I will be eternally grateful for your great gift of taking in to the fullest extent what it is that I
have to offer, living it, and then reflecting it back in terms of the potential experience of others.
You have given words to a process that defies words. And you’re constantly in a position to help
me continue to hone that, deeper and deeper and more and more resonantly, who I am and what I offer,
which is truly invaluable. — Jon Hansen, 
What you’ve sent me is so darn perfect it hurts! It’s a sheer pleasure to work with someone
who writes as beautifully as you do — and in “my” voice. — Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D,
You have a real gift for words. You’re really, really good at it. — Sherry Essig,
Dagnabbit, just tell me what to do!
There’s a woman at the farmers’ market who spins and sells lovely yarn. She raises many of the sheep and llamas that provide the fiber. She’s friendly, warm, and never fails to admire whatever handknit item I might be wearing. Last year, she graciously took time from her spinning to show me how to use my hand-cards (carding is part of the process of preparing wool for spinning).
I admire her wares, but I have loads of yarn and fiber already. So I’ll probably never buy yarn or spinning fiber from her.
However, this morning I noticed a sign in her booth: Freezer Lamb. Oooh, I thought. I love lamb – and I would love to buy something from her.
I didn’t know you had freezer lamb, I said.
Yes, she replied. We had a lot of boys born this year.
Yum, I replied, and waited. You see, I wasn’t quite sure I knew what “freezer lamb” really means. I think it means they’ve butchered the lamb and have it available for sale, frozen. But I didn’t want to appear stupid.
We did the small-talk thing for a few more seconds, and I went off to buy my veggies.
On the way home, I noticed a sign I’ve seen many times before. Pinned to a mailbox on the side of the road, it reads Drought-Tolerant Plants: $3.
I’m a gardener. As you may have noted from my posts about saving water, I am a drought-aware gardener. Three bucks for drought-tolerant plants is really interesting to me.
I’ve never bought a plant for them, although I’ve been driving past that sign for years.
What’s wrong with this picture?
You could say it’s my fault for not asking about the lamb, and not driving up the driveway next to the drought-tolerant mailbox.
I say it’s the seller’s responsibility to make it clear to me what I need to do next.
Especially when I’ve made a leading statement (I didn’t know you had freezer lamb).
Tell me what freezer lamb is – what’s available, and for how much. Tell me if I’m supposed to drive up your driveway, and if so, what times you’re willing to have strangers arriving in your front yard.
Tell me what to do if you want to make a sale!
Posted: August 25th, 2009 under Marketing.