I was at a big craft show a couple of weeks ago. When I attend shows as a customer, in addition to seeing the results of everyone’s creative talent and seeking out new treasures, I also like to think about the booths from a business perspective. Why did they set up a booth in a particular way? Is that setup working for them? Why did they choose to make a particular type of item? How are items priced? etc…etc.

One booth that really stood out to me at this show belonged to a jewelry artist. The organizers at this show do a good job of balancing the categories, so there was an unreasonable number of people selling jewelry, but the ones who were, for the most part, all had sterling silver items (it seems a lot of people who make handmade jewelry - myself included - tend to gravitate toward sterling silver). There was one jewelry artist who had a booth of mostly copper jewelry, and although her designs were quite similar to some items made of sterling silver at other booths, the copper really stood out among all of the people selling silver jewelry.

Her booth was packed any time I walked by it; I spent a few days at the show, so I walked by more than a couple of times. A simple choice about materials used was all it took for this person to distinguish herself from her competition and ensure her booth was crowded throughout the show.