Lessons learned from first event

Today was my first time doing a vendor event. The first one was from 10 to 2 and the second one was from 2 to 5. It sounds like it would be a rushed day, but it wasn't. I was very nervous, but I didn't realize how nice most the vendors are. A few were especially helpful and checked up on me to make sure I was doing okay. I will be tagging them on my instagram @talesbythecandle if you'd like to see them. So onto what I've learned and hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes.

1. Not setting the booth up properly. I was in a rush and figured since I was on the end of the center line, I would place my table in the back and my chairs in the front. It took me a while before realizing that since my back was to the walkway, people didn't really bother going into the tent.

2. Weather. I have no control over this. I did know it was going to be cloudy, and it was definitely more than cloudy. Of course, people wouldn't want to get out if it was sprinkling. I think this was one of the factors that affected my sales.

3. Day. Today was 4/20 and I'm sure everyone knows that everyone just wants to be home during this day.

4. Not being prepared. I forgot to set up my new items on my Square leading to a lot of fumbling. Thank goodness my first customer were people I knew. I constantly apologized and the rushed feeling had me stuttering and sweating.

5. Item placement. People often think "just put it on the table" and it's more than that. After setting up and the event starting, I noticed that my table looked very messy. Even though it looked organized, there was so much wrong with it. So...glow up time.

6. Check products. I had no control of this either, but the dust covers were soaking up the color of the candle and turning it all sorts of colors, making it look old and kinda meh.

7. Talk more. I still need way more practice, but it was nice to force myself to say hi and ask someone how they're doing without curling up into a ball.

8. Have help. I had my daughter and I'm so glad that I brought her. Not only was she a great helper, she also sold some of her crochet!

The rain became a little more heavy, so we packed up and left to Winnie where I applied what I had learned. I ended up getting more traffic when I placed the table in the front. I also talked more, which helped a lot! But there were more lessons to be learned.

1. Get a higher chair. I had those travel seats and when I sat down, my shelves were taller than I was. I should have gotten my stool out or stood to welcome people.

2. I talked a lot more with the host and explained my candles in detail. I also placed my books for sale. Speaking of...

3. Don't forget your books. Even though I had my The 12: Memories in the Shadows book, I didn't have my Wake of the Forgotten which was my main book.

It was still a bit gloomy and the placement of the event was hard to be seen by people, but overall, I had fun!