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readyplayerhobi · 4 years

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Flower | 24

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff

; Word Count: 3k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: This is a shorter one but I swear, you’ll love the next chapter. It’s a certain birthday boy’s night out :P so I hope you enjoy this lead up either way!

; Flower Masterpost

“Urgh,” You groan loudly, running your hand over your face as you stare at the display of unusual technology. “Why are men always so hard to buy for?”

“I’d take offence to that but honestly, you’re right.” Jungkook says, humour in his voice as he plays with a little helicopter that actually flies. You’re in one of those stores full of random things that seem to particularly appeal to guys with odd and bizarre technology things and joke stuff. You like it too but these places always seem to attract guys in particular, which is why you’re currently here with Chungha, Soyeon and Jungkook trying to find something for Hoseok’s birthday.

Buying presents for anyone is always a stress for you as you hate the idea that you’ll end up buying something they hate. Half the time, you explicitly ask them to give you a list and just pick off it because quite frankly, you’re not very creative when it comes to presents.

But this time you’d decided to try properly. It was the first birthday either of you had had since beginning your relationship and you wanted to try. So you’d spent time making sure to listen to his conversations, whether they were with you or his parents or his friends, to find things that he wanted.

It didn’t help that his birthday was only a month and a half after Christmas too. One of the reasons you’d held back on his Christmas presents was because his birthday was so darn close afterwards. You’d finally managed to get a new job in January after many, many months of failed interviews, with a salary that wasn’t pitiful and with work that didn’t make you want to face plant the desk, so you had a bit more money to spend on him.

Twenty-nine wasn’t a big birthday or anything, that would be next year obviously, but you still wanted to make it fun for him. So you were determined to buy interesting presents that weren’t boring and useless.

“I don’t know about Hoseok but I think I want this lamp.” Soyeon says, picking up and turning around a lamp that reminded you of one of those wire games where you had to avoid touching the wire. It was fluorescent pink right now but faded into yellow soon enough and in the shape of a heart. Perfect for Soyeon.

“Go for it. It’d look good in your room I bet.” You murmur, eyeing the stand of various lights and alarm clocks closely. Maybe Hoseok might like some fancy alarm clock given he was always getting up earlier than you? Though that would mean you’d have to put up with it too and you pulled a face at that thought, moving away to the range of mugs.

He got up way earlier than you for work and you could be a bit moody in the morning. The last thing you needed was to buy him something that would inevitably cause you to snap at him in the early hours. You were pretty sure he’d managed to train himself to wake up as quickly as possible to avoid your grumpiness.

Chungha follows you, picking up a heat activated mug with lightsabers on it and humming in curiosity. You look it over too for a moment and consider before instead grasping a box with a Zelda logo on it, licking your lips before nodding to yourself.

Hoseok loved Zelda and you’d half contemplated buying him a Switch so he could play the one that came out a few years ago along with the other games that had come out recently. It was way out of your budget though so this would just have to do for the moment. He could take it to work for his coffees and stuff.

“Have you noticed that Soyeon and Jungkook seem to be really hitting it off?” Chungha whispers to you quietly, the both of you glancing over to where they’re both now stood playing around with sword umbrellas. You didn’t know Jungkook too well or anything, well enough to invite him to come help you pick things for Hoseok but you weren’t close.

He was one of Hoseok’s sweeter friends though and shared a lot of interests with you, including being quiet and introverted. Given how beautiful Soyeon was, and her own personality that made her kind, caring and loyal, you weren’t surprised that Jungkook had been instantly caught by her.

And you were kind of glad really. You knew he was a good guy from what Hoseok had told you and Soyeon deserved someone good. Plus, you would openly admit that Jungkook was handsome with the kind of body that game with his sports related degree while still maintaining such an adorable face.

Soyeon’s weakness really.

“Yeah. Don’t say anything though, it’s cute. Let them work things out themselves.” Laughing, you move over to the cashier and give her the mug with a bright smile before also grabbing a LEGO Darth Vader keyring from the range on the counter. This would make him laugh tonight.

