About a month ago, my awesome friend and equally fantastic local artist, Jessica from Jessie J Inspiration's invited me to include some of my items in her booth at Her Royal Majesty Steampunk Expo at the Queen Mary. It was a three day event and from that experience we learned a few tricks and tips.

This weekend she and I are booth buddies once more at Whiskey Flat Days in Kernville (and there really is no better person to share with than Jess) While this is not exactly an Expo, it is a multi-day event with a clear theme, so many of these tips and tricks apply. Two weeks following, her and I will be at the Long Beach Comic Expo, and maybe I'll blog about a few more things we learn along the way.

But for now, here is what we learned and will be applying to our upcoming events:

1. Dress the Part
   This is essential! Most expos have a theme, as do many events, and it helps when selling to dress to that theme. If you are selling at a Steampunk Expo, it helps to dress Steampunk. At Whiskey Flat Days Jess, Barb from Seeds of Inspiration, Dean from DPR Collectibles, and I are all wearing cowboy hats. Jess and I are going to be decked out in comic-themed T-shirts at the Comic Expo. Just as you would wear a suit and tie or a nice dress to a business interview or a fancy dinner, you want to wear the appropriate outfit for the circumstance. This means playing dress up. You and your customers get more out of the event and your booth and it makes you more approachable. The customers are there for the whole sha-bang and would you want to buy from someone at the Ren Fair who looks like they belong in a modern day cubicle?
2. Mix it up
   There are many events and expos that last more than one day. When attending these events you'll find there are a lot of repeat customers. You'll find yourself saying "Howdy" or "Good Morrow" to the same people. You want to keep it interesting for them (and yourself). You want to give them a reason to come back to your booth after the second and third day. And the way to do this is to mix up your inventory. There are two way to do this.
   The first is by putting out new inventory each day. If you are someone like Seeds of Inspiration or DPR Collectibles with their crazy amount of inventory, this will be no problem for you. If you have just enough of an inventory to fill your 10x10 or the space looks better if you just have everything out at once, like with Jess and I, the second method would be best for you.
   This second method is simply rearranging your inventory each day. By doing this, the repeat customers will hopefully see something they didn't notice before. Something new will catch their eye. It could be something you had out since the beginning, but because you put it in a new place they have noticed it for the first time on the last day. And, as I said before, it keeps things interesting.
3. Match the theme
   This is a lot like dressing the part. If people are coming to an event like Whiskey Flat Days or a Comic Expo, they are going there to see that specific theme. They want to see and want to buy things that match this theme. It is why they are there. At the Steampunk Expo, Jess and I made the mistake of not having enough Steampunk products. Learn from our mistake and prepare ahead of time to have the desired inventory that will interest the specific group of customers you can predict will be at your event. Whiskey Flat Days will be mostly focused on Cowboys and the Old West (and because Kernville and Lake Isabella is known for it's fishing I threw some of that in there to). I already have a large pile of Superhero themed fairy doors for the Comic Exo. Stick with the theme. You won't be sorry.
4. Play the Part
   Again, a lot like dressing part and matching the theme. People who go to Expos or theme-specific events and Expos are there for the experience and the atmosphere as much as the shopping. Anyone whose been to the Ren Faire or a theme/amusement park knows and understands this. Chances are, if you are at an Expo or themed event, there will be some type of actors or characters walking around. At the Steampunk Expo there was one BlueBird who went around between shows playing the part of a pirate. Even customers came up to the booth with Victorian-age mannerism and slang or acting like robots. At the Comic Expo, Jess and I fully expect cosplayers. Play the part. It's part of the fun and it helps in not only drawing in customers but making the sale.
   It can be a bit nerve wracking or uncomfortable, especially at first and especially if you don't know how to reciprocate interactions, but at least try. It will get easier the more you do it. Researching ahead of time about the theme and the event can help. Maybe going to the event as a participant first to get comfortable in the environment and to see how others, whether they are other sellers or characters, do it. Perhaps play it out with some of your friends ahead of time just to get comfortable. This does help and, again, keeps the event fun and interesting for both you and the customer well into the last day.
   Think of it this way, you wouldn't talk to and act around your boss in the office the way you talk to or act around your friends hanging out on the weekends. You fit the way you talk, the way you interact to the circumstance, the same is true for the different places you sell.
5. Have enough inventory
   This is a really big one and can affect everything from making an event worth your time financially and stress level to maintaining the appearance of your booth and everything in between. I've talked a bit before in other blogs about how important inventory is and that it is make or break for your business. If you don't have inventory, you can't sell anything and you have those red days that empty your bank account (because lets face it these bigger theme events and expos are an expensive investment) and put you in the negative. Basic Entrepreneurship 101. You don't make it, you literally don't make it.
   So, it's safe to say we all know why it is important to have inventory, but what constitutes enough? How do you judge that? Off the number of days? Off of what can fill the whole of your booth space? The number of people who are expected to attend? We'd all like to come out of an event becoming millionaires, but if you're like me and you sell items in the price range of $5 or lower to about $35, this is not exactly a realistic goal.
   What constitutes as "enough" is an ongoing discussion we've been having at Handmade in South Bay. Barb often points out you need to take all expenses into consideration. This includes booth fees, gas, food, parking etc. For longer, further away events this might also include a lodging or hotel fee. Jess's idea is once we have all that figured out, to quadruple the cost. This way we make triple what we spend, because you want to get more back than that initial cost for the whole event (the booth fee, gas, food, hotel/lodging, parking, etc.).Once Jess quadrupled the cost, she divided that amount by the number of different categories of items we make. For me that is eight different categories. From there we have an even price point across all the categories and can figure out how many items from each category can meet that price point.
   For example, let's say an entire event (booth, gas, food, lodging, parking, etc.) costs $1,000 and I want to quadruple it. Now we're working toward $4,000. I have eight categories (dolls, doors, bottles, ornaments, houses, miniatures, pillows, and gardens). I divide my goal of $4,000 equally by my eight categories. This comes out to a goal of $500 of product for each category.
   Now I need to know how many items in each category I need to make. My ornaments and bottles are all $8. I divide the goal for that category of $500 by the $8. This tells me I need to make 63 bottles and 63 ornaments rounded up.
   Items like my houses and miniatures have prices that vary. My houses are anywhere between $8-$20 depending on the size and design. My miniatures can be anywhere from $5-$10. Here I take my lowest price point and use that to figure out how many items I need to make in that category. I already know I need at least $500 in each category, so for my houses I divide the $500 by the lowest price, $8, to get 63 houses. I divide the $500 goal by the lowest miniature price of $5 to get 100 of the miniature sets I need to make to meet the goal.
   Once you know how many items you need to make from each category, it also helps to organize and schedule your time.
6. Last but not least for now, have some type of swipe, such as a square.
   Being able to take a credit card can sometimes be the difference between a sale or not. Not everyone carries cash, and at the end of the day or near the end of the entire event some people are out of cash from spending it elsewhere. However, the vast majority of people have a credit card. Some device to take credit cards is a good thing to have at any event, not just multiday, themed ones or expos.
   
