During our 19+ years of producing art festivals, we
have learned many
key factors that, when implemented, will help maximize your show sales.
We
invite you to review the following recommendations and put those points
you
like into action.
Before The Show -Top Ten
1. 2-3 months in advance: If you have a website, post your show
schedule.
2. 2-3 weeks in advance: Postcard/Invitation mailing to previous
customers in and near the show.
3. 2 weeks before: Check your business cards/brochures supply,
replenish if necessary.
4. 1 day to one week before: Get a haircut if you need it.
5. 1 week before: Plan show clothes and have them cleaned for the
show.
6. Day before: Review map of route to festival. The website
Mapquest.com is used by many.
7. Days before: Pack carefully. At every festival, someone
has forgotten a vital piece of their display.
8. Week before: Photo document your newest work for next season’s
jury.
9. Week before: Pack camera/film so you can photograph your
booth.
10.Week before: Check your vehicle: tire, fluids, belts, etc.
Your Booth - A Dozen to Consider
1. Before the show: Details count. Review every element of your booth,
just as you review your work. I strongly recommend a
fabric panel wall system. Open grid systems do not look as professional, and
tend to distract the viewer from seeing your art.
2. Before the show, and at the show: Have professional price tags.
Ideally,
price tags are typed or laser printed on heavy weight paper, or glued
to
mat board. Price tags authenticate the price, reducing the “haggle.”
3. At the show: Use a floor covering. It completes your booth and
covers up ugly directional traffic markings and muddy ground.
4. At the show: Hang 2D work level, and adjust often during the show.
Shelf
work should be arranged neatly. Keep glass clean, and bring touch up
paint/markers
for those unexpected nicks.
5. At the show: Don’t over fill your both. More is not always
better.
Have more stock in back, so that you can pull out that special piece
for
the right person.
6. At the show: 3d artists: think about multiple levels, and great
bases that
are the same. Don’t make bases so interesting that they detract from
your
work.
7. At the show: Have plenty of business cards and if you are redoing
them,
include an image of your art. It greatly helps people remember
who
you are.
8. At the show: Keep a guest book, and maintain a database for future
mailings.
9. At the show: If you love how your booth looks, take a photo for next
season’s
juries. The biggest weakness we see in the juries, are dark booth
slides.
Try to take a booth shot when the booth is bright and full of light. If
you
don’t love your booth, evaluate how it could be improved.
10. At the show: Keep your booth tidy so that the visitor at 4 pm on
Sunday
has the same positive experience that the visitor Saturday morning had.
11. At the show: maximize your experience, and take a look around for
great booth ideas from other artists.
12. Wear your name badge during the show. This lets the public know who
you are right away.
Your Work - 5 to Ponder
1. Have various price points so that you have broad appeal to the
masses.
2. Have work of various sizes.
3. Show your body of work. A tighter body of work increases sales by
making it easier for the public to make the buy decision.
4. Frame your work well. If at all possible, avoid using cheap metal or
wood
frames. Frame with a limited number of frame styles so that the frames
do
not take over your work. I recommend one or two frame styles only
in
a booth.
5. Be true to yourself. Time and time again, I see that it is the
artists
who really have something to say that sell the best, regardless of
price.
You - Top Ten
1. Be clean and smell good. Basic, but true. People do not want to talk
to,
let alone buy from, someone who smells. Don’t eat onions and tuna fish
and
expect to sell.
2. Be well dressed. People buy more from people who dress (shoes too)
like them.
3. Interact with the public. If you can’t, then hire someone who
can. (You must still be present at the show)
4. People are not just buying art, they are buying an experience, your
story,
you. Tell them about yourself; what inspired you to do the piece.
5. Don’t smoke or drink alcohol in your booth. This is a turn-off and
many people will stay away.
6. Don’t sit behind your booth reading a book or the newspaper and
expect to sell. You’ve got to interact with the public.
7. Don’t leave your booth for long periods of time, or with a booth
sitter
for more than 20 minutes. People will give up on an artist they can’t
find
after a few tries.
8. Inform and educate. The more people know about you and your
technique, the more they will buy.
9. If you do commission work, let people know about it and explain what
that means.
10.If you can’t make the sale, give them a show schedule and suggest
they visit you again.
Security - Eight to Contemplate
1. Keep your money on your person. Don’t have a money box, or bag you
“hide” in your booth.
2 .Be especially alert at set-up and break-down when there is a lot of
commotion.
3 .Jewelers with gold and precious stones: You should have at least one
or
more additional people with you at shows. If you feel you are being
cased
during a show, alert the staff. Trust your instincts. Consider using
dummy
bags. Don’t register in your hotel under your show name. Don’t take a
first
floor hotel room, or a room near the elevator or stairs. Fill up with
gas
the last morning of the show so that when you leave, you will go far
before
having to stop. Keep a disposal camera in your booth, and take a
picture
of someone you think is casing your booth. Bad guys don’t want to be
seen
and remembered. During daily set-up and take-down, always keep your
merchandise
on your person or securely locked to an immovable object. Don’t
give
anyone an opportunity.
4. Accept Credit Cards, thereby reducing carrying a lot of cash.
5. Be careful about hiring non-show people who happen to be around at
set-up and offer to help you for a twenty.
6. We always recommend removing your work from your booth at night even
though most shows provide overnight security.
7. Don’t leave tempting items in your booth overnight: cameras, radios,
briefcases, etc.
8. Lock your vehicle! Remember to lock the back and side doors of your
parked trucks and vans.
Article provided by:
AMDUR PRODUCTIOS - Founded in 1983, Amdur Productions is a nationally recognized
arts festival producer that directs nine of the Chicago area’s most successful summer art fairs and festivals. Amdur Productions also consults with the Merchandise Mart to produce the One of A Kind Show and Sale in December.
For additional information: (847) 444-9600 or www.amdurproductions.com.
