An Observation from Blade Show
An Observation from Blade Show
A Bit of Free Advice for Life
Here’s something I learned while at Blade Show this year, and it’s not knife-related.
Talk to people. Go up to people and engage them in conversation, and see what happens.
You don’t have to marry them, you don’t have to blow their minds or make them laugh. Just ask them a question and then listen.
In answering the question, that person has done something for you, and that feels good, no matter how minute. Now you offer an idea or thought in return, and now you’re in a conversation.
If you run out of things to say, you end it with “Nice talking to you,” or you ask another question. People (myself included) love to talk about themselves.
I do not mean this to sound patronizing, it took me many years to feel like I could just walk up to anyone and engage them in conversation.
At a place like Blade Show, or anywhere there are like-minded individuals, it’s easy and good practice, and yet I saw many smaller knife makers sitting silently at their tables, looking at their phones, or otherwise avoiding contact with the very people they traveled to put their work in front of.
Some might be shy, some might feel like they’re being phony, and some might be much more comfortable in the solitude of their knife shops.
But the people who look up, make eye contact, and tell passersby to pick up their knives — those are the makers that get attention and, in my experience, make the sale.
If you have difficulty being social and striking up conversations, approach it like any other discipline you want to master. Ask questions. One at a time, building incrementally on past successes and being genuinely curious about what you can learn.
If you think you aren’t interesting, try pulling out the stuff that occupies the heads of the people around you. It can be fascinating, and it just might lead to a sale.
My bill is in the mail.
Until next time…
Bob
P.S. Speaking of meeting people, I loved seeing old knife friends and meeting new ones at Blade this year, and one of the highlights was when I met Lynn Thompson (Cold Steel Knives fame) and had a chance to get a picture with him! I’ve been a Cold Steel collector for years — and meeting this knife legend was a definite highlight of Blade Atlanta 2023!
The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 421)
Eric Tuch of Tuch Knives is this week’s guest on Episode 421 of The Knife Junkie Podcast. Tuch Knives is a father-son business that makes some of the highest quality, heirloom-grade handmade knives in the world. Listen or watch (below) to find out more about Tuch Knives.
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