Holiday Bazaars for Marketing?

[NicoleScraps]

We're getting into the holiday season and almost every church, fire dept, and school in my area will be having one of those holiday bazaars. Normally they charge about $15-$30 for a space. They do their own advertising for the event and it is usually a fundraiser for them. I am thinking about trying to get in on a few of them for marketing. Has anyone ever set up at one of these? Did you have any success?

[AnneWynne]

I do a gypsey art market almost every month. I have taken some landscapes of the local area (that have actually been selling, go me), framed them nicely, then sell prints (or the framed piece if the customer wants it). The landscapes were photoshopped to look more like paintings, so they are unique in that way, plus we have a lot of tourists/visitors who like local scenes to take home. I also have some other, more unique wall art created from my images that I also display.

That is what draws people to my space, but I really don't care if I make much money....I am doing it for the exposure. I made an Animoto video of my best portrait images and have it playing on a loop on my netbook. I have had many customers stop and watch it through, comment on my skill, and take a card. I have not booked any sessions from this yet, but I figure the exposure is good as people need to know I am here and what I can do.

I am not sure why I have not done it yet, but I need to also have a larger card (4 by 6) with my current promotion on it. Here is a link to an example of the cards I make up... [IMG][/IMG]They are easy to make in photoshop using digital scrapbooking papers and such.

[metric_photography]

That's actually a really cool idea!! You could market it more to holiday-themed items/ gifts/ images since they are usually holiday bazaars. Go for it! It's pretty cheap ($30) for advertising your skills! Let us know how it goes!!

[snowfalldesigns]

I've done a few street fairs mainly as marketing as I don't have prints to sell (I don't do a lot of landscape - although I did end up selling something I was just planning on displaying!) and I sometimes get someone book off of that.
Another idea that worked well for me this year - the church I attended when I was growing up asked me to do a photo booth at their Oktoberfest this year. The church provided the tent, printer, ink, and paper and had a nice background set up for me. I took family and group pictures for a few hours (supposed to be 2 hours and I ended up being there 6 because we were really busy!) and was able to give them the prints right away. The church kept all of the money and I got to hand out my business cards. I've booked at least 4 sessions off that few hours of volunteering my time.

[Meadster]

My wife and I have done three local church/community bazaars for the past couple years. My wife sells her original knitted goods and I sell my nature photography. Due to limited booth space, I focus on selling three types of merchandise. I sell 8 x 10 prints from a portfolio and take orders for anyone who wants a print of another size. I also sell my images as 5 x 7 greeting cards. These can be purchased as individual cards or as sets of 10. Finally, patrons can purchase my current calender.

The sales I make at these are worth my time, but do not make me think about quitting my day job. I like that I get to meet folks in person and talk about my photos. The folks I meet at these craft fairs have become loyal customers and are good about sharing the word with their friends and family. I"d say the sales I generate after one of these shows is better than that generated by my 600+ facebook fans ( a very "soft" support base aside from a small number of hardcore followers - IMHO)

One area we have had great success with is the craft fair put on in our local "active adult community" - lots of upper middle class retirees with cash they seem willing to spend to send unique gifts to their adult children and grandkids.

I hope this is of some help!

[AnneWynne]

Originally Posted by Meadster

The sales I make at these are worth my time, but do not make me think about quitting my day job. I like that I get to meet folks in person and talk about my photos. The folks I meet at these craft fairs have become loyal customers and are good about sharing the word with their friends and family. I"d say the sales I generate after one of these shows is better than that generated by my 600+ facebook fans ( a very "soft" support base aside from a small number of hardcore followers - IMHO)

I wonder how many of your facebook fans come to the shows you are at to purchase your work.

Facebook is an easy and free method of getting your name out and in front of people, and exposure is what this photography business is all about.

Congrats on the 600+ fans.