Festival Geeks

Plans change. Events move. Weather turns. Inventory guesses miss—and sometimes the smartest decision is to walk away, adapt quickly, or push through.

In Episode 12 of Festival Geeks, Michael shares what happened when October stopped going according to plan. One festival was no longer the right fit, another event moved by two weeks, and an Oktoberfest weekend created an unexpected inventory problem.

By Saturday night, only five or six dog jackets remained. That led to an overnight sewing session, a lot of coffee, and about 18 additional jackets sold on Sunday.

This episode is not about working all night as a formula for success. It is about recognizing when circumstances have changed, making the best decision with the information available, and staying flexible enough to take advantage of the opportunity in front of you.

In this episode:

• Knowing when it is time to walk away from an event

• Adjusting when an organizer changes the schedule

• Making inventory decisions without perfect information

• Responding quickly when demand is stronger than expected

• Learning from the plan—even when the plan changes

Have you ever had an event or business plan change at the last minute? Share what happened and what you learned.

More free tools and resources for festival vendors:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/free-vendor-tools

Festival Geeks:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com

Follow or subscribe for more practical lessons from behind the booth.

Festival Geeks — Real Stories. Real Lessons. Real Results.

How much inventory should you bring to a craft show, festival, or vendor event?

It sounds like a simple question, but there isn't one universal number. Rules like “bring three times what you expect to sell” or “aim for ten times your booth fee” don't account for the actual costs and realities of your business.

In Episode 11, Michael walks through a practical method for planning inventory by working backward from the result you need the event to produce.

You'll learn how to calculate your true event costs, establish minimum and worthwhile sales goals, determine the sell-through rate your inventory would require, and evaluate whether you'll still have a strong selection for customers later in the day.

Michael also uses real-world examples from selling pet T-shirts and bandannas to explain why different products—even within the same business—can require completely different inventory strategies.

You'll learn why new products should earn deeper inventory, how dead stock develops, why selling out isn't always a success, and how keeping good sales records makes every future inventory decision better.

There is no formula that can guarantee what you'll sell. The goal is to replace guesses pulled out of thin air with a repeatable method based on your costs, goals, capacity and actual customer behavior.

Festival Geeks — Real Stories. Real Lessons. Real Results.

our booth is set up. The market is open. Now what?

In Episode 10 of Festival Geeks, Michael walks through what actually happens once customers start coming through the gate — from taking one last look at your booth from the customer’s point of view to deciding where to stand, how to greet people, when to talk, when to listen, and what to do when business slows down.

We talk about staying off your phone, reading different types of customers, handling several shoppers at once, using slow periods productively, taking care of yourself during a long market day, and why packing up early can cost you a sale.

Most importantly, every customer deserves a clean slate. Whether the day has been great or terrible, the next person walking into your booth shouldn’t have to carry the weight of everything that happened before them.

In this episode:

• What to check before the market officially opens
• Where to stand without blocking or hovering
• Body language that makes customers comfortable
• Why listening matters more than talking
• How to acknowledge multiple customers
• What to do during slow periods
• Food, hydration, and surviving a long event day
• Why you shouldn’t pack up early
• Giving every customer your best effort

Festival Geeks — Real Stories. Real Lessons. Real Results.

Every maker has a story, but it is not always the story behind the company name or logo. Often, the most powerful story is the reason a particular product exists.

In this episode, Michael explains how the 7T Designs pet T-shirt began with a real problem: protecting Sydney, his poodle, from scratching irritated skin. Commercial pet shirts were loose, floppy, and built like shrunken human shirts, so Michael used his sewing experience to create something shaped for a dog’s anatomy.

That practical solution eventually became a product—and then a business. Dede added the colors, patterns, and sayings that made the shirts as attractive as they were functional.

Michael also shares the story behind 7T’s tie-on bandannas and explains how small construction choices can become meaningful parts of a customer conversation.

In this episode:

• Why the product’s story matters more than a manufactured brand story
• How to connect a design feature to the problem it solves
• Why customers care about the decisions behind handmade products
• How to tell one true story at different lengths
• How to recognize when a customer wants more information—and when they simply want the pink one
• Why authenticity does not require giving every customer your entire biography
• How successful conversations and painful strikeouts help refine your story
• What truly separates an independent maker from big-box retail

The customer can see the feature. Your story explains the decision.

Download the free Product Story Builder for Makers:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/product-story-builder-for-makers

Find all Festival Geeks vendor resources:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/free-vendor-tools

Every experienced festival vendor eventually learns the same lesson: sometimes the smallest problem can create the biggest headache.

In Episode 8 of Festival Geeks, Michael opens up his Business Box — the compact collection of tools, repair supplies, display fixes, tagging equipment, cleanup items, and emergency odds and ends that travels to every event.

From tape, scissors, zip ties and clamps to safety pins, Velcro, screwdrivers, a small hammer and a Dennison tagging gun, these aren’t exciting purchases. But when something breaks, comes loose, needs repaired, or simply refuses to cooperate in the middle of a festival, they can save your day.

