Call for Artists, Making Money at Juried Art Fairs, Craft Shows and Festivals
Taking care of repeat customers and volunteers/show staff
In my opinion the people running the show, those volunteering at said show and your repeat customers (aka groupies) are so critically important to our businesses. I just wanted to share what I do to take care of these people.
1- Send out an email to my customer list before an upcoming show. This keeps them informed of events that they might be interested in going to.
2- Including a coupon in that email for 10% off their purchase.
3- Giving staff and volunteers a discount on their purchases. I started doing this with those with volunteer stickers. They were astounded that I would do that for them. I explain that they take care of us, we should take care of them too. I think that this increased my sales by a good amount and I will continue doing this!
4- If I made an item that was show specific- maybe with the name of the event (with permission of course) or for the next holiday- I start giving out those extra ones to the above listed people for their continued support. These are not expensive items. I don't make expensive items that I could risk having too many of, but it sure makes them happy. Happy people remember you and want to help you too.
Do you guys do anything like this? Are there other ideas that I have not thought of?
1- Send out an email to my customer list before an upcoming show. This keeps them informed of events that they might be interested in going to.
2- Including a coupon in that email for 10% off their purchase.
3- Giving staff and volunteers a discount on their purchases. I started doing this with those with volunteer stickers. They were astounded that I would do that for them. I explain that they take care of us, we should take care of them too. I think that this increased my sales by a good amount and I will continue doing this!
4- If I made an item that was show specific- maybe with the name of the event (with permission of course) or for the next holiday- I start giving out those extra ones to the above listed people for their continued support. These are not expensive items. I don't make expensive items that I could risk having too many of, but it sure makes them happy. Happy people remember you and want to help you too.
Do you guys do anything like this? Are there other ideas that I have not thought of?
Tags: customer list, gifts, mailing list, sales
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Greg Heihn on -
Hi Amy. I did the coupon thing in the way of a post card and a letter - bring this with and I'll give you whatever off a purchase with increasing percentages as the total purchases went up. It worked.
I like your idea about giving the workers a discount.
Give even first time buyers of more expensive items or a number of items, a "deal" even though they don't ask for one. Could bring them back again.
Even something as simple as throwing in the tax can make a difference.
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Permalink Reply by Linda Anderson on -
Good for you Amy..... I too do much of the above and have for years. I can tell you that it has paid back ten fold! If I especially like the way a specific show is organized, I make sure I give the main organizer a little something from my stock. This gesture has established great relationships through the years. I am part of an organizing team for a local event so I surely understand the work that goes into the shows. I frequently write a show review blog on this forum here after a show - I then send the organizer an email addressing concerns or mentioning what I thought they did well and include a link to my review here. This not only gets them linked up with this website, but in most cases they are very appreciative of ANY good words said as they typically only hear complaints after a show. Also.... the business cards that I use for shows, I print out the 10% or sometimes $20% website discount code on the back.
I really hate to deal with change at the shows that are caused by the tax. My policy is..... if people pay cash, I pick up the tax. If they charge, they pay the tax - this eliminates me fumbling over pennies, nickels & dimes.
I never put a sale price on my items. However, this year especially with the tight economy, when I see a potential customer or a couple wrestling with trying to justify the purchase, yet very much wanting the piece, I will frequently give them a few dollars off. These customers have become frequent buyers at other shows or on my website. When I need to ship an item, I always include a thank you note and a couple of my note cards. I think it's the little thoughtful things that not only encourage repeat buying, but make ME feel good too.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Hoyt on -
Hi Amy,
We have a 10% coupon on our website in the "calander" section. The customer can print it out and present it at the show. We also follow the common courtesy around here by not collecting sales tax for fellow exhibitors and event staff.
Chris in VT
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Permalink Reply by Dave Hinde on
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Excellant idea. I have an email list of friends that I invite to all my shows, and I like the idea of adding a discount coupon. I'm on the committee for the Ocean View Art Show, in October, and I think I will print up 10% coupons to give out at two shows I'm doing in September. I'll also pass on the same suggestion to members doing other shows in August and September.
