So You are a Crafty Bastard. Now What?
You got in! You beat the 4 to 1 odds of making it into Crafty Bastards. Whether this is your first or fourth year, you must be saying, “Now what?!”Last year’s show brought in nearly 15,000 shoppers. This is a unique opportunity to reach an amazing number of people. What fresh and brilliant goodies are you going to offer them? (Note, even if you didn’t get in, the following ideas will work for all of the other rad shows you will be doing this fall!).
The biggest mistake that I always make is first concentrating on the old favorites. Of course this is important and will be done in the coming weeks; but a good thing to do first is brainstorm new designs, ideas and products. This way you can work out the bugs and figure them out long before the day of the event. Last year, I actually came up with my zombie design at 2 in the morning the night before the show. Seriously! I had one Gocco screen left, and 9 t-shirts. I remember standing there, exhausted from heat setting and pricing, thinking, “Should I just go to bed?”¯ I pressed on and made the new design. Of course, this design is all I heard about all day and I sold them all. Waiting to explore new ideas until the last minute can be exciting, but sad when you don’t have enough to sell!
Another thing that is easy to forget is to explore how you can turn your most popular items into new products. This can be super fun and you know that if someone liked a design in one medium, they will dig it in another, too. If you make a rad stuffed Ninja Fetus (Fort Cloudy) or a super cool Batty (MagpieDC), why not take his picture and put him on a pocket mirror or a badge? Designs for rings can turn into refrigerator magnets or pendants (see Block Party Press for examples of this).
Larger pieces of art that are limited edition like Rania Hassan’s “Knit XIV”¯ can be made into postcards or small prints. All of these ideas are good because you are offering your best work at different price points. A more casual shopper might pick up a $5 postcard set, but then come back months later for the bigger piece. Lower priced alternatives are also good for people who are buying gifts.
Think about creating something completely unexpected with either an old or a new design. I just finished turning my zombie shirt design into holiday cards. I know it is July, but it is never too early to start making holiday cards. I have rarely in my life sent Christmas cards to anyone for lack of an interesting card to send! I figured there must be other people out there like me. So, the Zombie Plague Holiday Card Set was born by modifying a current product.
Ok, Crafty Bastards, you have 10 weeks! Get to work! And be sure to post links to what you are making in the comments! We all wanna see!
Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com.
July 29th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Thanks for the shout out Tina! You are so right and I have really been trying to do just what you said by expanding product possibilities. The earrings are now turning into push pins,the magnets are turning into drawer pulls & interactive wall art and the pendants are turning into photo holders and business card holders. I don’t have any pictures yet, but they will all be coming to my Etsy shop very soon! By expanding your product offerings, you can expand your customer base and appeal to many different buyers.
I love your cards!