WOOD TOY NEWS. CRAFT SHOW ISSUE June 2, 2014 Monday. The Martin Show Booth attracted visitors with friendliness, fun and lots of colorful products.

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1 WOOD TOY NEWS How to make a Craft Show Booth that folks love. By Ken and Susie Martin In this Wood Toy News and accompanying video Ken and Susie share with us how they created a successful Craft Show Booth at a recent Crafts Fair. Their tips and tricks are the accumulated wisdom from attending two previous shows. As you will see, they are quick to apply new knowledge as they continue to grow their own business of creating and selling handcrafted products. To watch the Craft Show Secrets for Toymakers video, copy and paste this link into your browser: CRAFT SHOW ISSUE June 2, 2014 Monday The Martin Show Booth attracted visitors with friendliness, fun and lots of colorful products. toymakingplans.com The Martin s smartly chose a Crafts Show that was part of a local celebration. The scheduled parade brought a crowd of visitors and many of them watched the parade from the Martin Craft Show Booth. 1 June 2, 2014 Monday

2 This photo shows the biggest kid on the block in action. Susie caught Ken playing with the toys in the Show Booth and quickly snapped this photo. He plays with the toys to attract people into the booth and to make it feel natural to engage them in a friendly conversation. Being friendly increases sales. 2 June 2, 2014 Monday

3 We hope you also take the time after you read our article to watch our YouTube video about the show and our experiences while at the show. We are full of hope for the future successes of our Craft Shows. Craft shows are a lot of work to prepare for but we believe it will pay off. We learned a great deal from the shows we ve attended about our customers and about selling handcrafted products. We are glad that we have had the opportunity to share a few of our Show experiences with you. Ken and Susie Martin To watch the Craft Show Secrets for Toymakers video, copy and paste this link into your browser: 3 June 2, 2014 Monday

4 This photo is of our Show Booth right before the crowds started pouring in for the Parade. Everything is ready to go and our hopes are high. We were pretty excited to sell some toys while we were setting up the display. Some of the parade fans came really early and rushed over to buy from us. 4 June 2, 2014 Monday

5 Susie and I created this storyboard style review of the show to give you an idea what it was about. There is a lot that can be learned here. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words! 1: Susie finding our assigned spot so we can set up for the Swedish Festival at 11:00 PM Friday night, May 17, : Here is our name on the curb. It was hard to find in the dark. We must be in the right place. 3: I m hurrying to get the booth tent set up. It s kind of difficult to set up at first, but you finally get the hang of it. 4: Here is our booth ready for my toys and Susie s Swedish weaving and it s only 12:30 AM! 5: I think that the table is all that is holding Susie up. At this point we are both very tired, but excited about tomorrow. 5 June 2, 2014 Monday

6 Clean, organized and colorful displays play an important part in creating an attractive & engaging Show Booth that sells. Ken applies the final touches. 6 June 2, 2014 Monday

7 6: This is Susie being Susie. She has quite a sense of humor and took this break to lighten things up. She s a huge help and support for me. Local police have the area barricaded and will be on watch through the night. 7: Well, we are all set up and done for the night. Now we are going to the hotel to crash. We must be back here by 7 AM tomorrow to add product! 8: This here is the fun part. I am in full Swedish costume. The toys must be set up before the crowds arrive. It is very early and they are already coming by the booth. 9: Susie s fabulous Swedish weaving is what got us into the Swedish Festival. They waived our booth cost because we wore Swedish costumes. 10: This table of Mini Constructors were a favorite at the Show. I made and sold quite a number of them. Kids loved playing with them at the booth. 11: I displayed the Wood Toy News issue that is about our work. Folks loved reading it and then asked questions about us and toymaking. 7 June 2, 2014 Monday

