Impressions: First Show

Me at my first booth. Yippee!

 This weekend was my first show Rockin' Around the Holiday Bazaar in Round Rock TX.  We got there at 6 am to start setting up, thinking we had all the time in the world.  But, really, after we had it all just the way we wanted it, there was only about 30 minutes left until we were supposed to be ready to sell.  I was glad that 2 sweet ladies were vendors next to ours.  By the end of the day, I was pooped.  Of course, part of my exhaustion was because I had stayed up until 1:30 finishing round soap labels which didn't arrive on time, and have still not made it to my house as I type this.  My style is usually an "all ducks in a row" mentality, but this couldn't be helped and we survived.

Soaps in lined fabric sacks
I was hoping to sell a lot of these soaps wrapped in hand sewn lined fabric sacks.
Everyone liked them, but most people were buying for themselves Saturday, and were not
shopping for Christmas. So that was somewhat disappointing. I think I may have pushed the bargain soap too much also.  A lot of customers pawed over the more expensive bars and then decided
to buy a discounted bar instead.  Who knows.  It may lead to more business down the road though. 

Sampler Stack

 I was really happy with how these Sampler Stacks turned out.
You get 6 different soaps to try, and I threw in a Plain Jane for fun.

Loofah Soaps--The Bestseller--hands down

I'm not sure why these sold so well, but they did.  Everyone thought the
Loofah soaps were cool.  I am making some more of these before Christmas for sure.

The main line

Final Impressions:  The overall traffic was a bit disappointing. Seasoned crafters will all laugh at me, but I was truly fantasizing about selling out.  It seems silly now, but I did hope it would happen.  The vendors who attended this show last year, said the crowd was way down.  I'm not sure if the weather (which was nice and warm, though windy) played a role in that at all, but I definitely think it took away from the Christmas shopping atmosphere.  I made back about 4 times my booth fee, which was probably better than most vendors there.  So it was by all definitions a successful show,even if my naive expectations fell to the wayside.  But I think it really was the perfect show for a first timer like myself.  I was able to practice talking to people about my soap while getting a feel for the way a show operates without being overwhelmed.  I also started my first mailing list and am hoping some of my business from the show will end up being repeat customers. And now it's time to start thinking about doing another show.  It seems like high traffic shows are definitely the way to go.  Now, off to list a few more items on etsy.