How many doors lead into your house? I have a garage door, a front door and a sliding door on my patio. All of them get me to the same place - the inside of my house.
I generally prefer that people enter the front door of my home. But, if a neighbor came to my patio doors and knocked, I would certainly let her in. I have let people into my home through the garage door at times.
My mom has a front door with no walkway leading to it. Therefore, no one comes to that door because they would have to traverse the grass to get there. Instead, they come to the side door off the driveway which leads right into her kitchen. She doesn't like that but she also doesn't ignore it. It's not her favorite way to let people into her house.
I generally prefer that people enter the front door of my home. But, if a neighbor came to my patio doors and knocked, I would certainly let her in. I have let people into my home through the garage door at times.
My mom has a front door with no walkway leading to it. Therefore, no one comes to that door because they would have to traverse the grass to get there. Instead, they come to the side door off the driveway which leads right into her kitchen. She doesn't like that but she also doesn't ignore it. It's not her favorite way to let people into her house.
How many "doors" do you have into your business? You're probably thinking, "Uh, none - I'm online" or "One that I'd let customers in".
I'm not talking about physical doors into your place of business, I'm talking about types of scrapbookers that you would want to come into your business. They may not all come through the "front" door which is the door we have decorated with patterned paper, ribbon and rub-ons. That's the door we PREFER they come through. But, what if someone knocked on another "door" into your business? Would you slap a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign up because that's not how you want them to come in? Or would you welcome them and see what you could do to help?
There has been a lot of discussion about these "doors" in the industry lately. Digital, traditional, art, craft, simple, complex, altered, shabby, graphic, retro, photos, no photos, albums, books, etc. They are all "doors" into the industry and the people knocking want something from us. It makes sense to me to open as many doors as people are knocking on.
Some of us are not comfortable answering every door. That's fine. At the end of the day, you have to do what works for you. But, I don't think the collective industry at large should put out that DO NOT DISTURB sign as a general rule and say, "if you don't enter through the front door, we're not going to help you".
I am pleased to see scrapbooking start to enter into the photo and stationary industry. As someone pointed out at ScrapBiz last week in our discussion about this, they bought their first scrapbook products at their local Hallmark store. That's the stationary store door. Others discovered scrapbooking after falling in love with photography. That's the photo door. Some will never scrap a page with photos but make handmade gifts and cards for everyone. That's the paper craft door. While still others are being brought into the craft because they love to use their computer. That's the digital door.
To some these knocks are a cacophony of noise that they wish would stop. To others, like myself, I hear a symphony of opportunity. Let's open those doors and see what happens!
Some of us are not comfortable answering every door. That's fine. At the end of the day, you have to do what works for you. But, I don't think the collective industry at large should put out that DO NOT DISTURB sign as a general rule and say, "if you don't enter through the front door, we're not going to help you".
I am pleased to see scrapbooking start to enter into the photo and stationary industry. As someone pointed out at ScrapBiz last week in our discussion about this, they bought their first scrapbook products at their local Hallmark store. That's the stationary store door. Others discovered scrapbooking after falling in love with photography. That's the photo door. Some will never scrap a page with photos but make handmade gifts and cards for everyone. That's the paper craft door. While still others are being brought into the craft because they love to use their computer. That's the digital door.
To some these knocks are a cacophony of noise that they wish would stop. To others, like myself, I hear a symphony of opportunity. Let's open those doors and see what happens!
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