Computer Software

The other day I went to a home show with my wife and two of our friends. It’s fun to walk around and see what people have done, and what they are promoting. One thing I noticed as we were walking through the show, was how some vendors were sitting back in their chair, at the back of the display, talking on their cell phone. Needless to say, there were not many customers looking at their products.

Keep this in mind when selling your crafts at craft shows. Don’t sit in the back of your booth or display, acting indifferent to those passing by. You need to be up at the front. Looking at people as they go by. Make eye contact with them. Have a pleasant smile. Say “Hello”, or give a nod. This shows people that you want to talk with them. They will find you inviting, instead of feeling like you might be bothered if they stopped.

Something else I found as I was walking through the show. There were some people that would say “Hello”, and that was all. Even though I would respond to their greeting, and look at their product, they dropped the conversation. It was if they didn’t know what to say next. They didn’t know what to tell me about their product.

Have a list of things that you can say about your craft before you get to the craft show, and are in front of customers. Think of all the good things about your craft that you like. This is what you want to share with others. If you are nervous or shy, practice what you might say out loud. See how it sounds. The more you practice, the more confidence you will have. Even get some input from friends to see how they think it sounds.

If you are struggling a bit with an “ice-breaker”, you could have something to give away at your booth just to make contact. A lot of people were giving away candy. This helped to slow people down and at least get them to look. It gives the opportunity to talk a little more. I think it is best if you could give something away that is associated with your craft in some way.

The lesson to be learned here is, if you are going to sell your crafts, you need to be interacting with people. You need to talk with them, and explain as much to them about your craft as you can. Then people will feel that they have found someone knowledgeable and helpful, and hopefully be attracted to your craft. Remember, your cell phone has a place, but when customers are afoot, it isn’t next to your ear.

When I decided that I needed to replace my terribly out of date mobile phone – an old Nextel i1000plus – my thoughts eventually wandered toward a pda phone. For those that know me this probably seemed like a no brainer. I have a long history of pda dependence going back years to a Palm 3X.

However, I already had a pda that I was quite happy with. For the last year and a half I had used my HP iPAQ 2215 for everything from a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), an e-book reader, an MP3 player, a photo wallet, an alarm clock, a mobile web browser(utilizing a compact flash wifi card), among many other things. Trying to cram a phone in to all of this seemed overwhelming, but curiosity – and my need for a new gadget – got the better of me. My search was twofold – look for a new mobile phone and a new provider. With my current cellular provider I didn’t get any reception in my home so I needed to find a carrier that did.

Through various unscientific means such as my own opinion polls of friends and work associates in conjunction with some internet research I whittled my way down to either Cingular or Verizon. Both tended to get high marks from the users I polled and the from internet research. With this part of the equation worked out I went online to see what kind of phones each had to offer. I was willing to go with a 2 year commitment in the hopes of getting a better deal on phone and plan pricing. In addition I wanted to get a group plan where my wife and I could share minutes.

So, now I’m looking on each company’s respective websites for their state of the art Pocket PC phones. I’m not talking about the Smart phones – these are the phones with Pocket PC software jammed into a tiny little screen that isn’t even a touch screen – that just wouldn’t satisfy my needs. I’m talking about the full blown, “why are you talking into your calculator?” Pocket PC phones – the uber-geek, pocket protector included kind of micro computer powerhouse. After all, I’m married now and I’m really not worried about public opinion or impressing anyone with my sleek, stylish, sexy new cell phone.

I’m hoping to spend around $300.00. I figure I can sell my iPAQ 2215 on eBAY for $200.00 and $100.00 for a new phone seems like a pretty good deal.

So, what I find is one heck of a price tag. Verizon has the much talked about Treo 700. This is the first Treo with the Pocket PC operating system – Windows Mobile 5.0. This comes in at $500.00. Way too pricey for me and it doesn’t even have Wifi.

Cingular’s best price on a PocketPC phone wasn’t much better. I could get an HP iPAQ hw6510 for $400.00. Again, no wifi. This is a real sticking point for me. I don’t see any reason why a device designed for communication would leave out this major specification. Being able to connect to an 802.11b/g wireless network when it is available is a necessity.

Okay, back to the drawing board, maybe I can try this from a different angle – Ebay.

Looking up “Pocket PC phone” on Ebay gets you quite a lot of hits with a good assortment of newer and older Pocket PC phones. At this point I’m thinking that I could get something maybe slightly used that would meet all of my requirements. This would also give me a good cross section of exactly what is out there and what features are available in this type of gadget.

After going through quite a lot of auction descriptions and cross referencing manufacturer web sites I had set my sites on a particular phone, the Siemens SX66. This particular phone/pda combo had been offered by Cingular until recently and it no longer showed on their website. It seemed to fit my wish list: a fast 400mhz xscale processor, wifi, Bluetooth, SDIO slot and it had a slide out keyboard for text input. So, I watched a few auctions and kept an eye on the prices.

But, sometimes you just have to get off of the internet and hit the brick and mortar. I went to my local Verizon and Cingular stores and talked to the sales reps about what plans I was looking for. I wasn’t impressed with my long wait at the Verizon Wireless store or the pushy salesman that I got. He seemed to think he knew just what I needed and kept showing me phones and plans that I just wasn’t interested in.

I had a different experience at the Cingular store. The sales rep showed me a map of the cell coverage around my home, he talked to me about the plans that I had seen on the website and when I mentioned to him that I had been looking at a Siemens SX66 Pocket PC phone on Ebay he went into the back of the store and came out with the last SX66 that they had. I signed on to a 2 year deal with Cingular that night with a heck of a good deal on a Pocket PC phone that had all the specifications that I had been looking for.