“Don’t you feel a little jealous though? I mean, look at them. They look so perfect together.” Chungha sighs, leaning against the counter as you pay and accept the bag from the girl. Narrowing your eyes at your best friend, you lead her out of the store and watch as your remaining friends trail you out, laughing away at whatever conversation they were having.

“Excuse me. Are you saying that Hoseok and I don’t look perfect together? Or you and Dahyun? All lies.” There’s a slight petulant tone to your voice and Chungha immediately backtracks, spluttering almost in her attempts to smoothe over any issues she may have just caused until you laugh at her, pushing her gently.

“I’m joking. You’re right. They do look good. Hey, if they start dating then it’s officially bringing you guys and Hoseok’s friendship circles together!” You pause suddenly, cringing as a thought enters your head. “Though if anything happened with Hoseok and me then that would be very awkward. And heart breaking.”

“Hey, hey. None of that! I don’t want to hear any talk of breaking up or the potential for it when we’re out shopping for your boyfriend’s birthday presents! I’m telling you now, if you two ever break up then romance is dead.” Looking at her, you raise your brow in amusement at the completely serious look on her face.

“Okay. Calm down Nicholas Sparks. We’re fine.” That gets a snort from her as you lead her into a store that sells all kinds of musical instruments and electronic stuff. From your extensive research into trying to find Hoseok the perfect gift, you knew that you should be able to find what you wanted in here.

“Have you even read a Nicholas Sparks book? Or seen one of the films?” She asks incredulously, running her fingers along the strings of a guitar as you both pass by. Shrugging, you stop in front of the vinyl players and eye them with a tongue in your cheek.

“No? I mean, I watched five minutes of The Notebook but it was really boring so I turned it off. Aren’t all his stories meant to be like...depressing and shit?” Leaning forward, you read the little information card on one of the vinyl players and hum to yourself.

Hoseok had been discussing how he wanted to get into collecting vinyl records lately and to do that, he’d need a vinyl player. You’d already discussed it with his parents to make sure they didn’t accidentally get him one as he’d been talking about it to his dad and you’d tried to make sure that you would get a good one for him.

Even if you had zero idea of what constituted a good vinyl player to be honest.

“I mean...yeah, they are pretty depressing. But still. You should watch one, or read it. They’re tragically romantic.” Pausing, you look at her with a carefully blank stare before snorting.

“I don’t like romance films, Chungha you know that. I’m certainly not going to watch one that you’ve described as tragic. How is that even romantic? It’s just fucking sad.” You think you’ll go with the Sony vinyl player that you’d researched. He doesn’t need anything super fancy for a first one and it has Bluetooth, so should be good enough for him?

They’re certainly not cheap and you’re very happy that you’d saved so well to be able to afford this. While you weren’t normally sure about presents, you were pretty sure that this one was going to be a big hit with him.

“I’m just going to point out that not all of his films are sad. Well, I mean...they don’t all end sad. But still. Anyway, it’s not important. I don’t even know what we’re talking about anymore and holy fuck, this is almost a thousand dollars!” Her surprise is incredibly audible and you shush her repeatedly, looking around to make sure no one is looking.

“I’m not buying that one. I’m buying this one. It’s not that expensive.” You point towards the one you want, crouching down to grab one of the boxed ones before heading over to the cashier once more. This birthday present shopping was going surprisingly easy compared to other times. Maybe it’s because the presents you’d decided for Hoseok were just so damn expensive that he didn’t have many.

“Boy, I hope he gives you some good oral for that.” She mutters and you look at her mortified, eyes before glancing around to check that no one is nearby. Your hands are full so you can’t make a shushing gesture to her but your scowl is more than enough and she cringes slightly, whispering sorry.

Thankfully though, you don’t think anyone overheard her as the cashier just gives you the usual, bland customer service smile that you’re used to. The one which you give back while internally chanting ‘please don’t question what she just said’ but he simply rings you up, putting the box into a large bag for you.

