Shows I've done

I've done well over two hundreds shows and exhibits which has resulted in some interesting experiences.

There has been good shows, bad shows, fun shows and not so fun shows. There have been bad shows which ended up pointing me in a new direction with the end result that the bad show turned out to be a real plus.

For shows, there are local shows, regional shows and national shows.  I think of a local show where, if it's a two day show I can drive home at night and not be bothered with getting a motel. 

Some of these shows can be quite good and many are questionable.  A lot depends on who's promoting the show.  Sometimes a small non-profit group wants to make some money for their cause and decide that putting on an arts and crafts show will bring in some dollars.

This is all well and fine if they are going to do some advertising and also jury in a good selection of artists and craftsperson's.

If they don't have any experience in putting on an arts and crafts fair it's probably going to be a dud.

Of course, everyone has to start somewhere, so maybe by their third or fourth year they'll have it together.

For the first year it may be worth a shot but I wouldn't count on much.

A Show Analogy:

An analogy here would be a college basketball or football team.  When they recruit they are trying to improve the program.  The better the program the better the players they can recruit in the future.

Every promoter's dream is to elevate their show so that it becomes a "must attend" show and gets regional media attention. 

The more people that attend the show the better quality of artists and craftsperson's they can attract. 

If all goes well for the show it just keeps getting better and better.

Arts & Craft Festival Application:

Recently received this application for a local 3 day show.

This is a standard three fold application. 

Application contents:

Describes the show along with the show's history. 

Lists the advertising and press releases for the show.

Festival Schedule.

Rules:

Artist must submit images of their booth and three pieces of their work.

Work must be original and not built from kits etc, or commercial parts.

Artists are allowed to sell only their own work. 

Booth requirements:  In this cases all tents are to be white.

Required hours to be set up and manning booth.

This application is very straight forward with no hidden fine print.

Here is a sampling of my experience.  Not in any particular chronological order.

I did the Three Rivers art fair in Fort Wayne three years in a row.  Great show, the people in that area really like arts and crafts. 

But, all three years it rained and the winds came through.  The last year the wind blew my display over and I was holding onto my tent which kept jumping up and down.

Ended up selling out of my truck. 

I vowed never to do that show again. 

I checked with friends who did the show in following years and they said the weather was perfect.  Not a cloud in sight!. 

The Florida Bicycle Safari is a six day ride around Florida.  Some people ride the whole six days and others ride until the half way point.  I found out where the half way point was and set up late one afternoon in a field.  I had the usual show setup and in addition I had a generator for lights on my display.

Since many of the people were continuing on and wouldn't be able to carry the sculptures with them I offered free UPS delivery.  Those that were ending their trip took the sculptures with them.  Incidentally  I was the only one selling anything.

About ten o'clock that evening thing slowed down so I packed up and headed out.  Great little show for no more effort than it took.  In addition I handed out  brochures that got some residual mail and phone order business.

I did a mall show one week.  The longest week of my life,  There wasn't much business and even when there was the traffic was light.  Since I couldn't setup a welding table and a torch there wasn't much I could do but read and walk up and down the mall window shopping.

The one good part was watching a woman work with blocks of Plexiglas.  She used a Dremel tool and carved out different animals.  I was envious that she could be working at her craft.  If business was slow she still had something to show for her time.

I put that idea in the back of my head, hoping to come up with something related in the metal sculpture line. 

One idea that occurred to me was a bicycle someone brought back from India.  It was bicycle about 8 inches long and was formed from one continuous piece of aluminum wire.   Still sounds like a good idea but I've never taken the time to develop the skill.

As for mall shows, they were a waste of time for me.  I tired one more and the results were about the same.  For some people the mall shows do work out, so maybe I was just out of place.

One of the money making shows in Indiana is "Amish Acres".  From the name of the show you can tell it's in the Amish country.

The people who put this show on are great promoters.  They do fantastic advertising. 

It's an old show and has developed a huge following.

The show opens on Thursday morning with people lined up to get in.  I've never seen that at any other show.

