“Selling furniture—knock if interested.”
^^ That was the sign taped to apartment 2D's door this past week.
I smirked when I first saw it. I even thought it was kinda clever. (In 10+ years of living in NYC, I'd never seen that before.)
You see, New Yorkers don't really interact with their neighbors much. Unless we're briefly passing each other in the hallway before work, no one's ever going to knock on your door out of the blue and ask to borrow sugar.
So on the rare occasion you do see a little sign or flyer taped up in the lobby or hallway, it catches your eye as being oddly out of place.
You pay attention.
But as the days went on, the flyer was still there. Every time I left to go to the gym or was on my way home from the coffee shop, that same sign prevailed.
Clearly, no one had purchased the mystery furniture items being sold. And I'd bet my life savings that no one even inquired at all.
Here's why:
- They were trying to sell to a cold audience of strangers. Had they been giving out free baked goods every Friday for the past 6 months and introducing themselves to the other people in the building, it might have been a different story.
- The sign had no details. What furniture were they even selling? What condition was it in? And how much were they selling it for? There was no way I was going to be knocking on that door and opening myself up to an awkward, time-wasting conversation without those 3 questions answered. (Bonus points if they'd had some actual photos of the pieces.)
- Their audience was too small. My apartment building is 6 floors high, 4 apartments/floor, and each apartment has 3 bedrooms. If we assume 3 people live in each apartment (which is unlikely anyway), that's only 72 potential buyers. What are the chances that any 1 of those 72 people are in the market for furniture right now, have the time to inquire, are in-budget, and are looking for whatever exact style they're selling?
Every single day, I see creatives & business owners trying to sell their services without cultivating a community or getting enough eyeballs on their work.
And as a web designer, I also see this often: some people ARE putting in the work to cultivate community and get eyeballs on their work, but they have no digital homebase where their offers are being explained, showcased, and ultimately sold.
That's what a great website does.
