Craft Fair Survival

I survived my first craft fair!

It was actually disappointingly quiet but that’s the risk you take with these one off events.  Despite the lack of patrons I learned a lot about not only selling in public but also about my business.

The great thing about selling online is that I can try out a couple of new products and post them in my shop for minimal cost.  As long as my photography is in keeping with the rest of the shop then things don’t look out of place.  What I discovered when I started to set up my table is that I have a lot of different products.  My scarves are made from a variety of different materials, in different patterns and at different price points.  This made my display look pretty disjointed.  It was the same with my range of jewellery and beanie hats.

I now have a plan to create a much more streamlined looking range of products.  I’m first going to implement this with my beanie hat range with the help of my latest wool order.  I really love the slouchy pom pom hat pattern that I’ve created so I’m going to knit a wide range of these in loud, funky colours.

I’m then going to apply the same strategy to my scarves – choosing one or two patterns that I enjoy to knit the most and then create a whole range of these scarves in different colours.  This will allow me to produce a series of scarves at the same price point and in the same good quality material.  I’ll still of course be open to custom orders if anyone had a specific style or pattern in mind.

I also want to concentrate on hammered jewellery and I’m going to be moving away from my beaded creations.

This is all going to take time but I just know it will be worth it.  I’m hoping that next year I will be ready to attend a proper full day craft fair with a very professional looking range of products.

I get the keys to my new house a week on Friday so I’m very excited but this probably means that my shop plans will take a little longer to implement!

Don’t forget that you can still get 15% off everything in my Etsy shop with Coupon Code MOVINGSALE!

Craftseller Feature

So here I am on page 74 and 75 of Craftseller magazine’s November issue in a feature entitled “My Craft Shop” (perhaps we can call it a double page spread?!).

Oh the fame – nothing can stop me now! 🙂

 Be sure to pick up your copy of Craftseller Magazine for great tips on selling your handmade goodies.  I have been featured on many blogs in the past year (which I am grateful for) but this is my first magazine feature and it feels like a wonderful next step!