The show is at a farm just outside of Nappanee Indiana.

Setup for the show is on Wednesday.  Tuesday I would load the truck and get everything organized.  A four day show means packing as much sculpture in the truck as I possibly can.

Wednesday starts with driving up to Northern Indiana.  Arriving at about three PM I began setting up.  Once I'm set up it's time to find some place to stay.  This isn't easy because Nappanee Indiana is a very small-town.  Sometimes I've had to drive fifty miles to find a motel.  Once I took a tent and camped out.

As mentioned the show opens on Thursday.  Business is always brisk. 

When I was doing the show the fee was quite reasonable for this quality of show. ($50.00).  But, each morning you're required to take your receipts and pay them 10% of your sales. 

Of course you can cheat, but if your receipts are too low you won't get into the show the next year.

The total take for this show has always been good. 

The last time I took some time and reflected on the money made and the time spent. 

By taking Tuesday to get ready, Wednesday to drive and set up. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the show and then driving home Sunday night meant that Monday I was wiped out.  The best I could do on Monday was unload the truck and do the banking.

Sure I made some good money, but there was seven days when I hadn't produced any sculpture.  I finally decided that it wasn't worth the effort.

Strangely enough there was never any residual business from the "Amish Acres" show.  Most shows I did get some calls for mail order but not this show.

Living in an arts and craft area I have lots of friends who do shows.  Some of these have mailing lists and mail out post cards when they are going to be doing a show in a particular area.

I've never done this, but today it wouldn't be that hard to send an email.  Also attaching some photographs of new pieces.

I did have a mailing list for my retail shop and used to send out Christmas cards to some of my customers.  I never did any qualitative analysis to see if that increased sales.

I've never been good at doing any type of analysis!  If I think something is a good idea I'll just plunge ahead until I think of something else I like better.

Probably not a good business model. 

When you are talking to some arts and craftsperson's it's a good idea to be a bit discerning about what they tell you.

A metal worker that I knew had just returned from a show in New York City.  I asked him how it went and he couldn't stop talking about how much money he made. 

I was impressed until I looked at the tires on his van.  They were were so bald that they looked like racing slicks.

If I had made as much money as he said he'd made in New York I would have driven to New Jersey and had a new set of tires put on.

So, one has to be a bit skeptical. 

One fun show to do in my locality is the Blooming Farmer's Market.  The Farmer's market is held every Saturday through the season and once a month they include arts and crafts.

This is really an easy show to do.  Set up is 7 Am and the show is over by noon. 

Lower priced items are good since it is pretty much a spontaneous buying crowd. 

Showing pieces that fit in with an "our of doors - lawn & garden" themes is good and I've sold lots of Magic Wands and Butterflies. 

This is a good place to do some marketing of other items that you may have.  They may not sell at this show, but if you have a book with photographs of other designs it may pay off in the future.

There are crafts people and there are sales people.  Once in awhile there is a mutation and a person is good at both. 

I could have sold more if I was more outgoing but I'm so low keyed that I just can't work myself up to giving a sales pitch.

My thought is, "the design is good, the work is good, the price is right", if you like it buy it, if not someone else will. 

Fortunately my work has appealed to enough people that my low keyed approach has worked for me.

If you want to get serious about doing arts and crafts shows it takes some organization.  What this means is getting a list of shows and the show dates that you want to do.  Mailing the show application along with a check and slides/photos of the work you will be displaying.

Some shows are now accepting online applications along with digital photos.

Ideally you'll want these spaced through out the year.  Having one show a month is better than having four shows on consecutive weekends and no shows the next month..

Out door shows in the Spring and Fall can be somewhat iffy depending on the weather.  If it's cold and damp it also dampens the buying mood.  Plus, wind and rain can be a disaster for your work and your display.

I should point out here that once I started doing the bicycle exhibits I pretty much left the arts and craft fair circuit.

All of the bicycle exhibits were either inside or in a large ten that the cycling group provided.

