Est. Yesterday · Delivered Free
Trade, mind and machine, taught the old way. Free lessons in marketing, sales, pricing and psychology, each told as a story and sealed with a verse.
Trying is Free, Ignoring is Costly
Every letter, newest first. One lesson at a time, told as a story, hidden in a riddle, sealed with a verse.
Mindset
Two tinsmiths, the same tinplate and the same soldering irons, and the fortnight one of them spent chalking a mark on the back of his door at every half hour. Letter No. 268 from Ben B. Tilley, on why your account of your own week is honest and wrong, and what counting it puts right.
Pricing
Two sweeps, the same rods and the same one and sixpence a flue, and the three shillings one of them asked in January for the whole of the year. Letter No. 267 from Ben B. Tilley, on selling the year instead of waiting to be sent for.
Sales
Two joiners, the same deal and the same rotten staircase, and the quarter of an hour one of them spent writing out what each day would be like. Letter No. 266 from Ben B. Tilley, on selling the week your customer must live through rather than the finished job.
Marketing
Two plumbers, the same lead and the same solder, and the nine lengths of old pipe one of them nailed above his counter. Letter No. 265 from Ben B. Tilley, on why a stranger cannot judge your work but knows his own trouble at a glance.
Technology
Two glaziers in your own century, the same four thousand jobs kept on the same screen, and the twenty minutes one of them spent settling how a file should be named. Letter No. 264 from Ben B. Tilley, on why a machine finds only what you have given it words for, and why those words must be the ones you will have years from now.
Psychology
Two drainers, the same clay tiles and the same two shillings the chain, and the sum one farmer did for himself by the hedge. Letter No. 263 from Ben B. Tilley, on why a reason a customer has spoken himself persuades where the same reason from you can only be weighed against you.
Mindset
Two cabinet makers, the same oak and the same three days at a showing in the city, and the eleven things both of them wrote down. Letter No. 262 from Ben B. Tilley, on why you can only carry one change at a time, and what it takes for a change to be adopted.
Pricing
Two timber merchants, the same deals and battens, and the two and a half in the hundred one of them had printed at the foot of his billhead. Letter No. 261 from Ben B. Tilley, on what a discount for early payment costs you in a year.
Sales
Two jobbing gardeners, the same shears and the same thin November, and the eleven letters one of them wrote after a Sunday walk. Letter No. 260 from Ben B. Tilley, on why an approach nobody asked for must name something you could only know by going and looking.
Marketing
Two milliners, the same bonnets at the same prices, and the window one of them pulled apart every Friday morning. Letter No. 259 from Ben B. Tilley, on why the thing that never changes stops being seen by the people who see it most.
Technology
Two locksmiths in your own century, the same program bought in the same February, and the half hour one of them spent changing which three figures it showed him. Letter No. 258 from Ben B. Tilley, on why the figures a machine puts in front of you become the figures you work to.
Psychology
Two piano tuners, the same forks and the same five shillings, and the ten minutes one of them spent playing the instrument before he shut the lid. Letter No. 257 from Ben B. Tilley, on why the ending of a job is the only part of it your customer can repeat to anybody else.
Mindset
Two thatchers, the same reed from the same beds, and the twenty minutes one of them gave each morning to the job he least wanted to do. Letter No. 256 from Ben B. Tilley, on why the job you are avoiding is the only one that gets dearer while you leave it.
Pricing
Two millers, the same stones and the same toll a sack, and the biggest name in one man's book that was earning him least of all. Letter No. 255 from Ben B. Tilley, on pricing the customer rather than the job.
Sales
Two brewers, the same barley and the same well, and the one who answered a letter with a letter instead of a traveller. Letter No. 254 from Ben B. Tilley, on answering an enquiry in the manner it arrived.
Marketing
Two brush makers, the same hog bristle and the same slack June, and the twopence one of them would not take off. Letter No. 253 from Ben B. Tilley, on adding to the offer instead of subtracting from the price.
Technology
Two dog groomers in your own century, the same six hours of appointments and the same monthly bill, and the one whose program was keeping the diary by the Thursday. Letter No. 252 from Ben B. Tilley, on why a tool whose job you cannot say in one sentence is paid for twice.
Psychology
Two spectacle sellers, the same trays of lenses and the same prices, and the sixpence one of them asked of anybody who sat down at his table. Letter No. 251 from Ben B. Tilley, on why a thing given away for nothing is treated as a different thing from the same thing priced at sixpence.
Mindset
Two rope makers, the same hemp and the same three hundred feet of walk, and the fortnight of rough yarn one of them let go out of his door on purpose. Letter No. 250 from Ben B. Tilley, on why the job you cannot bear to see done less well is the job you will be doing forever.
Pricing
Two pump makers, the same elm and the same leather, and the first Monday of every month that one of them would not sell at any ordinary price. Letter No. 249 from Ben B. Tilley, on charging for the front of the queue instead of apologising for the wait.
Sales
Two shop fitters, the same plate glass and the same eleven pounds, and the partner who said about eleven words in the whole hour. Letter No. 248 from Ben B. Tilley, on selling to the person in the room who says least.
Marketing
Two butchers, the same beasts and the same money for printing, and the card of roasting times one of them put in every parcel. Letter No. 247 from Ben B. Tilley, on advertising that is kept because it does a job.
Technology
Two kitchen fitters, the same unit offered at the same rent, and the question one of them put to the machine the other way round. Letter No. 246 from Ben B. Tilley, on why a machine that answers you has no stake in your being right.
Psychology
Two dancing masters, the same chalked boards and the same fifteen shillings a quarter, and the shilling one of them offered for every new pupil sent. Letter No. 245 from Ben B. Tilley, on why a recommendation is believed only while the person making it has nothing to gain.
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