Vendor Advice: 10 Tips to Find Great New Events

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Every event is a gamble.

Last year, that was a lesson that was hammered home for me again and again. Even setting up at repeat events I’ve done three or four years in a row came with unexpected surprises. A streak of success is not a guarantee that a particular event will be good every time.

Case in point: I set up at a festival during the summer. Historically, that festival had been great for me. The first year I did it, I sold out of paperbacks of my first novel. Each year was better than the last, despite major thunderstorms disrupting the festival in 2023.

But this last time… my sales were down a whopping 85% year over year (YOY) despite the festival being packed with foot traffic.

As you can imagine, I was disappointed. And the blows kept coming. The following weekend, I attended a convention that had been another regular success on my schedule two years in a row. My revenue was down 70% YOY.

On the flip side, some of my new events turned out to be a pleasant surprise when I sold out of almost all of the books I’d brought with me despite the foot traffic being way below my expectations. One festival I’d never done before outperformed many of the repeat events that grossly underperformed compared to previous years.

Finding good events is challenging, especially when you can’t count on regular annual events being successful every single year. The market is unpredictable, which is why I like to hunt for new events each year to replace not only the bad ones, but also the mediocre ones. I strive to continue refining my strategic approach to my event calendar by supplementing a mix of new and regular events.

So, when hunting for new events, how do you boost your chances of targeting ones that have a high chance for success? In this post, I’ll break down 10 key factors to help you decide whether an event is worth taking a chance:

1. Professionalism

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When you’re researching a potential new event, what is your first impression when you come across information for it? Does the event have a professional website and logo? Photos? Sponsors? Is contact information easily accessible?

Do you feel confident that the event coordinator put time and effort into creating a public profile that reflects proper planning, organization, and investment?

Or does it have an amateur vibe with poor graphic designs, typos, unprofessional fonts, bad stock images, and limited information?

Your impression is probably going to be similar to how potential patrons see the event. If it looks like it was slapped together without much thought and planning, it probably was.

2. Marketing (Especially Online)

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Does the event have much of an online presence at all? Is there an official Facebook event page and/or posts on other social media platforms?

Is the event coordinator advertising in other ways? For example, paid ads, radio features, flyers, local publications, signs, billboards, etc.

I’ve had instances where a vendor or patron recommended an event to me, but when I searched online, I barely found a trace of it. No official website. Mentions on social media but no event page or photos. A lack of any online presence is usually a telltale red flag that:

1. This is probably a new event, which means it doesn’t have an established following.
2. The coordinator isn’t doing enough to reach new people. If a simple Google search doesn’t bring up any information about the event, how are people supposed to find it and decide whether they want to attend?
3. There’s a possibility that it might be a scam. Some scammers try to get vendors to fill out bogus applications and pay a booth fee for an event that doesn’t exist. If you can’t find much information about an event, proceed at your own risk!!

3. Attendee Interest

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Most events have a Facebook page at a bare minimum. This can help to gauge how much interest there is for an upcoming event.

Now, to be fair, a lot of people go to events without taking the time to mark “going” on the Facebook event page. But seeing how many people have expressed interest in attending can help you weed out events that have low potential.

For example, here is a screenshot of Art Beat’s 2024 event on Facebook taken less than two weeks before the festival:

Ideally, you want to see responses in the thousands (depending on the type of event).

If a few hundred people have responded, it could still turn out to be a decent event. Sometimes, small events are better for me than large ones because there are fewer vendors and therefore less competition. In those cases, you’ll definitely want to make sure you are targeting your niche market.

But if the number of interested attendees is only in the dozens, it doesn’t bode well. You want to see some interest.

4. Event History

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Is this a brand-new event, or a well-established one that occurs regularly?

New events are riskier, especially if the event coordinator hasn’t hosted before. They also have to work harder to get the word out and convince not only vendors to take a chance, but also patrons.

Established events have the advantage of building upon their existing audience and growing through word-of-mouth recommendations as more and more people attend every year.

Search for photos, reviews, posts, articles, and other information from past events. Photos are especially helpful for gauging the amount of foot traffic to reasonably expect.

If it is a brand-new event, check out the coordinator’s résumé. Have they hosted other events in the past? What experience do they bring to the table?

5. Location Demographics

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When I first started doing events, I wasn’t looking into demographics before traveling to unfamiliar towns. The best example of why this was a mistake was when I ended up at a fall festival in a quaint little town that ended up being smack dab in the middle of Amish country.

I’m a fantasy author. The town was beautiful, but as you can imagine, the Amish are definitely NOT my target demographic for my supernatural sci-fi fantasy book series. Needless to say, that event was a disappointment. I was way too far out of my niche.

