Why I Sneeze...

I had a migraine yesterday, which told me that the weather was changing.

This afternoon, I began to sneeze my head off, and when I looked outside... the color of the sunlight was gray... and I knew we had a dirt storm blowing in.

This shot was taken at 5:30 pm CST, Feb 25, 2008.

The red tint of the sky is good ol' west Texas dirt.

The bright thing in the middle is the Sun.

No, there are no clouds.

Part 5: Why is that kitten sleeping in a Muffin Hat?

Answer.... because I had dozens of them and didn’t know what to do with them. No, not really, but a good title catches the attention.

Don’t make my biggest mistake: crochet a lot of things ahead of time, that you cannot give away as gifts.

I had wanted to take advantage of our active historical re-enacting community and a local Renaissance Faire, so I made dozens of crocheted shawls, & sewed muffin hats from satin and plaid flannel.

While I was busy crocheting all these shawls and sewing all those muffin hats, the Renaissance faire in our area had an embezzler keeping their books and they went bankrupt. I never got an opportunity to sell my crocheted shawls and muffin hats to their targeted audience. I didn't have enough merchandise to try for a larger RenFaire in a big city, and couldn't afford to travel 5-600 miles round trip every weekend for 2 months.

In my college days, I was marketing director for a Science Fiction/Fantasy Convention, and I remembered that the convention had a huge SCA attendance, as well as D&D gamers in costume.

I decided to take my products to the SF convention and sell them to the Fantasy and SCA people. However, I failed to ask about that SCA element before I paid my rent... only to find out that this convention had been taken over my combat video gamers when their local Convention went under.

The SF Convention organizers didn’t bother to ask the SCA to participate at the convention, and they weren't interested in D&D-so they didn't schedule matches...so the customers who would have bought my hats and shawls...didn’t come.

I tried to sell my shawls at another Old West Rendezvous and to online sutlers, but the Civil War and Frontier re-enactors didn't want my shawls in man made fibers, nor the muffin hats.

After storing these for several years, I gave the muffin hats to our local Cancer Society for chemo caps, and the shawls to our battered women's shelter... only to have shawls and ponchos become all the rage 6 months later.

Trying to keep up with trends is a very difficult thing for a small business owner. You can drive yourself crazy trying to ride the waves of the Fads, that are usually gone, before the average crocheter can catch up. You can also create serious financial hardships, if you spend serious money on supplies for finished items you can’t sell.

I got extremely lucky (depending on who you ask) when my local Hobby Lobby had a management turn over and they marked half of the yarn department 75-90% off. I bought $300 worth of brand new yarn, for $75.

I made all those shawls, from that yarn; plus towel toppers and hot pad/coaster sets, and gazillion other little things. I could afford to give those shawls away, because I had very little expense in them.

Do your research before you invest too much time and money in crocheting your items to sell at various venues in your area. At the very least, crochet those things that you can use as gifts for family and friends.

Tomorrow’s Post: Nooks, Crannies & Niches

© Angela ‘ARNie’ Grabowski 2008. All rights reserved. For more crochet fun, visit ChezCrochet.com
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Crochet Partners: Yardage vs. Ounces

Howdy, folks, excuse me for a minute while I post a response to some dialog going on at Crochet Partners Yahoo group.

The original post complained vehemently that designers should be considerate enough to post 'yardage' requirements for their designs instead of generalized ounces. Others chimed in with similar complaints: why not use the number of skeins- instead of ounces; why do designers use the most expensive yarns for their cutest designs; why use yarns that aren't 'excessively' available and affordable.... yada yada yada... we've all heard these complaints a million times.

Rather than create more tension at CP, I'm posting my thoughts here....

