Building Relationships

How is an arts/crafts show like dating?

A bad show is like a bad date – people look, talk, touch and then leave.

A good show is the same as a good dating experience – relationships get built, trust develops, laughter ensues.

Silly analogy, perhaps, but the biggest key for successful arts and crafts shows is the relationship between vendor/artist and customer.

My products need a little explanation. My quilts, pillow covers, totes and gift bags require some talking, some descriptions of the process used to create them, some demonstration of their multiple uses.

I was surprised at my last show to hear another vendor tell me I was at a disadvantage because I spend too much time “selling” my products. She, on the other hand, was happy her pottery didn’t need explaining so she could just sit back and relax. I prefer to think I have the advantage with a lot of talk and demonstration and opportunity to engage the customer. Isn’t “selling” why we’re at shows?

How many times do you see or read about vendors who ignore their customers until the point where money may change hands, who sit in the back of their booths reading, eating or talking on the phone, who send out such a bad vibe that customers walk out? They’re usually the ones to complain that a show was bad.

A show last year put my booth across from a guy who made beautiful mirrors that should have gotten a lot of attention. His artistry, the product’s quality and his pricing were all attractive. But he sat in the back with his i-pod on, rarely greeting potential customers, smiling or making eye contact. At the show’s end, he declared it terrible and vowed never to return. I, on the other hand, had my best show of the season. I went home with a sore throat from all the talking, but also with a lot of money.

I saw that artist at another show later in the summer, again ignoring customers and again complaining about how his bad sales had been, for that show and the entire summer.

I certainly don’t want to become Billy Mays nor do I want arts shows to be carnival-like with vendors barking their sales pitches, but I enjoy the personal interaction in showing off my products, helping someone find the perfect gift or accessory for their home and developing relationships that usually lead to additional sales in the future.

Flower Power

The dandelions are finally turning to fluff in the Colorado high country, meaning my days of dying fabric with the weed’s yellow flower heads is coming to an end.

But the result is a big pile of soft lemony yellow cotton fabric just waiting to be used in quilting and other sewing or craft projects. Colors range from a light yellow to a brighter one, depending on the dye process and strength of the all-natural dye bath.

The fabric – pre-shrunk and washed to eliminate bleeding or dye migration – is available in one-yard and fat-quarter cuts. A full yard is $10 and a fat quarter sells for $3.00. They’ll be listed on Artfire.com in the next day or two (click the link to the left and go right to my Artfire.com studio) and available with NO SHIPPING CHARGE! That’s right, FREE SHIPPING. The offer applies to U.S. addresses only but I’m also offering half off the cost to ship overseas.

Please place your orders through Artfire.com. If you’d like to receive FREE swatches to see and feel the dyed fabric, post a note on this blog or send a private email to me at JDayQuilts@msn.com. Just give me your mailing address and I’ll send you a generously sized swatch. If you have questions, let me know.

The dandelion fabrics are part of the new natural fabric collection from Rocky Mountain Botanicals, a division of Day Dream Crafts that creates new fabrics using only natural dyes. Look soon for reds and pinks from annatto seeds; blues, pinks and reds from berries; browns from a variety of plants and more. The Colorado Colors line features fabrics dyed only with natural products found in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. New fabrics are available seasonally based on available raw materials.

I’m also developing a Pounded Plants line of botanical print fabrics using naturally derived images of Rocky Mountain wildflowers and will have them available at Artfire.com in the next few weeks.