Another year gone (OK, nearly)!
Check on achievements and failures year 2017...
- I did more fairs this year than the year before and more than I intended. Not sure it's an achievement :). In general I sold more but the expenses/stall fees were higher as well obviously. I need to go through the fair list and sort it out. I did a lot of fairs in York, which was my intention but will not do some again. I liked York river Art Market even with our unpredictable weather, will do it again. ETSY Made Local was good and it's nice to be a part of the team, will do it next year (if accepted). Masham sheep festival was great (the first day at least) and there I was invited to take part in two events, new for me:
- a wool event in Leeds which is rather close to York. It's their second year and all whom I know were very positive about it. It's 7-8 April
- Harrogate Flower Show. It's huge 4 day event with footfall 50 000+. It's about flowers and plants obviously, but they have a pavilion Crafts&Gifts. I hope some of these garden enthusiasts will pop it to see us crafters. I would certainly do considering that they charge £21 as an entrance fee! If I were a visitor I'd go through every single stall for these money:) It's 26-29 April
These events are for the next year.
Looking to the similar post last December and checking my plans and what came out of it:
- I'm not looking for a local shop to sell my stuff anymore. With all these new fairs I have enough opportunities to sell the variety I make.
- Crazy wool scarves I started to make last year were reasonably successful, I've sold quite a few and will keep working on them. And cushions in "wool stencilling" technique as well, quite pleased with it!
What's else... ETSY sales had stuck at the same level, no improvement.
I do not have plans for a next year apart from just keep going. I need to think about new products and new strategy of presenting and selling my pictures, but at the moment I feel a bit lost...
Showing posts with label just a thought. Show all posts
Showing posts with label just a thought. Show all posts
Friday, 8 December 2017
Monday, 12 December 2016
2016 Summary?
I'm usually very late with summing up the year gone (or close to it) but this year I'm doing it on time! The last fair is done, the ETSY shop got the last Christmas delivery date (not many items there anyway) and I do not do any felting at the moment and in the nearest future. Getting ready for the family coming to spend holiday time with us...
So let's talk a year 2016!
What was new:
- I started framing my wool watercolours as pictures;
- I exhibited at the art level the first time;
- I applied and took part in many (too many?) craft events/fair/shows, most of them new;
- I started to teach online;
- My fish are on display in the art gallery (the magic word "gallery"!);
- ETSY sales were down comparing to the last year. Quite unpleasant surprise!
- I've tried a couple of new techniques - crazy wool scarves and "wool stencilling" in cushions;
- something else I've forgotten!..
I'm quite pleased with so interesting and intense year, but every of these new developments has positive and negative points and definitely space for improvement!
Try to talk through those above and make some resolutions or even plans for a future year.
- exhibiting as an artist with my felted pictures was a great achievement for me! At least I felt that way at the moment :) ! I was thrilled by kind comments of MarmaladeRose and Sheila Smith, people picked a lot of my business cards, I'd been invited to another event and was asked to give my fish to a local gallery to exhibit there. Fantastic! It was really great to get some recognition from masters who are at such high level of achievements and from just general public. That was July event and I cooled down a little bit since. It seems that being an artist is even more demanding than being just a crafter! And more difficult to sell as well :)! One of the tricky points is that I'm rather confident that I'm a good crafter (OK, reasonable), but I'm quite unsure about myself as an artist. I'm still thinking whether to apply to next year Art in the Pen event, not sure, but there is time to decide still.
- I need to sort through the list of the craft events I took part this year and some which I wanted to do but was not accepted. It'll be Crafts in the Pen definitely, I did well there this year, Masham sheep festival as well, I liked it, but need to work on display more.
- I'm still looking for a local shop to sale those my items which are tricky to sell through ETSY. It's my main priority for the upcoming year.
- ETSY! I was sure that the third year was going to be as good as previous one if not better, but in November and December sales were much slower. Was it Brexit, weak pound, presidential election in USA or just me being busy and neglecting ETSY a little bit? No idea, but I need to sort it out!
All in all I worked really hard. I can't make more than I made this year and I know that all my most popular things such as fish and "watercolour" cases are always in demand, so I need to rethink the priorities and focus on new events and ideas.
Sorry for such a long post without a single picture! I do not expect my readers to get to the end of it, it was mainly thinking aloud for my own benefit!
So let's talk a year 2016!
What was new:
- I started framing my wool watercolours as pictures;
- I exhibited at the art level the first time;
- I applied and took part in many (too many?) craft events/fair/shows, most of them new;
- I started to teach online;
- My fish are on display in the art gallery (the magic word "gallery"!);
- ETSY sales were down comparing to the last year. Quite unpleasant surprise!
- I've tried a couple of new techniques - crazy wool scarves and "wool stencilling" in cushions;
- something else I've forgotten!..
I'm quite pleased with so interesting and intense year, but every of these new developments has positive and negative points and definitely space for improvement!
Try to talk through those above and make some resolutions or even plans for a future year.