A. Don't blame the Designer; their hands are chained. (okay so I couldn't resist that pun. ;-)

• You can trust me on this one: all Crochet Designers would much rather use yardage requirements than ounces-simply because that is more accurate, but if a yarn is sold in ounces, then that is how we must 'measure' the usage.
• The common crocheter will not understand how to compute yardage into ounces, and ounces into yardage.
• I've worked with Jan Q. Public, and you can never underestimate the stupidity of Jan Q. Public. When selling merchandise to the public, you must cater to the least intelligent, because they can't do it for themselves.
• (just ask the lawn mower company who had to pay millions in damages to a family who tried to trim their bushes by turning the lawn mower on its side. Now the lawn mower company must include instructions that 'the lawn mower' cannot be turned on its side to trim hedges and bushes.)
• Trying to use a formula that computes ounces into yardage, is not the best, either. If a yarn is measured in ounces, a skein can be off by a few grams, and still be within accepted weights, but the yardage is way short. I cannot tell you how many times I've run out of yarn on a project, because not all skeins have the same yardage-when they are measured by the ounce.
• Designers can't use the 'skein count' for patterns, because the yarn manufacturers are changing the size of skeins so often. You look at older patterns that use a skein count, and if you are lucky, they will tell you how much the skein weighs. 5 skeins of yarn, can have a radically different amount of yarn from just a few years ago, and in a few more years.
• Since most designs are- in some way or another- supported by a yarn company, then designers must use the types of yarns that yarn companies want to promote.
• If you are designer trying to make a living, you must design what a publisher will buy.
• If you are a publisher, you must publish designs that will cater to your largest advertisers: yarn companies.
• Designers don't always get a choice in what yarn is used in their designs after they sell it to a publisher- whether that is a periodical publication that must depend on yarn company ads to survive, or a yarn company using the design for a marketing tool.
• Make no mistake, most patterns are designed to sell yarn, not the other way around.
  

B. There are numerous reasons why the industry -as a whole- treats Crocheters like Foster Kids; and folks, the problem is largely based on how we shop. We have no one, but ourselves to blame.

• More and more, I'm seeing crochet designs using minimal instructions, much like Knitting instructions or some publishers are using more graphs.
• This is much easier for the designer to write; the publisher to print; and greatly reduces the final cost of a design because less labor and supply costs went into that pattern.
• This would make Crocheters appear to be 'lazy,' since most crocheters want pattern instructions that explain stitch by stitch, row by row, what to do... like spoon feeding information to school children.
• Knitters don't use row by row, stitch by stitch instructions... the designer and publisher expect the knitter to be (dare I say this...) smart enough to be able to figure out what to do on their own.
• We just finished a conversation at Crochet Partners about who does and doesn't like 'symbol' crochet notations... and from my imperfect memory, it seemed like most folks don't like symbol notations.
• Crocheters want pattern notations that are more expensive to produce, but then they purchase the least expensive thing they can find.
  

I did a survey two years ago, asking Crocheters various questions on their spending habits and what they prefer to crochet. The results validated most of what I suspected:

• The Majority of Crocheters prefer to use inexpensive yarns, simple classic designs-if they crochet clothing- and stitch utilitarian projects more than anything else.
• They don't keep their finished projects, they give them as gifts to family and friends or to charity groups.
• They crochet more items in a year than knitters, and because crochet uses much more yarn than knitting, crocheters feel they must use inexpensive yarns/threads.

You probably won't believe, this, but my sister and I had this conversation this morning: If Crochet uses more yarn than knitting, and crocheters finish more projects than knitters, then why won't yarn companies cater to us Crocheters? Why won't they supply what we want? My sister doesn't crochet, and she had the answer:

Because Knitters spend more money than we crocheters do.

I offer my humblest apologies to those who don't fit into this next statement:

If you don't like the way things are, whining about it won't help. You must actually DO something, to make a difference.

If you prefer yardage measurements, then buy only those yarns that provide that information on the label; and yes, you will need to pay more for that yarn.

If you want top quality patterns that use yardage measurements, instead of generalized ounces, then you will need to pay more for them.

