It's that time of year again! The weather is warm and craft shows are starting to be scheduled. Are you ready to start looking for events?

We all know how profitable a craft show can be. Offline events are perfect for getting the word out about your business and making new contacts. What could be better than hundreds of shoppers walking right up to you and saying hello?

The most difficult part of a craft show is actually locating them before all the tables are booked. If you have never attended an event before, be prepared to spend several shows stuffed in the very back at a last minute table. Many of us start out like this, but as soon as you get on "the lists", your table location WILL be better.

The following idea for locating events is brand new, and given to us by a "neighbor" at our last craft show. While chatting with her, she pulls out a book and asked if we had this. It was titled "Iowa Calendar of Events", and was FULL of events for all over the state. Granted there were many events that do not accept vendors (theater dates, car shows, etc), but the list of shows that did accept vendors was amazing. All events were listed by date, complete with location and contact information. Perfect!

While this information might have been great for us being in Iowa, you might ask what good does it do for the rest of you in different states. I'll tell you - this booklet was free from our travel information website. All we had to do is go online and request a free copy. Iowa has a very limited amount of sights to see, yet we still have a travel website. This to me says other states have the same kind of information on website or with local offices.

There's a few ways to find out if your state has information like this:

- Check your state website
Often times the travel and event information will be right on your government website.

- Search online
Use terms like "travel" or "tourism" with your state to see if there's a specific website.

- Local offices
If all else fails, contact your state government offices to see if anything in print is offered.

Even in a small state like Iowa, we were able to find a list that will keep us booked every month for the entire craft fair season. Once you have your information, the easy part is contacting those on the list. Easy!