Last week, I made my usual trip to New York to exhibit in at the New York International Gift Fair. This was my eighth time participating in the show, and as a result, it’s starting to feel like one big reunion as I connect with friends and buyers. This show, more than any other, has …
One of the big misconceptions I see surrounding wholesale shows is that showing up is enough to have a good show. The thought process is, “I’m here. I spent the money. I traveled.” That should be enough. And while you may occasionally get lucky, the truth is that this type of mentality is what leads …
Read more “showing up is not enough, or common myths about wholesale shows”
Last week, I exhibited at the Buyer’s Market of American Craft with a group of students, faculty, and alumni from the university where I teach. One of the things we did was set up hard walls for out booth. Because we were all showing jewelry, hard walls certainly weren’t necessary. In fact, we were the …
Read more “what does the bare minimum communicate about your business?”
On Sunday, I walked ICFF, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair with a small group of faculty and students from where I teach. While there, I bumped into Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge. Grace mentioned that she was pretty disappointed with the lack of innovation at this years show. I felt the show was pretty lackluster, considering …
On Tara’s recommendation, I started listening to Simon Sinek’s Start with Why. The basic premise is that people don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it. If you only focus on what you do or how you do it, you’ll have to resort to manipulations such as price or promotion to get …