I got a last minute opportunity to sell my wares at Leeds Tattoo Expo 2016. I was pretty happy about the opportunity as I am very interested in tattoos (as you may be able to tell by looking at me). It was really last minute so I wasn't able to make any new stock but I had lots of pieces left over from previous arts markets at the Belgrave I had done during the year.
All the stalls were in the foyer of the building, as obviously the main event was the tattooing. I was happy to be there but the placement of all the stalls meant they did not get as much traction as hoped. Even the bigger stalls such as the Barbers and the male grooming products didn't manage to sell much.
I had some makeshift business cards printed with my details printed on using the designs I made for PPP this year. They were not top quality but were good enough for a first go. I handed these out and scattered a few across tables in the main hall in the hopes that people would pick them up while looking around and even if I didn't get any more browsers over the weekend maybe a few people would look up my instagram or facebook page.
Looking back on all this I realise I need to put more effort and pride into the presentation of my work when selling at places like this - although I didn't get a lot of people looking / buying anyway - at future places it would definitely better to have proper solid packaging for my prints. I also think that I will look into having products made as work tends to be more sellable on an object rather than just on a print. I will look into Awesome Merchandise and other such companies as well as sites like Society 6 and Red Bubble for selling art.
