I was prepared

It has been a busy couple of months.   Let just jump right into the mix.  I had several shows scheduled for October. plus other obligations.   My first show was at the local college, one of my favorite spots.  I was dead on.   I had my news ready, I had fliers.  I had made new earrings and necklaces.   I was on the ball.   I made some new customers and saw so of my returning customers.   I was able to complete at least 20 new pairs of earrings just sitting at the table waiting for customers to come by(I had another show the next day and I wanted to be fresh).  I ended up putting some of the newer earrings on the table.   Sometimes It is a hit or miss.  I sold more earrings and bracelets this time around.  Sometimes I will sell a variety of all three, necklaces, earrings, bracelets.  Today was different.   I knew I had to make more bracelets for the show tomorrow.   Making bracelets takes longer for me to make than necklace and earrings.   Since I have switched over to all wire wrapped bracelets, I have to come up with new and stylish ways to showcase my design.  .  I can make 3 necklaces in an hours, 20 earrings, but maybe one bracelet.   This cuts down my construction time.  I will concentrate more on the bracelets than the other two.  OK, back to the story.  

I enjoy going to school.  It gives my ideas, watching the fashion show, men and women and they seem to enjoy buying and wearing my pieces.   This is and always will be one of my favorite spot to setup.   For those of you who want to try it and live in the Waterloo area. call the Maucker Union at UNI to rent a table.  The flow of traffic and meeting nice people is what attracts me.  Maybe you will get hooked on UNI too.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have very so busy since the beginning of October.  I had several shows, trying to get my coupon club started, finishing up my computer class.  Let me update you about what has been going on.  I will start with my first show.  I was a vendor at the Hat & Heels Fashion Show which was scheduled for Saturday October 22. .   I had a wonderful blssed time.  I met some awesome women of God.  They put on a fantastic show.   They also presented a conference headed by Prophetess Ladi-Annissa Spencer.  She is the spiritual head of the Royal Daughters of Zion Priesthood, in connection with The Royal Priesthood Worldwide Ministries. The ministry is located in Lafayette Indiana.  I was not able to attend the conference, but I heard that it was awesome.

These ladies made me feel welcome. I enjoyed the  praise team as they worship God with song and we prayed before the fashion show.  They will be back in town as they plan to make this area a permanent stop on the road to spreading word.   I have to say I am sorry.  I am just getting to write about this show and I will email Prophetess Spencer to let her know I have not forgotten.  You can feel the power coming off of her in waves.  The power of God in her life.   If you would like to get in touch with Prophetess Spencer, you can email her at RPWGroup@yahoo.com/FB RoyalDaughterofZion Priesthood or follow her at RPWMinistries.  Their website address is WWW.RoyalPriesthoodInternationalMinistries.webs.com.   Now  there was another vendor there and she was part of the Hat and Heels Fashion Show.   She had some amazing hats.    I am sorry to say, I lost her business information( I am losing a lot things these days).  As soon as I can get the information, I will post it.  Here are pictures of her awesome hats.

This beautiful young lady was a  participant in the fashion show.   She actually came to see the show and was picked by the vendor and coordinator to be in the fashion show.  Stylish, elegant and fabulous.  Go on girl and strut your stuff. Hopefully I will have not more problems with my computer and my hectic schedule has lighten up at bit.   Onward and upward.

Preparations

It seems like I am always on standby.   I always pack my items as if I am unpacking, if that makes sense to you.  It makes sense to me.  I like to have a fresh look when I attend a new show(I have three coming up very soon). Here is a list of what I go through before I pack up for the day from doing a show.


1. I wipe down mirrors,( I keep wipes in my travel bag)
2. My travel bag consist of wipes. cards, fliers, scissors, bags, stamps, ink pad, pens, note pad and any other marketing or advertising items I might need.
3. I straighten out my bags, counting to see if I need to replenish my supply, as well as my order books, business cards, fliers, boxes, tissue papers, etc.......
4. Any repairs(customers/or mine) go into a special bag which I will take out with me into the house(I always like to wind down first before unpacking my inventory.  My winding down might take a couple of days, depending on the next show date). 
5.I will usually set up the inventory the way I want to unpack for the next show.
6. I check my notes(I have a sign up sheet for customers so that I can get in touch with them at a later date).
7. Tuck away my cash box(I do this a varies stages of my cleanup, depending on where I am)
8. Clean up my operating area. 
9. Check with the coordinator to see if there are any question, surveys that I need to fill out.  I will usually offer the coordinator a gift.  The package will include the gift,  my card and any additional contact information.

Once everything is settled,  I depart for bigger and brighter days.   Preparing this way, helps me with the next show and so on and so on.   If I make additional items, then I can easily incorporate those pieces into the mix without disturbing the my original setup.

During the course of the show, I will continually work on the jewelry, cards, ideas in between taking care of customers.   Because of my tight schedule,  I find it easier to leave some things to work on while I am at the show.  Here is something I worked on while at my last show.  Here are some of the fliers that I passed out.   A friend of mine had sent me one my fliers(I teach a basic computer class).  She had made the fliers on what I call a 4 square.  4 fliers(copies) on one page.  All I had to do was replace the information with my business information, print out one.

I made on copy and took the original to Staples.   I picked 24lb paper and choose 4 different colors, pink, blue, lavender and coral.  Next time I will choose a heavier paper say 65lbs.

 

I used decorative scissors to make the edges 

Here is the results.  I requested 20 copies which yielded 80 fliers.  The copies were only 11 for the 24 lb paper.   The price goes up with the selection of heavier paper.  I think they turned out pretty nice.   

Most of the time I will leave some items to fix or transform at the show.   It keep me busy( I also will make adjustments on the spot.  I keep my tools with me at all times) and most of the time people will come over to see what you are doing and they take a look at your table. 

Preparations can mean different things to different people.   Having organization and preparation is the key, at least for me, it spells a successful show, before and after.