Craft Savvy Market #3 – Lessons Learned Part 2 (Finally)

We held our third Craft Savvy Market on April 13,2019 and this market superseded our expectations in so many ways. Everything from our spectacular vendors, to our customers, volunteers made the event one of our best. Below, we wrap up and share part 2 of our lessons learned. Check us out in Instagram and Facebook @craftsavvymarket to see more pictures and videos from the event.

Third Time’s A Charm – Lessons Learned Craft Savvy Market #3

After every market, I breathe a big sigh of relief and then I have this desire to lay on the couch for one day straight. Please refrain from judging me! Craft Savvy Market #3 was no different. I was still exhausted, but I did not need as much time to recuperate. Here are three things I learned from our third market:

Ditch It If It Doesn’t Work – For this market, I love that we were not afraid to ditch some practices that did not work for us during the first two markets. For example, we decided to change the time of the market. For the first two markets, our hours were 11-4. For this market, we looked at our data and we decided to alter the time and I’m glad we did. Sometimes we are afraid to make changes because we often times don’t have a guarantee of success. But one thing is for sure: If you never try, you’ll never know. If it isn’t working, ditch it and try a new strategy. The worse that could happen is that you learn from your experience. The best that could happen is that you see the success you dreamed about.
Develop A Process – One of the things we tried to do for our third market was to streamline our processes. This inspired me because developing a process is the first step to becoming more efficient at a task. A process saves us from starting from scratch every time. We worked hard this time around to analyze the feedback we received from our previous markets and make applicable changes and create processes where needed. We also were careful to document processes and refine the steps needed for various tasks. This is applicable to any task we choose to undertake in our own lives. Develop a process and give it a try. If you find that the process needs tweaking, make adjustments and keep going. It’s always easier to start with a baseline.
Build A Team – For this market, I learned the value of building a team. As a crafter, we sometimes get in the habit of working solo – my idea, my execution, my work, etc. For our third market, we were more intentional about building a team of supporters and volunteers. This made the day of the market much smoother. Instead of being pulled in multiple directions, we were able to focus on fewer tasks and make more of an impact on those tasks.

by Jandi Harris

3 Lessons I Learned from CSM #3

1. After speaking with some vendors, I realized we are making a great impact. Some first time

vendors were excited to be a part of our event because of the connections they were able to make and the exposure they were able gain. It definitely feels great to be aligned with such an inspiring event.

2. Secondly,I learned to always leave room for the unexpected things. No matter how well an event is planned, it is impossible to cross all the “T’s” and dot all the “I’s”. There are some things will be beyond my control.

For example, some key people confirmed that they would attend and on the day of ended up cancelling. At that point it was too late to make other arrangements, so we had to improvise. There were other areas where we had to think quickly and develop a solution on the spot. At the end of the day, it all worked out. This market taught me to do my very best and let God will take care of the rest.

3. Thirdly, I realized the power of team work and learned the importance of having a strong and reliable team. The old adage “Team work makes the dream work” was truly in action at Craft Savvy Market #3 on April 13. I am grateful and thankful to everyone (vendors, staff, venue, and my Craft Savvy Sisters) for making this the best market yet.

by Mina Mantor

Craft Savvy Market #3 – Lessons Learned Part 1

We held our third Craft Savvy Market on April 13,2019 and this market superceded our expectations in so many ways. Everything from our spectacular vendors, to our customers, volunteers made the event one of our best. Below, we share our lessons learned.

Lessons Learned – Craft Savvy Market #3

I think we’ve done a nice job of learning from past mistakes and adjusting accordingly. I remember we decided to do a big, beautiful Insta-worthy photo wall at our second event. We did our Pinterest research, brainstormed how to execute our concept and bought our supplies. Then we made a plan to arrive at the building to install the photo wall, step up all the tables and have the vendors arrive 30 minutes later. Let’s just say that schedule didn’t work so well.

The photo wall was tough to set-up and when vendors (and volunteers) began to arrive with lots of questions and needs, stress and scrambling ensued. Note to self: don’t schedule set-up within 30 minutes of vendor arrival!! For the third market, we gave ourselves an ample 90 minutes to set-up and then opened the doors for our vendors. We had calmly set up tables, built the photo wall, briefed our volunteers and could now take care of our vendors. You can’t anticipate everything that will go wrong when you are running a business, but you can certainly learn from mistakes and come back stronger and better prepared.

Another lesson learned with this market is the importance of not hanging your hat on one approach. We typically invest in Facebook ads (along with other things) to get the word out about the event. After focusing mostly on promoting the event page, we tried adding individual post promotion to the mix and received an even better payback on our ad dollars. It was a great reminder to remain nimble and not just rest on what’s working “okay”. Sometimes you need to experiment and make adjustments to get the best possible result.

I can’t believe we just wrapped our third market! I am so proud that we’ve accomplished and grateful for all the lessons learned and support and blessings we’ve received on the journey. Here’s to getting better and not giving up!

By: Charlene Dunbar

More Room- Lesson From CSM #3

When I walked away from the April market, two words haunted me – “more room”. We used half of the space at Decatur Recreation Center for our first and second markets. The April market was the first time we collapsed the wall and used the entire room. The reality is that even when we were using half the space at the previous markets, we were already in the full room. It was up to us to see it. If we had given up after the first and second markets, we would not have made it to the full room. This market reminded me to craft my vision as a maker and to continuously pursue it with my whole heart.

My vision is my belief that a deposit was placed in me before I was born to pursue my greatest and wildest dream as a maker. My vision is about my potential and seeing my fullest self without restrictions, hindrances, fear or doubts. My vision is not about my present conditions but it is about my final destination. For some that might mean being a full-time maker, others it might be owning a brick and mortar store and for others it might mean developing a global brand.

