Crafts and how to make Big Money

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A STEP BY STEP GUIDE

Here's how I made $1600 by working only 4 days a month - in 1980.

Step 1: Find a good Flea Market that brings in a lot of traffic and I don't mean an online flea market. The one I used was open only on Sundays year round. I had an inside booth of 400 square feet that I leased out. The traffic was up to 20,000 people on any one Sunday. When the huge parking lots were filled by noon, cars would line up on the highway about 1/2 kilometer on both sides of the road. This flea market was in the small town of Stittsville, Ontario Canada on several acres and accomodated both inside and outside vendors.

Step 2: Secure a good location for a booth inside one of the vendors buildings. Don't cheap out on the size of the booth but don't spend a lot on rent either.

Step 3: Construct a divider between you and the vendors beside you. Make it look like a small shop if you can. The saying goes - spend money to make money and it's true but you don't have to spend a lot. I used Bamboo poles to separate my booth from my neighbours booth. Build it and they will come - make it appealing to the eye. Construct shelving and dividing walls, if permitted. It sounds like you're doing a lot and you will be, at the beginning, but it has to look appealing. Your booth must stand out from the others. Don't worry - you'll get your money back ten fold and quickly.

Step 4: Give it a name and put up a sign to tell people what you're selling. You should make sure that you secure a booth against a main wall with hydro plugs that you can plug lights into so it's gives your booth a warm, inviting feeling to everyone that passes by.

Step 5: Where To Advertise:
Back in 1980, there was no internet. I advertised in one weekly newspaper called "The Pennysaver" that went to every home (free) in the Ottawa area. The ad was not all that expensive, about $40.00 a week. In 2011, you now have the Internet, a marketing tool that is far superior to any newspaper, although you may also want to place a weekly ad in your local weekly, free community newspaper.
Look for the Flea Markets, Garage Sales section online. An excellent site to advertise on today is Kijiji. In Canada, it's Kijiji.ca. In the United States, it's Kijiji.com. Also, Craigs List is very popular in the United States. Online ads are free unless you want to be a Top Ad and that costs a little bit each week but you're the first one people see if you're a Top Ad and that's important.

Step 6: How To Write Your Ad:
My ad read like this and I'll never forget it:
CRAFTS of all kinds required. We will sell for you at No Commission.
I placed the ad in the paper on a Thursday back in 1980 and had to wait until the paper was delivered on the Monday of the following week. By that time, I had completely forgotton about my ad but on that day, no less than 40 calls came in with inquiries and I began getting crafts for my new business immediately. Not only single people were inquiring but I had church organizations, womens groups and tons of seniors wanting to place their crafts in my little shop. But the location is what everyone wanted - a high traffic area with the potential for lots of sales. You can do the same thing on the internet today but it's the actual seeing and touching of these items that lure the people in and create impulse sales - something they just have to have.

Step 7: How To Get Paid:
The idea I came up with at the time was ingenious, so I thought, and it was, because it worked. I didn't have to make a single sale to make $400 a day.
What I did was to have every new craftsperson bring their items to me, as much as they wanted to display. With 400 square feet, there was plenty of room and I limited the space to 40 crafts people. I had a waiting list after that. They all had to sign up with me for three months, payment in advance. I charged $40 a month or $10 a Sunday. That worked out to $1600 each month - guaranteed. My rent was $400 a month and I was left with $1200. Not bad for just 4 days work.
I opened my shop from 8:00am - 4:00pm each and every Sunday. During the week, I would go to the flea market and spend an hour or so with new clients and display the crafts around the shop, wherever I felt was a good location for any one item.

WHY IT WORKS:
95% of people do not want to sit at a flea market on a Sunday. They have better things to do and would gladly pay someone a small service fee to sit there for them.
Now, on the other hand, 95% of people do want to get out on a Sunday and do something and that something meant thousands upon thousands wanting to go to Eastern Canada's Biggest Indoor/Outdoor Flea Market just outside of the city limits. It was a one day love affair for shopping at the flea market and Crafts were always a big attraction. I had a deal worked out with the owner that I would lease out 400 square feet if I could be the only craft vendor at the market. Anyone wanting to sell crafts had to go through my shop. It was a goldmine and that goldmine sold for $10,000 after just being opened for only eleven months. I took that $10,000 and bought two great sound systems. I named my new business BJ the DJ, a Disc Jockey service that lasted close to twenty years before I shut it down. With 10 sound systems built up and the company now playing music for 700 parties a year, the eighties and nineties were wondeful and prosperous decades.
Now I realize that this step by step craft system is not for everyone. But if just a handful of motivated, entreprener minded people can follow this guide, you will do just as well as I did, if not better and the contacts you will make may often lead to better and greater adventures.

Step 8: Don't just think about it - Get out there and Do It !

See some other articles of mine - eg: How I Was Punished By Hubpages