   

 These are a few tips I've collected from my experience so far. What are some of your tips and tricks? 

A sign at the start of the garden welcomes all the fairies to 'saddle up!'

A cowboy fairy forgot his hat after it fell off a ride on a buckin' bronc!

An abandoned wagon wheel leans against a succulent, ready for a fairy to reattach to another wagon!

Follow the horseshoes down a path lined with turquoise through the desert...

... to a fence where the cowboy fairy left his rope!

The Saddle Up fairy garden will be available at Whisky Flat Days in Kern, my next upcoming event!

Fairy garden miniature sets to make your own will also be available then!

Another great event, the last one for the year! It’s ending on a good note, which makes me happy. There are definitely exciting things to look forward to in the new year (for both you and me), but before the year is over, there is still plenty of time to buy online. If you couldn’t make it to my last event, here is some of what you missed.

Handmade in South Bay puts on two shows annually, our holiday boutique (this last event), and our Spring Boutique in April (one of the exciting things to look forward to… honey, you’ll be buzzing about this event)! This was our second holiday boutique and it was pretty darn good, if I may say so myself. 50+ handmade vendors, including the always fantastic DJ Ozzie, 6 very professional young entrepreneurs that will be back for Spring (YAY! Really, these guys are the bomb!) and 5 incredible local artists in our artist alley (I really hope they come back for the spring!)

I talk a lot about what makes a good event, often saying it’s not just the monetary element of it. The customers really made this event, even the ones not buying from me. It was the kids especially. Santa handed out free ornament kits and this one little boy in a batman shirt was so happy about his gingerbread man ornament kit. He would not let it go and he kept walking up to my booth and just showing it to me.

By far, the very best moment of the show came from the little girl in the booth next to mine. She kept coming over to look at my fairy bottles. When the little girl walked away for a little while, her mother came over and bought the fairy bottle as a surprise. At the end of the show, when we were packing up, the mother told me the little girl was all upset when she came back. Her exact words were, “The. Fairy. Bottle. Is. Gone!” Her mother kept telling her it was okay and it would all work out, but she was still very upset. Finally, her mother just told her to look in the bag. She is very happy with her new fairy bottle!

Between that and the money I raised for my two charities, TSWGO and V-Day, it was worth it, regardless of my wallet when I come home.

After a fantabulous event at the Torrance Craftsmen’s Guild, my best event yet, where I not only made yet another customer cry (this time over the Rosemary Remembrance Fairy Pillow), but also had repeat customers from a year ago, I’m gearing up for more upcoming events, not only the last ones for the year, but also for next year as well. As my calendar starts to fill up, I’m planning and brainstorming products and production time for each individual event.

So, what to make first? Well, my most recent upcoming event is the Holiday Boutique. I need to focus my attention on restocking the raggle taggle fairy dolls, some doors, and plenty of ornaments. A few new fairy houses will be needed for any repeat customers (cue wink and fingers crossed).  After that is a small event at a local school, but it is only a six foot table space and any product left over from the HMSB boutique can be used there. That gives approximately two months to build up inventory for Whisky Flats (this will be the longest event I have ever done) and the Comic Expo. Arguably for every comic and superhero related item I make, I should make two items for Whisky Flats.

This begs the question; do I put out the superhero and comic products I have already made at one of the events before the comic expo? Or, to be fully prepared for that event, do I put them to the side? By putting it off to the side, am I running the risk that I could lose out on a sale? To Spiderman or not to Spiderman, that is the question. 

At both the Comic Expo and Whisky Flat Days I am sharing with Jessie’s Custom Greetings again. We have both agreed that our comic and superhero products will be put off to the side for Whisky Flats due to the events being so close together. These are not easy decisions to make, but it feels really great to have to make these types of decisions.

 How am I, of all people, going to keep this all straight? Why, piles, of course! I have the start of my Whisky Flats piles, currently, two fairy dolls. I have a pile for the Comic Convention, both doors and ornaments, and soon to be Gotham Fairy House (keep an out for upcoming pictures)! I’m rearing to go! And now that I’ve celebrated this bursting of excitement with all of you, I’m going to get back to work! Wish me luck!