If you are angry that this cute design uses a yarn that you can't afford, and why don't they make that cute design in a cheap yarn... then you will need to learn how to design your own things, or how to translate other patterns with your yarn of choice.

If you want someone to tell you stitch by stitch how to create this cute/hip/trendy design, then you will need to pay more for it.

As a whole, we crocheters need to stop relying on designers to spoon feed us stitch by stitch instructions, and learn how to 'figure some things out on our own.'

Understand, folks, that I am one of you. I buy Red Heart, because it was cheap and with my allergies I couldn't work with animal fibers. I buy yarn at thrift stores, and yes, two days ago I bought an 8 oz skein of unmarked yarn-probably Red Heart- for 50 cents. I learned this from my grandmother, who never bought 'new' yarn- she crocheted the scraps that friends would give her or what she could find at garage sales.

I rarely buy new patterns, because they are the same pattern on the clearance table as they are hot off the press. The single most important reason I don't buy new patterns is because most patterns don't fit a woman who is 6'1" and a plus size. For me, I will spend more on Red Heart to crochet a sweater than what I could purchase a completed sweater at Wal Mart... yes, even I have said those dreaded words.

I am finally learning that Crochet is an Art and my work deserves better quality supplies.

Until we all believe that we are Artists who deserve top quality supplies and be willing to pay top dollar for those supplies, we must accept our place as Foster Kids in the needlework industry.

The simple truth is:

• if we want the industry to treat Crochet and Crocheters with the same level of respect as they do Knitters;
• if we want the industry to invest in our hobby as much as they do knitting,
• then we will need to spend more money.

Money talks, and if you don't like the status quo, buy the things that knitters buy... or learn to design your self with the yarns you can afford.

Oh, the article I wrote from that survey can be found here:

http://chezcrochet.com/page87.html it is a lengthy article... 4pages long.

Sorry, folks, I offer my humblest apologies, but I fought a migraine all day, and I really got cranky at all the whining. Get real. You cannot expect Champagne Quality for the price of tap water. I've been one of the cheapest crocheters on the planet, but I accepted that fact and learned how to cope. Now, I'm learning how to cope in a different way: if you are going to put that much work into something, then it is worth quality supplies.

© Angela ‘ARNie’ Grabowski 2008. All rights reserved. For more crochet fun, visit ChezCrochet.com
For a complete list of my Copyright Permissions, please click the link below and then click your browsers Back Button to return here.
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Part 4- You get what you pay for- right?

In this series of blog posts, I’m offering my experience on trying to sell finished pieces at craft shows, so you can learn from my mistakes.

Don’t base your decision on whether to do a craft show/flea market/ art show, etc...based solely on the cost of the Rent. I’ve done some really cheap events, that had great turn out, and lots of folks buying merchandise.

Although I’ve never done a really expensive show, I have attended them as a customer and crochet vendors were only selling enough to cover expenses.

Don’t forget to include the other expenses for a weekend show like lodging, food, gas to-and-from the event. An inexpensive show that forces you to ‘live out of a hotel room’ for a weekend, makes the cheap booth rent no so cheap.

Is the booth rent cheap enough that you can afford to loose that money?

Expensive booth rent isn't always a sign of a good show. A lack of advertising can completely kill a show, and expensive booth rents usually mean lots of advertising.

As I mentioned in "You be the Judge', lots of advertising for the event cannot guarantee a good turn out, nor can it guarantee that actual buyers will show up (instead of Look Lous), nor will it guarantee that they will buy your crochet instead of the tacky bird house made from milk jugs.

You need to be prepared to loose that money should that be the weekend customers decide to spend their money elsewhere or spend their money on other things besides your crochet.

We have a 'juried' craft show in my hometown that gets tons of paid advertising and local media coverage, because the craft show is part of the winter Rendezvous hosted at our local Frontier Fort. All entry fees into the compound support the restoration efforts of the fort. The Rendezvous is the first weekend of December, the height of holiday buying season.

