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Doesn’t sound much like the holidays, right? This is one of the shows that we are doing. Before doing this business, I wouldn’t have imagined that motorcycle enthusiast would be interested in swap meets during the colder months. I guess it makes sense though. If you have interests or a passion for motorcycles, of course you would want to enhance your bike in the off season. Maybe pick up a deal here or there. Why not.
Well we’ve done a few biker events as you’ve probably read and and I would say we were embraced and patronized well. Definitely well enough to do more biker type events. I would have to say this wasn’t what I expected, but what do I know. Once you put a request into the universe and the gears get to churnin’, all sorts of surprises may be on the way. This was one of them.
Talk with you soon, Constant Reader
This is a term I’ve had to repeat to myself over and over again. One thing I’ve said before is that I love the artistic aspect of this business. It isn’t like making fine art but it is making a rugged type of jewelry that people can wear everyday. As I’m preparing for an event, I get all these ideas of new things, Key Chains, bracelets, , necklaces, different colors and the like. Sometimes the ideas just come flooding out and I try and make them as fast as the ideas come.
There is only one problem. I can go down the road of exploring so many new ideas and tying new and intricate bracelets, that it is easy to lose focus and get distracted. I’m doing it right now.
Recently I started making a new bracelet with a dog tag, that we are developing, attached and it prompted a bunch of other design ideas. The problem with all the new ideas is if the process of making them is systematically different they slow me down and don’t allow me to make the amount of stock that I believe I will need for a show or event. Mind you that it is important to have something to sell. Something for people to be able to pickup and manipulate in their hands and decide if they will be able to purchase. I can’t go to the show, any show, with pictures and a bunch of order forms so I can’t take peoples orders and send it to them later. I don’t believe people expect that. It’s one thing if they are asking for something custom or something that has a unique process. It is a total different thing or expectation when people see you in person. They want to see that you actually created the item. I’ve wrote before how many times it has surprised people that I make them in the first place. Frankly I think people think I buy them. I’ve had several ask me how did I get my wife to make these for me. Now my wife is one of the most giving people in the world and I love her for that, but she isn’t about to just make hundreds of bracelets for me and send me on my merry way. I like making the items and I like talking to people about them. Actually it’s fun to surprise them.
So I’m going to stay focused, Constant Reader, and get back to work.
First of all. Today as I write this it is Election Day 2012. I voted and you should have also. Nuff said.
I spent a few weeks after our last event researching some shows to do during the holiday season. This isn’t as easy as I thought. There were a couple shows, where there was a deadline for signing up, then the event planners were still requesting vendors to be in the show. This is with a fairly high price and no indication of expected crowd or anything. Needless to say I didn’t go down that road. With all this being so new to me, I’ve found it quite necessary to follow my gut with these events. Actually I’ve always depended on my gut or intuition to guide me to the right path.
There was another event in Bridgeport, MI that sounded promising. Once I called, the number is either changed or disconnected. Can you say Red Flag? Needless to say I didn’t do that one. There were a couple of bigger shows that I considered but that little voice kept popping up in me saying that it might be over my head. I had to remind myself that the very first event was what I would call a big one: 2012 Bikes on the Bricks. While we were doing that event, I really felt that making it through this would really bolster my confidence for just about any show. I was right.
More to come, Constant Reader.
You may remember me speaking about the local coffee shop and the owner allowing me to place a few bracelets at her shop. Today I stopped by and figured I would pick up the remainder of the bracelets as well as drop her gift off.
Maybe I didn’t speak of her gift. I told her the last time we spoke the least I could do would be to make her a bracelet of her choice. She picked a white and black two color with a pink ribbon. It looked really nice and I was looking forward to seeing what she thought of it. I mean really, she said she doesn’t want me to pay her for selling the bracelets, I’ve got to do something.
Well she really like the bracelet and I even made her a matching key chain. I hope she really enjoys them.
