“Selling Cards at Craft Fairs”

One thing you can do when you start a greeting card business is to start selling cards at craft fairs. Craft fairs are a fun and popular way for people to view your greeting cards and it is a creative outlet for you to use in marketing your product.

The shows often have a variety of booth sizes and types, which you can use to create an “atmosphere” for your potential customers. You can use this to create an environment that is similar to your physical storefront, create displays that follow seasonal themes, or create displays that simply show off your work.

Craft Fair Preparation

The following is a list of tasks you should do when preparing for a craft fair. Remember that this is a general list. Preparing for the details of a craft fair should be taken very seriously as hundreds of customers could potentially view your greeting cards, business name, and logo in just a few short hours.

  1. Prepare a list of the greeting cards you wish to sell as to display.
  2. Prepare any signage you wish to display (e.g., standing display boards, flip charts, table linens with signage, etc.). Note: This is usually the part of the preparation process that takes the longest.
  3. Prepare samples of your greeting cards you wish to take (e.g., several portfolios where the greeting cards are protected, but can be viewed).
  4. Prepare a list of the price of each greeting card.
  5. Prepare any catalogs, brochures, and other marketing materials for those customers who just want to take information home.
  6. Prepare a business card and at least 100 copies of the business card.
  7. Prepare/Provide any coupons that can be used at certain times during the show or provide by one get one half off incentives.
  8. Prepare a list of all things you need to bring to the fair booth including, but not limited to the following:
    • Receipt book
    • Cash on hand for change
    • Tools, software, a laptop, and credit card scanning device for payment processing and collecting information on customers.
    • Plastic gift bags
    • Coupons
    • Newsletters and other promotional materials
    • Greeting cards to sell
    • At least a certain number of greeting cards to sell and a certain number of displays in the portfolios and display boards.
    • At least a certain number of customer greeting cards displayed in the portfolios and on the display boards.
    • Forms that customers can use to create a wish list of cards they want from what is displayed or from what they want to create.
    • Table cloth and table signage for the size table(s) you will have at your booth.
    • Cell phone number of the craft fair organizer during the show.

Before you have your tasks list started, you must verify the booth details with the craft show organizer. This is usually an iterative or ongoing process as the craft show event will usually have frequent changes before the event occurs.

When working with the craft fair organizer, make sure you at least have the following items defined:

  1. The dimensions of the booth (e.g., size, number and position of the tables, boards, etc.).
  2. Where the booth is located (i.e., obtain a map of the booth in conjunction to other booths and conveniences).
  3. The number of other booth participants or a list of other companies having booths at the event.
  4. The scope of sales for other booth participants (for marketing purposes to give you an idea of who your competition is).
  5. The times for setup and take down for each day of the event.
  6. The availability of secure overnight storage for booth supplies and the times of access to storage.
  7. The phone numbers for contacting the craft fair booth organizer(s) during the show if there are any problems.

How to Book Time at Craft Fairs

When you are ready to start marketing and selling your product, it is time for you to go to a craft fair. There are usually many to choose from, however, so it is advantageous for you to research and compare the craft shows to each other.

By doing this, you can determine the overall purpose  of each event, see who its target customers are, learn about why the event was started, how it will relate to your business, and learn about events details, such as booth costs, number of attendees, deadlines, etc.

In order to fully compare and contrast the different trade shows, create a spreadsheet listing the trade show names down one column with the other column headings named as follows: sponsor and Contact Information, Date of Event, Location, Costs, Attendees, Deadlines, Other Notes.

As you hear of a trade show or craft fairs, add it to your event list and then find out the basic information for each column. When you are finished, compare the information for all events listed in order to decide which event best suits your target market, business type, timeline, and other specifics.

Selling cards at craft fairs has been a time old passion of many greeting card designers so give it a go I am sure you will see positive results and make some new friends along the way.

Handmade Greeting Cards.