Finding a Product to Sell in a Busy Market
The first question you must ask yourself is what holds your interest captive. As famous typography artist Jessica Hische says (and beautifully lettered), “the work that you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” Is that not the most telling statement you’ve ever heard? Well, as long as you don’t translate that into your new career as a professional binge-watcher. Hey, we can all dream.
In my experience, I always loved paper and cards — the tactile nature of it. But I didn’t get into my true passions until halfway in when I found calligraphy and lettering. I was completely obsessed with it, and that was pretty rare for me. I was watching videos of letterers on Instagram all night long. Remember, you have to start with finding the magical thing that holds your mind hostage, not just do it for the money. Something that challenges you on a cellular level, yet you find yourself falling more in love with every day. The end-goal is unattainable, but in a way that keeps you reaching, happily, into the unknown and continuing to challenge yourself.
If you’re trying to figure out what the hell to do with your life and don’t even have a product or service to sell, you might want to go back a few years. What did you used to want to do before the hustle and bustle of life commandeered your mind? What held your interest as a teenager? You might have to go back to a more immature version of yourself, but it was still you back there. Don’t be lazy about this, because you have to find what makes you tick, or you’ll never find out what it is you were meant to do.
The task of “finding yourself” is really just throwing yourself into something you feel good about, giving a real solid shit about it, and giving it an honest effort.
A few ideas to get your juices flowing:
— Try out a bunch of different things and see if anything sticks.
— Realize that your childhood dream might not be feasible, but considering what different versions of this dream are — bracket out the things related to your chosen genre: are there more possibilities?
— Figuring out what you’ve been good at in the past, and thinking about whether or not you could see yourself doing that for the rest of your life. And go way back — what were your early childhood skills — the things your parents teased you about when you were young? (I know, I can’t remember what I did yesterday, either.)
— Listening to what others think you’d excel at. Our friends and family are usually not the greatest options for getting advice, but their opinions might light a bulb that you might not have otherwise thought was an option for you.
— Think about what you do when the electric is out and you are exponentially bored — is there a passion project in there somewhere?
You’ll really need to think it through — no shortcuts. Know that you are in control of what you want to do with your life, and it might take some serious, dedicated thought before coming to a conclusion. Don’t half-ass it.
Say my favorite thing in the world is stinkbugs. Here are a few stinkbug product ideas I might sell:
— screen printed t-shirt
— embroidered hat
— enamel pins
— coloring books with stinkbugs riding bikes, reading books, etc.
stinkbug-themed greeting cards (sympathy card that says “this stinks!” — WINNER.)
— die-cut journal in the shape of a stinkbug
Where/to whom can I sell these items?
— zoo gift shops
— science museums
— bug enthusiasts
This is just an example to get your creative juices flowing.
Be sure not to get caught up in the “there’s no money in that” trap. There’s money in everything. Everything. You just have to try. Half of the battle is just making the decision. Just like when you have a huge deadline ahead of you, the hard stuff is getting yourself to just start the damn thing. Well, I’ve got news for you — it’s the same with figuring out what the hell you want to do with your life. Faulkner says, “The shadow is always larger than the object which casts it.” In other words, just fucking start. You likely already know what you are passionate about — you’re just choosing to ignore it for some reason.
Try to stop having unrealistic expectations on what you want with your career. Every job is hard. No income is “easy money”. You’re going to have to suck it up and give it some elbow grease! But, we’ll talk about that later. Moving on.
If you already have a product you’re trying to sell, make a list of questions to ask yourself:
- How does this product benefit others? (It needs to.)
- Why do you love this product?
- How can this product make a difference in others’ lives? (for the better, obviously.)
- And, importantly — how does this product stand out in the market next to similar items? Not identical items, but items in the same general genre.
- Is it unique and different? (Be able to eloquently describe how. This is what everyone will want to know. In other words — impress the hell out of us.)
Having a new and different version of something is super valuable on the market. You have to keep the stance, “does it have its own point of view?” Again, it’s own voice, just like yours, is so important. Create it as an extension of the uniqueness of you. It will be your new religion.
If you feel you need feedback (or even if you don’t) on your product or service, go get it! This can often work out unknown kinks or even push you to find a truly needed characteristic. Then, give it that characteristic, and get even more feedback. Find the kind of person to test it that you think would ultimately have been your customer or client. Ask pertinent questions that will help you dig deeper into what your product or service gives to others. This will give you a new, possibly surprising and different perspective on what you’re offering. It could even inspire another amazing something-or-other to be created next. Open yourself to feedback and be humble. You are asking for the truth, and you just might get it. Do not let negative feedback discourage you; but instead inspire you to make the best version possible. Plus, your goal is not to create just one item — it’s to create an entire product line, or a full-fledged service with options. We’re talking about careers here — and careers need branches.
PRICING
Now, pricing is another incredibly large but boring topic, but I do have a few rules to live by. My first rule is that if you undercharge for your product or service, it’ll make your customer or client also believe it to be worth less than it is. This is an unfortunate little mind-trick that happens when you accidentally forget what your greatness level is. Hey, it happens. You hadn’t read this book yet, and you weren’t sure what you were worth. But now, you know.
My next rule is that you can inch your prices up on a regular basis. As you become more of a rock star as time goes on, you should feel assured that you are more and more valuable. Sure, at the beginning, you had a little stage fright, you were working out some kinks, you were trying to make ends meet. But as time goes on, it’s not even about paying the bills any longer. It’s about living and living well. I’ve been seeing the dollar signs flash in your eyes, and we’re visiting that in a later chapter. Don’t worry, we’ll get rich, but it might not be with money. (Dang it.)
YOUR WHY
My mantra for my business has always been to give others a reason to send cards. I watch card stores go under all the time, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, too. It’s not for lack of trying, but my take is that the content could use some spiffing up. So that’s where my brand comes in. I design cards that people feel that they just have to send to their friends. If I turn anyone’s opinion around on why they need to send more cards, my job is done, even if it isn’t my cards that are being sent. All you have to do is think about how much better it is to get a sweet, handwritten card in a brightly colored envelope in the mailbox, than it is to get, well, everything else.
There’s my push. Keep putting happiness in the mailbox, because people truly appreciate the effort coming from the heart. And it’s never too late to start stocking back up on cards and sending them regularly. That’s really how I started, with a card addiction. I found it difficult to find laugh-out-loud funny, snarky, unique cards that really iterated how I felt. So I had to fill in the gaps and get those into the shops I was perusing. Once I created a unique enough card, stores wanted to carry it because it was different than the rest. And what do you know, “different than the rest” is kinda my life mantra, too. People want different. Gone are the days when we all copy trends. We want to be the ones making the trends now.
Part of my success has been my confidence in the fact that I have a story to tell to the world. I do not go into stores and meekly say “I’d like you to um, sell my cards here.” I put my absolute everything into it all. This means establishing an online presence, working up stunning marketing materials, having days dedicated to photoshoots, and constantly running a list of things I want to do next.
Lastly, take care to acknowledge what you will feel like when your passion becomes your livelihood. Imagine yourself with a mountain of orders to fulfill, doing what you love. Does it ruin it for you? Does it sound amazing? Just… be careful. The thing you used to love to do to unwind and breathe better may just make you crazy if it’s what you have to do to pay the bills.
