When you actually delve into the mystical world of selling creative work, there is an interesting temptation that constantly presents itself, which is to "create" something that people are likely to buy vs something that, due to audience unfamiliarity, is less certain of being saleable.
I very often sell my books and speaking services through an intermediary of one kind or another. And these intermediaries are highly conscious of their interactions with their customer base. Sales has always been a tough business, and so I can understand that anyone in the sales business would try to do anything they can to make their life easier.
This has an interesting "backup" effect on the creative process. For many people, it’s completely overwhelms it. There are many people whose entire creative output, if you can call it that, is based entirely on past sales activity. Supposedly, if people bought "x" on tuesday, they will buy a slight variation of "x" on wednesday.
The thing is, when it comes to being truly creative and original, sometimes you are in a position of coming up with something that has never been done before. From the point of view of the salesperson, this is not good. I can see their point. If people don’t come into his store wanting something like this or that, it’s a lot harder to get most of them to buy it, as many people just buy variations of the same thing in the realm of entertainment and books.
I am always walking into meetings with people, to present a product or an idea that they have never remotely imagined or heard of before. And if they are in sales, they typically tend to resist these new ideas, because it’s harder to sell something new. It is so much easier to sell a variation of something that’s already selling at a fairly good clip than to try and move something that no one has ever heard of, has never been tried, and is highly unfamiliar.
I often get advice from people about what I should write or talk about next. And it is generally couched in terms like "you should do this because this is what everyone else is doing right now." I realize that being a slight variation on an established success can make for an easy sale, but I must tell you from really sorrowful experience that, in my case anyway, this simply does not work.
What really sets innovators apart from imitators is that willingness to go through that nail-biting process of waiting for the public to see and judge just what the heck it is that you put out for them to look at. I have gone through this process with every single successful intellectual property I’ve created. I had to laugh when once, someone wrote an essay on my "Phantom of the Orchestra," and they were struggling desperately to come up with a "genre" to put it in… I have been struggling with that for years myself. I typically refer to these things as my "orchestra kid shows," as they are musical plays, but not really, they are concerts with some acting in it, but not really, they are educational/instructional programs, but not really… so I also struggle as a salesperson, with trying to explain to potential buyer what it is that I’m selling when it doesn’t fit into any known category.
I’m going through this process right now with "Principles of Applied Stupidity." People can’t quite get a handle on what it is because it’s so new. That’s OK. I would much rather hear people say "what the heck is this?" Than the dreaded "oh yeah, I’ve seen dozens of these."
Part of what keeps me going is faith in my customers, that people aren't just looking for a cheap knockoff . . . and they really are searching for something new, and are willing to take a risk to find it, as I took a risk in creating it. Sales people tend to categorize people to make life seem organized, but I like to think there are endless variations in humanity, among them people who will like my next book, no matter how bizarre it may seem in comparison to what's out there now.
Every once in awhile, people will tell me that in my next speaking appearance I should focus on this or that, because "that is what people are buying these days." This is a valid approach to making sales I guess, but I have learned through tough experience that I’m much better off "staying home," being true to myself and my own beliefs, and connecting to my audience in my own unique ways. While people often say they are looking for "this or that," they don’t always know how to articulate what it is that they want. After all, how do you ask someone for something that you have never seen and don’t even know what it is? Audiences at events seek many things beyond mere information– including adventure, connection, enlightenment, recognition, and laughter. It is in that ethereal realm– of perceiving and satisfying their unexpressed desires– that I like to work. The heightened risk is part of the fun, and the payoff, when it comes, is so much better.
© Justin Locke
