Now that my studio tour show is behind me I’m setting my sights to Tucson 2009. The Spring Tucson Best Bead Show is my largest show of the year and people come from all over the world to buy. How does one prepare for that?
Here are some tips that I’ve found to be useful:
Take twice the amount of inventory that you want to sell.
If you want to make $6,000 at the show, take $12,000 in inventory. Of course, just because you want to make that much doesn’t mean you will. You still need to do your homework of advertising and letting people know where you’ll be.
A general rule of thumb has been that you should be able to make 10 times your booth fee. If a table costs you $600 you should be able to bring in $6,000 if you’re doing your marketing, have a product that people like and your show promoters also do their part in advertising and promotion.
Plan your inventory purposefully.
I’ve approached inventory preparation two ways. The first way, and the way I recommend, is to chart out far ahead of time what you want to take, along with the retail dollar amounts.
Visuals are always fun so here is what a page of mine looked like for the 2007 Tucson Best Bead Show (where I sell). It was my roadmap for the month or two preceding the show.
I found that charting out inventory this way was a good exercise even if you don’t make your goal. Having it around served to keep me focused. Below is is what my progress towards my inventory goal looked like. Even in this crude state it looks like it is gaining some cohesion.
Why should I bring twice the amount that I want to sell? That sure sounds like a lot of extra work.
Think of it as more work now, less work later. Having a well-planned, abundant inventory is professional. When customers can walk away with their purchase it helps you from having to take orders. This also means that you go home with your money in hand.
Extra inventory means you’ll be that much more prepared for your upcoming smaller shows throughout the year, your web site and online sales venues, or for your own jewelry creations. In this case, more is better.
But wait! Don’t just take more of anything. Take more of the right work.
The other way that I’ve prepared inventory proved to be less successful and more chaotic both before and during the show. I worked just as hard but didn’t have a well thought out plan. I just made what came to me. Yes, I had a lot of beads but here are the drawbacks I found from that method:
1. It took more time to create beads because I had more stress about design.
For each bead I had to think about what I wanted to make. Wah wah, right? Believe me. It’s much easier to sit down and fulfill a list that was thought out ahead of time than it is to be unique at every turn.
2. My displays looked more haphazard.
Not that the beads weren’t nice, but they didn’t form a cohesive grouping. One thing I’ve learned through the local professional art league and jurying is that cohesive groupings convey professionalism and forethought. Professionalism and forethought make buyers feel more secure; especially stores and shops. They want to know they can get more if the pieces sell well for them. A bunch of one-of-a-kinds that have no relation to each other don’t convey that.
3. At the show, when something sold, I didn’t know what to put out to replace it.
Sure, I could have just grabbed any piece to fill the blank spot but each time I did that I had to consider the balance of the tray that the beads were in. I had to find another with the right shape, color or basic style. If I would have had my cohesive line I could have just replaced the sold bead.
4. I continually doubted myself.
When traffic was slow I continually doubted whether I had the right beads out. What if a person came along and the one they really wanted was somewhere in the case of beads that weren’t being shown yet? I was always messing with my display.
5. I was continually pulling out my hidden stock beads to show customers.
They would like something but wonder about a different size or shape. I would inevitably pull out my stock of other beads that weren’t shown and try to balance it on the edge of the table while they dug through my beads. This not only took my time away from other customers that were waiting, it gave some people so many options that it overwhelmed them. I was exhausted by the end of the day.
I’ve noticed that when store buyers come to you, they pick things out boom, boom, boom. They don’t want to see more, they don’t have time. They pick what they want, leave you to wrap it while they go buy somewhere else and come back and pay. Make it easy for them. And yourself!
What about you? What are your tips and tricks when you’re preparing for shows? Leave a comment and let us know!
