Certainly a broader range of products increases your chance of having a profitable day , as you found out with the Christmas ornaments . Having something other than pens in the 10-20 $ range also helps , as it gives kids a chance to buy a gift for Mom or Dad . The difficulty with that approach is finding something that doesn`t take too much time to make , yet still be of a quality you won`t be ashamed of . I haven`t found anything that meets those criteria for me , yet .
People generally want a story to go with the pen (or any other gift) . If for their own use , they want to be able to tell a mutual friend that you made it , or that it is made from a kind of tree that has special memories for them , or perhaps it is their favourite colour . If buying for a gift , they want to be able to tell the recipient why they thought he/she would like it . The customer is almost always buying a story , not a pen for its functionality . The more you can engage a prospective customer and find out what their needs are , the better your results will be .