As you walk away once you’ve paid, you hiss at her in embarrassment. “Chungha! We’re in public! Please!”

Laughing at you, she wraps an arm around your shoulder and hugs you to her before letting you go. She’s always been the more open minded out of you all and has never felt the need to censor her thoughts or words. Though she did usually tone it down in public as you always wanted to melt into a puddle of embarrassment.

There was no wonder Hoseok and her got along so well. Both of them just said whatever came to their minds with no filters sometimes and it pained you considering you were a prude in comparison. Well, when it came to sexual things anyway. Anything else just came out of your mouth without a second thought.

“Where have they gone?” You ask suddenly, realising you’re both about to leave the store with only half of your group. Frowning, you look around outside and see that they’re not there so you walk back inside, scanning through until you spot them both sitting at one of the pianos that’s been set up.

Jungkook is playing and it comes to you that the sweet piano music you’d been hearing for the last ten minutes has actually come from him. His hands, so large compared to Soyeon’s, dance across the keys elegantly and produce the kind of music you could only wish you could do. Chungha pauses next to you to watch the show and you laugh softly, leaning into her as you nod towards Soyeon.

“Oh yeah, they’re definitely gonna get together. She’s got literal heart eyes going on right now.” Chungha snorts in amusement, nodding before walking over to them both and breaking up their little music session. Jungkook appears to be oblivious to your best friend’s sudden infatuation with him and gives Chungha a polite smile as he makes small talk with her but you’re not.

Walking alongside Soyeon, you peer at her for a moment and take in the way her eyes are bright with happiness and the gentle smile on her face. Giggling you push her with your shoulder until she’s looking at you in expectation.

“So...Jungkook.” You keep the words quiet in case Jungkook happens to have better hearing than you’d expected but it still causes her cheeks to blush a sweet, rose gold. Grinning, you turn around and walk backwards as you take the rare chance of being able to tease her about a potential relationship.

Normally, she’s already in a relationship before you even find out anything given how much she enjoys dating. But for the first time since you were in college, you were getting to see her in the midst of a crush.

“He’s nice. Very nice.” She says softly, the smile on her face matching her tone and you want to coo at her. But you can’t because Jungkook and Chungha have paused for you both to catch up to them. So instead, you leave her with one final comment.

“He is. And he’s very handsome. Hoseok says he’s a good guy so you should go for it.” With that, you stride forward to have a talk with the man in question. Looking up at him, he’s taller and broader than you, you give him a bright smile before holding up the bag with the player in it.

“Think he’ll like it? He’s been saying for a while he wants some vinyl records and I told his parents I’d get him the player. They’re getting him some records for it to start him off.” Jungkook peers into the bag, having a closer look at the vinyl player you’d bought before nodding in approval.

“I think he’ll like it. And that’s perfect because now I can buy him some records too. Any idea what his parents are getting him?” He asks curiously and you hum, frowning as you try to recall what his mom had told you on the phone.

“I think...a bunch of Iron Maiden records and one or two Metallica?” Pausing for a moment, you nod firmly. “Yeah, those two.”

“Sweet. There’s a store that sells records near here, are you okay if we go there and I can get him something as well? I know the perfect record for him.” His eyes are wide with excitement and you can’t help but grin at how sparkly they seem to be. Yeah, he would definitely make a good boyfriend with Soyeon.

“You know, I think I’ve realised a flaw in my present plans.” You muse to yourself, linking arms with Chungha when she sidles up next to you. A questioning noise comes from Jungkook and you look at him with a self-deprecating smile.

“I don’t really like a lot of the music he loves so I’m just making a rod for my own back here, aren’t I?” That gets a laugh from them all and you pout in an overly dramatically manner. For a moment, you consider how easily Jungkook seems to fit into your little friend group and how much you actually enjoy interacting with him.

You’ll openly admit to being a little awkward and stilted with some of Hoseok’s friends still, but you imagined that would change with time. The easy camaraderie between you all makes you miss Hoseok though, even though you knew there was no way he could have come with you.

