Woot ~ I did it!

After two moths of planing and about $400.00 I had my first public appearance at a Spring Festival in Washington stare May 29 – May 31! The whole thing was a roller coaster ride of emotions. about a year ago I made he decision I would have a booth at the local festivals during the 2015 summer. I have a local friend Who just started her own business Selling ‘Clever Container’ products. https://www.facebook.com/JennifersCleverTreasures We decided to share a booth together. We dd our research and plans and before we knew it the summer had snuck up on us! Which split the registration and insurance fees. It was a lot more work then I expected it to be. Not only was I getting my stuff ready I was also her Business Consultant. ( My consulting page: https://www.facebook.com/A.Novel.Life )

I helped her get started setting up her page, creating her labels, Creating her Banner and more. When I was done with her stuff I realized how much I had to do still. Buying the books, a Banner Business Cards, Magnets, Demo products, Things to sell at the fest besides books to draw attention and of course we needed an Event Shelter. I bought a nice Yellow 12×12 $299.00 Colman for sale for $99.00.

When all that was settled we passed out fliers with in the county and handed out more then 50 businesses cards each. Honestly that was more then I expected to. Since I was going for it I decoded I wanted to raise awareness and collect donations for #ACHA and #MendedLittleHearts  Because I am 1 out of 11o born with a heart defect.

When The day finally came to set up we were freaking out nervous! We decided to go early despite peoples suggestions which was a great thing because we got to choose our booth location at the Festival! With two separate businesses She took one side and I took the other but before we could set up our tables we needed to set up the tent. It isn’t a quick popup (which wold be a great Idea) When we first opened the tent bag We were surprised at how many poles and parts there were and we became over whelmed… Thank God my sister Amanda and her Husband were with us she is great at reading instructions. When we got it half way set up it looked like it wasn’t going to be taller then 3ft.. We started to panic… Jennifer called a local store to see if they had a 10×10 for sale…She was about to go get it with my brother-in-law when Amanda and I decided to keep setting up the tent just to be sure…. To out surprise and relief…… We gained the height we needed it was about 5’11 on the inside but it had lower sides to keep the sun out. Extremely pleased and tears and broken wallets averted we began to set up out sides of the booths. ^_^  All in all set up took about 4 hours, we were so glad we had decided to come early. We had a few issues with how to tie the banners and arrange the tables, once that was settled it all fell into place.

It was a high heat weekend and our helpers canceled due to the heat and illness so It was just her with her kids and I there for the three days. We decided to leave the big stuff but to take our important stuff home at night because of the stories we heard about thievery. And we used used every mussel we had doing so every morning and night. It took us about an hour set up and tear down time and by the last night we felt like pro’s. We made sure to come early and to stay late so we got great parking spots for he loading and unloading. But all in all despite the heat and sore mussels it was I think a great success. Jennifer who had a lot of great products was able to get the word out for future home parties. Due to the extreme heat There were not many people at the event as they had hoped for.. All the booths said they suffered costs due to the lack of people.

I truly am glad I did this I leaned a lot and I feel like I took the next step getting the word out about my books. I sold more then I thought and I met some really interesting people. I do have some tips tho  if you are planning on doing your own event:

*One -Make sure you limit how much you will bring – less really is more. If you have to many things people won’t know what to look at first and  your tables could look over crowded. Pulse your mussels will thank you later. One of the Booths near us was complaining  about how little he sold and he kept trying to pawn off stuff to us.

*Two – Have a idea what you want your booth to look like so when set up time comes you aren’t panicking. Three make sure you come early no matter what they say. First come first serve is most event’s motto. We had quite a few people people upset because they came late and didn’t get to put their tents where they wanted.  People were walking though the event before moat booths were set up we made most our sales in the mornings and evenings.

*Three – Know the location where you will be, and prep what you may need such as: Bandaids, water, food,  food money, sun block, tape scissors, a coat if indoors,  etc.

*Four and most important You have to talk to the people walking by, some will just pretend they don’t see you but others  would have passed by if i had not said Hi. Don’t be a robot be yourself smile and be friendly.  I don’t want to push my book on anyone It is quite personal but when I got over being shy (which is not the usually me)  and I actually started talking to people I started getting more people. Be careful not to miss people  who want to buy something tho because you talking to other people make sure you say Hi to everyone.

*Five Be – friend your tent neighbors. We were so lucky to be nest to some really nice guys, one a tent from Dish Network, and there was  a Guy from Final Fight Radio. Which was nice because us bring to ladies in a crowed there were times when we needed them.  Like when the drunk  homeless guy wouldn’t leave.  Or our last night when we had only half the help we had when we set up. We all   helped each other out. The last thing you want at the event is enemies.

*Six- Don’t forget tables and Chairs… We shared the  extra chairs we had with a neighbor booth.

*Seven- DO NOT Bring anything you cannot  do alone. If its just you keep it super simple for set up and tear down. There were only about three tents with ony one person. But like I said you befriend others they will help you out most likely.

Don’t give up on your dreams no matter how long it takes you!  You are awesome! That’s all I have to say other then I wish you could have been there if you weren’t and to those of you who were and who bought something – Thank you so much for coming it was great seeing you!

Please don’t forget to like my Author page on face book. I will be giving away a free book  or prize if you already have the book to someone out of my first 200 likes. https://www.facebook.com/AmyJaneSandberg.Novelist

The first day right after set up.

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ღ╮❤╭ღ╯ Amy Jane ╰ღ╮❤╭ღ╯