Vendor Call: Spring Made by Hand Show

VENDOR CALL:

Spring Made by Hand Show presented by Made by Hand.

It's all happening on Saturday April 21, 2012, 11am - 5pm, International Centre, Hall 4, Mississauga

Featuring 150+ handmade exhibitors (food vendors welcome), facepainter, crafts and a special guest appearence from a Disney Princess.

We're advertising like crazy ~ including local radio (HazeFM), local television (Rogers TV), newspapers (Mississauga News, Brampton Guardian, Snap Mississauga and Snap Etobicoke), Flyer Distribution, external signage (2 large LED signs infront of International Centre), various online sources (International Centre, Flyerland, website, event calendars, blogs), social media (Facebook, Twitter).

Juried Show - to ensure highest quality and variety of vendors.  Read our Vendor Testimonials from our previous show.  Past show welcomed 1750+ visitors.

Exhibitor Fees:

$185 (incluedes a 10'x10' booth, full 8' drape, 8' table and two chairs)

$210 (incluedes a 10'x10' CORNER booth, 8' drape, two 8' table and two chairs)

Deadline to apply: March 1, 2012

Apply Now

We'll see you there!!

~ Jacqueline (email me)
*note this event is not run by the Toronto Etsy St
(but the Toronto Etsy St is a media supporter)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Long: the Dragon by minouette

Gung hee fatt choi! Congratulations and be prosperous! It's the Chinese New Year, and today we lanch the Year of The Dragon.

This weekend you can catch many local and international printmakers' entries on this theme (including minouette) at the PROOF Gallery in the Distillery District.

The exhibit will premier at PROOF, January 26 - February 12, 2012, with the Opening 2-5 PM, Saturday January 28!

PROOF Studio Gallery, Studio 104, Case Goods Warehouse, Bldg. 74,
55 Mill Street, Distillery District Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5A 3C4
phone: 416 504 6761


Check out some of these lovely dragon, Chinese New Year and Chinese inspired TESTy items:

10 Tips for Twitter to help your Etsy Shop

Another helpful tip from Made by Hand

There is not doubt that social media (Facebook and Twitter) can be beneficial to expanding your business or etsy shop.  Twitter promotion is a reason many businesses have been flocking to twitter.  A lot of you may have already dipped your feet into twitter.  Social media can be a powerful tool to launch or expand your crafting business and allow others to interact with your creations.  Here are a few tips that I have picked up along the way:

#1 Pitch Pusher:  A great quote I read "… think of twitter like the water cooler at the office".  If you are constantly tweeting about your business and pushing a sales pitch your followers aren't going to be very interested in what you have to say. 

#2 Be Human:  Scheduled tweets can be benifital but try and mix it up with conversation too!

 

#3 Listen:  Take a moment and listen to what others are saying.  Another great quote " … twitter is like a party of strangers.", so listen to what your followers are saying, maybe anwser some questions or engage in some conversation.

#4 Be a Helper:  This kindof goes with listening.  Offer something to people with your tweets, information, entertainment or tips. Reply to other tweets - anwsering or commenting on other posts.  A helpful tweeter will make you someone that others want to talk to.

#5 Give 'em what the want:  Do a search - find out what your followers want.   Perhaps your readers don't want to know that you just walked your dog, but maybe that you walked your dog and the handmade scarf by … kept me warm. 

#6 Keep it light:  Ensure your tweets aren't link heavy (ie. a URL with each tweet).  Sometimes readers just want to read

#7 Share:  Did you read an interesting article or an interesting tweet? Share it - retweet it. 

#8 Promote others: This one I really love, if I see something (especially handmade), I love to promote other shops (even if they don’t promote me). RT = retweet

#9 Build lists or streams to follow a group at once (for example, I use www.hootsuite.com and have several streams, including the @TorontoEtsyST/t-e-s-t-y-people )

#10 Ask: Tweeting your blog posts and shop etsy is okay, but what about wording your tweet as a question

Follow @TorontoEtsyST on twitter ... better yet you can read all of the tweets from the Toronto Etsy team @TorontoEtsyST/t-e-s-t-y-people .  Don't have twitter?  What are you waiting for it's free http://www.twitter.com/

This article was originally published on Made by Hand

Sartoria, Etsy Featured Seller

TEST is proud to see our member Sartoria as the Etsy Featured Seller! Follow the link to read the interview.

TESTY Treasury

A TESTY treasury of members that I met at the Made by Hand Show featuring berrysweettreats,  butterflytreeshop, christinemarieford, ElisBodyShop, krystlesmonkeys, lianamarieoriginals, lmcreation, lurearts, Sahetah, starrydreams, thunderpeep, TwoRosesToronto

Orange TESTy treasury

Thanks NailKandy!

10 TIPS TO ROCK IT AT YOUR NEXT CRAFT SHOW

Starting out a crafting business can be scary. Most of us start online through an Etsy shop (or something similar). A great way to gain exposure for your company is to showcase at local craft shows and fairs. It’s an opportunity to network and give customers a chance to see, smell touch your products.

Going to a show for the first time can be intimidating. I have been participating in craft shows since 2007 showcasing my handmade cards and paper crafts (Made by Jacqueline).

Last year I started a new venture the Made by Hand Show, hosting craft shows. As we begin a new year, I thought it would be a good time to share my 10 TIPS TO ROCK IT AT YOUR NEXT CRAFT SHOW:

#1 GOT CHA: You have 3-5 seconds to grab a customer’s attention.

#2 DISPLAY: Space, Clean, add height or risers to grab the customers eye

#3 DEMO YOUR PRODUCT: (ie. if you sell jewellery wear it, demo your products if you can) – have a sample out that people can touch, feel, taste.

#4 WHO ARE YOU? When a customer walks by do they know who you are and what you're selling? Think about a banner or a sign.

#5 ATTRACT: Attract Customers to your booth - Free samples, Candy, games, prize draw.

#6 ADVERTISE: Tell your contacts what booth you’ll be at; maybe offer your present customers a discount for coming to the event.  This is where social media and your mailing list comes in handy.

#7 SMILE: Be friendly, start conversation ‘hello’, SMILE (there is nothing worse than a vendor that seems uninterested, grumpy or bored at their booth, it turns away customers).

#8 PRICE IT RIGHT: Vary price points (for example you may have a piece that is $100 but also make sure you have something in the $20 range or lower to grab impulse buys).

#9 BUILD: Have a mailing list on your booth so customers can sign up.  It may lead to a future sale and it helps build your client list.

#10 FOLLOW-UP: Post event follow-up with everyone you meet (promptly after the show). It can be as simple as a quick “Thank-you for visiting my booth”.

Now that you have the tips .. I encourage you to apply to a local craft show and showcase your handmade creations. A list of upcoming craft shows on the TESTY BLOG Vendor Calls.

Happy Crafting!
~ Jacqueline