Today's handselling went well. It helped that my dad knew all the main drags of the local beach towns. We hit Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, and Leucadia.
Selling to women is a huge market. For anything. I went into the coolest shop. Cedros Soles in the Cedros Design District. It looked like a trendy shoe shop from the front window, but it was all about the vibe inside. Jewelers were in the center showing their wares and laughing with clients, lingerie was in the back with artsy cards and a small shelving of books. Gifts and accessories with a fountain in the middle. I could’ve been in the Forum shops at Caesar’s in Vegas there were so many smiles.Purses were about to open themselves and catapult credit cards to the cash register it was so chic in there. It’s the kind of place where you don’t just want to buy a pair of dress shoes, you want to be a regular that they know by name. The kind of store women don’t tell their husbands about.
Anyway, I spoke to the book buyer there and she was very interested. Said she’d be ordering in two weeks and wanted to put some Sand in My Bra on the display shelf with the other books.
Just down the street I put three books on consignment at a beach themed gift shop. Lots of mermaids and shell gifts. But other things too.
I don’t know if consignment is worth it or not, but I gave the manager a book for free. She said she would buy one of the ones on consignment, but I felt that if I was giving her one and she liked it, she’d do a better job of selling the rest. We’ll see. I’ll check back in a week.
In Encinitas I found a store that was a girl stuff. Cards, gifts. Perfect for impulse buys and birthday shopping. They had a special section with a “Dirty Girl” theme. It wasn’t perverted, just a brand of merchandise. I spoke to the owner and she also liked the looks of Sand and we agreed that it’d do well in the Dirty Girl dresser.
It’s good to connect with these kind of store owners, but it’s not easy work. Not even for an extravert like myself. For me the rejects (not spending any money right now, we don’t have room for books), don’t take any more energy than the potentials. The energy isn’t in the conversation. It’s in the entry. The courage factor. Walking in the door, sizing up the shop, grasping their theme, shelving, style, and purpose all before getting to the counter to ask for the manager or buyer. And doing it all with a smile to look friendly and attractive, but making sure that it’s not too much of a smile so as to look shifty or insincere.
Your final paragraph sums up why many people won’t do what you did. Courage, hard work, acute observation, rejection -parts of the sell that can reap great results.
Well said, Jen. And well worth it for the satisfaction you have to feel having done it.
Bravo.
Good work Jen. I appreciate how hard this is and know I could not do it myself. I think that hand selling can be extremeley beneficial – that personal connection makes a big difference. Hope the reading goes well on Monday.
I took Sand to some similar stores in Venice and Santa Monica…it got easier as I went along and it seems to me that they pick up on your enthusiasm and also on your trepidation (so I tried to stay enthusiastic). I think that following up with the managers is important as well. I’m back in SF Jen, hope we can talk tomorrow b-4 your event or Tues.
Thanks for all your support everybody. I sincerely appreciate it right now. Huge thanks to Krista for doing the legwork in Venice and Santa Monica. It works out for me because I was not able to do it today, and will not be doing any more tomorrow before the event. I had to deal with other matters today which were exhausting. More later. Again, thanks to all…Mary, Susan, a big hug.