Preparing for a craft fair part 5: Business cards

Craft fairs are, above all, a fantastic way to network and promote your crafts. You will have opportunities to meet and chat with lots of different people, including customers, potential future customers and other stallholders. You need to be prepared for this, and having a stack of business cards at the ready is the most effective way to prepare. 

My business cards, from Zazzle

Business cards are available from lots of online retailers, all clamouring with special offers of "free business cards", so it's difficult to know where really does offer best value for money, along with the best quality. 3 big contenders in this field are Vistaprint, Moo and Zazzle, and this post will explore my experience with each.

Vistaprint- I have used Vistaprint before, when I was running Baby Brain, my craft group for new mums. At the time, they were offering 250 premium business cards for £5, and the offer seemed too good to pass up. The premium cards were lovely, clearly excellent quality, printed on thick card, and my own logo looked great on them. They did end up costing a lot more than £5, however, as the shipping was quite pricey. There were also hidden charges on top, such as extra to use your own logo, and extra to opt out of having the Vistaprint logo on the back. 

Moo- This is a relatively new company, and it is unique in that they offer a sample pack of 10 personalised business cards for absolutely free (no postage either!) Another free option from Moo is a showcase sample pack (not personalised) which includes one of each product. I received these samples, which arrived well-packaged and quickly. The cards themselves (classic) were thick and did feel professional. 

10 free sample cards from Moo

The back of the Moo sample cards

Zazzle- My favourites overall. I found that Zazzle had by far the best range of designs available, and even had a ready-made design featuring a pink robot! I also favoured this company because they display costs upfront on their website, instead of adding "extras" on at the end. This honest approach means you can make up your mind while feeling fully informed, instead of a little cheated as you check out.   

The lovely people at Zazzle sent me a voucher to order and review some business cards, along with an adorable reusable coffee flask- which will be perfect for standing at a craft stall on a chilly day! I found that the whole design process was easy to follow, and the website was straightforward to navigate. I opted for the design featuring the pink robot (of course!) which comes printed both sides in colour as standard. Despite it being a ready-made design, it really feels true to my brand. I was able to add as much or as little text as I wanted, and here are my final designs: 

The front of my business cards

Full colour on the back too!

Pink Robot travel mug

Standard delivery on the business cards was very reasonable at £2.84, and it took just over a week for them to arrive. They come packaged in a handy little plastic box to keep them safe. There are loads of matching products on the website for most designs,  including stickers, leaflets, T-shirts and mugs, so in future I would find it easy to add to my Pink Robot merchandise. I am really pleased with my business cards and matching travel mug!

Preparing for a craft fair part 4: custom labels

I wrote about the importance of building your brand in part 3 of this series, and today I will explore further another inexpensive way of personalising your items: using custom labels. 

I think offering a fairly diverse range of items at your first craft fair, while keeping the overall "feel" and "style" of your products the same, is the best strategy. This way, you can test what sells best for future and bigger events. I plan to expand Pink Robot's range to include lined baby skirts in fabulous, unusual fabrics- like these two Japanese cotton designs. 

Origami crane and blossoms

Japanese fans

Crafted Home, a Glasgow-based Etsy shop, sent me some personalised fabric labels to try out. The skinny labels (12.5mm) in particular tie in perfectly with Pink Robot's handmade vibe, and the textured white cotton tape feels thick and expensive. At £5 for 30 labels, though, they are most definitely affordable.. only around 17p a label!

A little selection of Crafted Home labels

I put these labels to the test when I made a reversible skirt from my Japanese fabrics. The labels are pretty versatile, and can be sewn on in lots of different ways, depending on the item you are personalising. I hand-sewed mine on, making the label a visable feature, but on something like a dress or purse, I would machine sew it flat. 

The fabric label was super easy to sew on, and there was plenty of room at either side of the text for stitching. 

I made the label a feature of the skirt

Giving my skirt a more professional, designer feel

Easy to sew!

I also make baby tutus from soft and fluffy tulle. I decided to add branding to two I made for Heather a while ago, and experiment with the placement of the labels for this review. As a tutu has nowhere "out-of-sight" to place a label, I embraced it as part of the bespoke design. It looks great, and my plan is for people to see the brand name when Heather wears them... a mini walking advert! With that in mind, I sewed a label on to the vest from my peacock collection, to experiment further with position. I placed this one right at the bottom, and it gives the vest a unique look. 

The stitching is hidden in the tulle

Pink Robot branded ballet tutu!

Vest label

I was hugely impressed with Crafted Home's personalised labels, and once I have made all my lined baby skirts to add to Pink Robot's collection, I will definitely be placing an order! For such little expense, I think adding finishing touches like this could add to the value of your items. 

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Preparing for a craft fair part 3: build your brand

If you are a "butterfly crafter" like me, you enjoy making something, then moving on to trying something new. In this case, packaging and branding will not be the most exciting step for you in the preparation process! However, it is extremely important, especially if you want to build your brand as a long-term venture. 

Branding and packaging my bracelets

Choose a brand name

If you have not already done this, choose a brand name for your crafts. This could be absolutely anything- make it personal and choose something you love. Think of symbols and logos you could link to this brand name too, to make one of your crafts instantly recognisable. I chose "Pink Robot" for my brand- one of my favourite songs is Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips, and I thought the name sounded cute and quirky as a craft brand. 

