'Tis the Season...

In my opinion, November should be called the Month of Craft Sales. They seem to be everywhere. And they are everything from the large and polished professionally presented shows to the couple of tables at a fall tea or supper. Some of the work is original and beautiful while other pieces show the signs of haste and underdeveloped skills. There is definitely something for everyone.

We visited the annual sale in Middleton last weekend and I am sorry to say it was a disappointment. We had attended that particular show in 2006 and were impressed with the number of exhibitors and buyers. There were only about half as many exhibitors this year and the high quality work seemed to be what was missing. The number of buyers also appeared to be down significantly.

The above example is one of the reasons why artists and crafters need to review the results from each show and make a plan for the upcoming year that will include the 'best shows', the ones that have the target traffic and that are drawing both the exhibitors and the visitors that you are looking for.

The annual show at the Michelin Social Club in Bridgewater could not have held another exhibitor and all seemed to be doing a brisk business. Some old favourites and some exhibitors that I hadn't seen before. A very successful show from all appearances.

Statistics...

For the artistic soul numbers and business are almost dirty words. However, if you don't know where your customers are coming from and how they are finding you it can cost you resources...time and money. By having a simple tracking system in place to record how your customers found out about you your efforts in marketing and business development can be concentrated in the areas that are giving you the best results. For example if 80% of your customers heard about you through your agent, then that agent is doing a good job for you. If your customers saw your work at a recent trade show or exhibition then that is an event that would be good to attend in future years.

Knowing what is giving you results can save you the time and energy of repeating less effective initiatives. Learn from the past to make a better future.