If you are an artist or a crafter, you just might have the main ingredient for a successful home-based business. The things that you create are unique and beautiful, and there are many people out there that would love to purchase them so that they can enjoy them. Art and craft fairs and shows are a great way for home-based artists and crafters to show their works to a large audience, an audience that comes to the fairs and shows in search of that something special.
One great thing about being an artist of crafter and selling your work at shows and fairs is that you can choose to attend as few or as many shows and fairs as your schedule allows. This means that your art or craft and the process of attending shows and fairs to sell your pieces can be a full time business or a part time business depending upon your needs. Some artists and crafters feel that the pressure to support themselves financially through the sale of their work takes away from the creative process, so they choose to keep a traditional job and create and sell their art and crafts on a part-time basis for the fun of it. Others are invigorated by the prospect of supporting themselves by continuously creating and selling new works and they may leave a traditional job to immerse themselves in their art or craft.
The process of selling your work at shows and fairs begins with researching fairs and shows that you may be interested in selling at. The internet is great for finding out basic information like dates and costs, but the fun and truly informative part of this research involves going to a few shows and fairs and observing what goes on there. How the booths are set up, how the vendors are interacting with customers, what the atmosphere is like and so forth. Getting a taste of the real thing can help you choose whether that event is one that you would like to become involved with. Once you have your schedule planned out, make sure that you have everything that you will need for displaying your work in your booth. This will depend on what it is that you will be displaying.
These are just some of the basics of selling at art and craft shows and fairs, so if you are interested be sure to explore the idea thoroughly before jumping in. Also remember that if shows and fairs are not for you, there are plenty of other venues such as galleries and the internet where you can connect your work with potential buyers.
Photo by grietgriet on morguefile.com.