How to Organize a Craft Show for Fundraising (6 Steps)

Scout out a location and decide on a time. Research churches, community centers and schools. If you are expecting a large turnout, consider renting out a local fairground. The location should be able to hold all the vendors and buyers comfortably without overcrowding. Make sure there is also ample parking. Keep in mind that you might be more successful if you plan your show before a major gift-giving holiday.
Create a vendor application. Ask the vendors to note what items they will be selling. List the fees and how much space the vendors will be able to use. Consider allowing people to sell food to increase the amount of money you will raise. Allow community organizations to attend to let people know about other various events in your area.
Decide on a theme for your fair. If you are planning a more upscale atmosphere, allow only fine arts, such as tasteful photography and paintings. You can also choose a homemade craft fair where vendors must sell original creations such as soap, pottery or candles.
Start talking about your craft fair. Word of mouth spreads, so place an ad in your local newspaper. Provide contact information where vendors can get in touch with you. Approach local craft stores and invite them to participate. Make sure you mention the date and time of the fair, as well as the application and fees.
Advertise. Print and distribute fliers to post in libraries, coffee shops or other stores. If you are educated about website design, create a site with information and directions. Your local television station may also list activities on its site.
Send a letter to the vendors. Confirm the date and time. Instruct vendors where to go when they arrive and remind them of the size of their stand. On the day of the fair, enlist the help of a friend or family member to help direct the vendors and assist them in setting up.
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How to Start a Business Forum (7 Steps)

Find an available domain name from the WhoIs database. Aim for a domain name that immediately tells perspective forum members what your forum discusses. Additionally, choose a search engine optimized domain name that makes your business forum easy to find from organic searches. Find a reputable registrar from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) Accredited Registrars list.
Select a script for your business forum which provides for customization. Free forum scripts like phpbb work well for beginners. However, paid forum scripts provide optimal support and flexibility. Paid solutions also offer more options for personal modifications and easy to navigate admin panels.
Find a web host offering hosting compatible with the your forum software. For example, a forum built using PHP requires a hosting a company that uses PHP compatible servers. Choose a hosting package with adequate data storage allowing your forum to grow. Provided your forum grows pretty quickly, make sure your web host has competent back up procedures in the event a power outage, injection attack on your forum or some other event could delete your forum's data.
Consider article marketing via a separate website before launching a forum. Owner of 2createawebsite Lisa Irby advises building traffic first via a website or blog before launching a forum. A successful online community requires a basis for traffic. Create a buzz and people to market to via writing articles about various aspects of business can help build a traffic base prior to launching a forum. Start small with only a few discussion areas like introduction, general discussion and starting a business sections. Keeping categories to a minimum also creates the illusion of an active community for new forums.
Register fake users and pose questions answering them with multiple fake user accounts. Many webmasters populate new forums using this method. If you decide to go this route, deactivate the view IP address option from your admin panel so real users will not see the fake users with the same IP address and become suspicious.Hire paid forum posters to populate your business forum to avoid doing the work yourself. Outsourcing this job saves time allowing webmasters to focus on other aspects of launching a new forum such as marketing. Find paid forum posters from freelance websites or from companies specializing in these services.
Select a team of moderators to manage the community. Decide on the rules of conduct along with the team and determine how these rules will take effect. Choose business minded moderators. Community members often look to moderators for guidance so employing resourceful moderators can help retain community members.
Promote your business forum to increase online visibility. Sign up with other business forums and entrepreneur forums, provided the forum rules allows for doing so post a link to your business forum in your signature. Post comments on business blogs leaving links to your business forum. Linking a website in other forums and blog posts increases the chances someone will visit the linked website and also provides a quality backlink, thus increasing search engine ranking. Avoid leaving posts simply to say visit my forum; these types of posts become spam. Spamming will eventually deteriorate your forum's credibility. Only make thoughtful posts which contribute to the topic. Use social marketing mediums like Twitter and LinkedIn to form strategic alliances. Exchange links with your allies to increase your forum's activity and create more opportunities for future partnerships.
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