For your first show, I always recommend starting small and testing the market. My first venue was an all day concert event sponsored by a local radio station. We paid $600 to be there for the day. I didn't know at the time – that's expensive! We ended up doing great – we grossed over $1600 that day. But that's a big gamble. Not a lot of people have $600 to wager on a show. Now I know better. I would recommend trying a 2-3 day event that doesn't cost more than $50-250. Some of our smaller, less expensive shows have the greatest returns.

Start within your local area and see if you like it. Look in your newspapers and decide on a local show and jump right in. Hurry up and book it. Depending on space availability, vendor space is limited. The best money making shows always fill up first.

You can save a lot of time and energy by finding festivals and fairs that supply you with tables, tents and chairs. It may cost extra but your stand will be set up and taken down for you.

You can find many of your potential shows on the internet. All you have to do is a search on Yahoo or Google using the keyword “fairs” or “Festivals” and enter a location and you should have ideas galore! When conducting the search, pay attention to the anticipated crowd numbers or the past crowd numbers because if you are going to work on the weekends, you want to sell and if you want to sell, you need traffic! Go to the shows with a high traffic expectancy based on past trends.

When you conduct your Google search, consider your product. If you are going to be a food vendor, for instance, Google “Oktoberfest” because you will be surprised at the number of opportunities you will find at traditional “Oktoberfest” festivities. If you think your crafty items will sell better at a “Strawberry Festival” or “Apple Festival” then search for those festivals close in proximity to your home.

Another great resource is to talk to other vendors. Other vendors will tell you which shows are the best money making venues and which shows are the best value for your investment. They will know the vendor fees and have a relatively good idea if your product would be a good fit for the market.

Take action! Find your show, book it and GO! You'll only make money if you get out of your comfort zone and make it happen. It doesn't have to be perfect. You can always “tweak” your booth and product until you find what works. The bonus is you will have a great time and make lots of new friends.