This is a huge weekend affair with historical re-enactors in costume and chuck wagon cook-offs, and cannon's shooting and buffalo soldiers, all of the Forts on the Texas Forts Trail bring living historians in military costume and they all do flag raising drills and horse maneuvers.

This craft show has everything going for it: entertainment for the kids- while mom shops, lots of vendors with lots of products, it’s at the height of holiday giving season...but too much activity can distract shoppers from actually buying things.

I usually visit this show, simply because there are so many other activities going on. I've heard folks say they sold out on the first day of this show, and yet, I've been there (more times than not) when you could fire off a 21-gun salute and not hit a single customer.

Even though the organizers claim that 30,000 people come to the event, $450 for an 8x10 foot booth, is not worth the risk for me, especially when the building is not climate controlled and does not have indoor plumbing... remember this is in an Old Frontier Fort.

I actually participated in this show as a ‘sutler’ in the historical re-enactor section ($75 rent & you must supply your own tent). A friend brought her tent that we set up by ourselves. The weather was beautiful on Saturday, and the customer traffic was the best I had seen in 10 years.

Sunday, we had the worst winter storm in 5 years hit, which killed all potential sales that day.... the day when most folks with money like to shop.

My friend made about $300 with her historically accurate jewelry, that she sold mostly to re-enactors. I barely covered my costs for the weekend selling my crochet books to customers. For the amount of work I had put into that show... I considered it a dismal failure.

Even if you have done your year of market research, it is still a gamble; and you must be prepared to loose that money. Only you know what your financial situation is and whether a high priced booth rent is worth the gamble.

Tomorrow’s Post: Why is that kitten sleeping in a Muffin Hat?

© Angela ‘ARNie’ Grabowski 2008. All rights reserved. For more crochet fun, visit ChezCrochet.com
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Part 3- Cottage Industry Espionage

Cottage Industry is a fancy term for small, home-based businesses, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use a little 'recon' to ascertain what would be good for our business.

Ok, so maybe espionage is a bit strong... doing research on what to sell, where to sell it, and any tips seasoned veterans will share... you can't really call that espionage.


Once you have an idea of who shops/attends a sales venue, and what folks in your area like to buy, next look at the vendors at the various venues.

How many other vendors in the show are selling crocheted items? Don’t make my mistake: just because a show has no crochet vendor, doesn't mean that you can step in to fill that niche and make lots of money. The lack of crochet vendors could mean that crochet vendors couldn't sell at that show, so they don't return.

Approach the director/organizer of the venue- like you are a customer- and ask if they have ever had any crochet vendors, because you were looking for a baby blanket. Ask this question, and he might give you an answer that is more than a half truth.

DO NOT approach the director as a potential vendor and ask why there are no crochet vendors; he will give you an answer designed to secure your booth rent the next time they host an event.

Are there numerous vendors with the same type of merchandise? Too many vendors selling the same basic items can drop the value, by offering too much competition for a specific item.

Is there a wide variety of products offered; lots of products will draw in larger crowds, because there is something to appeal to everyone. The larger the crowds, the more potential customers for your product.

What types of crocheted items do you see vendors offering?

You must be cautious in how you approach vendors; commiserate with them how people love your crochet, but your family and friends don’t want to pay you for the work it involves. If you start with something like this, most of the time, crochet vendors are polite enough to talk to you.

They will generally talk about the current show, and their favorite shows in the area and even the types of things they sell. They probably won’t tell you what they sell the most of, because they don’t want you to become a competitor, but they will give you some valuable information.

The one thing most folks won’t talk about: what is the Dollar Amount they consider a Success. For some folks, that means covering booth rent and a few dollars extra. For some folks, leaving a show less that $5000 was a disaster.

About the only thing I could get folks to tell me was, if they covered booth rent, and what sold best: big ticket or small ticket items.

