Wearable or Installable?

The first particle effects I created were all “wearable”. They are simply small objects containing the script that emits the particles. After I started selling these wearable items, I began to get requests for “floor models” of my fogs.

No problem – I just needed to extract the script from the tiny wearable object and reinstall into a larger object with some modifications to control the device. Voila - “Installable” versions.

But then I realized something... by listening to your customers you can easily find out what they need. This sounds so completely obvious, but it surprised me anyway. They will simply tell you what to build!

One customer told me that she liked my store because “You are actually AT your store and I can talk to you! I've never EVER seen the owner of other stores”. Because of that and my personal experience of never encountering a shop owner while shopping, I have to conclude that very few builders are soliciting opinions in this way.

From now on I am going to try to spend some time at my shop talking to customers every week. Actually they are prospective customers, and I am going to find out their needs. This should be an easy way to determine ideas for new salable products.