A craftsperson once told me a story about a couple who remarked how much fun her work must be. She replied, “Well it would be if someone actually bought something!”

The craftsperson was having a bad day.

The nice people went away.

There’s a school of thought that seems to suggest if you do something you’re passionate about, it must be all kinds of fun, all the time.

You know better.

There are days when you get a little frustrated. And there are those days when you want to throw in the towel, snap your paintbrush in two, pitch your computer out the window, or strike the word “creative” from the collective vocabulary until the end of time.

Okay, maybe that last one is just me. But whatever your frustrations are, they’re best expressed with discretion.

Listen carefully to bridge the gap
When you encounter someone who sees creative pursuits as fun, it might be because she considers your work a hobby. That person might be a lost cause. But it’s possible “work” in her world is something decidedly not fun. It doesn’t occur to her that artists, designers, writers and other creatives work as hard as anyone else.

She might think that way because she needs to believe it’s true. She needs to believe there’s something better that what she’s currently stuck with, and on that particular day, her “something better” is you.

So what do you do with that?

Our craftsperson could have said something like, “It’s not fun all the time. I have to do a lot of production, and that’s hard work. But as far as jobs go, this one is pretty great. What kind of work do you do?”

People like it when you show interest in them. Once you create a little rapport, you can steer the conversation back to what you have for sale.

At the very least, you can help one more person understand what you do for a living.

Watch for emotion and enhance the experience
Or you could follow those words to their source. When someone responds to your work, what she says simply reflects how she feels about it. “Doing this must be so much fun!” is pure emotion. It’s a mighty good feeling, too.

You can take that sentiment and turn it into an experience your potential customer wants to take home with her. You can chat with her a little, giving her a glimpse into your creative practice. That could be enough for her to decide she’d like to buy something.

If she doesn’t buy, she still leaves with a good impression of you and an interesting story to tell her friends—you did remember to tell her something interesting, yes? She might come back or one of her friends might come looking for you.

Get out of your own head and pay attention. If you do it right, what starts as a frustrating comment can end with a sale.

Share your opinion
What’s the best comment you ever got from a customer? What’s the worst comment you’ve ever heard? Have you ever turned a strange encounter into a great selling opportunity?

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When was the last time you got a handwritten letter in the mail? We don’t see many handwritten letters anymore, or printed letters carefully laid out on beautiful stationery. It’s a treat when it happens. You get a little thrill when a package arrives in the mail, even if it’s something you bought and paid for yourself.

In my imagination, a new bank starts up. They send me a yo-yo, with the word “Steady…” engraved on the face. The introductory letter says something like, “We know how it feels, watching the ups and downs of the economy. We’re here to help you plan sensibly for a more secure future, so you can enjoy today.”

I know. A bank run by real people instead of profit-crazed bureaucrats. Fat chance. But a yo-yo, that would be cool. There is something truly magical about being in a state of Yo.

Imagine you receive a formal invitation to a tea party at an artist’s studio, printed on pristine white card stock, in flowing script, as if you were being invited to visit the Queen. Or a coupon for a new Asian restaurant, printed on the wrapper of a pair of chopsticks. Bring them in and get an appetizer for half price.

I may have an overdeveloped sense of fun, or maybe I like high-end gimmicks.

Or perhaps it’s a finely tuned sense of the tactile.

Kids interact with the world by touching things. It’s one of the ways they learn. Parents tell them not to touch, to keep them safe and to teach them about social norms. But we never outgrow our need for it. That’s why pet therapy is so effective. It’s one of the reasons wrapping your hands around your favourite coffee mug is so satisfying.

So what if you went old school and literally put something in the hands of a customer? Create a carefully crafted message that’s short, sweet, to the point and perfectly aligned with your personal style. Something sent to a chosen few.

Make a series of cartoons; number each one in the series. Each is part of a story that will be revealed when recipients bring their cartoon to a party. Or, if you and your customers are tech-savvy, arrange a private online event for everyone to upload the cartoon you sent them by email.

Engaging someone’s imagination, their sense of touch, their sense of fun, is a powerful way to connect. Treat their attention like a gift—because it is.

What kind of message would delight you?

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