Yesterday I had a very interesting encounter. A close encounter of the Marketing Kind. (Key spacey music here. Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum).
The story starts with tragedy. Yes, tragedy. My pinter died. Because my other printer of the same brand died in France and I had to buy another one, which then died in America. Smart girl that I am, I bought an extended warranty, but after chatting with the printer peeps here, they said I'd have to send my heavy printer to France to get it repaired (which would cost more than it's worth).
So...
I realized I could pay more for the repair in the states, or more for the postage to France than the printer was worth. So I ventured off to Office Max in search of a new printer (my third in three years. grrrrr).
There, I met the store manager. She helped me find just the right one for a very good price. I'd spoken to another man initially, telling him my story of woe, and mentioning I lived in France. He came up to me and started asking me questions about France. Turns out he'd been a missionary in Eastern Europe in the early nineties. And got chewed up and spit out just like us! He encouraged me. I pulled out my card and gave it to him. The manager noticed, so I figured I'd give her one too.
"I'm a writer. My books are on the back." (Here's a little hint. Pay the extra money and have you book covers printed on the back of your business cards.)
"Do you live locally?" she asked.
I gave her the name of my neighborhood.
She handed me a flyer and told me about an event in her store where 500 teachers would be. "Would you like to set up a table with some giveaways for the event?" she asked.
Of course I nodded.
So the event will be in August. Since one of my goals this year is to increase my visibility in the Dallas area, this fits right in. All because I blabbed, and dared to give a card.
The moral? Don't despise tragedy in the form of dying printers. You just never know what will come of it!
Mary E. DeMuth
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