Substack Abundance: Stew Leonard’s Strawberry Lesson

How will readers find me?

Photo by Thalia Ruiz on Unsplash

The red, ripe strawberries are piled high in the Produce department, the green stems peep up through the mountain of fruit. A sign declares, “Pick Your Own!”

In a separate bin are prepackaged pints and quarts. At Stew Leonard’s Market you have choices.

The Produce Manager shrugs and scratches his head. “This will never work,” he mumbles. “Who would ever spend time hand picking berries when the same berries are already packaged in a container close-by?”

At the time this story was going around, I was a nutritionist in the supermarket industry, working right at the point-of-sale where consumers made their purchasing decisions. The what and why of shoppers’ choices was often influenced by the layout of the store, the shelf position of the product, the aromas, and especially the displays. To get attention, manufacturers would barter for the end of the aisles where everyone passed by. The more product they could stack, the better the opportunity to catch the consumer’s eye.

Why would a consumer hand-pick berries when they could have the very same berries prepackaged?

Why would a reader “pay” for a subscription on Substack when there are so many that are free?

There are no simple answers but here are three ideas:

1.     Display: build an eye-catching display.

2.     Novelty: create content that catches the reader by surprise.

3.     Opportunity: deliver consistent and timely posts.

It turns out the marketing genius, Mr. Leonard, knew exactly what he was doing. Mocked at first by others, the strawberry experiment would prove a huge success as total strawberry sales far surpassed previous records for his market when at one time only containers were available.

In the grocery business, the moral of the story is clear: consumers want choices. In the literary business, readers want choices. How will readers find you? Writers know to look to Substack but readers need to be led down the aisle, past the displays, to the mountain of berries.

How did you find me here?

Since I didn’t build a display of strawberries, I must have gotten your attention in another way. I’d love to know the answer. Please leave a HEART and a COMMENT as this will help other readers find their way to Get Gutsy. Thank you for your subscription and your support and encouragement.

There’s No Expiration on Dreams,

Trish

If you would like to purchase my novel, Paper Bags:

https://woodhallpress.com/paper-bags