After the First Craft Fair: The Learning

Well, my stress level has gone down. My first big craft fair/art fair is done. All-in-all, it went pretty well, and I probably prepared about as well as I could have, given my inexperience. Now I have to learn my many lessons before preparing for the next one.

Aside: about that next one…I've been blessed with up to seven weeks of jury duty starting in mid-May, so I am unable to make any commitments to shows taking place before mid-July.

So, how did I do? Not too bad! My strategy was to suck people into my booth with a two-pronged attack: First, put a few of my best images on an aisle-facing wall, and the rest of my best stuff in large format on the back wall, which is what people see the most. Second, put my art bins right up front, to provide every shopper with that familiar experience of flipping through lots of matted images. I chose not to have a table filled with items, which is a tried-and-true tactic, but one that didn't suit me, as I had very few items that might work there. I instead used my table space for email sign-ups, business cards, brochures, free post cards and some decoration. I did sell my calendar and the smallest of my matted prints there. In the future I may find myself with lots of magnets and coasters, and my calendar will be prominently displayed, but I may opt for wall shelves instead of cluttering a table.

Once interested, I was hoping to provide easy-to-reach price points for the expected throng of shoppers who didn't have a ton of money. (I noticed another novice artist selling their items at gallery prices. It wouldn't take many sales to justify that strategy, but given the crowd at this particular event [generally moderate-spending locals and not freespending tourists], I wonder if it actually worked.) Volume rather than big ticket was my approach. And my biggest sellers were not a surprise: 5x7 and 8x10 prints, and notecards, especially my 3 for $10 deal. I only moved a couple of large units (both canvases), and just a few of my smallest 4x6 prints. My prints on aluminum… well, I'll get to that.

Other successes:
• I was very happy with my credit card reader, which worked perfectly.
• I had a squishy fatigue mat for the long hours of standing. I love that thing.
• I had shopping bags, business cards and brochures ready, and people appreciated them.
• I got about as much traction from my email sign-up sheet as I'd hoped (but PB, JM and SW, if you're reading this, you either print terribly, or my eyeballs are shot, but I really, really tried to figure out your email addresses! Shoot me a note and I will get you on there!).
• I handed out about 80 free postcards with a coupon code. We'll see if that leads to any sales.
• I put enough price stickers and tags on my works that almost no one had to ask what something cost.
• My rugs looked damn good.
• I got a lot of compliments on my work, even from people who had no intention of buying.
• I got to talk about a lot of my prints with curious shoppers (mostly, "where was that shot taken?," which I found fun). One woman even saw her house in one of my photos! (sale!).

And of course, there were some failures.
• The weather was too nice for an indoor show, and Saturday's turnout was abysmal. I was expecting traffic similar to last year, when it was mobbed, but this year's event was held too late in April, and people didn't want to shop indoors on the first beautiful Saturday after a harsh winter. I can't blame them. I'm sure there was a lot of lost revenue that many vendors weren't anticipating. I need to carefully consider the weather and venue for my next show.
• Without a developed strategy for arranging works on my walls (Should it be by similar colors? Shot location? Print medium? Dimensions?), I simply made my best stuff most prominent. Going forward, I think it's probably smartest to also separate the Hidden New Hampshire images from photos taken elsewhere in the world, as it confused some. They would see a photo of the White Mountains on one wall and Greece on another, and feel compelled to tell me "That's not in New Hampshire!" Yes, that's true, and I'm not trying to deceive anyone, and I am sorry (But my branding of Hidden New Hampshire was working!).
• A Hidden New Hampshire book (basically an expanded version of my previous calendar/s) would probably sell, so I need to find a way to create and publish them inexpensively.
• Too many people wanted to know where something was shot, but my labels only provided the name of the image and the price. I need to include locations going forward.
• I brought with me some extra images, mats and frames so I could replace prints that sold. Pipe dream. They took up too much space, and I had no time to make replacements. If I need to, I can replace one or two in the evenings after the show and avoid hauling all that stuff around.
• My presentation of the metal prints was inadequate. While shoppers may have been curious and impressed, they did not buy. Metals cost more than matted prints, but they also go home ready to hang without the extra expense of frames, glass and hanging hardware, bringing them closer to an equivalent price. I could have made that more clear to my customers. Also, the way I affixed the metals directly to my walls was unimpressive. Many metals are "float mounted" with a 1/2- to 1-inch thick backer that makes them appear to "float" off the wall. I can retrofit mine to do that. And if I back light a few with fairy lights, I will greatly increase the wow factor.

One shopper, an experienced photographer, came for a visit and spent a good 15 minutes critiquing each of my works. And by critiquing, I don't mean pointing out which photos he thought were good and which he thought were bad. He pointed out the flaws in EVERYTHING. But, since I have a thick skin, I stayed right with him all the way, discussing my works objectively and using our conversation as a learning experience.

One of many. And I loved it.