bring a basic first aid kit with you. You never know when you'll get a paper cut from your business cards or hammer your thumb setting up the canopy.

5: If you are on any medications, make sure you bring them. The middle of a festival is not the time to realize you need your allergy medication because there's ragweed somewhere in the park.

1: Keep it neat. You don't want your customers to be digging through piles of stuff, keep it organized so they can find what they need easily.

2: Use varying heights. To make your display more visually interesting display some items higher than others. If possible hang some of your items. You can buy acrylic or wooden risers, build them yourself out of wood, use found objects like wooden boxes, or even sturdy cardboard boxes covered with pretty fabric.

3: Color coordinate. Group similar colors together and when choosing colors for your table cloths make sure they don't clash with your projects. Nuetral colors are always good, my creations feature lots of blues and greens so I use table cloths in those colors.

4: Bring extras. Bring more items than you plan to display, that way when some sell you can fill in the bare spots.

1: If you sell jewelry or other wearable items always have a mirror available so customer can see how your jewelry looks on them.

2: Consider working on some small projects while at the show. People love to see how stuff is made. Just make sure it's something easily put down when a customer wants to buy something.

3: Wear a name tag. You're creative, make it pretty but let people know who you are and what creatiosn you're responsible for.

4: If possible wear your creations. If you create jewelry or clothing this is easy, if not consider having shirts printed with photos of your work. I created screenprinted Noadi's Art t-shirts with the silhouette of one of my sculptures on it.

My Cup Runneth Over with Cuttlefish Tshirt by NoadiArt
Design a Custom Tee Shirt Using www.Zazzle.com

This handmade business lens is a creation of Noadi's Art

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