A stranger speaks !!!

Hey gang,

Sorry for the delay in between posts. I have been super busy with the Swilt and this Sunday Team Swilt, attended the monthly Rose Bowl event, in Pasadena.  Everything went off without a hitch, of course we sold Swilts and more importantly, we continue to get tons and tons of positive reviews from the public. One encounter stood out to me and I decided to blog about it !!

From day one, I knew that an infomercial was where I wanted to take the Swilt. I think the infomercial route is important in getting the Swilt to hit that critical mass of people who will take notice of the Swilt, talk about it, and ultimately buy the Swilt. When the Swilt launched about one month ago, I have since stayed busy with a lot of guerrilla style social media marketing, attending various street fairs and market places. This hectic schedule has taken its toll on my ability to keep a narrow focus on the uncharted territory that is ... the Swilt's marketing plan. Thankfully this Sunday at the Rose Bowl, a stranger spoke !!!

I was sitting in our booth at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, when I locked eyes with a middle aged women.  It was not the normal eye contact that we all experience, this was a full on staring contest between the two of us. It was weird to say the least and after about 10 seconds, which is a long time to lock eyes with a stranger, I chickened out and looked somewhere else. Before I knew it, she was standing in my booth and abruptly asked, " Are you going to do an infomercial", I said yes and gave a brief history on the origins of the Swilt and it's current marketing path. She responded with "Well, if you get an infomercial your going to kill it and make sure you send one to Oprah".  What I said after this, in retrospect, was defeatist and I honestly feel shamed, but this stranger had more words of wisdom for me: "Wouldn't it be great if I got on Oprah's Favorite Things" I said, " but can you imagine how many products she receives, so..... ( BTW, the "so" was the long, low toned soooooo, the one everyone uses when the first 15 solutions to a proposed problem have failed... in other words, a defeatist "so") .
She picked up on my "so " and said, "but do you know how many people think the same thing and never sends their product" she started to gather her things and make her way back to the main walkway, but after about 5-6 feet of walking she turned back around and yelled " So you know what you have to do ... SEND IT ".

This exchange stood out for me. There was something "non-coincidental" about our encounter. I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason, and trust me, I have theorized dozen upon dozens of reasons as to why or what this encounter could symbolize. The most obvious could be a reminder to strive, asap, for an infomercial and send a Swilt to Oprah. The more symbolic could be a reminder to do away with the defeatist attitude and to never write off myself or my product. In a very erie way I think this encounter brings me full circle back to my very first blog post, with the commonality between the two being an understanding that, for the Swilt to live .. I am going to have to try things. I know that sounds overly simple, but I am taking this encounter as a message to be both traditional and radical in my approach to giving the Swilt life.

Didn't someone say: It better to have tried and failed, than to have not tried at all !
I am excited to see where this new found attitude of mine will take the Swilt !!!


p.s. I never got the name or phone number or email address of the lady who inspired this post. She is portrayed as accurately as she is titled... a stranger. She is nonetheless, a stranger I would like to thank !!!!!