Business card collectors and bow ties

When selling our work, customers have several methods of exiting our booth. Asking for a card is the most common method of trying to make us feel like they are genuine in their interest, while making them comfortable with not buying anything. We smile and give them 15 cents, knowing from past experience that the colorful cards we create to try and increase the number of future contacts will be lost, put in a drawer, thrown out, etc. Our "favorite" card collectors are the ones who just breeze by, ask for a card after only the briefest glance at our work, and are on their way. Another type are the ones who sneak a hand in behind our "desk" to take a card without even saying hello. Never just put out a pile of cards! Hundreds will disappear in the blink of an eye! And never ever be clever like I was a while back. I created several cards with different images of our work on them, and discovered people taking one of each! The folks who stop and chat a while, and ask for a card as they leave, are always welcome!

The thoughts that go through our heads as folks take cards are usually best left inside. The jokes about "be backs" are legion, but this weekend a perfect moment happend. A fellow artist was visiting our booth when a woman asked for a card with the comment.... "I'm not buying today, but may want to later". My friend's better judgement abandoned him for a moment, and he said something like "Oh..... like you will be buying later"? My instant hope that she hadn't heard him was not to be, and she informed us haughtily that ours was the only booth all day that she had asked for a card from! ;~)

And just for laughs, here is a picture of me, about 6 hours post haircut, and in a bow tie!