LDF Autumn Online Show – Exhibitor Information
Opening times:
11am September 4th – 5pm September 10th 2023 (GMT)
(LDF Members can access the showcase from 10am on September 4th)
Deadline for Content:
Photos & text August 10th OR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
Access times for exhibitors:
10am September 4th – 5pm September 10th
We are looking forward to our 6th Online Showcase & hope you are too. Although you are not physically travelling to our show, there is still lots of preparation work to do in advance by us & by you! We believe that the craftsmen who do the best in our Showcases, are the ones who spent a bit of time working on their photos & their online shops to make everything work smoothly. I will go through all the things you should be thinking about in advance as the showcase approaches.
WEBSITE: Our website gets very busy in the run up to the show. You will also automatically have a “Business Card” on THE LIST. Please check links are working & we are using the correct photo. We expect you to have a reciprocal link from your site to ours.
CATALOGUE & ADVERTISING: Once again we will be producing our very popular A4 show catalogue & post it to our top 500 customers. This has been a big success for previous showcases, with many collectors desperate to get their hands on a copy. The exhibitor list will feature all exhibitors in the showcase. We will also have some advertising space in this catalogue. This WILL sell out so please book your space now if you haven’t already done so. Form is attached below. Artwork is required by 28th July 2022.
YOUR PAGE: Please be aware that the showcase will look different to everyone depending what device you are using to view it. We do recommend that customers view the site on a tablet, laptop or computer to get a better experience, but it can also be easily viewed on a mobile phone. We are not able to adjust the layout of pages individually, so all pages will have the same template.
Your page in the showcase will include the following:
Business Name, you name & location: At the top of your page, you will have your business name, your personal name & your location. This information will be taken from your contract.
Photo Gallery: All pages can have up to 12 photos displayed. (you may have paid extra for more photos in which case you can have up to 20 photos) There is more information below about what photos you should send us, so please read this VERY CAREFULLY. If you are not confident in taking photos, please read the other documents attached about taking photos etc.
Links: Under your photos, you will have buttons that connect to your website, email & social media. We will take these links from your contract. PLEASE make sure these links are correct. We will try to test all links & will not add any links that aren’t working. There is also a ‘SHOP’ button at the top of your page above the photo gallery. This button will go directly to either your webshop on your website, or your Etsy store. If you have both a webshop & an Etsy store, please make it Clear to us which you want us to use for the shop button. Both your website & Etsy store will also be accessible from the buttons below the photos, but the SHOP button is a quick & easy way for customers to get straight to your main selling pages online.
Text: Underneath your links will be a write up about you & your work. This can be up to 200 words long. Customers really enjoyed reading these & we recommend, that if you took part in the online show in July, you try to alter your text for this show. We recommend that you have one paragraph about the history of you & your business & then the second paragraph can be updated for each online show about new items you have been working on, stories about the past few months etc etc.
OVER TO YOU: Once the customer has left your page on our showcase, it will be up to you to make sure they can find what they want easily. It is important to spend time working on your webshop or etsy store before the showcase to get it ready. Make sure the items shown on your page of the showcase are easy to find in your webstore. They should be listed 1st if possible. Some craftsmen had a special Etsy page created for the showcase which went live when the showcase opened. This worked well too.
Remember that customers may need to contact you with questions or messages during the showcase, so make sure you are checking your email & social media etc regularly.
POSTAGE & PACKING: You will be posting orders to the UK & overseas, so make sure you have prices ready before the showcase so you can inform customers of the costs. Remember both you & the customers have saved money by not going to a LIVE event, so you may be happy to subsidize postage a little to help their costs, but they should be equally happy to pay postage of items.
LDF LOYALTY CARD: We will allow all 2022 members access to the Spring Showcase from 10am on February 4th.
SPECIAL OFFERS: Some exhibitors offered a discount to customers shopping from their site during the Showcase. This worked well. It was usually a discount code that could be used on their webshop or Etsy Store.
PIMA: As you have taken part in one of our events, you are now eligible to enter the PIMA 2023. This will take place at our Summer Show in May next year. Prizes will be as last year: 1st Prize £6000, 2nd Prize £3000 & 3rd Prize £1500. The competition is open to anyone who has taken part in our shows (including online show). We will send you more information on the competition soon.
FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM: We will be posting on our Facebook & Instagram in the run up to the show. We may use photos sent in by you for the showcase to promote the event & you personally. We would ask however, that you do not share photos of items you have made for the showcase in advance on social media. We like there to be an element of surprise for the customers visiting the showcase including lots of new miniatures!
SCAM EMAILS: Please be aware that LDF exhibitors are still receiving emails from various companies saying they can give you advance access to the attendance list for the KDF show or offering cheap hotel rooms. Any email that is officially from KDF will be signed by me & be sent from the @dollshouseshowcase.com email address. Any emails about the show from other email addresses are SCAMS! Please also be aware that Scammers may try to contact you during the showcase. We recommend that you take a deposit for any orders from customers, especially if you do not know them.
YOUR WORK: The Festival remains a special event because of your fantastic work. Just because the event is online, does not mean that the work shown should be of a lower quality. Customers are reassured that we at LDF always check craftsmen’s work before accepting them for our shows & our Online show is no different. Do not display work that is not up to scratch!
OFFICE IS CLOSED: I am on Summer Break at the moment, but working through & would be happy to help in any way I can. Please only contact me by EMAIL or you can call or whatsapp on +44 (0)7976 715 679.
