Editor’s Note: This is a post by Rachel Gregg, Content Marketing Lead, at CreativeLive. In this post, Rachel Gregg of CreativeLive, Shares a story of how she seized the moment one year, and and had a successful selling season at craft fairs.
As I unwrapped my holiday decorations this year I realized it had been awhile since I’d seen them.
Last year felt festive, but in an entirely different way. You couldn’t overlook the holidays as you stepped around piles of pine branches or scooted aside spools of ribbon before you sat down for breakfast.
But that isn’t the same as sitting by a decked out Christmas tree and taking in the sights.
Last year was festive in a business-y way.
You see, last year my flower friend and I went full-throttle on the pop-up craft fair circuit. What started with a simple yes to a one-day appearance turned into four full weekends of selling during the Christmas season.
We’d made some rookie mistakes with our first booking. We paid way too much for our table. We bought more materials that we possibly transform into botanical-inspired gifts while working full-time jobs. We probably even priced our products a bit too low (despite everything I’d learned from working at CreativeLive).
But those first mistakes lit a fire under us.
When we set out to sell our flowers we’d agreed to take a small loss as part of our learning curve, but once we had spent our cash we weren’t really excited to swallow it. And we hadn’t skimped on was appearances. Our booth looked great and we wanted to see it again. Luckily, so did our buyers and our fellow makers.
We were invited to share space at a bigger show the following weekend.
We also saw a small, highly curated pop-up fair looking for more vendors and we had photos of our beautiful booth to secure our entry.
We seized the moment and sold.
Which is why I hadn’t seen some of my favorite ornaments in a while…
In the business world they call what we experienced, “market opportunity” – the closer we got to Christmas, the more in-demand our air plant ornaments were and the more opportunities we had to sell. As the weekends ticked by we moved more and more product each day. By responding to those opportunities my flower friend and I walked away from our month-long endeavor with a comfortable profit and our confidence intact, even if our houses were in shambles.
In the end, it was more than worth it. We’d made memories. We’d made a profit. And we learned by doing!
For us handmakers, the holidays are a time when our skills are a real commodity. You don’t have to dedicate every holiday season to the hustle (this year I have two trees, a porch I’m outfitting in a big way, and zero craft booths to staff), but don’t be afraid to say yes when opportunity comes knocking at your door. Seize the moment!
If you want to learn more about monetizing your making or how to land your own exclusive craft fair slot, check the classes on CreativeLive. We’ve got a little bit of everything for you and you are guaranteed to find a class you’ll love. Plus, the whole catalog is on sale! Don’t miss out!
Etsy is our preferred online seller for handmade items and crafts, Etsy is a familiar shopfront that makes buyers comfortable and confident in making purchases. Looking for other options to sell your crafts than Etsy? Check out this article – Alternative places to sell your crafts online .
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