“Well, you can buy records too. I mean, I know it’s his but if it’s in your place...I think they probably do records for the stuff you like.” Jungkook laughs and you can’t help but snort at the evil look in his eyes. Despite how sweet and innocent he often appeared, you knew from Hoseok that Jungkook, along with Jimin, was quite capable of coming up with some of the best pranks.

Best depending on your point of view obviously.

“Okay, no. I’ll be nice. It’s his player so he can play what he wants. Though he’d probably let me. Did you know I managed to get him to sit through an entire Taylor Swift album the other day? He looked comatose by the end.” Giggling, you remember the memory fondly while Soyeon scoffs on your other side.

“You don’t even like Taylor Swift.”

“Wrong. Well, kinda wrong. I like some of her songs. But on the whole, yeah, not a huge fan. That’s why it was funny because his reaction when he figured out I’d just put it on to make him whine.” Now it’s Jungkook’s turn to laugh loudly, the sound amusing on its own while he wrinkles his nose in pure amusement.

“Oh, you are evil. I love it. I definitely approve of you.” Rolling your eyes at how enthused he sounds about your prank on your boyfriend, you smile at Soyeon as she shakes her head in resigned bemusement. She should get used to this if she wants to try anything with the grad student because it’ll probably be a lot worse for her.

Idly, as you all continued to walk to the store Jungkook wanted to visit and made plans for dinner at a local pizzeria, you wondered if Hoseok would be amenable to your matchmaking skills. He obviously knew Jungkook far better than you so you resolved to ask him about it tonight. Maybe you could rope him into helping you get them both together.

Though he may just do that thing where he sighs at you fondly and just goes along with whatever you say. You’d suggest it to him and see what happens. Either way, you get the feeling that the group of single guys in Hoseok’s friendship circle would be dropping once more soon enough.

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junker-town · 3 years

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The rise and collapse of a scalper’s sports card empire

Bribes, parking lot deals, and the cards you never had a chance to buy.

Warning: The following story contains strong language.

Tyrone sits in the middle of his three monitor setup like the cockpit of a fighter jet, one hand grasping a cup of coffee, the other his vape, alternating between stimulants and watching a scramble over spots in his newest break. “This shit’s been up 40 minutes and we only got two slots left,” he yells to his two business partners, pulling cards for their latest singles orders.

“Tyrone,” who asked not to go by his real name to keep his anonymity, elevated his hobby for collecting cards into a business three years ago, and turned it into an empire. Now he’s coming face-to-face with it all collapsing. “I knew we didn’t have forever on this,” he says, “I just figured it’d be the feds shutting it down, not some dumbasses at Target.”

May 14th was the end of an era for Tyrone. Target made the announcement they would no longer sell NBA, NFL, MLB or Pokemon cards following an incident outside a Wisconsin store in which a customer pulled a gun on another who’d just purchased cards. Signs, now posted all over stores in the country, read “To ensure the safety of our guests and team members, effective May 14th, MLB, NFL, NBA and Pokemon cards will no longer be sold in stores until further notice.” Walmart has not made an official announcement at this time, though there’s increasing speculation that they too will pull cards from shelves.

“That shit had me f***** up,” Tyrone says, shaking his head. “I dunno how it’s been working up north, but ain’t nobody in my area getting good shit from Target anyway.”

Tyrone began turning his hobby into a business like anyone else trying to get cards. He arrived at stores early on Friday morning, learning that cards weren’t stocked by Target and Walmart employees, but rather independent merchandisers who would enter the store on distributors’ behalf, and place items on the shelves. Tyrone would wait until the merchandisers arrived to put out the new cards, then pounce on them, buying out the store and immediately flipping them on eBay. It was a weekly ritual. Hit a store, move to the next, do the same.

“I’d spend HOURS in the car each week,” he laughed, remembering his beginnings. Tyrone quickly realized there was too much inconsistency. Sometimes he’d miss the merchandiser, or they’d go to another store first and throw off his route. Random shoppers would buy a fat pack (a wrapped package of multiple packs) as their nostalgia kicked in, having no idea what they were buying. This made his stock unreliable.