Do you mind if I copy your article, and some of the followup, in our next newsletter? I'll be sure to give a big plug to Art Fair Insiders.
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Permalink Reply by Amy Schulz on
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Dave- I am not familiar with your newsletter.. can you share it with me? If it is not allowed on this site for some reason- send me a message through here or my website www.happymagpie.com/etching.
I am quite happy that you want to share this.
Dave said:Excellant idea. I have an email list of friends that I invite to all my shows, and I like the idea of adding a discount coupon. I'm on the committee for the Ocean View Art Show, in October, and I think I will print up 10% coupons to give out at two shows I'm doing in September. I'll also pass on the same suggestion to members doing other shows in August and September.
Do you mind if I copy your article, and some of the followup, in our next newsletter? I'll be sure to give a big plug to Art Fair Insiders.
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I should have mentioned that I was referring to the Chesapeake Bay Art Associations members newsletter. It's just emailed out to our members, but I will forward a copy to you, if they run the information.
Amy Schulz said:Dave- I am not familiar with your newsletter.. can you share it with me? If it is not allowed on this site for some reason- send me a message through here or my website www.happymagpie.com/etching.
I am quite happy that you want to share this.
Dave said:Excellant idea. I have an email list of friends that I invite to all my shows, and I like the idea of adding a discount coupon. I'm on the committee for the Ocean View Art Show, in October, and I think I will print up 10% coupons to give out at two shows I'm doing in September. I'll also pass on the same suggestion to members doing other shows in August and September.
Do you mind if I copy your article, and some of the followup, in our next newsletter? I'll be sure to give a big plug to Art Fair Insiders.
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Sounds good.
Dave said:I should have mentioned that I was referring to the Chesapeake Bay Art Associations members newsletter. It's just emailed out to our members, but I will forward a copy to you, if they run the information.
Amy Schulz said:Dave- I am not familiar with your newsletter.. can you share it with me? If it is not allowed on this site for some reason- send me a message through here or my website www.happymagpie.com/etching.
I am quite happy that you want to share this.
Dave said:Excellant idea. I have an email list of friends that I invite to all my shows, and I like the idea of adding a discount coupon. I'm on the committee for the Ocean View Art Show, in October, and I think I will print up 10% coupons to give out at two shows I'm doing in September. I'll also pass on the same suggestion to members doing other shows in August and September.
Do you mind if I copy your article, and some of the followup, in our next newsletter? I'll be sure to give a big plug to Art Fair Insiders.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Sholund on -
I do the email invites to shows as well as invites and updates on my Facebook page - both for myself and for my personal page. I also have done the forget the tax for fellow artists - but never though about doing the same for volunteers - brilliant! I have tipped them - like a donation to the boy scouts for instance.
This year I have started giving out promo stuff - it is all paid for and were leftovers from a previous event I hosted/promoted. These are small handsanitizers. I have a sign that with every purchase - no matter what you buy - each person gets a free hand sanitizer. On the sanitizer is my business name and website address. I think it works, I just don't have a true system acknowledging that the traffic to shows or my website is from hand sanitizer freebies. In any case any promotion is good promotion. I also offer the same thing to those who sign up for my mailing list. People love freebies and I recognize that not everyone needs to buy from everyone at every craft show - it's a simple reminder that when you see this bottle you'll remember me if you do need a gift later on.
But great ideas and great topic Amy! - Michelle
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Permalink Reply by DeMaris Gaunt on -
I think this is a great idea. I haven't done anything like it yet, but I am really inspired to try it. I am thinking of doing coupons and magnets! I don't know about anyone else out there, but my refrigerator is my mission control panel, and I have a lot of cool magnets. Has anyone made up magnets with their logo and website? It seems less likely for a magnet to get tossed into the trash than a business card.
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Permalink Reply by geri a. wegner on -
Magnets sound like a fun idea but with the unnecessary prevalence of stainless steel, our refrigerators are no longer the message centers they once were. (and where does one put those Lockhorn cartoons?)
check Vista Print for magnets though. They seem to have good prices and may make it worth it for you to try.
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