8 This picture is truly worth a thousand words. Keep reading for more tips... 8 June 2, 2014 Monday

9 12: I really enjoy setting up the toys and take the greatest of care to make the displays interesting and fun. I also make it easy for the customers to handle the toys. 13: This table of an assortment of toys that caused folks to stop and stare. The bright colors are especially attractive to the young children. Parents seem to sometimes prefer natural wood. 14: The puzzle trucks and the school buses that serve as crayon holders are popular and also encourage conversation. This is good for sales! 15: The best part of the show was 16: This is our booth all set up 17: Susie is ready for the rush of watching the little ones play with our and ready for action. The crowd is customers. She has been busily toys. We set up a child height table gathering around our booth to wait for preparing the booth while the parade is which was quite a hit! Many parents the parade. That is a stroke of luck! starting to move toward us. bought toys their kids playing with. 9 June 2, 2014 Monday

10 We were thrilled to discover that the children s play table was the most exciting part of the booth for every customer. The kids played happily while the parents relaxed and watched the parade. Several of them later bought our toys. Keep reading for more tips June 2, 2014 Monday

11 18: We wanted to learn at the show whether wood or painted toys were preferred. Kids love the color. Parents went along with their kids, even if they liked natural wood the best. 19: We found moving toys from the back table to the front table occasionally really helped the sales. People hesitated moving into the far back of the booth. 20: The twin boys loved playing with the Mini Constructors. The mom in the blue top sitting in the far right of the photo ended up buying the whole set of 7 vehicles. That s a great sale! 21: This fun booth next to ours wasn t 22: Susie had fun shooting photos of 23: I couldn t keep my eyes off of this selling anything. They were just our toys. She enjoyed comparing them Woody convertible. It would make teaching about how it would have been to the full size vehicles in the parade. a great design for some future toy. to be a Viking warrior. Kids loved their This toy is from the same time period However, I m pretty proud of the little demonstrations. as the antique truck in the background. wood toy coupe I m holding here. 11 June 2, 2014 Monday

12 24: I really enjoy building the Toddler s Townhouse toy line. It has furniture, cars, the doll house and little people. And it makes a wonderful and colorful display. Any buyers out there? 25: These girls were looking cool and uninterested in the toys. When they thought no one was looking they kept stealing looks at the toys. I got a lot of fun out of watching them. 26: This is the proud mom of the two twin boys that were playing at the play table. They are pretty excited about their new Mini Constructors. Their sister also got involved in the play. 27: Color sells. We really hit a nerve 28: These toys were a lot more 29: These comical beginner-trainer with the colorful toys. The kids just popular when we moved them from chopsticks on a clothes pin were went wild with them. I finally have the back of the booth to the front an idea from Imants Udris Udie, mastered creating a pro finish that is where passersby could stop for a ToymakingPlans.com Forum Moderator. not so time consuming. I love it. moment and spin a propeller. They were a fine conversation starter. 12 June 2, 2014 Monday

13 TO WATCH OUR YOU TUBE VIDEO: Craft Show Secrets for Toymakers Copy and paste this link into your browser June 2, 2014 Monday

14 This little guy was so cute. He wanted to play with all of the toys, so his Dad bought him one just to keep him away from the tables. Whatever works! It is a great idea to print out photos like this in a large size and keep the photos in a durable and attractive photo album. Photos like this capture the joy that wood toys bring and can have a positive influence when making new acquaintances that are potential customers. 14 June 2, 2014 Monday

15 Ken and Susie are growing their business by offering original handcrafted creations on their exclusive and well stocked Etsy.com online store. They have set up their store to take credit card sales. Even more importantly, they have purchased the technology to easily take credit card orders at craft shows and other events. Buy from Ken and Susie on Etsy at: SCREEN SHOT OF KEN & SUSIE S ETSY.COM HOME PAGE 15 June 2, 2014 Monday

16 Follow Ken and Susie on Facebook at: Ken and Susie wisely keep the World informed of the latest craft shows, products and offerings by posting regularly on their Facebook homepage. They are quickly becoming a household word. Everything is up-todate with the Martin toys and crafts business! Ken can be contacted at: kenmartin4141@gmail.com SCREEN SHOT OF KEN & SUSIE S FACEBOOK HOME PAGE 16 June 2, 2014 Monday