“It got exhausting, and frustrating as shit got bigger. That’s when I got smart about it.”

I know Luka and Ja, not Squirtle and shit.

After months of shadowing deliveries and driving around, Tyrone approached one of the merchandisers in a Walmart parking lot, and befriended them. He needed as much product as he could get his hands on, they needed to do their job. “I made it work for both of us.”

At the time the only thing really popping was basketball cards, particularly the highly sought after Panini Prizm series. If you went to Target or Walmart hoping to find Prizm basketball only to find it out of stock, there’s a good chance Tyrone had it, and you never had a chance of buying it.

“It was so easy back then,” he says. “They’d come in, put the shit on the shelves, snap a photo with their phone to show they did their job — then immediately pull it back down and buy it.” To the distributors, Tyrone’s merchandisers were doing their jobs, to the public they just thought they were too late and missed out on the cards. No one was the wiser, except for the merchandisers and Tyrone.

“I’d meet them at the end out their route, give them a stack — normally double what they paid, and everyone was happy.” As far as he sees it, Tyrone thinks the merchandisers got the better end of the deal. They just needed to meet him and make some quick money, he had to do the leg work to move the cards on the back end, but with prices skyrocketing it was worth it.

It wasn’t long before demand outstripped Tyrone’s supply, even having most of an east coast state in his pocket. He needed to expand, and began hitting up friends and family members in other states, bringing them into the fold. Before long he had numerous states, stretching from the east coast as far Texas in his network. Everyone giving kickbacks to merchandisers, sending the product to him, and profiting as he became able to sell product online for four times their value, sometimes even more.

“I was making less, because everyone needed a cut — but who cares. I was clearing $10k a month easy.”

Flipping fat packs and sealed product was nice, but the real money came in when Tyrone started getting his hands on hobby boxes. Larger, 12 pack boxes which brought more money, and more opportunity. “I can make stupid money on a case break, you don’t even know.”

A box, or case break, is a multi-participant venture in which a large number of people essentially gamble by buying pseudo-shares in a mass opening. Let’s say someone has a case of Prizm, you might pay $500 to get randomly assigned a team, then get every card from that team opened in a case.

For the individuals participating, it was a potential gold mine. Lucking out and getting the Pelicans could mean landing a five figure Zion Williamson card, at the expense of someone who got assigned the Hawks, and coming away with nothing. Trae Young isn’t worth big money, so Atlanta is seen as a dud slot. For people like Tyrone, selling the slots represents no risk — and all upside.

“Let’s say I’m paying three grand a case. I’m turning around and making five times that it in a break.”

With everyone desperate to open product hoping of landing a chase card, Tyrone was just in it for economics. “I’ll leave the gambling to the gamblers,” he says, “sure I’ll open something now and then for fun, but nah, moving sealed is where it’s at.” Soon, not even his vast network was enough to keep him in the cards he needed.

The fever spread from basketball into everything else. First football, then baseball, and finally Pokemon. “Pokemon makes me too nervous man,” Tyrone says to a friend who suggests they start buying it up, “we don’t know shit about those. I mean, can we break it? I don’t know. I know Luka and Ja, not Squirtle and shit. I’ll stick to what I know.”

“You have no idea how dirty this all is.”

As far as Tyrone saw it, he was providing a service. It had become impossible for anyone to get sealed product without spending thousands on boxes, and he felt that private card shops were cracking everything they were getting and selling singles online. Even then, he felt a little bad about what he was doing. “It sucks man, like I remember collecting cards as a kid,” Tyrone tells me, “none of these kids have a chance at buying packs. It’s all being eaten up.” As far as he was concerned, if Tyrone wasn’t scalping cards, someone else would — so why not him?