Christmas shows which are held inside are generally good if they are established shows.

Locally there are two that are just after Thanksgiving.  This is a good time to bring out your pieces that lend themselves to gift giving.  Everyone wants to give something unique.

Another show I'd just as soon forget:  I got a call from a woman who told me she had been the organizer of a particular show in Indiana. The show was one of the best.  Without anymore thought I signed up for the new show she was promoting.

On the day of the show I had a problem finding the location.  No surprise, it was so far out in the country that Lewis and Clark would have missed it. 

The show started at 10 AM.  Customers were scarce.  It would have been an excellent place to do research on mosquitoes;  they were everywhere in droves.   

By 2 PM I packed up and headed for home.

Later I found out that she had only been on the committee for the show she said that she had organized.

It would have paid me to do a little research on that woman.

Oh well, just one of life's little experiences.

It's said that "we learn through our mistakes" 

I'm not so sure about that.

You would think that the more people who see your work the more sales you'll make.

For a number of years I did two specific bicycle exhibits each year.

One was the Hilly Hundred out of Bloomington Indiana.  They cut off the registration off at 5000 riders. 

Another ride was the Midwestern Tandem Rally which is always held in a different area of the Mid West.

The Tandem Rally has about 400 riders. (200 hundred tandems)

The sales totals for those two shows were usually about even.

Tandem riders are usually riding four or five thousand dollar tandem bicycles with matching outfits for each day of the ride..  These are couples that have expendable income.

Many of the riders in the Hilly Hundred are in their late teens and early twenties and not particularly interested in decorating their room or apartment with bicycle sculptures. 

There are many mature riders at the Hilly Hundred and of course that is where the sales come from.

The point is that numbers don't always translate into higher sales.

This reminds me of another tandem event.  One weekend when I was in Florida I didn't have anything planned and saw that there was a tandem rally not far from where I lived.

The total number of riders was seventy eight.  Not many people!  But, that was the best ever total amount of sales for the number of people attending. 

In addition I probably doubled the sales from residual mail order sales.

There are some national shows that I never applied for.  These usually have a long waiting list which kind of leaves me out.  I have a hard time planning for next year let alone three or fours years from now.

These usually have artists and craftsperson's from all over the US and even some international exhibitors.

If shows are something you think you would like to get deep into you might check these out.

The best reference on shows is Sunshine Artist magazine.  The magazine lists all the prominent shows and has an audit system so that you know there is some valid evaluation of the shows.

Years ago I heard about a national show in Rhineland New York.  I talked to one person who had done that show for a number of years.  The show was divided up into two parts.  The first few days were wholesale and the remainder was open to the public.

He said that this became about his only show.  The sales that he made retail and the wholesale orders gave him enough work for a full year.  Then one year he wasn't accepted.  The promoters were letting some new people into the show.

The point is that it isn't good to put all your eggs in one basket.

There are certain cities that have an affinity for the arts.  I mentioned Fort Wayne Indiana. 

Long before I ever did the shows in Fort Wayne I had many customers from there come into my shop here in Brown County Indiana. 

The same can be said for Louisville Kentucky.  It's about seventy five miles from Louisville to Brown County and there are always a lot of Louisville people coming to Brown County.  Great customers.

Louisville also has some very fine arts and craft festivals and the ones I've done have been very worthwhile.

Plus, Louisville people are rather different, they're kind of special.

Bottom line here is finding the areas that appreciate and buys the type of work that you do.

I could go on and on here talking about good shows and bad shows.  The bad shows were mostly through not doing my home work.  If I had done a little research I could have saved myself some trouble by staying home or finding a better show elsewhere.

Good Point!  It doesn't cost anything to stay home.

If you ever get a chance to do a show in Key West, go for it!

For me Key West is some place out of a novel.  There is a feeling there that I can't  explain, but some kind of fun openness.

I did three shows in Key West and they were good, not anything extraordinary, but I'm glad that I had the experience.