Back to the matter at hand. When I got there, she told me that she sold 8 bracelets and had just sold 1 key chain earlier this same day. I was very pleased that people seem to really like them and hopefully they will spread the word about them. Like I said I was planning on taking the remainder with me and she offered to keep them on her counter if I didn’t need them right away. I told her that I had a couple shows later this month but I didn’t need them at this moment. I think I’ll stop by in another week or so. Her generosity astounds me.
I hope to honor her and pay it forward very soon.
I’ll check with you soon, Constant Reader.
Well sort of. We were in the same room and I was just a few feet from him. Well maybe more than a few feet. It was more like 50 feet. Maybe you get my point.
He came to Flint to Mott Community College for the Lecture Series that they have periodically. Daymond John was the keynote speaker for the night and was there to speak to our residents about his life story and business experiences. With starting this endeavor, I’ve realized there is so much to learn, so I was looking forward to going. He was quite interesting and hit on a lot of points that I believe can help me and others in our businesses.
My wife, Amy and I decided we wanted to go and asked our children if they would like to go as well. They tagged along and we made our way to the college. There was a real nice turn out and they even had to open the bleachers to allow for more seating of the overflow crowd.
He spoke on many topics and related all of them to his acronym:
S et Goals
H omework (Do your homework before starting in any endeavor)
A more (Love what you do)
R emember you are the brand
K eep Swimming (Keep moving forward and don’t stop)
I’m ashamed to say but I used the program to right notes and boy was I writing notes. I look forward to utilizing many of his suggestions
I had told my friend that I had wanted to do the Breast Cancer walk as a vendor, but when I contacted the “Making Strides” group, I was told that they didn’t permit outside vendors, only their sponsors. Most of these were local and national companies, like General Motors, Kroger and a few local hospitals that deal with cancer research. My friend suggested perhaps this will be the way to make some sales without going through the big organization. I liked the idea.
Once I get in the shop I go up to my friend and introduce myself to the shop owner. She seems like a real nice, no nonsense lady and she asks right away to see what I’ve got. I take out a flyer and show her and while she is reading it I tell her that I’m not sure exactly what good it will do at this point with the Making strides for Breast Cancer Walk coming up on the very next day. She agrees regarding the flyer and it seems like a light bulb went on and she has an epiphany. She suggests that if I’ve already got a few bracelets in the Breast Cancer Pink Ribbon theme, that she can put them in a jar on her counter. She then goes to the storage area of her shop and finds what looks like a two (2) gallon glass jar. We count out all the bracelets so we both know what we are dealing with and she puts the big jar right on her counter. She even tapes one of the flyers on the counter adjacent to the jar. I took out all the items I had at the time, 22 Bracelets and 15 key chains, all themed with the Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon.
I asked her how much I owed her for this wonderful generosity: NOTHING, is what she said. Amazing is about all that I can say to describe it. The suggestion by my friend and ultimately the sheer kindness of this shop owner just blows me away.
Until next time. I’ll see you soon Constant Reader.
The thought that came to my mind when the events I described in the previous two posts was that it is important to always be ready for the unexpected. This whole scenario was unexpected, but I was prepared. I made a lot of items for the Victory Biker Church Breast Cancer Ride as well as Breast Cancer Awareness month in general and the items that I had already completed worked perfectly for this scenario. I’m excited to see how things work out.
In addition to Always be Closing, I am working at thinking ahead as well. I have been scouring the local area for shows that we can do. The two shows that we did earlier, were great successes in my book. Not just monetarily but in terms of making contacts. With each show I got so many ideas about other designs and colorations to make. People were so helpful and I always make every attempt to utilize every idea offered to me. It is impossible for me to know everything and I truly depend on the help of others to point me in the right direction in many areas.
Next time, Constant Reader, I should be able to give and update on how the deal at the Coffee Shop went. Until then.
Actually I couldn’t wait to write this post. I was so shocked at the events of earlier today that after it happened, I pulled out my journal and jotted down a few notes while they were fresh in my mind. What happened…well here goes.
