November 8, 2020– I am a big believer of everything starts in the mind. I believe in positivity and am an incurable optimist. But, it’s a good lesson, in reality, to deal with things as they are, not as we wish they would be. So when does negativity breed positive results? When we look at what isn’t working and change our course of action.
Sometimes we have to take off the rose-coloured glasses to get a good look at where our problems lie. Let’s use a scenario that happens all too often to authors: Low book sales at a vendor show. Let’s say that you’re at a show, and you’re signing and selling your books. You’ve brought more than enough inventory, you’ve had a few sales, but nothing spectacular. You could lie to yourself and others and say, “Yeah, the show was great!” or you could level with yourself, take stock of the situation, and figure out what went wrong so that you can improve your numbers next time.
Here are some things to ask ourselves:
- Why were book sales low-Was there enough traffic? Did you greet each prospective buyer? Did your display look organized and inviting? Did you stay off of your phone? Did you post to social media? Did you let people know where they could find you? Did you interact with other vendors? Did you explain your product well? Did you research if your target market would be at the show?
- What could you have done differently-Did you bundle your books? Did you create a show special? Did you hand out literature such as brochures to those who didn’t purchase from you? Did you offer a vendor special? Did you introduce yourself to the other vendors and let them know what you do? Did you have a draw to your table, such as a giveaway or a raffle? Did you research the event beforehand to see if it was advertised well? How was the location of the event? The location of your table?
By answering the tough questions, we become better. We have better results when we’re honest about the challenges we face, and as long as we get to work to improve them, we’ll always be progressing in the right direction.
