Editing The Pen Addict 680/transcript (section)

== Store Visit Experience ==

* could get down with. Right. Like you said, like, sure, knock yourself out. I'm fine with having you have to come see us to buy this pen. Yeah. But I think it was such a kind of an on the fly decision. I don't want to say they like capitulated, but it's like they're in the business of business. And I think people like it and want it. And so they are planning on rolling it out for this August version of shows, which are
* the big shows like DC, Atlas, San Francisco, and then popping it online after that. So but there was no clarity. The problem is the clarity. Right. It's like, what are we doing? How can I share this? Is what's the definitive answer? And there's been lack of clarity around that, which is fair. Yeah, I think that they would. I think they would freely admit that. I think from in from talking to them in DC and then talking to them two weeks later,
* like things change that fast, I think. Which I understand. But let's get a let's get a let's get a place where I can throw my email in, you know? Yeah. And I keep saying I'm going to take pictures of mine so I can at least put a link into the show notes for you. And I keep not doing it. So because there's no other place to link it. Yeah. So we just want to see what it looks like.
* You're going to watch that Instagram video again. Yeah. That's what you're going to have to do. Yep. Yep. So I think it's just one of those like on the fly. They were it was definitely like a trial run in DC to see what we thought. And then I understand that. Right. Like I understand that the response maybe overwhelmed them a little bit and they were like, oh, hang on a minute. We're on to a winner. And I it's like I agree with all of that.
* And like, I look, I get it. I understand how difficult business things can be sometimes. But like gang, let's just get a photo on a website where I can put my email address in. It's all I want. You know, just you just just got you on your own website. Just put up a page and then I can put my email address in and then I'll get an email when you have more information about this. If you had a website with an email address, like what what kind of platform would you use for that, Myke?
* You're a photo pro. It's got a Squarespace, the all in one website platform that's designed to help you stand out, succeed online. And they are supporting this episode, whether you're just starting or scaling a business. Squarespace will give you everything you need to claim your domain, showcase your offerings, all of them. Have a professional website, grow your brand and get paid all in one place. Squarespace has email marketing tools, right? So if you want, they have all of that.
* So like if you do want to do that, you want to get people to give you their email address and you want to send them email campaigns. It's really easy to do that. And it's all plugged into that analytic system, too. So you can see how people are engaging with that content. This is just one of the many services that Squarespace provides and many of the services that I love and have used so many times over the last 15 years.
* Like analytics, you know, I mentioned it's for emails, but you can keep track of all of the stats that matter with their intuitive built in analytics tools. Squarespace makes it super easy for you to review website traffic, learn where to focus engagement and track revenue from bookings, invoices and product sales. Bookings and invoices and sales. Yes, you can get paid with Squarespace from consultations to events and experiences. You can showcase your offerings of a customizable website that is designed to attract clients and grow your business.
* Think built in appointment scheduling, email marketing tools and more. Plus, you keep everything cohesive with on brand invoices and get paid easily with online payments. If you're using any other platform and you find any frustration with it, just go and try out Squarespace. You can build your entire website and see just how well it works and how well it's going to work for you by going to squarespace.com slash penaddict. You can sign up for a free trial there.
* And when you're ready to launch, use the offer code penaddict to save 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. That is squarespace.com slash penaddict with the code penaddict and you'll get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the show. Thanks to Squarespace for the support of this show and all of Relay. All right, Myke, we got our shout out of the week. Shout out of the week. Newton pens. Sean Newton is going to be at the San Francisco pen show.
* And let me show you what he's bringing, Myke. So one of my favorite pen designs, not that just Sean does, period, that anyone does, is called the Prospector. So I have one of Sean's Prospectors. I have like a full acrylic, beautiful blue and black kind of swirl. I love the pen. I love it. I'm glad I'm not going to San Francisco because I would be buying one of these new models that he's done. He's kind of like ramped up the materials and the details on the Prospector.
* So I've always, I've always loved looking at, there's a, there's a, a friend I follow online called Benjamin's Collections. And there's one particular Prospector he always shows because that he, and I always comment on it when he shows it that I was like, all right, when are you selling me this pen? Because he never, Sean never makes, you know, these really wild color Prospectors that I love. And that's what it looks like here. Like these are just like awesome.
* And then you, I don't even know what to say. This is one of my favorite pens. They're stunning. Definitely go see what Sean's bringing to the San Francisco pen show. I don't know that he always goes to the show. I'm trying to think back. Maybe he does. And I'm just misremembering, but this is a great opportunity to check out the Prospector, check out all of Sean's pens. Because I'm in a Shinobi model, I'm in a Prospector model, and they're some of my favorites.
* So go check all of those out. This week, Myke, this week is the San Francisco pen show. So we'll be hearing a lot about San Francisco. And I hope in, you know, coming weeks we'll have a recap with a friend from the San Francisco pen show. Knock on wood, I can make that happen. So we'll see. Stay tuned for that. These Prospectors are stunning. They are. And also, they also have some, like, acrylic belly bands. This is the year of the belly band.
* All of it. Yeah. All of the little details are new to me. That pink one with the, I don't know what's going on in the middle. Woo, baby. That's the one I want. Wow, I would struggle. Yeah, there's a pink one, and then the blue and pink one is also. So if you go to the page with the blue and pink one, mine is all blue, like in that blue material. Right. Something like that. So, yeah, it's great.
* It's such a good pen. Is it? And it does not. So one thing Sean does, just to blow him up a little bit more, he has some custom feeds made for these, for his pens. And when you buy a pen, he'll, like, put in, like, a feed that has, like, really good ink flow. And, you know, you get the nude engraved nib. So it's a full experience there. Sean does a great job. So great work. He's a pro.
* He's a pro. All right. You're a pro, too, Myke. What are you currently using? Oh, yeah. Yeah. We've ran along. So we've made my section of part one of the episode past shout out of the week. That's where I am. That's where I've been, like, relegated to today. You can blame me. Yeah. I mean, I'm not, I guess I'm, I try and be a little bit interesting here, but I'm not so much. I mean, I'm using this.
* I have questions. All right. So this morning, I took a meeting at home. And for that, I used a Mark 1 and Sidekick notepad. I will actually make a diversion. You see they're putting a clip on the Mark 1? I did. I haven't, we haven't been able to record an episode of the podcast recently. Thoroughly considered that I do a studio neat. Yeah, I'll have to get, I'll have to get one. I've been asked about it, but I haven't, I don't have one.
* But I'm going to need to talk to them about this. I find this to be a very curious decision. And I, I don't know how I feel about it, if I'm being honest. Fair. Same. Like, it looks good. It looks, I think they've done a great job, but it's like, one of the things I always loved about this pen is that it didn't have a clip. You know what I mean? I have questions. Yeah. This is, okay.
* So this is not related to studio neat, but this is like, if you look back, listen back to the history of this show, it's try, it's like the Kickstarter comment of trying to like design for everyone. And I think we actually have a show title called when clip, where clip, why clip. Yeah. Because if you make a Kickstarter project for a pen without a clip, people are only going to yell at you. Yeah. And even though the product should not be made with a clip.
* Yeah. And it's like, it's like a whole thing. Like when you're a maker trying to like solve problems and make designs that you believe in, but then solve problems for your customers and, you know, meet their needs and go somewhere. So like, yeah. It seems like they. We literally have a whole episode talking about this. I feel like that they have, they waited a long time, right? People have been asking them to do this since the beginning of it, which is years ago.