5 ms·

How To Sell Dirt

45 points by eykanal 15y ago

patio11 15y ago
They're buying a story more than they're buying dirt. Even better, they're buying a story that they'll get to tell for years. This is a distinction I wish engineers would treat as more importantly, because we sell stories, too. P.S.: If he put a wee little translation in Japanese in the box he'd sell one to just about every Japanese tourist who passed his stall. Same dirt, same words (modulo translation), different story.
- JacobAldridge 15y ago
  Absolutely - the guy's skill set is not "selling dirt". It's packaging an experience into a story into a product, and getting that package in front of the right people at the right time so they will buy.
  - danvideo 15y ago
    Second that --- same reason a baseball that Derek Jeter hits passing a league milestone is worth more than the one we buy for a few bucks in the store. It's all in the story. It's random but likely that I even know who the guy is he's referring to; he's just stands out that much (AA initials?). He's a good storyteller but what makes him even more successful is that he's passionate about what he's selling--- a connection to the holyland--- not dirt.
hiss 15y ago
I couldn't get past this line: "the ordeal of attempting to convince someone that I have something of value, and that they should pay me to access it, was very new to me". I'm not trying to be mean but, how old is the author? How much work experience does he have? When I was 12 years old I went knocking door to door with my snowshovel in the dead of winter, trying to convince people I had something of value to offer. When I was 14 I convinced a local pizza parlor I had something of value to offer and got my first "real" job. Trying to convince others of your value and economic worth is a daily affair for most people. It's an accurate way to look at the situation. It shouldn't be a hardship.
- eykanal 15y ago
  You can probably find it with a google search, but I'm almost 30. I would hardly call it a "daily affair". It's the sort of thing you do when you look for a job. That being said, that sentence is somewhat vague. I was referring to the consulting component of the job. Almost all of the jobs I've ever held were salaried jobs where my fit for it was a no-brainer, and all I had to do was convince them that I was better than the next yokel, which was at time difficult. However, the job description was always very well described, and the type of person they were looking for was always pretty clear-cut. Consulting is a completely different beast. They had a task they wanted to have completed, and they were looking for someone - anyone - who could do it as best as humanly possible. I'm competing against everyone who knows how to do it. The job description is "able to do this job", which to me makes the application process that much more difficult; you have to be able to describe not only why you're qualified, but also why you're the best. Maybe it's the same thing, but it sure felt different when going through the motions.
  - hiss 15y ago
    Sounds like a confidence issue. With more experience under your belt, you can go into an interview feeling in command of the situation. When you feel truly confident in your skills, in interview situations you'll make it sound like the only rational thing they can do is hire you. That kind of confidence will come with time. Good luck. You're on your way.
- dxbydt 15y ago
  It is cool that you snow-shoveled at 12 and held a "real" job in a pizza parlor at 14. However, this is simply not the experience of the vast majority of non-Americans, especially people from India, China & the like. The OP got an engg PhD and is trying to land a gig that matches up to his narrowly defined skillset, not just any random job. I could very much empathize with what he's going through. I got my very first job at 29, and my wife got her first job at 35, my best friend got his first gig at 42! So what did we all do for 30/40 years ? Well, we just studied our asses off. That handicaps us majorly - I don't know how to shovel snow or bake a pizza or any other random skill that most American kids would automatically know because this country prizes working, selling, marketing, labor, work ethic about all else. However, there are other countries where this is not the case. Most of my close friends and classmates are 30-40 year olds working on their vanilla-PhDs, MD-PhDs, MBA-PhDs and other combinatorial degree seeking parasites putting off work until the very last leg of their lives :) We do that because, well, its just the norm in our peer group. If you look at any immigrant graduate student pool especially in Uni towns, you'll find several 30-40 year old fuddy-duddies who have never held a job in their life and wouldn't want to either, until they've obtained every terminal degree possible and exhausted all other academic options!
zeteo 15y ago
It's not like the guy grabs a handful of dirt and then sells it to the first passing foreigner with a nice sales pitch. What people pay for is the packaging. There are many people who would like to take back a soil sample from places they've visited (e.g. there's a guy in Saving Private Ryan who does that on each new battlefield), but the logistics of doing that are just too much. (I don't even know where to get a proper vial, if I didn't plan to bring one with me, plus I'd like some nice labeling etc.)
- arethuza 15y ago
  I've got a stack of pebbles at home that I've picked up from round the world. My favourites are some that I picked up walking up a mountain in Torridon - the surrounding sandstone having been eroded away leaving these nice coloured pebbles free after nearly a billion years of being buried. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/289168 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/289168
clueless123 15y ago
IMHO, Software engineers and sales people have completely orthogonal skill sets. As a group we are poor negotiators, be it salaries or pushing "the right technology" to project owners.
seagaia 15y ago
Sell yourself, but be honest, in case someone calls your shit. The dirt selling guy is pretty honest, I don't think he was yelling. It really does help to have good communication skills for anything, be it speaking to that interviewer, discussing costs with some sales rep, selling your product etc...maybe even being a little bit aggressive, but not in a bad way, you know?
ctdonath 15y ago
"Growing up, my parents had a little display case on the mantel with a piece of the Berlin wall on it." Two decades later, I'm still kicking myself for not buying a piece when I had the chance.
tomjen3 15y ago
Ha that is nothing. There is a turist shop in Berlin which sells, among other things, authentic canned Berlin Air. Yes that is right, they are selling empty (but closed and captioned) cans.

