My sister and I do craft shows together. Yesterday and Saturday we did a wine tasting in Charlottesvile, Va. There were about 2000 people there over the 2 days. The people who attended the wine tasting includes older couples, groups of college students and on Sunday families with young children. I sold a lot of my strung necklaces and wire wrapped pendants. My sister only sold 3 of her chain maille bracelets to college students or people who worked at the wine tasting booths. A week ago we were in Urbanna, Va. which is an upscale area on the Rappahanock River just a few miles from the Chesapeake Bay. There were a lot of sail boats in the harbor, and it was obviously a well-to-do area. My sister sold over 20 bracelets and necklaces. I sold a few necklaces and some earrings. It seems to me that the people in Urbanna moved there from somewhere else to retired or this was a second home for them from the Richmond area.
We are trying to define our customer, and we are trying to define the difference between these groups of people. Any insight you might have would be appreciated.
Replies
Thanks again for your comments. I have not had the idea to track the people who stop into my booth, but I will start that now. That's a great idea and I should have been doing that all along. I have not heard of the Blue Ridge Brew Trail, but I will look into it. I am also going to start looking at the demographic of the events. I really appreciate everyone's comments. Everyone here is always very helpful.
P.S. I am not that familiar with the jewelry trade but most of the bags that I make will reach just about every female demographic due to the wide variety of prints that I use. The same bag that has a fun, bright bold print for a college student will be used by a female 60+ by using a more subdued print.
Facebook ads can be somewhat expensive if you are not careful about how you use them but they are great for market research since you can target demographics and get demographic reports.
Do you collect data from your sales or do you make comprehensive notes about who bought and the demographics of visitors to your booth after each show? Doing so is a great way to find out who your style of jewellery is attracting. Once you have worked that out then you will find it easier to target those customers with selecting specific shows that they attend.
Mind you, saying this is sounds easy, but its always a long process and one you have to keep doing.
Hi Everyone: Thanks for responding to my note. I am seeing that it's trial and error. The people with boats, especially the large sailboats and powerboats, have a more worldview and are more receptive to new things. While chain maille is not a new thing, it's fairly unknown outside of the jewelry realm and the renaissance fairs.
One thing we noticed at the wine event was that people wanted to take a break from the wine tasting. They would come and look at our booth, and that's when we would get buyers. There were only about 7 or 8 booths, and we were the only one dedicated to hand made jewelry. I think there must not be enough of an acceptance to new and different things (like chain maille) in Charlottesville, even though it's the home of UVA. However we will go back next year and they will be familiar with Chain Maille, and perhaps try it.
Thanks again for your comments.
Betty Torma
"One thing we noticed at the wine event was that people wanted to take a break from the wine tasting. "
Priceless!!!!
You should look into the Blue Ridge Brew Trail since you are targeting this demographic.
Wine tastings are pretty low on the scale of art fair events. It's going to be a real crap shoot to sell in any venue where the art is the last reason why the people came to the event. You have to have something that's really unique to sell to people with boats and wine tasters because these patrons have been all over everywhere and could spend their money on anything they want and many times their tastes tend to trend to the upscale. Those gigs are easy to get accepted into for a reason.
Holly - I'm going to have to "agree to disagree" with you on this point. For jewelry, these art and wine events can be lucrative if you have a high quality product. Our jewelry is different forms of woven metal jewelry (chainmaille, knots, knitted and crocheted) and we do fairly well at a few large wine and music events. I realize it's not the right venue for everyone and artists with large artwork may not do as well because people don't want to carry large pieces around after purchasing them, however, jewelry is more easily transported.
However, I have found that yes, you do need unique designs, and your pieces need to be high quality, espeicaly at the wine events. We used Argentium and Sterling silver for our pieces and have done well while a friend who sells jewelery using silver plated components does not do near as well at wine events.
It is trial and error, but do your homework on the show, demographics and region first.
I've had the same experience at one "Wine & Art" festival, but not at another. In Norfolk, the East Beach Art, Jazz, and Wine Festival is attracting a lot of art buyers. It's in a good, fairly new neighborhood. This year it was a cold and rainy day, so sales were off, but people were still there with umbrellas, or ducking from tent to tent.
Larry is right, just keep trying the shows to see which work the best for you. At some shows it's just guess work. My best show in 2010 was one of my lowest in 2011. My work is Nature and Wildlife Photography, and if you don't have customers that are looking for that particular niche of work, then sales are low. I'd suggest trying a show twice before giving up, especially if you see others having decent sales.
Sounds like you're more or less doing it the right way. Drop the shows (areas) that don't work. Try new locations and also go back to the locations that work.
It's trial and error. Even more so than years ago because there's less disposable income.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100