Hello everyone.
I just found this site in the last few days, and thought I'd better introduce myself.
I make pens and have been doing small shows and word-of-mouth business for the last two years or so. I'm going to be doing my first big show in April, and have been feverishly trying to get everything ready for it. Has anyone done the King William Fair in San Antonio, TX? We've been to it several times, but never as vendors. While I'm really excited about it, I'm also a little anxious. I think I've got nearly everything ready, except for making some more pens between now and then and I need to get some better table covers and get my weights made. If you're interested, here's my website: http://flintrockpenworks.com, and here's a picture of my booth (will have much more inventory built up before the show).
Replies
Welcome Dow. We are glad to have you here. You are in good company as there are lots of people here who are learning the ropes of the business. Do not be shy about asking questions, but as there is already LOTS of information on most of the basic questions try a "search" for the topic first so no one gets testy and says we already discussed that. I'm sure you know what I mean. We have discussed credit card operations ad nauseum, tents and weights, etc.
This is a beautiful pen and I second Annette's suggestion to get a big banner for the back of your booth. It will grab people who are standing back aways and make them come closer. Best wishes.
Thanks for the welcome, Connie. As a matter of fact, I've already used the search function a good bit. You're right, some folks get all worked up if they think that other people are just running around willy-nilly asking questions without doing any research themselves. I'll do my best not to get folks worked up. :)
Thanks for the compliment on my pen. I gave that one to my son, and sometimes wish I'd kept it for myself, lol. I'm hoping to get a new light box for my photography soon (the old one was homemade, and while it worked just fine, it was a bear to set up, especially with a toddler around), and should be getting some more photos taken. I'll look to see what I can come up with for a "glamour shot" of my pens for the booth.
Hi Dow and welcome to AFI :) I think its great that your first big show is one you've attended as a member of the public - it will give you a great idea on expectations on display and quality! I always take far too much stock, but hey, you never know, eh!?
Your booth looks fine - but how about a nice big picture of one of your pens to grab the eye as people walk past to draw them in?
Good luck with the upcoming show - be sure to report back how it goes!
Thanks for the welcome, Annette. The pen photo idea is a good one, and I'll probably do something like that in the future. In the mean time, I've got a 10" electronic photo frame that I'll be using to show a slide show of the process I go through to make my pens, along with high quality shots of some of my pens. Here's a sample of one of the pictures that will be in the slide show:
Lovely shot and the electronic photo frame is good - Ive used one in the past too.
I've used Vistaprint for banners their quality is good and turnaround is pretty quick. If you sign up to their newsletter you will frequently get an offer for free small banners - which would be perfect for such a photo as this!