When checking demographic data, I primarily look at two key points: income and education.

Obviously, higher income areas mean a better chance of patrons have more disposable income (and therefore being more likely to spend money on nonessential products like art and books). In low-income areas, people are looking for bargains. I understand that, and I sympathize, but I’m not going to devalue my hard work and haggle over my prices when I already don’t have very high profit margins on most of my products to begin with. It’s already a tough balance between making my books/art accessible enough for people while still bringing in enough revenue for me to survive and invest in my business.

As for education, it’s not that I have any bias against people who don’t have a college degree. Rather, I’ve found that higher educated areas tend to correlate with a more open-minded population that has a deeper appreciation for creativity. Frankly, I don’t enjoy setting up my booth in tiny, ultra-religious communities where people think fantasy books are the devil’s work and I’m a witch trying to corrupt the local children down a dark path of sin. (Yes… that’s happened to me before. I was accused of being a Satanic cultist at a small-town festival. Mothers were pulling their children away from my tent. If they’d taken thirty seconds to actually have a conversation with me, they would have realized that I was just there to sell my fiction books and art.)

Key takeaway here: if you’re looking at an event in a town or city you aren’t familiar with, research the demographics of the area before you commit. The extra digging is worthwhile!

6. Word of Mouth Recommendations

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As you continue to do more and more events, and as you chat with other vendors, pay attention when vendors recommend successful events they’ve done in the past.

If multiple vendors speak highly of the same events in the region, you’ll definitely want to check them out. Likewise, if vendors warn you about certain coordinators, con runners, and events, make sure you take notes so you remember to avoid those.

Pay attention to the type of vendor recommending the event to you. Is their target niche similar to yours? For example, someone who sells balloon animals to kids is going to have a very different perspective of an event compared to a fine artist selling oil paintings.

7. Booth Cost

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There’s usually a correlation between the cost of a vendor booth and the success of an event. Not always, but usually.

From my experience, if you’re paying less than $50 for your booth, you should set lower expectations. Low-cost booths are a great way to get started and fill gaps in your primary schedule, but ideally, you’ll want to have at least one higher-priced event per month.

I like to aim for the $50-$200 range for vendor fees at this stage in my career, although I sprinkle in a few that are more expensive to test the waters as I continue to grow.

Keep in mind that the cost of a booth isn’t necessarily an accurate gauge of how successful the event will be. The Amish fall festival I mentioned earlier had a higher booth fee than other events I’d done… which led me to incorrectly assume that meant it would be a better event with a bigger crowd of people, and it wasn’t. I should have done more research. The booth cost is just one of many factors you need to consider.

8. Target Audience

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Make sure the type of event will attract the right kind of audience for your business.

I’ve learned to avoid craft shows and farmers markets for the most part, as they just don’t bring the right kind of crowd for me.

Another red flag is when trick-or-treating is incorporated into October events. Logically, from an event coordinator’s perspective, it seems like a good idea that attracts families and encourages patrons to visit every vendor’s tent.

But it doesn’t translate into sales. The kids just want their free candy, and then they want to move on to the next tent before their parents have time to browse or shop. The vendors almost always have to supply their own candy, and bags of Halloween candy aren’t cheap, so it’s an extra expense. I also have to deal with the added frustration of kids thinking that since the candy was free, my products (especially my vinyl stickers) are also free, so I have to keep a very close eye on my tables.

You’ll want to seek out events that either directly target your specific audience or have such a wide reach that your customers will be included in the mix (festivals are a good example).

I’ve recently found good luck in targeting crossover events. For example, I set up my booth at my first gaming convention last year. I don’t sell games, nor I sell gaming products such as D&D figurines or specialty dice. But I found that people who like games are also likely to enjoy reading books, and people weren’t just purchasing the first book in my series; they were buying all three books at a time. This is also the case at comic-cons. I don’t sell comic books, but many of those fans also appreciate novels, and most of the people who attend conventions are prepared to spend money.

My advice is to experiment with different types of events to see what works the best for you. Sometimes, obscure events end up being extremely successful. You might be surprised when you zero in on your niche!

9. Juried Applications

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If an event is juried, that’s a good sign. Yes, it means there’s a chance you won’t make the cut (I’ve been denied on several occasions, and it sucks). BUT it means that the bar is set higher, so if you do get accepted, that indicates:

• The coordinator has higher quality standards, and you’ve met them.
• Your products fit with the theme, vibe, and (hopefully) the target customer base.
• Not just anybody can pay for a booth space, and a curated event has a higher chance of being successful when patrons know there won’t be low-quality vendors.

