Craft Show Take 2: Second Verse Same As The First

A couple of weeks ago my cousin Trish and I decided to share a booth in a craft show here in Twin Falls. I had high hopes that this show would be more profitable than the one in Jerome a few weeks ago. Much to my dismay, this show was even slower! How that would even be possible I cannot say. The vendors were much the same as the last show with a couple additions. There was the woman who sold fleece items and another vendor who sold hand crafted kitty scratch posts.

On Friday I sold a couple of coffee sleeves and Trish sold nothing. Saturday brought a few sales for Trish and only one single, solitary purchase from a friend of mine. In my mind this lack of success is NOT okay. I am currently working part time in my father's advertising agency which he started from nothing and has slowly built up. I see him work in creative ways to make the business a success. Call me snobby but I know how to advertise an event! It doesn't take a lot of money but it does take a little effort. Unfortunately the woman (who shall remain nameless) running this particular craft fair was either too uninformed or to lazy to make this show as success. When approached by another crafter who participated last year and was experiencing the same frustration, I was informed that she had tried to gently tell the woman that she was frustrated with the lack of advertising. Her comments were met with, "Well, but it's this fun?" Fun???? I came here to do business to me that would be "fun". Selling some items I worked hard at making would be "fun".

Suffice to say I now refuse to participate in any show that that I don't know for a fact will be well advertised. Lesson learned...poorly ran shows make me feel like this:

As a side note: Remember how (in the post I did about my last show) I referenced feeling like the only way I'd be successful in local shows is if I started making lamps out of old stinky cowboy boots? Well I actually got some feedback from a woman at the show who told me I should quite literally make lamps out of old stinky cowboy boots! Yeesh!

Thanks for reading my rant.