On Saturday, April 27, I attended a market with my iCosini stall at the opening of two newly opened spaces and ateliers in the Borromini neighborhood of Mendrisio.
From this experience I certainly learned many lessons that I feel useful to share with all of you who read my blog. On the one hand it is an opportunity to present all the work behind a stall (sometimes when you walk by a market you don't realize all the work behind it), and on the other hand it can be useful for someone who maybe will soon have a chance to make a stall of their own.
Preparing and setting up the stall
I did not want to arrive unprepared: leaving some room for improvisation and flexibility is certainly helpful, but I tried to anticipate as much as possible the issues I would eventually face.
1. Carefully choose the type of products to be displayed
I wanted to have a wide range of products, so that I could potentially capture the attention of all kinds of visitors: offering both expensive items, but also more affordable ones. So I had both original framed artwork, numbered prints, bags and cases, and finally the affordable, low-budget greeting cards.
Having products that only appeal to a niche of people can be risky, because most visitors will move on and not stop.
However, it is also important to have variations of the same product: a series of similar but different items attracts more attention than having all very different items.
2. Test the arrangement of products on the stall
It may sound easy, but exhibiting by giving equal emphasis to all products is not at all obvious! Doing rehearsals, at home quietly, is ideal to understand what the difficulties are and have time to engineer solutions.
One needs to know the size of the table or display space, and try to reproduce the same dimensions and conditions at home to rehearse.
My issue, for example, was that my objects are all flat: greeting cards and numbered prints, if placed on the table, practically cannot be seen. So it was essential for me to be able to go up in height, and display some items vertically. This is a problem that many exhibitors have, and perhaps I will do a post dedicated to the solutions I found.
3. Signs, flyers, or business cards.
I foresaw the possibility that perhaps a visitor would remain intrigued by my products, but not be sufficiently convinced to buy. In this case then flyers or business cards with their contact details or social addresses come to the rescue.
In my case, I produced several variants of business cards, so that the visitor could choose his or her favorite: the first advantage is to have an opportunity for a little interaction, where we get to know each other and become attached; secondly, there is a greater likelihood that the business card will not be thrown away right away, but kept as a “mini work of art,” perhaps to hang on the refrigerator at home (or at least I like to think so).
4. Space for improvisation
Some unforeseen is always there in the set-up, so in addition to the materials I knew I would use, and the products I would display, I brought a few spare parts and some useful DIY material for any occasion.
- Scissors
- markers
- name tags
- duct tape and string
- a few clothespins...
Practical tips for making the most of the market experience
I am an extremely shy person: I like to be alone in my room drawing ... but every now and then I force myself to step out of my comfort zone and tackle activities that don't come naturally to me. One of them is definitely interacting with people I don't know.
Refine interaction with visitors
People often approach the stall, but without saying or asking or buying anything. They seem interested, though... it is on these occasions that I take courage and seek interaction. I tell how a work came about, what were the emotions or events that led me to create that drawing. I explain the difficulties and the solutions I found.
I have learned so much from these interactions! I realized how important the story behind the drawings is. The emotions I felt, the visitor also felt as I told them. In this way I could see that they appreciated my products much more than just looking at them.
Be prepared in case of purchases
It sounds trivial, but I guarantee it is not: you go to the stall to display and then sell, then when a visitor declares interest there is total chaos. Where did I put the cash box with the money for change? Where are the paper purses? Didn't I also prepare stickers to give away?
It is important to test this too, to make sure everything is on hand:
- Do I need to pack the product? Then I need to have all the tools on hand, and maybe an empty table space to rest the product on while I work on it
- Do I have marketing materials to attach, such as business cards or stickers? Does everything need to be close at hand and ready to use
- how do you deliver the product? By hand or in a small bag?
- Do I suggest gift wrapping?
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