Buyers Market of American Crafts: Booth Setup

So where have I been? Since my last posting during the holidays I have been super busy. It all started in June 2012 when I decided that I wanted to do the Buyers Market of American Craft Show in Philadelphia. The show was last weekend (Feb 16th-18th) and it has been quite a journey preparing for it. Here is the final picture of my booth at the show,... I truly believe that Rome wasn't built in one day and neither was my booth.

It all started with this basic idea of booth design for a corner booth. Love Sketchup for that. After which came the Chicken and egg problem, along with a long list of questions.

How many pots should I take? What size boxes should I have for the pots? How should I pack the pots? Do I ship boxes separately or in a crate? If I use a crate, what size crate? Should I buy the crate first and plan my booth so it fits in the crate? or should I plan my booth and then buy the crate that would hold everything in it? What should I do for drapes? How should I hang my posters? How do I make pedestals, light weight and collapsible? What do I do about the floor? How many lights should I take? Will black back drop be too dark for my booth? These questions are only 15% of things that were going in my head for the last 8 months. A big thanks goes out to Pam Corwin from Business of Crafts, Mark Rosenbaum from Rosetree Glass and several other professional artists (now friends) I have met online to help me answer all my questions and worries. Below are some things that I did and I hope would help others in my situation as well.

This is the general way I packed my pots in these stackable plastic totes. You can get these totes at plant nurseries that import bulbs. Peanuts would be great protection but are a pain when it comes to unpacking and packing again after the show. Some more cardboard on the sides and sponge was added to these crates to make sure nothing moved.

Then came the challenge of packing all the pots, pedestals, display items, lights, step stool, promotional stuff into a shipping crate. But then what size crate? Thanks to Alison Baker Supple to giving me a great tip on this. Tape a squares on the garage floor to the inside dimensions of available shipping crate boxes. Fill up your imaginary crate which would give a good indication on what size will work. I settled on a 48" x 40" x 40" collapsible shipping crate which not only holds everything but also collapses and becomes a pedestal for my booth. It is under the black fabric in the corner. Below are pictures of the inside contents of my crate and the crate itself. PS: Don't bother with that ridiculous cone on the crate. There were no signs of it when it reached my booth. :)

I am glad after all that stress and planning, it all came together quite well. .Got great feedback from other exhibitors and buyer as well. What are your tips on Booth Setups?

    

Vote for a Banner and Win

I recently attended a Business of Crafts workshop where we discussed several things like, Logos, branding, advertising, PR etc. I got some input that the Font on my Banner/cards etc. didn't speak much about the intricate/detailed/Bollywood/Indian look of my work. My work can be seen at http://creativewithclay.etsy.com

So I am taking a shot of changing the Font and I need your help. The first one is the one I already had and the other two are the new variations. If you can vote which one you think represents my work well and why, I would really appreciate it. You can Vote for the first one too, if that is what you think works the best.

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And that is not all. I am also giving away one of my small square dishes by selecting a lucky draw from the comments.

First Anniversary on Etsy

How time flies!! I remember hearing about etsy in class about "How to sell Arts and Crafts" conducted by Pam Corwin from the Business of Crafts

This clearly changed my perspective of selling my work online. I immediately opened my online store on Etsy and got in business. In the past year I have learnt a lot about how to promote my work, improve my network, take good pictures, and the list goes on. There is just so much to learn in this field and I am still learning.

Thanks to Etsy, I have met a great group on Online pottery crafters belonging to the Etsy Mud Team. I have also come in touch with some great customers for whom I created custom pieces. Being online has also helped me start wholesale accounts with galleries all the way on the East Coast.

To celebrate this one fantastic year, I am offering 50% OFF on all SHIPPING from June5th -June 12th in my Etsy store, so do check it out!

Thank you all for your support.