I received a call from a friend of mine. I’ll leave her name out since I forgot to ask her if I could publish this story with her name and everything. She called and was wondering if I could meet with her. I didn’t have anything pressing going on at the moment and I told her that I could meet with her. The other day she bought a Gray and Pink Camo Breast Cancer Awareness bracelet for her son, so I figured she might want to exchange it fora different size. I do this for people that make a purchase from in person if their item is a regular and not a custom coloration that would be harder to sell to someone else. Many people have bought bracelets for other people and are guessing on their size. Most guess just about right but from time to time we have to do an exchange.
Well she did want to exchange for a Black and Pink Camo bracelet. She said her son thought the other one was a little too feminine. Before she left me she told me about the Making strides for Breast Cancer walk and was going to a local coffee shop to meet with the owner. Apparently she would be working at this cafe on the next morning and she suggested that if I had a flyer that maybe I could speak with the owner and she could put the flyer up in her shop. Well that sounded like a good idea to me although I did wonder if this lady would like the idea as well as my friend. I told her I would meet her and this lady after getting my pack with a few bracelets and a couple flyers.
I walked in this shop and I really like how it looks. I had never been in this shop nor am I much of a coffee drinker, so this place was off of my radar. My friend and the shop owner are at the rear of the shop. The first thing that pops in my mind is Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote, “Do something everyday that frightens you”. I had no real reason to be afraid other than this is all new and unexpected.
Next time, I’ll let you know what happened from there, Constant Reader.
As I’ve said before this guy really shocked me. After he did that first day I thought it was over. Well before his next class, he asked me several times, if I can be sure and get him a few bracelets, matching key chains, flyers and business cards. I made sure to do just that.
In the afternoon of the Saturday session of his class, he calls me and says that several guys bought bracelets, but he could use some larger ones. He was wondering if I could make a few and we could meet up and he would get the new ones and take them the next day. Well I was in my shop working on some other items, but I dropped everything to help him out. How could I not, right. This guy was going out of his way to not only help me but help out the people that he was in class with as well. I’ve always liked, even more than making the money, being told how much people enjoy the bracelets or other items and seeing the smiles and hearing the great stories. It was great hearing him say they were selling like “hotcakes” and every one liked them.
After I put together about a half dozen, I met up with him. The next week, I saw him at work. He had sold about a dozen bracelets all told, with more people wanting to buy. He even passed out lots of business cards and gave out several of the flyers. Did I say I was shocked. Well I was and I am.
In the last post I spoke of how this generosity has made me look within myself and ask several questions. I believe this will ultimately make me a better, man, husband and business owner. I’m looking forward to see how I handle these types of things in the future. This is a part of the story that hasn’t been written yet and I like that.
We’ll speak again next time, Constant Reader.
I consider myself a pretty kind and conscientious person. I’m no push over but I work at being kind, loyal and easy going to just about everyone I come in contact with. I’ve asked myself is that enough? Am I doing all that I can for others? My answer is basically: NO. In this business endeavor, I’ve come in direct contact with what I would label as true kindness, loyalty and even dare say love. Not intimate love, but the kind to do as much as you can to help someone achieve their dreams and goals. I’ve seen that in others that have come forward and helped me and as I’ve previously said, it shocked me. Their largesse, has inspired me in more ways that one to do more for others. Not in the generic way of helping the needy just to make me feel good, but to help someone I know achieve their goal. I don’t have to go out of my way or do something I’m not good at, I just have to help where ever I can.
This segues right back to what started me down this line of writing. The guy that I was speaking of came to me at the Bikes on the Bricks event and told me that he was taking a class (Firefighter type) and was wondering if he could take a few of the flyers for the Thin Red Line Bracelets. Before the class arrived he personally asked if I minded if he took a small variety of sizes of bracelets with him to the class to see how they would be received. Well I’ve worked with this guy for the last 15 years and see him every morning. I don’t really feel any reason not to trust him frankly. At the first class he sells a few bracelets and a key chain. Sounds great I thought. He did tell me that the guys really like them and wanted to buy more at their next class if I can provide him with more.
What did I do? Find out next time, Constant Reader.
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