There are certain days at Market Street Creatives that remind us exactly why we started this journey and why we continue to pour so much of ourselves into growing this community.
Yesterday was one of those days.
Melissa McClellan of Le Fleur & Fables Booktique came to us with an idea to host a BookishCon event at MSC. I will admit, at first I did not fully understand what an event like this would involve or what kind of attendance it could bring. But Melissa was passionate, organized, and confident in her vision, so we did everything we could to support her and help bring the event to life.
A few days before the event, I learned that she had over 60 vendors signed up and more than 400 tickets sold. I could not believe what was in store for us.
Vendors began arriving in droves at 8:00 AM to set up, including food trucks, outside vendors, and participating creators. The event officially started at 11:00 AM, and before the doors even opened, there was already a massive line of people waiting to get in at the entrance to The Warehouse in Room 2.
What happened over the next five hours was nothing short of incredible.
Cars filled every available space in all of our parking lots and lined the streets surrounding the building. The aisles of the event were packed, and by noon, the aisles of the store were equally busy. We had two registers going all day, and the activity did not slow down until around 4:30 PM.
More importantly, the event introduced Market Street Creatives to a huge number of new people.
Throughout the day, I spent time talking with vendors and customers, and I would estimate that around 75% of the people I spoke with had never been to MSC before. Many of them were excited to discover us and said they planned to come back and make MSC a regular destination.
That means this event was not only a major success for the charity BookishCon supported, but it was also a massive marketing success for Market Street Creatives and all of our vendors.
As I spoke with Melissa and many of the participating vendors, I kept asking one question: What made this event so successful?
Of course, a huge part of the success came from Melissa’s incredible ability to organize, promote, and execute an event of this size. But there was another major reason this event worked so well.
The secret was that the vendors promoted it.
They posted on their own Facebook and Instagram pages. They shared Melissa’s posts. They talked about the event in advance. They invited their own followers, customers, friends, and communities. And they did not just post once and hope for the best. Many vendors told me they posted several times a week leading up to the event.
And the best part is that this type of marketing costs nothing.
That is the lesson every vendor at MSC should take away from yesterday.
Your space at Market Street Creatives is your store. While we do everything we can to bring awareness to MSC and drive traffic through advertising, events, partnerships, the railroad, and other promotions, each vendor also plays an important role in promoting their own business.
Post a photo of your space. Share a product you are excited about. Let people know where they can find you. A simple post a couple of times per week that says, “Come visit my store at Market Street Creatives,” can make a real difference.
Now imagine what would happen if all 220+ vendors did this consistently.
The kind of traffic we saw yesterday does not have to be a once-in-a-while event. With all of us working together, days like that can become much more common.
We cannot do it alone. We are always here to help each vendor in any way we can, but we need your help too. When you promote your own store, you are not only helping your business; you are helping bring more people into MSC as a whole. More traffic benefits everyone.
Another important takeaway is this: if you have an idea for a class, workshop, event, demonstration, pop-up, or special experience, please talk to us.
Big or small, we want to hear your ideas. Let us help you think through it, plan it, promote it, and bring it to life. Events like this create opportunities for vendors to make money, attract new customers, and bring more awareness to Market Street Creatives.
MSC is a team effort.
The more we all work together, promote each other, support each other, and create reasons for people to visit, the more successful everyone will be.
Congratulations to Melissa on an absolutely amazing event. Thank you for your vision, your hard work, and your commitment to making BookishCon such a success.
Thank you as well to everyone on the MSC team who worked so hard throughout the day, from managing parking and helping vendors, to working the registers, staffing the bars, handling setup, and cleaning up afterward.
Days like yesterday remind Rob, Lynn, and me why we have invested so much of our lives into Market Street Creatives. We are building something truly special here, and we are continuing to grow because of the vendors, creators, customers, and team members who believe in what MSC can become.
Thank you to all of our vendors for being part of this community.
-Erick Royer