Thursday 22 July 2010

Craft Fair update!

Well i have alot to update on my first craft fair!  Paula and Kirsty have pulled out of organising the event sadly.  I was having worries that we were not going to have enough stalls even though i have been plugging and advertising everwhere possible! Susiej of Folksy has also been helping.
So the main things were advertising the event, which we did on all the craft-events websites and also Fb/twitter/folksy, i have also put posters up locally. I am not the sort of person that talks about what i do (jewellery etc) as i don't like to look like i'm banging on all the time lol, but i have had a lady interested after she saw me with my posters.  Stallfinder seems to be the most common place where people have contacted me from regarding having a stall and i have also trawled through their listings and picked out anyone that looked suitable. 
I paid for a Facebook ad but it worked out quite expensive;
you decide how much you want to pay per day - then they give you average how much you pay each time someone clicks the advert - i put a limit of £3 a day and it only allowed 5 people to click a day!
I don't actually think i got any interest from this so wouldn't use it again. 
I have now got quite a fair amount of stalls although a few more to fill still.
The major thing that seems to be putting people off is the insurance, i think i'm going to have to look into this deeper, if i get insurance for the event does this cover individual people?
So many questions!!!
I can't wait for it to happen as i get to meet some lovely people, but i really don't want to let anyone down!  Personally i'm using it as a learning experience and PR for my stall, but i want everyone to make money but i know this isn't the case at many fairs from all the forum talk.

My dh has been moaning because i'm on the computer 24/7, he just doesn't realise the commitment needed. I went into Nottingham the other day to go to the bead shop, i asked the lady is she would put my poster up and guess what??? she was a lady that i have been in contact with as she is having a stall!! Small world.  I am really excited to see some of my Folksy comrades and all the new people. (especially 'waldo the worm' as i want a book!!)
I have also got a Tarot reader booked on, i also decided to have a few kids activities (it is the holidays you know)a small hook a duck, a sock animal demo, i also  want a pottery painting and masybe a face painter.
Now i have to get all the money in so i can start paying for the bigger ads in local mag/paper, someone also said to do a shout out on the local radio as it's free that way!
Anyway with all the work doing this i have to make time to make my wedding jewellery and accessories to go on the stall my mum is sharing with me (she is doing wedding/b'day cakes).

Anyway i will update and post photos after the event!
Heres the link to my Fbook event page
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ff&cs=2&hc#!/event.php?eid=108607635855161

Sam xx

4 comments:

  1. Contact the news editor in local papers and they will usually do a little piece for free as long as you get the right person.
    xxx

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  2. Oh and insurance isn't tahat much, if people are having a stall at yours chances are they will have them elsewhere too and you can get insurance for £50 for a year, thats not a lot for one event.
    xxx

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  3. thanks, i am going to pay for a add in the local paper as i think it's worth it.

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  4. Really interesting read, I'm sure it will all go well for you after putting in so much work. Can't wait to see pics :)

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