Finding My Niche

So last weekend I tried a new venue.  I originally heard about this venue from a customer at another show I did.  This woman raved about this place that she made so much money working at this location.  So I went there.  I paid my money for a slot and set up shop.  My first day was bad.  Not HORRIBLE but not at all awesome.  I tried to look at this with an open mind, recognizing that you can't judge a venue by one experience.  So, since I had paid for the entire weekend, I went back the next day to give it another chance.  Still no better.  I can accept that there are people not interested in my soaps, but I have done shows where my soap was just flying off the table so I know that it's a sellable product.  I even had repeat customers that come back again and again wanting my soap.  It's high quality soap.  So why was it that I couldn't give it away at this place?

The thing about selling products at any open venue like that boils down to one thing.  Traffic.  Let's say that out of 100 people that walk past my table, 2 people will buy soap.  Well, if only 100 people walk past my table in an entire day, then it stands to reason that I'm not going to sell much. 

So today I went to another venue, one I've done before, and had a fantastic day.  This venue, though fairly far from my house, has a significant amount of traffic and as a result, I have many people stop at my table to look at things.  Out of all the people that stop at my table the majority of THOSE people will buy something.  So as a seller, what I'm looking for are venues that have a lot of traffic.  There are 2 things that I would consider negatives about this venue.  It's 30 miles from my house and it's all open air so if the weather is rainy I can't do it.  But if the weather cooperates, then this is a great venue.

There is a venue close to my house that helped me get my start last year.  That venue does not have a huge amount of traffic, however, it is inexpensive and as I said, close to my house.  Another upside is it's on Saturday morning, and over by 12:30.  So even if I don't sell a lot, it's definitely worth my time to do that one.  So I think this summer I'm going to continue to do these 2 venues, one Saturday morning and one Sunday morning. 

And check out my latest creation.  This soap is scented with honeysuckle and orange blossom.  It's is both visually appealing and a treat for the nose.