Choose a logo or signature

A logo will tie all your products together, and make your crafts seem more credible as a brand, instead of just a random jumble of "stuff" on the table. My husband is in the process of designing a cute "Pink Robot" logo for me at the moment, so I can print business cards. In the meantime, I have decided to sew this little robot charm on to all my products, to give them a uniform and recognisable signature look. Time consuming? Yes. It takes a while to do this, even for the smallest of items,but I think it's worth it and it adds value to my brand. 

I sew this cute little robot onto all my products

Think creatively about packaging

Once someone has bought something from your stall and taken it home, that is the lasting impression the customer will have about your brand. Make your packaging unusual, so they want to find out more about you when they get home. I chose old book pages for this range, as I think it makes the brooches stand out. Think about printing paper bags with your logo. Include a business card with every purchase, with links to your Etsy shop/ blog/ Twitter account. If a customer likes what they buy, they will return! 

Upcycled book pages are used to package this Woodland brooch range

Packaging the Woodland brooch range

One lesson I have learned is that packaging and branding stock can almost take as long as to actually make the items in the first place! However, taking the time to do this right has given me a special satisfaction with my products, made them look more professional, and hopefully this extra time investment in developing the brand will pay off over time. 

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Preparing for a craft fair part 2: organising your inventory

Missed part 1? Read it here! 

Organising your inventory is the single most important thing you need to do when preparing for your first craft fair. If your products/ crafts are not attractive to buyers, people will not buy them- no matter how pretty your stall is, and no matter how neatly you have organised your labels. 

What to sell 

You may already be an established crafter, with a crafty specialism or talent. Great! In this case, it will be clear to you what type of products you should be making to sell on your stall. Other crafters (like myself!) enjoy making lots of different things, trying new crafts and are interested in hosting a more general crafty stall. If you fall into the second bracket, you will have to make the decision about what type of things you think are best to make and sell. 

When starting out, I recommend a mixture of mainly low-investment, high-profit crafts, coupled with a few more time-consuming, expensive or statement pieces. This reduces any significant monetary risk to you, as your profit margins are higher at the outset while you are still establishing yourself as a seller. Ideas for low-investment, high-profit crafts coming later in this series... watch this space! 

Browse Pinterest for inspiration, and make a list of what you plan to make and sell. Then spend as much time as you need to, actually making the items and ticking them off your list. This is really satisfying, especially when you imagine laying them all out for sale on your table.

Volume

Since this is your first step into selling at a craft fair, you are yet to discover which of your products will prove popular as "best sellers". This makes it difficult to know how many of each item to make in this first instance. The most important thing is to make your table look full, busy and interesting from the start, and have enough stock to replenish throughout the day as you sell. Roughly, one-and-a-half times the amount of stock you need to fill your table is about right.

I think the best way to decide on volume is to lay out a space at home which measures the same as the table you will be using on the day- this will give you a better understanding of how much you will need to make. Don't worry if you are left with most of your stock on your first day- there will always be more opportunities for you to sell it!

Storing your items

Make sure you store your finished items well, securely and safely. Invest in some plastic stacking boxes to keep them free from damage. 

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Preparing for a craft fair part 1: book your stall!

When preparing for your first craft fair, there is undeniably a lot to do. Taking your first step into selling your crafts on a market stall can be daunting, overwhelming and overall, confusing! 

This series of blog posts will explore how to prepare for your first craft fair- what needs to be done, what you need to prioritise and in what order. 

Part 1: book your stall!

You have made the decision to sell your lovingly handmade items at a craft fair- fantastic! Your first step is to choose the right craft fair for your debut. Spend a month or so beforehand to look at which craft fairs are running in your area, and visit a few potentials to get a feel for the atmosphere, layout and clientele. 

Another consideration is the time of year to start out. While there will be footfall all year round, craft fairs certainly enjoy a lot more trade during certain months- particularly from October to December, in the run-up to Christmas. 

In my opinion, it's better to start out small. When running your first craft stall, you will almost certainly make mistakes and learn from them- and I think a small fair with less pressure is the time to learn these lessons. Consider practicalities above all at this stage. Choose somewhere easy to travel to, with good parking facilities. After all, you will have a lot of "stuff" to carry, and you will not yet be familiar with the best way to transport them effectively. Smaller craft fairs close to home (think church halls, school fetes, community centres) would be a good option for a first market stall experience. 

Most craft fairs will provide a table for you to display your goods on. Check the dimensions of the tables available at your chosen fair, to make sure they meet your needs. It's easier to opt for a fair that hires tables/ displays out for a small cost than a market expecting you to bring your own. 

You will probably need to pay a fee for your stall slot. Since this is your first venture into the world of craft fairs, I recommend choosing one with a low fee. This means that even if you don't get many sales on the day, you won't be out of pocket or disappointed. Think of your first experience as a "test run", a networking opportunity, a way of ironing out and problems and gaining experience. See any profit you make as a bonus at this stage. 

Once you have decided upon a good first craft fair to sell at, bite the bullet and book your stall! Congratulations, you now have a real goal to work towards. 

Stay tuned for part 2: organising your inventory! 

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