Now that I am an established vendor at the largest craft show in my area, I do go around on Sunday and openly ask vendors, "Are you doing well this year? Have you had a good show?" And I openly tell them how my sales are doing. Again, I commiserate with them, and I gain valuable information... but I also share valuable information.

It is my opinion that if you improve a venue in general, everyone can benefit. If we all understand why type of merchandise and what price range the customer base wants, we can all gain more sales if we deliver what the customers want.

Taking time to learn the customers and vendors at various sales venues, will save you money, time and effort when you do start selling your crochet. Knowing this information will allow you to better choose which events/venues will garner you better results, as well as, what merchandise to take to various events.

Tomorrow’s Post: You get what you pay for- right?

© Angela ‘ARNie’ Grabowski 2008. All rights reserved. For more crochet fun, visit ChezCrochet.com
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Part 2- You Be The Judge and Jury

In this series of blog posts, I’m offering my experience on trying to sell finished pieces at craft shows and other sales venues, so you can learn from my mistakes.

Research the craft shows, craft malls, community art shows, and open air or flea markets- BEFORE you pay rent; this means you should spend 1 entire year visiting every selling venue you would want to attend as a vendor, and visit them all at different times in the year.

As I said yesterday, When you visit these venues is important, too.

It’s been my experience that Craft Malls and Flea Markets do the majority of their business on the First Saturday of the month. That is when folks have the most money to spend, since they tend to run out of paycheck before the end of the month.

For Craft Shows, Saturday is usually the best shopping day. Friday afternoon shows, don’t get the professional folks who must work; Sunday afternoons between 2 and 4 have their own type of shopper that knows what they want-how much they can spend-and don’t waste time browsing.

When you visit a selling venue, you want to take note of:

• How many folks are walking around with bags of merchandise they have purchased?
• Did the majority of visitors leave their purses in the trunk of the car?
• How many visitors are in small groups of ladies that are carefully studying merchandise, but not buying?
• How many visitors have numerous children buzzing around them getting into trouble?
• How many folks are aimlessly walking and carrying food?
• What is the noise level?
• Do the organizers make loud announcements every 10 minutes making it almost impossible to speak to customers?
• Do they have a live band near by with amplifiers that, again, make it impossible to talk to customers?

For your own financial well being, and the safety of you and your product, you need to ascertain if this venue:

• is truly a 'buying event' for the community
• or a place for the Looky Lous to steal your ideas (Looky Lous are folks who look, but don’t buy)
• or {shudder} is this a carnival type of event where parents drop kids off, while mom spends her time and money elsewhere.

Look at the attire of the customers:

• Are they well dressed, or at the very least, neat and tidy?
• Do they look interested in the products?
• Or do their eyes look glassy and glazed over from boredom?
• What age groups are represented?
• Does it seem like one age group has more people than other age groups?
• Does it seem like many of the customers all work in similar jobs?

If they are all retired folks, that could mean limited income. Older, limited income folks only purchase small ticket items, and more times than not, they are looking for things for their grandchildren.

Young professionals generally want more home decor type items OR very chic fashion items; but in my part of Texas, young professionals with money don’t shop at craft shows or open air markets or craft malls.

Teenagers usually want trendy fashion items, but don’t usually have the money to pay for things... so watch them carefully; they aren’t afraid to us a ‘five finger discount’ (shoplift).

A customer base of families will generally buy baby items or things for toddlers, and inexpensive kitchen items. Do you see see a lot of Dads and adolescent boys trudging around behind Excited Moms and Sisters? You can cash in on this market by having hats, neck warmers & wrist warmers/fingerless mittens, in these colors: camo- that is apporpriate for your areas, local schools, area colleges, and pro sports team. These will catch the eyes of dads and sons and possibly garner a few sales from them, as well as, causing the ladies in the party to stop and look at your merchandise.

Each Socio/Economic group will tend to have totally different wants in products and price ranges. This is true for the various geographic areas: in the north they want winter hats, mittens, ‘muffler’ scarves, sweaters, etc. Some places can sell trendy accessories ; some places can sell high fashion... you must research your area to see what customers want and how much they are willing to spend on those wants.

