This post may be a bit more candid than it needs to be but I thought I could use the opportunity to share my experience here. Today I had two situations in which I felt blindsided by a salesman’s pitch. You know those times… The guy walks/calls up and seems extra friendly and even interested in you personally. He asks a couple of questions to get you talking about your interests. Then he aligns himself with you as ‘on your side’. As conversation continues, he slowly begins talking about what he has to offer you. Before you know it, you have been pressured into an awkward situation in which you must listen to his spiel or you look like the jerk.
I don’t buy that garbage.
The fact is my “marketing strategy” is to pour myself into what I love doing and then post about whatever I am jazzed about at the moment on social media and my blog. That’s it. I’ve found that being transparent and genuinely pumped about your work is the way to be. This magazine has grown to develop the following it has not because I am a really tricky salesman or can recite to you all of my accomplishments as an artisan. I just love pre-industrial furniture making and want to interact with people about it. I am so grateful that there are so many of you out there that also love this stuff enough to support Mike and I doing it. Everything you purchase from our store goes to putting food on our tables. Our wives and young children thank you.
So thank you, readers, for keeping our lights on so we can keep doing this. We promise to never trick you or cram hard sales pitches down your throat. We know you’re here because you want to be here. We don’t need to sell ourselves.