Reach Out...They're Waiting For YOU

I'm a firm believer that if you REALLY believe in what you're doing and are committed to it, good things will happen to you...whether you sell houses or pies:) 

A few years back when I was married and living in Louisiana with my now ex-wife, we found out about a community street market in a town about 10 minutes away from us.  Every Saturday, you could go there, set up a table and sell whatever it was you were selling.

Gotta give my ex credit...when she wanted to be, she was the best dessert chef ever!  She had a ton of great recipes, but it was perhaps her simplest that could have been lucrative for her.   It was a recipe for Norwegian Apple Pie.  You literally mix everything together, bake it and it forms a sort of crust on top and is really moist (I compare it to a dry cobbler)  inside with a fruit/cake sort of texture.

One Friday evening, we made about 40 individual pies (in those cute little pie tins) to bring to the aforementioned street market to sell that next day.  We got there at 9am and by 10:15am we had sold ZERO pies.  People were walking by and looking, but not coming over to buy.  My ex-wife said "I knew we shouldn't have done this.  This is stupid...it's just a waste of time."  Our son, who was 3 at the time, was there with us and there was no way I was going down without trying.  These pies were really good!

At 10:30 a married couple walked by.  For the first time that day I smiled, said "Hello," and asked if they wanted to try one of our pies. My ex-wife rolled her eyes and whispered harshly "I can't believe you did that...just leave them alone."

The man answered my question by saying "Well, I don't know...what IS it?"

"It's Norwegian Apple Pie," I answered. "Have you ever had Norwegian Apple Pie?"

"No," he answered.  "What's it like?"

I said, "Until my wife made it for the first time, I never had anything like it.  It has a sweet, thin crust on top and is moist almost like cobbler in the middle.  They're just $3.00 each, and they're delicious.  You'll love it."

He bought one, opened it right there and he and his wife each took a bite.  Then they bought two more.

My ex-wife then said "If you're going to be obnoxious, I'm going to look around at the other venders...you're embarrassing me."  I said "Fine.  Check on me in an hour."

When she came back an hour later, I had already folded up our table and was ready to bring it to the car.  I sold every last pie.  I wasn't intrusive or obnoxious at all (I truly can't stand pushy salespeople!)...I was inviting.  When we were waiting for people to buy, no one bought.  When I reached out and began inviting people to try the pies, we sold out in less than an hour.

Sadly, we never did it again.  She still insisted I was embarrassing her by reaching out to people.  Sadly, too, is the fact that over a year later people at that street market were STILL asking about those pies...wondering what ever happened to the people who had sold them.