A Left-Handed House

Haaa! They thought they’d got me this time (so did I at one stage) but no. Bux is back on the trail. What a fortnight this has been. Two weeks of back and forth to the hospital, a 60 mile round trip each time, but I’m out the other side of it now. This little c is getting to be a nuisance, but I will teach it to behave. A little determination and plenty of walking is what is needed. And a good dose of WA interaction.

But that is not what this blog is about – it’s about left handed houses. Why did I never noticed this before.

So … at some point during this last two weeks I visited a friend. Coffee, cakes, a nice meal and then I offered to wash up.

I knew that she was left-handed, and I had also seen Left Handed Rulers around the house before … but never realised just how everyday products are manufactured, labelled and advertised with just right-handed folk in mind. The washing up liquid and kitchen spray were next to the sink but they were placed there backwards – to my logic.

The rear labels on the bottles were showing, with all the contents lists and the made by information in hyper-small writing. The front labels, the side with the big Fairy Liquid and Dettol words on them were turned to the wall. No problem, I finished washing up and placed the bottles the correct way round. She immediately turned them around so that the back was showing. I was intrigued.

In my best neutral voice I asked “Is there a reason for the labels to be that way?”

The reply left me amazed, why had I never seen this before?

She said “ Look at the shape of the bottle and the handle to squirt the kitchen cleaner. It’s on the right hand side so that a right-hander can pick it up and use it easily. As a left-hander I have to turn the bottle first, and then use it”

She was right, and what a great marketing add on to your niche this could be, take note.

Held in the right hand, the bottle still shows the big product label. You see the big name label as you use the cleaner and this visually reinforces the product name in your memory. Next time you go shopping, you don’t just buy any old kitchen cleaner, you buy the same product again – repeat sales.

My point is … think about this when advertising or writing bloggs and so on. Where are you going to position “”the name”” on the page. If you can make a small adjustment to your wording, tweak your pitch slightly, and you may very well interest those folk who are not so mainstream. Not just left-handers, but how can you interest a greater reading public for your blog, sportsmen and women, car enthusiasts, bakers and more. More reads, more sales, more profits.

People will read about and buy something just because its about them, in some ways. Take that Left-Handed Rulers. She admits that there was no reason for her to buy any of them. The mere fact that she was left handed and the ruler said left handed was enough to win a sale for the shop, along with the left handed can opener and goodness knows what else.

Take my eldest son, Landrover mad. Anything with the words Landrover on it and he must buy it.

Me, as a climber and mountain walker, anything that said mountain or outdoor would catch my eye. Invariably there was a purchase about to happen, get’s you every time. Even today, if I see anything about outdoor survival, I will instinctively be interested.

So think about about how you can add extra interest to your blogs or advertising. Can you find that one extra link for your niche or product that will attract a new reader, a new buyer.

Over here in the UK, from November onward, anything that says “”are you ready for winter”” will attract a lot of attention and does actually boost sales of all sorts of products and services.

My niche is electrics and I did something similar when the new Wiring Regulations were introduced back in July. “How will the new Regulations affect your work” Just an experiment, but it worked.

So if your niche is going a bit flat, change a few words, find that little bit of uniqueness that you can sneak in. Make your reader want to read that blog.

Toodle pip

Bux