Monday, October 5, 2009

Tales of Relief


Well my first craft show has come and gone, and what a sense of relief! You know that feeling you get when you have your first show; part excitement, part dread, part panic and then that horrible feeling of insecurity. It doesn't matter if this is your first show or you have been doing them for years, we all want our shows to be a success.

There is something very personal about your art work, it is an extension of ourselves. If someone doesn't like our work, it some how feels like they don't like you. Craft shows have always been a way for me to get customer feedback and luckily a great source of positive reinforcement for what I have been creating. Nothing feels better than a customer going on and on about how much they like your work and nothing is a bigger reality check than watching something you created being ignored.

The excitement of setting up is always fun and puts a feeling of anticipation in the air. You wonder will this be a good year in sales? Will I do better this year than in years before? Then as the time for the show opening approaches your feelings of excitement turn to worry. Will I be the worst booth at the show? Will I sell anything? Now the first customer of the day is in your booth domain and you can see the look in their eyes that they like what they see. Just like a shark can smell blood, you can tell a SALE is coming on.

The first sale of the show, what a relief! You somehow feel vindicated, renewed and all is right with the world! This one sale has turned the tide and you are positive you have a winning booth. All your hard work has paid off and you are so pleased, the weight of the show has been lifted from your shoulders. So for the next 5 or 6 hours you are happy with yourself, but as the show comes to an end that niggling feeling of panic creeps back into your head. Will I sell anything at the NEXT craft show? And so it starts all over again!


Talk to you next month,
 
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