- exhibiting as an artist with my felted pictures was a great achievement for me! At least I felt that way at the moment :) ! I was thrilled by kind comments of MarmaladeRose and Sheila Smith, people picked a lot of my business cards, I'd been invited to another event and was asked to give my fish to a local gallery to exhibit there. Fantastic! It was really great to get some recognition from masters who are at such high level of achievements and from just general public. That was July event and I cooled down a little bit since. It seems that being an artist is even more demanding than being just a crafter! And more difficult to sell as well :)! One of the tricky points is that I'm rather confident that I'm a good crafter (OK, reasonable), but I'm quite unsure about myself as an artist. I'm still thinking whether to apply to next year Art in the Pen event, not sure, but there is time to decide still.
- I need to sort through the list of the craft events I took part this year and some which I wanted to do but was not accepted. It'll be Crafts in the Pen definitely, I did well there this year, Masham sheep festival as well, I liked it, but need to work on display more.
- I'm still looking for a local shop to sale those my items which are tricky to sell through ETSY. It's my main priority for the upcoming year.
- ETSY! I was sure that the third year was going to be as good as previous one if not better, but in November and December sales were much slower. Was it Brexit, weak pound, presidential election in USA or just me being busy and neglecting ETSY a little bit? No idea, but I need to sort it out!
All in all I worked really hard. I can't make more than I made this year and I know that all my most popular things such as fish and "watercolour" cases are always in demand, so I need to rethink the priorities and focus on new events and ideas.
Sorry for such a long post without a single picture! I do not expect my readers to get to the end of it, it was mainly thinking aloud for my own benefit!
Wednesday, 16 November 2016
What is a good fair?
Just before my largest craft fair of the year I started to ponder on the subject :) Why I need a fair at all and what is a good one?
At first it's of course fun and excitement! Meeting people, getting their reaction, making new acquaintances or friends (even better).
But from practical point of view? What's in it for me?
- I could sell things which I do not sell through Internet. They are bulky or heavy like pictures and cushions or I do not know how advertise them properly like fish. I still want to make them and the fairs provide opportunities of sales.
- Felt is difficult media, it's much easier to sell in real.
- Not only to sell but to attract attention of "important" people like those who run shops, galleries and other craft events. You may not even know about them and it could be more difficult to get into uninvited.
- Spread the word about yourself especially if you make something unusual. I become known as "a fish lady" :)!
- Advertise your classes if you teach. I've got one fantastic student for the fish course!
All these points above may be hard to estimate in money equivalent so let's talk profit!
What fair is good in profits? How to calculate it?
1. Put all the expenses together. Everyone could get it different and it very much depends on the particular fair, but general points are: - the cost of the stand.
- if the fair is far away - the traveling and accommodation cost. In my case I need to include the cost of my husband's day away of job because I do not drive and anyway I need his help for a large shows.
- comparing to Internet sale there are extra expenses for staging the stand. They could be one-off (table covers) or regular like extra packaging.
2. Put your sale profit together.
3. Now it's a tricky one. I know a lot of people consider a fair to be a successful one if #2 is more than #1. Not exactly.
I do sell through Internet and in a real shop. If I was to sell there (not at fairs) I would avoid all expenses #1 but will lose 35-40% of commissions. So I deduct say 30% of my profits #2, then deduct expenses of #1. If the result is more then zero I am in profit! How much it's to everyone to decide!
To finish on a lighter note I'll show one of a few cushions ready for the fair. Hope to sell it and make some profit :)!
At first it's of course fun and excitement! Meeting people, getting their reaction, making new acquaintances or friends (even better).
But from practical point of view? What's in it for me?
- I could sell things which I do not sell through Internet. They are bulky or heavy like pictures and cushions or I do not know how advertise them properly like fish. I still want to make them and the fairs provide opportunities of sales.
- Felt is difficult media, it's much easier to sell in real.
- Not only to sell but to attract attention of "important" people like those who run shops, galleries and other craft events. You may not even know about them and it could be more difficult to get into uninvited.
- Spread the word about yourself especially if you make something unusual. I become known as "a fish lady" :)!
- Advertise your classes if you teach. I've got one fantastic student for the fish course!
All these points above may be hard to estimate in money equivalent so let's talk profit!
What fair is good in profits? How to calculate it?
1. Put all the expenses together. Everyone could get it different and it very much depends on the particular fair, but general points are: - the cost of the stand.
- if the fair is far away - the traveling and accommodation cost. In my case I need to include the cost of my husband's day away of job because I do not drive and anyway I need his help for a large shows.
- comparing to Internet sale there are extra expenses for staging the stand. They could be one-off (table covers) or regular like extra packaging.
2. Put your sale profit together.
3. Now it's a tricky one. I know a lot of people consider a fair to be a successful one if #2 is more than #1. Not exactly.
I do sell through Internet and in a real shop. If I was to sell there (not at fairs) I would avoid all expenses #1 but will lose 35-40% of commissions. So I deduct say 30% of my profits #2, then deduct expenses of #1. If the result is more then zero I am in profit! How much it's to everyone to decide!
To finish on a lighter note I'll show one of a few cushions ready for the fair. Hope to sell it and make some profit :)!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)