Even though Urban Craft Uprising has long been the end-all, be-all of craft fairs in Seattle…
Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Sometimes you can get disappointed and discouraged. But let that stop you from doing it again. Trying new things. Or learning from your experiences.
Last month, I participated in a craft show in Seattle. I was excited to share a booth with my friend Hannah. We’ve been talking about sharing a booth at a craft fair since before I even had an Etsy shop! So it was finally going to happen. I was going to sell my Catshy Crafts ware and Hannah was going to sell her collage art. We even got the help of Hannah’s boyfriend who would design a display wall for us. (He does this sort of thing for a living, so I knew we would be in good hands.) It was going to be awesome!
Well, let’s say, at the end of the show, I was close to tears and depressed about my low sales. But, with almost a month to ponder and reflect, I am still glad I did the show and here’s why!
- You get your name out there in the public’s eye.
- You meet cool people who dig your stuff and see their reactions in person.
- You get to meet other sellers.
- You get to hang out with your awesome friends and family all day.
- You see your products in a new light.
- It’s a fun (yet exhausting) way to spend a weekend.
- You can collect e-mails (I got three!) and hand-out your business card.
- You’re one step closer to overcoming your social anxiety (or if you’re an extrovert, you can bask in the limelight!)
- You get to design a booth display and play store.
- You get bragging rights. At the end of the day, you can say, I survived!
This show was quite different from my other craft fair experience for a couple of reasons: holiday season vs. summer; handmade fans vs. street fair goers. I could go on, but in the end, the most important thing was that I showed up and tried something new. I admit it took several days to recover – not only from the less-than-stellar sales, but the non-stop social interaction (I’m an introvert, after all).
