We went to our first one, which was a disaster! It was the hottest day on record here in North Georgia. No one came! We did make several sales to other vendors, so our costs were almost covered.
Our second event went better, and the third better yet. We have learned that it is almost impossible to predict what kind of traffic, weather, or buyers you will have. We did learn several valuable lessons though.
1. Talk to everyone - vendors, hosts, customers. You never know who has great information to pass on. Other vendors are always friendly and generous with advice.
2. Borrow what you can. We were able to borrow a tent, table and hanging racks for our first several shows. Fortunately, we made enough after that to invest in our own.
3. Plan your display and signs. While customers probably don't care what cute name is on the sign, having a professional looking sign makes you look, well, more professional. Your display should draw people in, but not crowd them. Small signs can give customers great information, but don't overdo it.
4. Take credit cards. All you need is a smart phone and Square or the new Pay pal app. Have a sign that tells people what cards you take.
5. Have business cards. Make sure you have a dedicated e-mail for the business too.
6. Have some way to secure your tent. In the picture you can see a round red thing at the base of the tent leg. It is PVC pipe with cement in it and a ring embedded in the top. They are painted red to match the tent. We attach one to each tent leg. The first time we used them was at an event on concrete with no way to drive spikes as hold downs. The event before that we were able to use our spikes, but some vendors could not because of their locations. Two tents were destroyed that day because the wind grabbed them and picked them up.
We will continue to learn more as we go. It is a great, fun experience and we have made several new friends. Hope to see you at the next one!
