fanciful devices: Coupon?

A Stone Is Nobody's

A man ambushed a stone. Caught it.
Made it a prisoner.
Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the rest of his life.

His mother asked why.

He said, because it's held captive, because it is captured.

Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know whether it's in a garden or not. Eternity and the stone
are mother and daughter; it is you who are getting old. The stone is only sleeping.

But I caught it, mother, it is mine by conquest, he said.

A stone is nobody's, not even its own. It is you who are conquered; you are minding the prisoner, which is yourself,
because you are afraid to go out, she said.

Yes yes, I am afraid, because you have never loved me, he said.

Which is true, because you have always been to me as the stone is to you, she said.

Russell Edson

FAQs

1. Are you a Southeast Asian dancing girl from the 1800s?

No, sorry to disappoint. My avatar and banner images are from an ancient book I found in the depths of my grandmother's cabinets. More on that here.

2. How do you make everything look so old?

First, you need a good oxidizer to brush on every bit of metal you can reach. I'll tell you all about it here.

Then there's this wax. I first mentioned it here. You'll have to scroll down a lot.

3. How can you be so productive?

I'm insanely obsessed and I have no offspring. I do nothing else- I don't have a day job, I don't clean my house or cook, I spend all day in pjs, often completely abandoning personal hygiene... I only interact with other humans when I walk my dog. And I like people! But I prefer dogs.

And I'm sloppy- but I make that sloppiness work for me.

4. Any tips you'd like to share?

No! Except for these 16 posts about techniques and this one about how to find your aesthetic.

5. Would you be offended if I took some inspiration from your designs?

Well, I'd be happier if you outright copied them.

No really, imitation is how we learn. I have enough ideas to go around. And even if I don't- please. No one's going to do this obsessively enough to threaten my business. (Probably.) I learned by copying others and I've seen others copy me as a step toward developing their own voice. So feel free. (I'd love if you tossed me a link in my comments, so I can feel like a proud momma.)

6. What do you look like?

Why, what have you heard? Really? Wow.

6/28/10

Coupon?

So, as always, I get antsy when a few days go by without sales. I'm considering some kind of promotion. I was thinking of maybe saying if you follow my blog and leave a link to a blog post about my shop or items, you could get a certain percentage off? (I prefer this to an all-out giveaway. I'd go crazy deciding which item, for one.) I could announce it on my shop, and it would give me some nice promo.

Now the question is, what percentage would the coupon be for? As a shopper I remember thinking any percentage less than 50 wasn't worth a second look, but as a seller... I once gave a wholesale discount of 20% and it was almost heartbreaking. Which is crazy because I still have several checks from work I haven't given a second glance for a couple of months just sitting on my counter top. So. Money isn't an issue. I don't know. Any ideas out there? Think this is worth the bother? Is it tacky? Don't know why I should think it is, I'm just awful at self-promotion... Is 20% enough to generate interest? Should it be more? 25%? What, more? Now you're just talking crazy! What, you think I'm crazy? Well, I'm not the one arguing with her computer screen, honey. Nope.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Hello, Definitely no more than 20% - in fact I'd even say 15%. If the people are already looking at your blog or your Etsy shop, they're already interested in your work, so a small enticement is all that's needed. My customers get excited when I just offer them free shipping! Linda; 6/28/10, 11:04 AM