Selling the Experience
I do feel like I’ve gone to the dark side, performed some sort of mortal sin and put Borders out of business (three stores are closing in the Los Angeles area). Why all these feelings? Well, two weeks ago, I got a Kindle.
Although I am often times on the cutting edge of new technology, I was not an early adopter of the eReader technology. In fact, I was pretty dead set against the idea of a device replacing the experience of holding and reading a book. The feel of the paper, the quiet sound of the pages turning as you travel with the author into his imagined world.
However, what I’ve to come realize is that Amazon is not “replacing” the book, but rather enhancing the experience of reading. The weight of the current version of the Kindle is about that of a paperback book. It is slightly larger than a paperback, but thinner and it fits neatly in my purse – like a thin day-runner (when those where so popular). For any book I purchase for my Kindle, I can adjust the font size and line spacing. Not to mention, I can have any book with just a few clicks and it is less money than going to the store and buying the physical book. There are also hundreds of free titles (stuff in the public domain). The best part, although I haven’t tried it yet, is that I can share a book I’ve purchased with a friend.
I’m not trying to sell you on buying a Kindle. What I wanted to talk about is the experience you create for your customers. When they enter your booth at an arts & crafts fair, do they feel welcomed with a friendly smile? When they purchase your art, what experience will they have when they look at it or use the piece, year after year? Is there a story that they learned from you that enhances the experience? When their friends admire it, will they smile and retell that story or talk about how they met you at this off-beat hole-in-the-wall gallery?
Think about your experience creating the piece – how did it make you feel and how can you transfer this energy over to the purchaser? You want to get your customers talking about you and your work. Think about the art you’ve purchased and how you feel about it. I bet the pieces you treasure the most, are the most passionate about, have an experience tied to them either in the past or one that is created each time it is used. For me, that’s the cool part of creating functional ceramic ware, because when it is handled an experience is created.
© 2011 Heather C. Morrow. All rights reserved
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Heather C. Morrow, owner of Pottery Daily, helps emerging artists express their true value and get paid what they are worth. Her products and services show you how to make more money, save more time while enjoying the freedom in your art. For your FREE audio go to www.marketandsellyourart.com.
February 27th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Great insights, Heather! And great thing to think about when it comes to bookstores and the kind of experience they create. I love just visiting bookstores and being around books. Maybe we can re-imagine bookstores as social spaces, where we gather and share thoughts and ideas in person–and have that “experience” you speak so beautifully about? That way those places cannot be replaced? What do you think?
February 28th, 2011 at 2:49 am
Ollin, thanks for reading the article. I also enjoy bookstores and am a bit devastated that so many are closing. However, I think there is definitely a shift taking place and physical books are going to become something more of exclusive commodity. I think it’s going to probably be a similar shift that the music industry went through with the mega stores closing and CDs being sold through coffee galleries instead. One thing is for sure, we will not stop reading and sharing those works that interest us.