Oh, and if the customers don’t have money to invest in decent attire and personal hygiene, then they can’t afford the luxuries of your quality hand made products. Too many of these types of visitors to a sales event tells you that this venue doesn’t draw the type of customer you want: ones with money to spend.

I hear you...ARNie is telling us one of those Texas Tall Tales...

Believe me, I have paid booth rent at shows where the customers couldn’t afford a cup of coffee, but came to the craft show for cheap entertainment, and brought numerous children to play with toys they could not afford to pay for.

I’ve paid booth rent at shows where the majority of customers would stand in the door of my booth-preventing anyone else from getting in. They stand there counting stitches in a little crochet motif that had a pattern page - priced 25 cents... and they wouldn’t buy the pattern, nor the motif.

I’ve paid booth rent to shows where the vendors would come look at my jewelry designs and take notes on the type of gemstone beads I used and my bead counts, as well as pricing, but not pay for anything. I greeted this mother-daughter pair who where carefully studying my jewelry, but they were 'only looking.' When I began to identify each gemstone bead they were looking at, they replied, 'Oh, we know. We're jewelry designers, too.' After they made that announcement, they began to quietly discuss everything I had on display... I was so surprised and mortified at their gall, that I couldn't say anything... and I should have asked them to leave.

I’ve paid booth rent at shows where the only people in the building were Kids and Teenagers, because there were a few ‘carnival’ type things out front, so paying customers wouldn’t brave the chaos outside to come indoors to shop.

I’ve spent an entire day at ‘free outdoor markets’ where the only people there were vendors, because the organizers forgot to pay for ads, or only paid for a short line ad in the classifieds.

And I keep it a general rule of thumb: if you are afraid to leave your car in the parking lot of a venue, or are in fear of your life to walk to and from the selling area, or if everything that isn’t mobile is covered in gang graffiti.... I don’t care how cheap the booth rent is; it won’t draw the kinds of customers you need: those with money to spend.

It has been my experience that advertising is important to announce an event, but advertising does not guarantee a good turnout, nor paying customers.

I served as the advertising director for a local crafting group, and I carefully saturated a local network whose audience were 20-45 years old... instead of the retired crowd we normally had at our shows. I even invited our locally based 'Meals for the Elderly' group to join us at the show (which got me double the number of ads), and we did a raffle for them from merchadise donated by the crafters.

The end results were dismal, for everyone by the charity org. This crafting group had been around for so long, that everyone knew their shows and what merchandise would be there. Paying customers had stopped coming, because the show always had the same ol' stuff. Which proved to me that no amount of advertising can draw in paying crowds if the show/venue has a bad reputation in the community.

Save Your Money, invest a year in researching the various selling venues in your area, before you pay rent at one. One show may be the absolute best at selling holiday motifs and decorations. Another may sell only small ticket items. Another venue could have the dream customer for all crocheters: someone who knows how to crochet, but doesn’t have the time, and has the money to pay what a piece is worth. And all of these may sell absolutely nothing, at other times in the year.

Know the customer base of the venue, before you pay rent to sell your crochet.

Tomorrow’s Post: Cottage Industry Espionage

© Angela ‘ARNie’ Grabowski 2008. All rights reserved. For more crochet fun, visit ChezCrochet.com
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Selling Crochet Part 1-Cart Before the Horse

For the next couple of weeks, I'll be sharing my experiences and suggestions on how to sell crochet for a profit.

First off: Craft Shows, Art Shows, Outdoor Markets, Flea Markets and Craft Malls...

Too many people believe they should try to sell what they like to crochet, only to discover that they don’t crochet what other people want to buy.

Research your area first and see what will sell.

