Thursday, May 17, 2007

The Five Senses (and Selling)

A few weekends ago, a friend invited me to bring my wares to a Mother's Day home show. I had a lovely time and learned a lot, especially seeing my purses in action. I watched as ladies stroked, scrutinized and swung my purses over their shoulders. Being primarily an on-line seller, I rarely get to see people interact with my products. The home show gave me a much better idea of which fabrics work (and which don't!). While selling on-line appeals to my shy and retiring nature, I miss sharing with customers the tactile joy I get from textiles. (I often stop friends on the street and ask them if I can feel their clothes...I've learned to do this tactfully through much trial and error.) It would be great if selling on-line could appeal to all five senses instead of just one. Smell-o-vision for everybody!

Another highlight of the evening was an order for a handbag/wallet set from my most excellent hostess. Here's a photo of the complete set:


I'm especially pleased with the button decoration - my embroidery skills are usually rather dull.


Note to self: ask Bill Gates about Smell-o-vision and the interweb at next neighborhood bbq.

5 comments:

Steph said...

I am such a wimp about home parties.

I need to hire a sales consultant!

It would be interesting to watch what people pick up though.

The set is really terrific looking!

Jenn Maruska said...

Beautiful set! I love the colors : )

maia (glassbeach) said...

Steph-I'm much better at selling other people's items at home shows than my own.

Thanks, Steph and Jenn for your kind words about my new set!

Sandra Eileen said...

I agree you just can't beat that personal interaction with the oject of interest.

http://artisan-jewelry.blogspot.com/

Akhila said...

Beautiful, beautiful set. Just found and been browsing you blog, Etsy Shop, Flickr....

Everything just fantastic. I will come back often. So inspirational you are...

Thanks,
Akhila