So, in my day job, manage servers and networks for small businesses and even my own full rack of servers in a datacenter on Staten Island. Because of that, many have noticed the tech-end of my vending is always on point.
Lately when vending in a remote location with limited Wi-Fi and poor coverage from major mobile networks, I’ve been sharing my small access point with a few vendors, and we’ve often been of the small few who are able to process credit cards, apple pay, and the like. The reason I am often (not always) but often able to get access when others don’t is not only do I bring a dedicated Wi-Fi Hotspot (instead of using my phone) but also because I use external cellular antenna to boost the reach.
The antennae have magnets and I magnet them to my tent or sometimes something taller and metal nearby. The higher I get the antenna and the more open the area, the better they work. This combination of hotspot and antenna allows me to sometimes have a “useable” connection and others, a connection so strong my son was playing Roblox while others nearby couldn’t process credit cards.
In the future, because sharing is caring, I’m adding an external WIFI Access Point that can reach out about 200meters so that more vendors can piggy-back off my setup because honestly, when others do well, we do well. A tight-knit vending community has made all the difference in my journeys through this maze.
My basic advice at this point, is bring your own internet, don’t rely on the venue to provide it for you as there will be a lot of people competing for it and at that same point, do your research and plan out how you are going to set things up so that you will always have a better chance at access than not.
My jars light my booth and tend to sell themselves once they light up, so in this case, lighting is not my issue, but I’ve always spent a lot of effort improving my lighting and how I light things for my photography and such.
PuzzlingMoments at Lunar Faire (Readington River Buffalo Farm) 5/18/2022
If you search the wrong places for the wrong things, lighting can look and feel expensive, but if you get a little creative, lighting can be inexpensive and drive a LOT of business to your booth. At our last faire (Lunar Faire at Readington River Buffalo Farm) we went as far as putting a LED Light Wand with repeating pattern on a tripod and sticking it in the middle of a walkway so that people could see “hey there are vendors down there”. It acted like a beacon.
But one thing I will promise, is if people have to squint to see what you are selling, or use their phones flashlights to see your products, you likely won’t do nearly as well. Especially as the night goes on and people have to decide what they want to use their precious phone battery on.
Disclaimers
Any links to Amazon in this posting, are using an Amazon Affiliate Link, and while it won’t cost you anything, I will get a referral fee. Any links to Walmart or Habor Freight are specifically NOT affiliate links, and you can also feel free to just use my advice to search on your own. The information and advice I give is 100% free!
I am going to stay away from traditional AAA & AA light options till the very end, as I personally prefer rechargeable lights or normal cord powered lights, since they are so much easier to work with.
Inexpensive
On the inexpensive end you have COB lights. COB lights or Chip on Board LEDs are usually identified by the fact that the Light source part of the light will look like Yellow Squares, Circles or a Strip. They are manufactured as a bonded entity or chip directly on substrate, which allows them to make more efficient use of space and emit a lot of light in a tiny package.
COB likes come in many form factors. The ones I linked to with the image above can be easily zip-tied to canopy structures or set on the ground to highlight signage. They are USB rechargeable and because of that you don’t need to worry about replacing batteries all the time. Cob Lights normally have a High, Low and Strobe (or emergency) effect. But even the LOW is often brighter than you need or sometimes want.
I recently picked up one of these Vivitar 3 Panel Foldable LED Lights at Walmart. I wanted to test it as a backup to my main lights. IT’s Bright, it can be mounted and then the light directed in different orientations and directions. It’s a great multi direction light. I helped a fellow vendor by mounting this to one of their corner posts, with tent frame connector that I bought off amazon. The light was able to shine light down on top and from the side of the vendors’ products making them easier to see, and less people needing to use phone flashlights to see things as the evening dimmed. One great feature of this light is that it has a standard 1/4 20 or Tripod connector at the bottom so they can be used with Table Clamps, or tripods to provide an even better lighting experience.
I have yet to use a table/desk mount stand for my lights, preferring to do a more organic/photography theme using extra Cameras with light attachments or inexpensive tripods for my accent lighting, but as I mentioned above these stands can clip to the inside of your tables with your lights projecting out inviting people in to see your products and not blinding you all night by facing inwards.
Accent Lights
Now one thing I love to talk about, is accent lighting. This is the lighting that draws attention, that increases the “presence” of your brand, and helps spark the imagination of your customers. At a night faire, like LunarFaire, Fairy Lights are often used. And they are GREAT! I’ve started a whole vending business based on the use of Fairy Lights. Fairy Lights are more technically Micro LED lights on bare or coated thin copper wire. They don’t provide a TON of light, but they provide a lot of accents. They can be Multi-Color, Solid Color or even Warm or Cool white.
One thing I don’t see a lot of people using, are other, brighter forms of RGB/LED Lights. Light-Wands with 1/2 20 holes or mounted in other ways can act as beacons drawing visitors to your booth. I bought two Bower 360 Degree RGB & White light wands from Walmart. They charge via a USB-Type-A to USB-Type-C cable that is included, and they lasted for about 3 hours each. I will state that when they were in a “pastel” repeating power mode, shortly before they ran out of battery, the colors changed from pastel pink/blue/lavender and white to a harsher Red. Green, Blue and Yellow pattern. After a bit of rest and recharging the wands returned to the normal pastel pattern I loved and worked great. When they did turn to the harsher colors, I was able to cycle them to a more traditional Rainbow RGB mode and they were good colors. Just know you may need to adjust them.
There are similar options from amazon as well. They are generally more expensive but come with lighting stands, and remotes for managing. The set I linked above has caught my eye but know I haven’t used it yet. So, I don’t know about it will work in the long run.
Upgraded Lighting
Now anyone that has seen my booth setup, will likely recognize these lights. I bought them primarily for traveling photography as they are battery or wall power powered. they have adjustable white tones, and can go from bright, to overly-excessively-bright. They come with a travel bag, standard light stands, can be used vertically or horizontally or even handheld. The standard Sony battery type can accept extended use batteries and this particular kit comes not only with two batteries (one for each light) but also includes battery chargers and wall-wart style power cords to power them from a portable power source if you don’t wish to use the batteries. I first chose these lights because I have both Cameras and other accessories that use the same battery format and I can Mix and Match when needed, and because the adjustable lights make photography at night in a field or a forest a breeze.
Battery Lights
Instead of full paragraphs on all these, I am going to dump a bunch of links to battery lights. They can be hung from hooks, attacked with zip ties and some even have magnets to attach to metal portions of your tent. The batteries will normally be fine for 1 or even 2 days of use, but you will likely want to have 1 spare set of batteries on hand for every light to make sure you don’t end up with a dark booth.
So those are my primary recommendations for lighting. I will often make sure I have plenty of charging power on hand (my vehicle, my solar battery stations, a phone charger bank or a generator for instance) to make sure I can power my lights when needed.
If you would like more help including with cheap places to find linkable “shop style” lights, or how to add accents to your setup, send me a message on TikTok (@puzzlingmoments), Facebook (@PuzzlingMoments) or Instagram (@PuzzlingMoments)! You can even use the Messenger Chat box in the bottom right-hand corner of this webpage.
