GetCrafty Craft Facts

Q: I'm planning on doing at least one or two bead shows this year too; anyone have a fav? I'm on the East coast, but have been told that Tuscon (sp?) is the place to be... is this true? I also hear that the 'WholeBead Show' in NYC (which would be very convenient) is the pits... very expensive to do so not many vendors do it, thus not many buyers show. Does anyone have any feedback on this?

A: I haven't been to the Providence show in years, but the last feedback I heard was not too positive - it sounds like the table fee/item prices have been doing a spiral - fees go up, prices have to go up, customers don't buy, vendors don't come back, so fees go up again. Everybody on both sides of the table said "too expensive" Magazines - 'B&B', 'Beadwork', and maybe 'Jewelry Crafts' pretty much cover the field. I would do both of the first 2 if you can afford it, and see the response. Do you have catalogs from distributors you would like to sell to, or do you need more names? You might do better with "in-between" sized places like 'DJ Whimsy' or 'Beadcats' - beader oriented, rather than corporate types. E-mail me if you want some more names/details, and ask on the TCR board about the pricing thing - maybe it is no different than selling to any catalog company. I would agree w/ Lori...I haven't sold at the Providence show, but I have attended. It was disappointing in many ways and expensive. There is a wonderful small show on Cape Cod in Falmouth every year (run by 'JoAnn Allard' of 'The Bead Tree'), and also the show in Watertown, Ma (outside of Boston) sponsored by 'The Beadesigner International' ('New England Bead Society'). I'm not sure if this info will help, but here is is anyways. I put my first ad last month in 'B&B' (beadwork was approximately three times more expensive for the same ad). It's a plain text ad (bottom of page 94) and in the week after it came out, I got enough business from the ad to cover more than twice the cost of running the ad for three issues. I've continued to get new business from that ad, although not on quite the same scale as that first week. Fortunately, about 60% of my customers order again, so just getting them to make the first order is valuable. Thank you very much for that info Marilee. I don't have the current issue, but I'll try to get it; I've subscribed but haven't received 'em yet. Did you go with a classified ad, a classified display ad, or an ad on a regular page, and if I can ask, why did you choose the type of ad you did? I was thinking of getting one of those little 12th of a page box ads, but maybe a classified is enough. Anyone have any thoughts on that? I read every word in my craft related magazines, so I see all the ads anyway. I have a two-line all-text ad in the classifieds. 'Bali' is pretty much 'Bali'. People who want it will look at the website. Since you do lampwork, a display ad would probably be better for you. They were sufficiently more expensive than the plain text ads, and I really don't need to show the 'Bali'.