You can’t give scarves away in my part of Texas- ok so that needs some clarification... I know lots of ladies who stitched thin little scarves from fuzzy, furry, sparkly yarn to give as gifts, and the recipients all loved them. But the stitchers gave them away; they did not try to sell the scarves.

For my part of Texas, all winter hats must be in camo colors for the hunters or local school colors, or college team colors or the Dallas Cowboy colors. Yes, I know we have several other professional sports teams but the only colors I see folks wear are the Cowboys Colors. Texas professional sports teams colors... Spurs... Black and Silver/White. Rockets.... Red, White and Black... OH, like the Texas Tech Raiders.... nope sorry, the Blue, silver-gray and white of the Cowboys is unmistakable. I digress....

Other small pieces do sell, but only if they were the same as Wal Mart's prices, and only if you have such a huge assortment that they can eventually find one the in color and style they like.

Baby blankets sell well, but only if you have one of every color, in every style of blanket you make, and you sell them for a price that barely covers the cost of the yarn.

See, in my part of Texas, just about everybody crochets, knits or knows someone who does. Most folks have seen so much crochet, that it has no ‘value’ to them... most folks have given more than one afghan to the pets that great aunt martha or granny crocheted for them, and they still have a piece of crochet on each bed and on a rack in the living room for watching TV.

How do you find out what will sell in your area?

You have to go to events, look at what folks are buying, and carefully talk to buyers to ascertain their general 'price range.'

Look at numerous craft shows; numerous craft malls; look at flea markets, too. I have had the best results when I visit these places on their Busiest Shopping Days. You will get the most information on what is selling, only when the place is busy.

It’s been my experience that Craft Malls and Flea Markets do the majority of their business on the First Saturday of the month. That is when folks have the most money to spend, since they tend to run out of paycheck before the end of the month. The one monthly Art Show my town has, is held on the 1st Saturday of each month. The gargantuan flea market in Canton, Texas is held the weekend before the First Monday of the month... which usually includes the 1st of the month when all government support and military checks are issued.

For Craft Shows, Saturday is the best day to talk with customers and see what they are buying. Friday afternoon shows, don’t get the professional folks who must work; Sundays tend to be when folks are resting or doing the family thing after church.
With that said, Craft Show Sundays do have a specific type of shopper: they come after they have had lunch following morning church service. They know what they want, what they can spend, and don’t waste time browsing. You can easily spot them because they are in Church clothes and they walk purposefully, quickly giving each booth a ‘once-over glance.’ If this is a good Craft Show, these folks will leave with several bags of merchandise from several vendors.

Spend several hours at a sales venue; this will give you a better idea of how strong a following it has; ie, how many customers will visit each time the show/market is held.

Do you see customers leaving a Crochet Booth with a purchase, or do they just look and walk away? Do you see a particular booth with lots of customers looking, or waiting to enter because it’s so crowded? When you see a busy booth, check it out.

First of all, what item is generating all the interest? Maybe it is something that you can create using crochet, or add crochet to it for a unique twist.

What are the crochet booths offering? What is their price range? This vendor may be selling lots of crochet, because their prices are artificially cheap. They are not making it themselves; they are importing it from a third world country whose peasants are paid pennies for each piece they complete.

Talk to customers at these places, You can hold a piece and say, ‘Isn’t this just lovely?!’ And usually the other customer will say, yes, and then offer their personal opinion: it’s too expensive or I have too much crochet.... regardless what they say, you gain information and knowledge.

Don’t be afraid to be friendly and talk to folks, that is the best way 'subtley discover' what they are buying and how much they will spend on it. Act like a fellow customer, and most folks will tell you anything you respectfully ask them.

I’ll offer more techniques on what to say to folks at craft shows, to get the information you want, in the next few days.

Tomorrow’s Post: You Be The Judge and Jury

© Angela ‘ARNie’ Grabowski 2008. All rights reserved. For more crochet fun, visit ChezCrochet.com
For a complete list of my Copyright Permissions, please click the link below and then click your browsers Back Button to return here.
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