In the evening they have am event called "Sun Down".  People come to the boardwalk and watch the sun go down.  It's rather fascinating, seeing the sun setting on the horizon and then a moment later it isn't there.

For that brief hour while the crowd is gathering people are selling things like tie- dyed T-shirts and jewelry. 

I was trying to think of something I could make and sell that would fit it with that venue. 

The Magic Wands would be a perfect fit.  Make up a thousand wands, go to Key West for a vacation.  Set up for "Sun Down" for an hour each evening and blow some bubbles.

The bubble wands would fit in perfectly with the free and easy mood that tourists feel when they are vacationing in Key West. 

At this point in my life I'm not going to do this, but it would be fun to give it a try.

At one show I met a couple who did thirty shows a year.  They sold hand carved switch plates.  (Most of us have the plastic plates that cover our light switches and receptacles)

They actually had a following.  People would come up and want to know what's new to add to their collection. 

These weren't cheap.  The were well done with a variety of themes.

What impressed me most was how many switch plates and receptacle covers one could pack into a small space. 

I like making maple leaf sprays but there is a limit of how many one can carry in a pick-up truck.

This makes the bicycles and Magic Wands particular appealing because the dollar amount one can pack into a pick-up far exceed the same dollar amount of maple leaf sprays.

Keeping busy in your display:  When there are people walking past your booth but none of them are stopping, I've found it helps draw people in if  I'm busy re-arranging the table display or re-hanging some wall sculptures.

It does seem to get the display more attention.

If one or two people are looking at your work it draws even more people. 

For shows I always had a pick-up truck with a shell cap.  I placed two by fours across the wheel wells from front to back.  On top of this was a piece of 1/2 inch plywood. 

The frame for the tent, display racks and display table went underneath the plywood.

When I was ready to set up at a show the first things I needed was the tent, display racks and table and they were easily accessible. 

I didn't need to unload the whole truck to get to my display.

The good news is that one does get better at making set up and tear down quicker and easier.

I was in  Des Moines Iowa one year for the Mid West Tandem Rally.  The organizers had provided a large conference room for exhibits.

Tandem riders started to browse the displays, but none of them were buying.  I began thinking that this might be the tandem rally that didn't work out.

A couple who had looked at all the displays bought one of my pieces.  As I remember, whoever they were they were somehow prominent in political circles in Des Moines.

That started a flood of business.  It got to the point of being embarrassing.  I was the only exhibitor selling.

Who ever the couple were they had put their stamp of approval on my work.  It was like an editorial endorsement.

By late Sunday afternoon I was headed back to Indiana with empty boxes.  I had sold almost everything.

Some consumers just buy what they want.  Others need to assure themselves that they are making a wise decision. 

A professional display will give this assurance to some customers.  Your printed material such as a brochure may give added assurance to others. 

Shows gave me an opportunity to try out different approaches whether in the displays or in my interactions with people.

I like to engage people in conversation; finding out where they are from or what type of work they do.

It dawned on me one day that when I asked a person where they were from they began thinking about exactly what I asked them, "where they live".

I really didn't want them thinking about that, I wanted them to be thinking about the metal sculpture I had on display.

Before I opened my mouth I ask myself, "does really need to be said"? 

Usually the answer was No.

When I did talk it was to answer the customers questions.

I'm not sure this how much this improved sales but it is something I have continued to do in all my customer interactions.

This is not to suggest that this is the right approach for anyone other than me.  I'm just throwing this out as one of my approaches to sales.

One final comment here:  One of the advantages of getting older is that there is a history to look back upon.  It can be informative and often embarrassing.

On the informative side I can see that those areas of business that I have been passionate about have led to success.

Those areas where I've not been passionate or at least didn't have a deep interest have been marginally successful.

As I look back I can see that I was not that interested in arts and crafts festivals and consequently they didn't produce the results as others market.

I think if one wants something to work; it could be making a new tool, a sales venue, a new design or even a relationship, there must be a mind set "that this will work".  Other wise it is just playing around the edges and the results will speak for themselves.

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