A large impact on the card market came not from flippers like Tyrone, but from Wall Street. During the economic downturn caused by the Covid pandemic, an increasing number of investment bankers were looking to diversify their portfolios with collectibles, and basketball cards were at the top of the list. Grading services like PSA and Beckett, once tapped only by enthusiasts trying to secure their most valuable cards, were now being flooded with requests to grade from big-dollar firms, aiming to solidify their investments.

“You have no idea how dirty this all is,” a lanky man named “Tom” calls from the back room as he assembles as eBay order. “I know this goes all the way through the system. I know Wall Street is talking to Panini and they’re engineering all this. Shit, I think ESPN is in Panini’s pocket too, pushing these players they know are signing.”

“Man, you’re tripping,” Tyrone says, rolling his eyes, not buying Tom’s conspiracy theories. “Don’t listen to him, I mean shit IS dirty, he right about that — but nah, nothing like that.”

Whether you believe the wild theories floated by collectors or not, it’s unquestionable that there’s a massive card shortage and it’s pushing prices through the roof. If you want to find a rare Zion Williamson rookie card now it’ll take not a few hundred bucks, or even a few thousand — but a second mortgage on your house.

Card collectors were tracking the price spikes daily, but when word got out to the general public that there were five- and six-figure cards being pulled from packs, it started a frenzy. Go to any store that stocked cards and you’d find empty shelves, people who were never interested in cards before were lingering around the section, looking to quickly make four times their purchase in a matter of hours be reselling online.

Word of Friday stocking got out. It wasn’t long before there were lines down the sidewalk, in the middle of a pandemic, of people waiting for store doors to open to they could rush the card rack. “My people started getting scared,” Tyrone said, referring to his merchandisers. “Not like they were afraid of getting hurt or nothing. They just didn’t want the drama of pulling the shit off shelves, someone reporting them and losing their jobs.” Soon the merchandisers started to pull out of their deals, no longer interested in the risks the quick money brought. It became more and more difficult for Tyrone to secure large numbers of cards.

This is the harsh reality of the #Pokemon TCG right now. It’s a mess pic.twitter.com/3RnbeGz07A

— Pokémon News (@TrainerINTEL) May 22, 2021

Then the news came cards were being pulled from shelves. “Nobody was ready for that. Shit, I don’t think Panini or Bowman were ready for that,” Tyrone says. Overnight the network he’d cultivated for years collapsed, but this wasn’t a man who looked like his world was crumbling around him — rather, he seemed calm. “I knew it was coming, just not this way. I have plans, believe me I have plans. Just not ready to talk about that yet.”

While Tyrone pivots to whatever he’s doing next, on Friday May 21, one week after pulling cards from the shelves, Target opened them up again for online-only sales. This time with strict limits to how many packs and boxes people could buy, effectively killing the scalping market. A great day for general consumers, and perhaps the nail in the coffin for those who made a living off cards in the last few years.

When reached for comment Target corporate said they had nothing to add to the card situation beyond their initial statement posted in stores.

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megamarketinginsider-blog · 6 years

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Cold Calls - 1

I wanted to come and join the ever ending place of possibility that is internet. Life has changed a lots since it became know to men it was first recognized on January 1, 1983 it was know as ARPANET then in 1990 it became internet. It gave everyone a medium to exchange the knowledge that one might have to billions of user in one go. Hence embracing it and with much further a do lets begin the topic that was meant for me to write on cold calls.

Sales has evolved over the time internet being used more often and social media marketing has been evolved to the exact roots, people now create social media ads and have created a ecosystem which is online, as more and more consumers and marketeers have flock to this digital advance age. However there is one thing which hasn’t changed is cold calls. Cold calls give you a well recognized edge to your sales strategies and even give you a in dept insight to your target audience. Well it all started with “Door-To-Door selling” in which a sales person would walk up to that door and sell a product, was it helpful to an extant as long as the people didn’t changed where they lived and the geography was confined to one region only. Since the term globalization came every thing changed, now one cannot walk up to the door as the door is 1000 miles away(Is it only me who thinks this way?). What can be done? What is the next step? ah I know direct mail, by direct mail I meant paper letters when it was not easy as well, you can send letter but what are the chances that it would go to the target person riddle me this you have to reach to 1000 consumers you sent a letter 500 reaches to the consumer and 500 takes time would you wait for the consumer to response and think they would come lets wait. If you are a sales guy target would get to you and you will try each and every attempt to make it possible. But you have only mails right, but with internet you have emails but what is the success rate?? big question as per the market standards 1-2% conversion that it. It is bad very bad or one should say worst but now u can reach to 10000 consumers/clients in a month. But by when would you be able to wait, everyone needs result quickly and quality will always remain the key but how much time you have? is the question that we all face.