10. Vendor Lineup

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If possible, see which other vendors are on the roster for the event. Some places post a list of vendors, but others don’t.

Low-quality vendors can destroy the vibe and ensure that people don’t come back again. Having a few of these vendors in the mix isn’t necessarily going to have a huge impact, but if you notice a lot of them, that should be a major red flag.

The types of vendors I prefer to NOT see on the list:

• MLMs — aka “multilevel marketing” companies like Mary Kay, Scentsy, Pink Zebra, Color Street, et cetera. These vendors typically present themselves as if they’re small businesses, but they’re not. It’s a pyramid scheme. They order all of their products from the parent company; they don’t actually make, create, or design anything themselves, and there are a ton of representatives all selling the same types of products. At the very least, if an event coordinator allows MLMs, they should limit booths to only one representative per company. If they don’t, they could end up with several booths for the same MLM (which is a giant red flag).
• Corporations — I don’t know about you, but when I’m having fun at a festival, I’m not interested in gutter guards, phone carriers, bathroom remodels, and roofing estimates. We’re already bombarded every day with nonstop ads; corporate booths aren’t something I want to see, especially if they outnumber the artisan vendors.
• Resellers — The “entrepreneurs” who buy cheap merchandise in bulk from Temu, Wish, Shein, and other companies overseas and then resell it at a low price. They’re easy to spot and usually have baskets of various gadgets, accessories, and knickknacks on their tables. These vendors cheapen the whole event, and, in some cases, affect the mindset of customers who see their ridiculously low prices for mass-produced wares and then criticize the artisan vendors for charging too much for their unique, handcrafted items.
• Churches, schools, and political organizations — There’s usually nothing inherently wrong with these informational booths, but it’s usually not the time and place for them, especially if there are a lot of them. These vendors should occupy a small ratio of the vendor lineup if they’re present.
• Religious and political merchants — This is a personal preference, but with tensions as high as they are, I don’t like seeing inflammatory merch at non-religious, non-political events, especially when they’re supposed to be family-friendly and vendors are selling products that say things like “F*ck the President” or “Nonbelievers are going to hell.” Again… it’s just not the time or place when people are trying to have a good time. These booths can definitely have a negative impact on patrons’ moods.
• Amateur newbies — I know this sounds harsh because we all have to start somewhere… but when there are a lot of booths for hobbyists who clearly still have a long way to go before they’re truly ready to start displaying and selling their work, it’s a negative reflection on the quality of the entire event. It’s okay to have a few amateurs scattered among seasoned artisans, but if that ratio skews too heavily toward low-quality beginners, then customers see the overall event as unprofessional. It’s better to be a new vendor surrounded by many seasoned veterans (a great opportunity to network and take notes!) than to have a great booth surrounded by amateur crafters and artists who drag down the quality of the event as a whole.

This long list is exactly why I advocate for juried events that minimize or eliminate these types of vendors to prioritize experienced artisans, crafters, local businesses, baked goods, etc. instead of allowing a free-for-all for literally anyone who wants to pay for a spot.

Final Thoughts

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Even if you check every box on this list when considering new events, there’s no guarantee the event will turn out the way you hope. However, keeping these tips in mind when researching will help you reduce the number of bad events on your roster so you can be more strategic with your schedule.

Keep experimenting! Try new events and see which ones work the best for you. Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised to find some crossover niches when I branched out of my comfort zone. I recommend going for a balance of broad exposure and targeted markets.

Broad exposure is going to be your festivals and larger conventions where there are a LOT of people, including (but not explicitly) your ideal demographic. More foot traffic = more opportunities to make connections, and usually less competition because there will be a wide variety of vendors as well.

Targeted markets are going to focus on your specific audience. For me, as an author and artist, that’s going to be art festivals, book fairs, comic-cons, gaming conventions, etc. However, keep in mind that a targeted market is likely going to mean higher competition among a smaller group of vendors who are mostly appealing the same type of people.

Think of it this way: at a festival, I’m usually the only author there. If an attendee likes fiction books, they’re probably going to stop in my booth! They didn’t come to the festival for books, so my booth is a pleasant surprise. But what percentage of the crowd falls in that category? 20%? More? Less? There’s really no way to predict how many of your people are going to be in the mix at general festivals.

Contrast that with a book fair where pretty much everybody who comes is going to be a reader. Yes, that’s my target demographic, but those patrons now have 30+ other author booths to browse, so my competition is a lot steeper. Is it better to have little to no competition at an event that might have my demographic scattered in the crowd, or a lot of competition at an event that’s 100% inside my niche?

This is why I suggest having a mix of events on your calendar. There are always pros and cons. Until you try them for yourself, you’ll never know for sure!