And the winner is........

Tonight was the Taste of Home Show in Meadville, Pa. The vendors received tickets to attend the show but by the time everything was cleaned up and put back in the car it was too late. Plus, my cousin and I were on our feet the entire time and busy. So, we were too tired to stay out any later. (That's what happens when you get old.) We were even too busy to take a picture of the crowds.

I really didn't plan on making many sales. Even one sale would make me happy. (Had one sale..... I'm happy.) Instead this was an opportunity to get my name out there and make contacts and that is exactly what I did.

In hind sight I think that people didn't realize that my jewelry was for sale at the show. No one else was selling anything, just sharing information and that is what we did. The effects of the evening will show up later (I hope!)

Anyway, I gave away a necklace as a way to draw people to my table. It must have worked as I have a whole canister full of names. My husband drew the name for me and the winner is.........

Debbie Mealy from Meadville, Pa. Congratulations Debbie and thanks for stopping by my table. I will be mailing your necklace out tomorrow.

It's not about the money

Don't get me wrong..... I do like money! No question about it, but sometimes it's not about the money.

This past weekend I set up a table at the country store in Foxburg. They were having their 5th Annual Fall Festival. Since I make the logo jewelry for them, they invited me to show my work in the store during the festival. (Thank goodness as it was a cold, cold weekend. People were coming in with red noses!)

Only made a couple of sales, but I wasn't disappointed as I didn't expect to make many sales. What I did make was lots of contacts. The seven hours actually went very quickly as I met lots of new people and shared information about metal clay. (Remember I'm trained as an educator and not a business woman.) Lots of people took my business card and all the class schedules I brought were gone.

In a couple of weeks, I'm setting up a table at a Taste Of Home Show. There will be 1,000 women there who will have a couple of hours to kill before the show. Again, the venue probably won't be conducive to buying as the main focus for the evening is cooking. But I couldn't pass up the chance to make that many contacts. (Still though, the sponsors had to pry that check out of my hands. For a small business it was a large sum to pay. But I knew if I didn't do it, I would regret it. Sigh!)

I'll keep telling myself it's not about the money. It's about getting yourself out there and getting your business known. (Hopefully someday the money will follow.!)