Chriskindlemarkt Week 2
Thursday: There is nothing worse for me than being at a show with a cold. Especially one where my ears are plugged and I can’t hear, and the snot keeps rushing out of my nose like a faucet. At least the day didn’t end up all bad- I thought my stomach was going to give me problems by the way it started out in the morning. But at least I ended up not having that as a problem. Sales on Thursdays are always slow but the day was just terrible. I have a pet peeve about this booth that is next to me this week. It is a local store- a coop that rents out a double booth. But I don’t know how they jury in and I don’t think it’s fair that a business has a booth inside this tent- they should be in the other tent with the rest of the businesses. I also dislike the fact that they have products in their booth that are represented by other artists around them. (For example they have soap). There doesn’t seem to be any thought behind where they are placed in the tent. If they are going to be here, they should be next to other booths which are also shared (but not stand alone businesses).
I did take the time to get a bunch of work done. Caught up on blogs, did homework, folded flyers, read magazines, and started to get some postcards ready to send out. C went to the bank for me in the morning before work which was great as well.
Friday: The day was slow. There were tons of busses but it was sort of like watching the night of the living dead. If I was told one more time how they could get 12 bars of soap at Wal-Mart for the same price as I sell one for I was going to scream. The rest of the busses were full of local school kids. Which is cool, they love the lip balms and glosses, as well as the bath fizzys. And I get great input on what kinds of products they like and what fragrances they are looking for. It’s a marketers dream to have some of the conversations that I have with these young ladies. But it is a salespersons nightmare. Not a lot of money to go around and lots of peer pressure to be witnessed.
I have a great neighbor kitty corner from me and I have been enjoying our business talk. She has been doing her craft for 15 years while balancing a home and kids. It is just wonderful to have the opportunity to talk no nonsense with someone who really has seen it and knows it and doesn’t want to blow smoke up your skirt in the process of talking to you.
Saturday was more like it. It was a strong day of sales, not spectacular, but strong and it set me up to possibly make as much as last year, if I have a strong Sunday. My cold started to come back, especially in my sinuses, but nothing that a little medication couldn’t take care of. I also learned that I had a strong day of sales at MLAC and got to come home to a couple of pretty large orders as well. All in all it was a good day.
Sunday I started the day by meeting A at Starbucks in order to drop off more stock for MLAC. That was a good sign. The show sales went well, and all in all I was only down $10 from last years sales. Although I always wish that sales increase from year to year, right now I am just happy to say the same. So many of my friends and acquaintances are struggling with sales this past year. I am happy that I make a consumable product and that I have a reasonable price point. I am worried that I will need to increase prices next year since so many of my supplies are going up in price. But as a whole the weekend went well. Next week was my best weekend last year, lets see if its my best weekend this year.
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