The sun blazed, skin blistered and there was nothing to do but watch the grass wilt. What if they threw an Art Festival and no one came? Such was the case at a particular show during the hottest three days of summer 2006. Pouting while bored in my jewelry booth, I actually read through the materials included in our welcome packet.

A headline on a flier promised Sales Techniques to Make your Cash Register Ring. “Yeah, right,” I thought, feeling cranky from the smothering heat and empty aisles. I almost threw the advert away, but an unusual sentence caught my eye, “Why to never say ‘Thank You’ to a customer unless they give you money.” Intrigued, I continued reading.

Although the Art Festival was a bust, that single piece of paper turned out to be worth thousands of dollars to my husband and me. The flier I held was an invitation to a lecture given by Artist Marketing and Selling guru, Bruce Baker. We decided to attend. Gobsmacked by his wealth of information, we were impressed to hear what an expert in our field had to say about vending at Art Fairs and Festivals.

Mr. Baker validated that studio artists work hard and must wear many different hats. We have to be designers, marketers and sellers, all different divisions in larger companies. Excited by his vast knowledge and humorous delivery, we rushed home to Eugene, Oregon and contacted Leah Murray, a program coordinator of Lane MicroBusiness. We raved about Bruce Baker’s lecture and asked (okay begged) her to invite him from Vermont to Eugene for a more in-depth workshop.

She agreed, wrote a grant proposal, and by March of 2007 my husband and I were attending a two-day Artist Learning Conference filled with head spinning details, including our chance to be judge and jury. Dimming the lights, Bruce showed us slide after slide of artwork with the participants of the workshop playing the role of the jury. We experienced first hand how exhausting it was to judge and how quickly we became stingy handing out high scoring points.

Changing gears, Bruce Baker gave a fantastic slide show that revealed common mistakes vendors make with both merchandising and selling techniques. We saw candid shots of artists napping in the corner, talking on cell phones, and reading while ignoring customers. He showed “before” and “after” shots of booth displays, and in these cases, his pictures were truly worth their thousand words.

His humor made the medicine go down easier with each eye-opening photograph, enabling the group to laugh as we each recognized the various blunders and mistakes we have made.

We invested in his three CD’s, Your Slides and the Jury, Booth Design & Merchandising for Craft and Trade Shows and Dynamic Sales and Customer Service Techniques. With precious little time remaining before the 2007 show season began, we implemented as many of his suggestions as was possible. The results? We received invitations to more high-end shows than ever before, many of which we had been applying to for years without acceptance.

For the first time in 16 years, our booth began to win awards. Listening to his selling techniques before each show, we have been amazed by the ease in which the jewelry seems to be selling itself. Those silly customer questions no longer make us crazy, as we now recognize them for the valuable “green light” that they are.

Utilizing the information on all three of his CD’s, our sales have increased by more than the “20-30%” that was advertised in his flier.

But how did it feel? Was it easy? No! Admittedly, I was attached to my loud, bright animal print fabric and felt they’d have to remove it from my cold, dead hands. Besides, we were getting so many compliments on our booth. Getting over ourselves and checking our egos at the door in order to update our look and adapt to the changing times became a scary proposition.

We felt defensive, rationalizing that we were professionals. Sixteen years as studio artists, we knew what we were doing. Why did we need some fellow from the East Coast to tell us our business? But a gnawing thought worked its way to the surface. If we knew what we were doing, why was our income potential flagging?

It was not easy to have Bruce look at our slides and give feedback on our jewelry and booth display that was less than flattering. That’s our heart and our livelihood he’s talking about. Exactly! When the light bulb moment flashed, we understood that Bruce was not being unkind, but had invaluable insight that would improve our livelihood by increasing our profit margin.

When we were able to get out of our own way and hear his criticism as constructive, the defensive posture melted into optimism. He told us not to be daunted by this challenge but to see it as an opportunity.

If you ever have the opportunity to hear Bruce Baker in person, go for it. We can’t recommend his three CD’s enough. Having come through the experience on the other side, we would offer you the same advice. Don’t be daunted by this challenge, but see it as an opportunity.

You can reach him for private consulting, workshops, or to buy his CD’s on his bbakerinc.com website www.bbakerinc.com