How much does it matter what the site looks like? To me, a lot. I believe in first impressions, and also in return impressions. If something looks the same all the time, is that boring? Does it indicate a lack of interest on the part of the owners of the site or does it just follow the KISS principle of keeping things simple?

All the underpinnings of the site work well, I’m happy with them but if people can’t see them clearly, or access them easily, what’s the point?

So, apologies (again) for a bit of tinkering with the site. The layout should stay the same after this bit of work, for at least a month. I promise.

Based on recent experiences and the volume of moaning and groaning lately about how awful it is to try and sell ‘in the current climate’, I would like to offer a few observations. Each of these finely honed points are based on very real and VERY painful experiences.

1. There are no ‘bad’ markets/fairs, just bad planning.

You can’t go to a church fete with your top of the line pieces priced in the tens or hundreds of pounds (read dollars or whatever else you like because it still applies) and expect that people are going to fall over your work with cries of joy and buy you out in half an hour. It’s not going to happen. Why? Read the title of the venue’s event. Check out the venue. Think about it as if you were a fly on the wall, because that’s going to be the kind of people you will be facing.

2. PPP isn’t a personal insult.

Pick up, put down, p*ss off. It’s a fact of life. MOST people come to fairs for entertainment, and many fairs are just that. People get a cheap cuppa, if it’s a church/school fair. They are seen, and by being seen they’ve said to whoever’s running the fair that they’ve made the effort. You, as a seller, are often simply windowdressing for some social one-upmanship. If you think you’re going to sell there, then tailor what you sell to the market. Yup, that means not trotting out ONLY your top of the line stuff but the things that make you wince when you make them. You may be an artist/artisan/purveyor of the finest things, but a small venue and often a large venue isn’t going to be teeming with the people you WANT.

3. Rude comments are mandatory at fairs.

People are so conditioned to dealing with salespeople who have no personal connection with the items they’re selling that they often forget that at a fair they will be interacting/ignoring/abusing/sniping about the people who put their hearts into their work. It’s a fact of life, even though I hate it when it happens with depressing regularity at shows. People simply are not very kind when they’re out in packs. They can be jaw-droppingly rude but it’s not YOU they’re rude about. It’s the fact that they have no servants to kick around any more so artists are the next best thing. Smile and develop a stock of answers. I find the ‘Oh, dear, it’s a shame you don’t think you’re worth a £25 gift….’ or ‘Yes, I do make these. We have a sweatshop, but unlike India or China we only have two of us in it.’ ‘Did you loose your keeper? is forbidden by my husband but I say it on occasion once the person who has been breathtakingly rude has left the area (still alive).

4. Pride and prejudice.

Some shows simply are not about quality, and that’s a fact. You have several choices about shows like these.
A. Book them and hope that your presence will raise the tone to the level you want, wherein your work is the bee’s knees and everyone is crowded around your stand.
B. Book them and tailor your work to the market. Some people buy items in for certain fairs/venues because they know that what is most popular is cheap and cheerful. Be cheap and cheerful and sell or keep your pride and go home hungry. BTW, cheap and cheerful can be achieved by even the finest artists, they’re called prints. Find your own ‘print’ and make them just for those shows.
C. Don’t book fairs where you can’t or won’t match the market. Stay home and make stuff for some other venue. Then FIND that venue. When you do, let me know, ok?

5. All artists are equal but some are more equal than others.

Brace yourself. If you haven’t figured it out already, it’s because you’re being slow. Art will range from the sort of thing you wish you could make/own to things you wouldn’t use to clean up cat sick. As much as it bothers you to see them being next to you or outselling you (horrible, isnt’ it?) the fact is that everyone has a market. If not, why do people sell velvet Elvis pantings? Just remember, people who buy that kind of thing would NEVER buy your stuff. They probably wouldn’t take it even for free because they don’t understand it.

6. Won’t somebody think of the children???

If you do, then you’re going to do a LOT better. Kids have the ability to extract money from their parental units through many means. Screaming, whining, sulking, little puppy eyes and that finest of all tacks: Daaaaaaaaaaaddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Take advantage of this. Don’t be kind to the parents, they brought the little darlings out into the world and especially into your small personal selling space. Make sure that there is something on the table just for them. It doesn’t have to be a specific child-oriented EU-approved item. It just has to be under a fiver. Find your inner artist and force them to be creative for that price. It pays off.

Finally, don’t expect craft fairs to be about people making crafts. Don’t expect most fairs to be about the high-end of art/craft or whatever. It’s a buyer’s market. If you don’t bring things that people will buy, why are you even trying?

We’ve learned most of this the hard way. We’ll keep on learning it but it is something you can use to make your own fairs a better experience.

Of course, not every modern beadmaker is top of the class, but to take hard-earned skills and then make lousy beads because of a perception that historic beads are somehow shoddy or less well-made is silly and misleading to the people who know nothing about historic beads, and presume that every bead should be etched, or wonky or just plain crap.

If that is so, then why are there beads that still challenge modern beadmakers?  Why are there beads that are so difficult to make with modern tools that they are almost unavailable?  Of course, it’s all a bit of marketing, really, this ‘ancient beads can’t be well-made’, but don’t believe it.  It’s an insult to those who led the way for us.

Of course, you can find the older blog if you like,  it appears here. Clicking on the link will take you to the Blogspot site where the older blog posts are.