45 points by eykanal 15y ago

They're buying a story more than they're buying dirt. Even better, they're buying a story that they'll get to tell for years. This is a distinction I wish engineers would treat as more importantly, because we sell stories, too. P.S.: If he put a wee little translation in Japanese in the box he'd sell one to just about every Japanese tourist who passed his stall. Same dirt, same words (modulo translation), different story.

JacobAldridge 15y ago
Absolutely - the guy's skill set is not "selling dirt". It's packaging an experience into a story into a product, and getting that package in front of the right people at the right time so they will buy.
- danvideo 15y ago
  Second that --- same reason a baseball that Derek Jeter hits passing a league milestone is worth more than the one we buy for a few bucks in the store. It's all in the story. It's random but likely that I even know who the guy is he's referring to; he's just stands out that much (AA initials?). He's a good storyteller but what makes him even more successful is that he's passionate about what he's selling--- a connection to the holyland--- not dirt.

hiss 15y ago

I couldn't get past this line: "the ordeal of attempting to convince someone that I have something of value, and that they should pay me to access it, was very new to me". I'm not trying to be mean but, how old is the author? How much work experience does he have? When I was 12 years old I went knocking door to door with my snowshovel in the dead of winter, trying to convince people I had something of value to offer. When I was 14 I convinced a local pizza parlor I had something of value to offer and got my first "real" job. Trying to convince others of your value and economic worth is a daily affair for most people. It's an accurate way to look at the situation. It shouldn't be a hardship.

eykanal 15y ago
You can probably find it with a google search, but I'm almost 30. I would hardly call it a "daily affair". It's the sort of thing you do when you look for a job. That being said, that sentence is somewhat vague. I was referring to the consulting component of the job. Almost all of the jobs I've ever held were salaried jobs where my fit for it was a no-brainer, and all I had to do was convince them that I was better than the next yokel, which was at time difficult. However, the job description was always very well described, and the type of person they were looking for was always pretty clear-cut. Consulting is a completely different beast. They had a task they wanted to have completed, and they were looking for someone - anyone - who could do it as best as humanly possible. I'm competing against everyone who knows how to do it. The job description is "able to do this job", which to me makes the application process that much more difficult; you have to be able to describe not only why you're qualified, but also why you're the best. Maybe it's the same thing, but it sure felt different when going through the motions.
- hiss 15y ago
  Sounds like a confidence issue. With more experience under your belt, you can go into an interview feeling in command of the situation. When you feel truly confident in your skills, in interview situations you'll make it sound like the only rational thing they can do is hire you. That kind of confidence will come with time. Good luck. You're on your way.
dxbydt 15y ago
It is cool that you snow-shoveled at 12 and held a "real" job in a pizza parlor at 14. However, this is simply not the experience of the vast majority of non-Americans, especially people from India, China & the like. The OP got an engg PhD and is trying to land a gig that matches up to his narrowly defined skillset, not just any random job. I could very much empathize with what he's going through. I got my very first job at 29, and my wife got her first job at 35, my best friend got his first gig at 42! So what did we all do for 30/40 years ? Well, we just studied our asses off. That handicaps us majorly - I don't know how to shovel snow or bake a pizza or any other random skill that most American kids would automatically know because this country prizes working, selling, marketing, labor, work ethic about all else. However, there are other countries where this is not the case. Most of my close friends and classmates are 30-40 year olds working on their vanilla-PhDs, MD-PhDs, MBA-PhDs and other combinatorial degree seeking parasites putting off work until the very last leg of their lives :) We do that because, well, its just the norm in our peer group. If you look at any immigrant graduate student pool especially in Uni towns, you'll find several 30-40 year old fuddy-duddies who have never held a job in their life and wouldn't want to either, until they've obtained every terminal degree possible and exhausted all other academic options!

zeteo 15y ago

It's not like the guy grabs a handful of dirt and then sells it to the first passing foreigner with a nice sales pitch. What people pay for is the packaging. There are many people who would like to take back a soil sample from places they've visited (e.g. there's a guy in Saving Private Ryan who does that on each new battlefield), but the logistics of doing that are just too much. (I don't even know where to get a proper vial, if I didn't plan to bring one with me, plus I'd like some nice labeling etc.)

arethuza 15y ago
I've got a stack of pebbles at home that I've picked up from round the world. My favourites are some that I picked up walking up a mountain in Torridon - the surrounding sandstone having been eroded away leaving these nice coloured pebbles free after nearly a billion years of being buried. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/289168 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/289168

clueless123 15y ago

IMHO, Software engineers and sales people have completely orthogonal skill sets. As a group we are poor negotiators, be it salaries or pushing "the right technology" to project owners.

seagaia 15y ago

Sell yourself, but be honest, in case someone calls your shit. The dirt selling guy is pretty honest, I don't think he was yelling. It really does help to have good communication skills for anything, be it speaking to that interviewer, discussing costs with some sales rep, selling your product etc...maybe even being a little bit aggressive, but not in a bad way, you know?

ctdonath 15y ago

"Growing up, my parents had a little display case on the mantel with a piece of the Berlin wall on it." Two decades later, I'm still kicking myself for not buying a piece when I had the chance.

tomjen3 15y ago

Ha that is nothing. There is a turist shop in Berlin which sells, among other things, authentic canned Berlin Air. Yes that is right, they are selling empty (but closed and captioned) cans.