Let’s go to dinner. My treat. You’ll love the restaurant and get something unexpected to take home with you.
Our maĂ®tre ‘d is gracious and welcoming. We immediately feel like honoured guests as he seats us at a softly lit table with a pristine white tablecloth and sparkling silverware.
The room is filled with quiet conversation and easy laughter that weaves its way through the mellow sound of the gleaming baby grand piano in the corner. We settle in and ready ourselves for what’s to come.
The chef has prepared our menu.
I’m acquainted with a professional artisan who does no advertising. She doesn’t have a blog, a Facebook fan page, Etsy shop or Twitter account. She has studio staff and has grown a successful small business.
Want to know her secret?
She does everything deliberately.
So you’ve had a little time to banish objections and self-made intimidation. This next part is simple—come up with one thing to improve your first impression. One. Here are a few ideas to get you going:
Firm up your handshake
Take a look at your business card (do you have a business card?). Does it feel like you? Is it still fresh, or does it feel stale, or maybe even generic? Are you proud to put it in someone’s hand? Does it fit in with everything else you use to promote your work?
Spruce up your retail or trade show booth (or your studio, storefront or home office). Update the colour of the backdrop, clean up your signage, or think about some new display props. If you’re showing your work on pegboard, this is the year to get rid of it. Pegboard is for hanging tools.
Last time I sent you on a virtual field trip to analyze a brand. I promised to give you the in-person low-down, so here it is.
Cora’s is a most-of-the-day breakfast restaurant. The logo is a hand-drawn smiling sun. If you go to Cora’s during peak dining time, there are lineups. If you go a half hour before closing on Sunday, it’s still busy. If you go half an hour before closing during the week, there are lots of empty tables, but the covered dish of complimentary fudge near the cash register looks like a pack of grizzly bears went through it.
Last time I talked about how easy it is to break your brand (and how some people can take it personally). I’ve since reattached my head (more or less), and thought it might be fun to have a look at a brand for a bricks-and-mortar business. Since we’re scattered all over creation, we can’t climb on a tour bus, so we’ll go on a virtual field trip instead.
