The first thing I noticed about my new office neighbors were the wagons rolling through the office.

You know, the collapsable jobs with big wheels and canvas sides.

They were hard to miss because they were absolutely STUFFED with packages labeled for the mail.

Not like full to the top. We’re talking overflowing, someone has to follow behind and pick up the ones that fall off, loaded.

Trip after trip after trip. Day after day after day.

The second thing I noticed was the noise. Which yeah, probably should’ve been the first but I’ll chalk it up to being so in the zone… or maybe just spaced out. Who’s to say.

Anyway, the noise.

From a distance it sounds like a TV is on or maybe the radio. Just this distant din of voices and sounds. It’s only as I walked closer to their office do I start to see what’s actually going on.

And I’m FLOORED.

Ok so first, some context. I'm in a building that used to be a WeWork until another company took it over to run as a co-working space but... like the discount bin version of WeWork (that's a whole other post).

The relevant points are:

1. it attracts and absolute circus of characters and businesses

2. the walls are glass

So you can see everything.

And at first it’s pretty normal business-y like.

There are dozens of people, mostly very young women, hunched over computers, gathering boxes of product, leaning over a shared screen pointing at images. Good energy but pretty standard stuff in these offices.

And then. I see the real source of commotion which is another office further down.

There are only 2 people in there. One bent over a laptop in the corner. The other is sitting at a desk with a phone camera and a dozen photography lights trained on her hands where she is modeling…

Nails.

Stick on plastic nails.

And she’s not so much talking as she is performing.

"OK LADIES WE'VE GOT THE SPARKLES AND SNOW SET BUT IF YOU BUY RIGHT NOW YOU ALSO GET THE SUMMER PEACH AND YACHT AZUR THANK YOU JESSICA I SEE YOU JUST PURCHASED GO AHEAD AND UPGRADE BEFORE THAT SPECIAL TIMES OUT ONLY 4 MORE MINUTES LADIES BEFORE IT GOES BACK UP TO NORMAL PRICES!!"

She is live streaming onto TikTok, direct selling packs of these nails… and it’s AMAZING.

You remember QVC? The channel where they just sold stuff? Ok, so it’s that.

Except on TikTok. With 20-something women putting on an absolute sales CLINIC.

She has a bell that she rings, she’s engaging with individuals who are commenting, she’s describing each one. It’s like TikTok live stream + Sotheby’s auctioneer + QVC - AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRANKING.

Over months I tried to watch as closely as I could while staying just on this side of creepy/not creepy and I saw an absolute MASTER CLASS in selling.

Here’s what I took from it:

As a bootstrapped founder cash flowing your own growth, you can’t throw money at general “brand awareness” campaigns or paid ads that pay back over months. You need to find ways to do more.

Content that brings new people in, establishes trust, and moves directly to a sale is HUGE.

We talk a lot about moving cash collections further up in your invoicing and engagement timeline… but what about moving it up in your sales process? This is like collecting money at the ad level.

When people are in the content, however, it’s easy to just… WATCH. Observe. Lurk without participating. So you need some pull.

This company does it through creating urgency with an expiring offer.

You can also create a product ladder. Start with something small, easy to say yes, and then progress up as you get more excited about it. They aren’t selling nails here. They are selling having different nails every week. Multiple things is part of the draw and the desired outcome. It’s the variety they are buying and that can’t be achieved through just one.

The best kind of product ladder improves the experience, the outcome, or the value of the first thing you buy with each additional add on.

In any case, the point here is they find ways to pull people in off the sidelines and bring them along.

I’ll be honest. It looked fun.

Spending time to create an intentional experience and make the purchase fun matters for bootstrapping growth because you need referrals.

Experiences get talked about, transactions do not. This was a social EVENT. But it could be a lot of things from packaging (think Apple’s boxes), to a ceremony (think champagne with your Rolex), to making this a sharable event for a customer.

And to any question around “does this actually work?” … see aforementioned wagons full of sold product.

It was impressive.

This might not be for you, but I’m sure there’s a more creative, more fun, and more effective sales channel out there for most of us.

Let me know what you come up with.

Chase “but wait… THERE’S MORE” Spenst

We’re entering Q4 and now is the time to start making any final moves before the end of the year to meaningfully affect your taxes. IF you’re looking for someone to work with, reply to this email.

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Email me at [email protected] you’re interested and we’ll go from there.