But regardless of what your vision looks like, that means that if I have a bad market day and no one buys my goods, then no one bought my goods. Do I need to rethink my market approach? Yes. Hopefully the work I do and choices I make line up with my vision and final destination. That means I may have to be flexible and willing to make adjustments as needed. Does it mean I may need to rethink my marketing strategies? Maybe. Does it mean I may need to rethink the goods I bring to the market? Possibly. Does it mean that I need to walk away from my vision? NO.

My vision is not about the conditions around me but about my fullest potential. Sometimes people don’t understand our vision and we spend time too much time trying to convince them of our vision. But my job is not to educate people on my vision but to educate myself on how I will reach my fullest potential. My vision is bigger than my present conditions, people’s understanding and even what my eyes can see. If I plan to go from a half space to a full room, then I better start seeing, believing in and pursuing my vision with everything I got.More room.

By Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

Craft Savvy Market #2 – Lessons Learned Part 2

We held our second Craft Savvy Market on November 3, 2018 and we had a blast. Apply to be a vendor for our upcoming market here.

We gave you our Market #2 reflections and thoughts Part 1 (here), and we are back for Part 2. Reflection allows us to the opportunity to identify what works for us and the things that do not work. As a team, we have incorporated reflection as a necessary practice because it allows us to look back and improve as well as celebrate. m

The importance of Confidence – Lessons From CSM #2

You can have the skills, and talent, but confidence will lead you to a success. A few months back when we started planning for Craft Savvy Market #2, we decided to take more risks, challenge/encourage each other, and boost our confidence in our abilities to produce a successful event. As a result, we pulled of a great market event. This personally encouraged me to step out with confidence in every area of my life. One specific example: was creating our photo wall backdrop. Charlene challenged us to make our own creative photo wall, and we accepted the challenge. As a result, we collectively created an amazing photo wall for our event. That added an extra boost to my self-confidence.

Did we have fears? YES!!! Did we doubt somethings? Of course we did. We decided to focus on the Big GOD we serve; and grow our confidence from what He did during our first market event. We grew confidence in our abilities, so we didn’t allow fears to rise within up. That confidence helped to free us to push even harder. It has helped me to move out of my self-restricted comfort zone. With that level of Confidence, I am ready to work harder for a greater outcome. With all this confidence, love, support, and teamwork, I am excited to see what happens next. I know that the next market day will be bigger and better. So with that been said, if you are embarking on a new undertaking, have supportive people around you to help build your confidence.

Mina

Pace Yourself – Lessons From CSM #2

This time around, I learned to pace myself in regards to creating products. One of the challenges of being selling handmade items is producing items to sell. Because many of us are a one / two man show, failure to adequately prepare in this area often times means we are left scrambling at the last minute, or we have a very limited supply of our products.

In preparation for market day, there was quite a few things that had to be taken care of from a market stand point and from a business owner’s stand point. Sometimes, it got overwhelming, but one thing I improved on was not waiting until the last minute to create products.

I intentionally set goals for the number of products I wanted to have on hand and broke down how many items I would need to produce over the time I had in order to be fully prepared. And every week, I made progress towards this goal. I didn’t necessarily meet my weekly goals every week, but it was much better than when I started. Instead of being a last minute producer (which impacts the quality of my product), I became more goal driven. This made a huge difference in the amount of products I was able to produce and it preserved my sanity and lowered my stress levels as well.

Jandi

Craft Savvy Market Atlanta — **Lillie Gwen Designs at Craft Savvy Market #2**

How do you reflect as a creative? Share your ideas and thoughts with us below.

Click here to read Part 1 of our lessons learned.

Top lessons learned from our first market – Part 1

As crafters, we are all about risks. We take risks when we use new materials, try new projects, mix different mediums, etc. On a warm summer afternoon in June, we crammed into a booth at Panera Bread and took a risk to join hands and organize our first Craft Savvy Market.

Here we are, almost four months after our first market day, and now that we have exhaled, we are sharing our top lessons.

1. Growth and success sometimes means making the choice to stay instead of walking away.

Going into this experience, I soon realized that while we have all been friends for over 20 years and have a lot in common, we were actually four very different thinkers and four very distinct creatives. And that made me want to run to the hills.

But by October, I recognized that it was through our creative differences that we would create a very successful craft market. Our multiple perspectives and ways of thinking was actually a strength not a weakness. So I learned not to look at our differences as a sign to look for an exit but as an indicator that we were actually on a path to creative excellence.

Many times we flee the creative process before we see fruits because the road feels uncomfortable or we wonder if we are on the right path when there are creative differences. But when we push through the challenges, we get to see the fruits of our labor. In the end, I’m so glad I continued to push through and am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with three very distinct thinkers who also happen to be my super talented, always creative Craft Savvy sisters.

–Ciatta-Mae

2. Presentation and packaging matters

As market day approached, the opportunity to share my jewelry crafts with our customers excited me. But then came the questions of packaging. If you’ve participated in or visited craft market shows you probably understand where I am coming from. Packaging can make the simplest things into beautiful looking gifts or it can lessen the impact of a great gift

. And frankly speaking, I didn’t put as much thought as I should have into my packaging. I used medium paper bags, but all my products could not fit the bags.

Thinking back, I should have assessed my items closely and given myself time to create packaging that would wow my customers. I should have considered a variety of sizes. Moving forward, I plan on having pretty packaging with more options for my products.

Mina

Read Part 2 of our top lessons learned here. Apply to be a vendor at our November Craft Market here.

Maybe you participated in a craft market for the first time or you took a creative risk for the first time. What new understanding did you possess after the experience? We would love to hear from you.