The Dummies Guide to Craft Fairs Part 1

So then, you've got your idea, maybe a hobby that has taken over more than your spare time and your spare room... you dream of giving up the 9-5 daily grind for a self sufficient idealic life of church halls and village fetes or maybe your happy to make the odd bit of cash to have that takeaway you couldn't afford last week.

Mission one is to find something fairly local, an established fair maybe somewhere a little touristy with a good reputation, preferably indoors. Tirelessly scour the local press and internet sites, avoiding the temptation of the big and expensive fairs held at your local castle or stately home. Remember, your on a budget and why should you give all your nicely made stock away to stand still in a pretty venue? Save that for when your new members of staff can help you hand out your products and collect the cash, remember it's all about building a reputation.

Right, you've decided on the event... you've sent a cheque and confirmed your stall, your thinking right, all I have to do is organise my product, change a tenner for my float (bearing in mind the first transaction of the day will 90 percent be a twenty pound note) well your wrong. The next stage is to design and print some business cards and leaflets, you can do this yourself if you have the right tools or visit your local printers for the best deals. Remember, the better you look, the more people will take interest in what you have to offer.

The next step is to tell EVERYONE you know that you are attending a craft fair, this is a good thing for you as you have a good chance of selling on the day, especially if you look busy and also it is good for the organisers to help footfall to the event. After all, you don't want to be sat for hours on end without a visitor in sight, there is a limit to how many cups of tea you can drink in one day and how many times you can shrug you shoulders and smile at the stall next to you saying, maybe they're all feeding the ducks and having an icecream, hopefully they'll all be in later. They rarely are!

Coming soon, how to spot the 'seasoned crafters'