Michael also shares additions learned from conversations with veteran vendors and explains why a good Business Box isn’t about carrying everything you own. It’s about having small solutions ready before small problems become big ones.

Get the Festival Vendor Business Box Checklist:

festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/festival-vendor-business-box-checklist

More free tools and resources for festival vendors:

festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/free-vendor-tools

Festival Geeks — Real Stories. Real Lessons. Real Results.

You can be right, win the argument, and still lose the outcome.

Difficult customers, neighboring vendors, organizers, staff, and volunteers can all put you in situations where your first instinct is to prove your point. But when you’re running a business, being right isn’t always the same thing as getting the result you actually need.

In Episode 7 of Festival Geeks, Michael talks about learning to see the entire field before reacting. Using real experiences from years of dealing with customers, businesses, and difficult personalities, he explores when to stand your ground, when to let something go, and why winning the interaction can sometimes cost you the bigger opportunity.

In this episode:

• Why being right and getting the right outcome are two different things
• How to recognize when an argument isn’t worth winning
• Handling difficult customers without surrendering your boundaries
• Dealing professionally with organizers, staff, and neighboring vendors
• Protecting your reputation while still protecting yourself
• Learning to think beyond the immediate interaction

Festival Geeks is practical education for festival, market, and event vendors — built from real experience in the field.

Website: festivalgeeksmedia.com

A $1,000 sales day does not mean you made $1,000.

In Episode 5, we followed an imaginary product that appeared to cost about $8 to make. Once we accounted for the real costs of producing it, that number became $14.44 before the product ever left the workshop.

Now we have to sell it.

In Part 2 of the Festival Geeks Know Your Number™ pricing workshop, Michael starts spending some of the money you thought was profit.

We work through the costs that happen after production, including booth and event fees, travel expenses, the labor required to sell at an event, recurring business expenses, card-processing fees, and the money a healthy business needs to retain instead of immediately spending.

By the end of the episode, the gap between your product cost and your selling price may look very different than it did at the beginning.

The goal still isn’t for Festival Geeks to tell you what to charge.

The goal is to help you understand everything your price has to carry before you can decide what your number needs to be.

Work through the numbers with the free Know Your Number™ Pricing Workshop:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/know-your-number-pricing-workshop

It includes the worksheet used with Episodes 5 and 6 plus the companion reference guide.

You know what you paid for the materials. But do you know what your product actually costs to make?

In Episode 5 of Festival Geeks, Michael Priest begins the Know Your Number™ Pricing Workshop by walking through the costs many new festival vendors overlook when figuring out what a product really costs.

Using a simple product example, we work through:

• Delivered replacement cost of materials
• Products that don’t make it to sellable inventory
• Small production supplies and consumables
• Utilities and machine-use allowances
• Product-specific equipment costs
• The value of your production labor

Our example starts with a product that appears to cost $8.

By the end of Episode 5, that product costs $14.44 just to make.

And we still haven’t paid to sell it.

Episode 6 continues the workshop with event fees, travel, selling labor, business expenses, card-processing costs, and the other things your price has to carry.

Free Know Your Number™ Pricing Workshop:

festivalgeeksmedia.com

Festival Geeks

Real Stories. Real Lessons. Real Results.

Watch Episode 5 on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/OGDHqogFC0c

Free Know Your Number™ Pricing Workshop:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/know-your-number-pricing-workshop

Festival Geeks:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com

A professional festival booth has to do more than hold your products. It needs to be easy to shop, adaptable to changing weather, and comfortable enough for you to work in all day.

In Episode 4 of Festival Geeks, Michael Priest continues building the 10×10 festival booth, picking up where Episode 3 left off.

You’ll learn how grid walls, wood crates, risers, baskets, and display height can make merchandise easier to see and shop. Michael also discusses U-shaped versus L-shaped booth layouts and why vendors should experiment to find what works best for their products and customers.

Then we get into weather and comfort: clear versus white sidewalls, rechargeable fans, propane heaters, anti-fatigue mats, hydration, and the small decisions that can make a long festival day much easier.

The goal isn’t to build the fanciest booth at the festival. It’s to build one that is safe, functional, easy to shop, and practical to work in all day.

Episode 4: Build Your Festival Booth Right — Displays, Comfort & Weather

Find more Festival Geeks resources at:

festivalgeeksmedia.com

Real Stories. Real Lessons. Real Results.

A festival booth has to do more than look good. It needs to protect your products, withstand changing weather, and help customers understand what you sell before they walk past.

In Episode 3 of Festival Geeks, Michael Priest walks first-time vendors through the core equipment needed to build a safe, functional, and professional 10×10 festival booth.

You’ll learn what to look for in a commercial-grade canopy, why straight legs matter, how much tent weight you need, and when wind conditions become dangerous. Michael also covers tables, fitted table covers, seating, storage, banners, and visible price signage.

He also shares real stories of tents being lifted and destroyed by wind—because booth safety is not something vendors can afford to treat as an afterthought.

Download the free Booth Equipment Checklist at:

https://festivalgeeksmedia.com/pages/free-vendor-tools

Real Stories. Real Lessons. Real Results.