Now comes cold calls consumers would pick up the call and say they have the need or not no waiting end period. Cold calls can be trouble at a times, When I first started doing cold calling it scared the shit out of me, a complete stranger calling and asking them about the product or services and entering a personal space of someone is soul trenching. But believe me guys it only take 3 calls to get the hang of it, its just like riding a bicycle or driving a new car or asking a girl out on a date fun isn’t it, it gives you adrenaline rush and you are able to talk to a complete stranger and get acquainted with them.

Let me speak about what was my experience and how can I say so much about calling. I come from a total experience of 10 years I have worked with different industries, I worked for an international BPO for good 5 years over there I used to call customers in United Kingdom and speak with them, I was never good with English I was a dud when speaking to someone, I never had guts to speak to someone in English, I remember I used to go to McDonald’s and be inquisitive that what are they talking about one day I remember them asking me have it or take way it took be 5 min to recollect me and understand that what they are saying and replied in Hindi. It was shameful yes but I know how to write but speaking to some was difficult for me never have I ever been so scared that of going to McDonald’s or any other restaurants my sister used to order me and she would laugh at me and say to me why can’t you speak why?. I never had an answer I was very ashamed very much at myself but I never thought that how should I change or improve it. You might think that I could have joined a course or something but I was not able to afford it my family conditions never allowed me. So I started working and after the first job I joined BPO well it was a hell to me everyone of my batch mates were so fluent in English I wasn’t on of the same page as they were but they never made fun of me but help me then on trainer came and everything was sorted I was not shy I could finally speak. Then 5 years British customer everything was in control no more sham everything was easy but although after 2 years working there. People who helped me was my QA and friends Isha, Gurpreet sir, Antar, Nand, Smriti and many more they helped me a lot by a lot I mean a lot.

Why I have to share my experience with you is only because now a days everything has changed internet social platforms have given us new generation who can speak in English, but they are scared of cold calls, guys really I was not able to speak to anyone I was shy but you are the epitome of words and language is your highway to success still. Cold calls can be a bit too much but its just a call a exchange of word the key lies when you stop thinking of them as customers or clients or target audience speak to them like your friends, family etc. And believe me guys the person on the other end understand that you are a friend when they speak, have a smile and speak, have a good mood and speak. Enjoy what ever you are doing because if you will not speak someone else would there are hundreds of people or I should say billions of people out there waiting to dial that number why can’t you be the first person.

I always am a true believer that its hard to be persistent sometime in things that you haven’t done before, sales is a field where everyday is a challenge and that is what I love, your knowledge is increasing and you understanding of things increasing what else do you want. and always remember three rules

Love your family

Work Superhard

Live your passion

Well this is something which is not mine it is from Gary Vaynerchuk and hell yeah it work.

Hope you liked it cold call is basic 1 min call only make most out of it.

—Rituraj

#coldcalls #sales marketing motivation

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musicxmakerx3 · 6 years

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New Year, New Blog! (Sorta)

I am going to start treating this an actual blog so here we go. I am going to post weekly updates about what I learned/did at work.

In November I started working at the local string shop. It is a very small business with an in-house staff consisting only of the owner, a bow specialist (who has another day job and another side job), a repair apprentice (also has another job), and myself. My initial task was to do inventory and generally clean up and organize everything. Since I have been working there for nearly two months I am going to have to do a bit of a recap here before starting weekly updates.

Both the owner and the bow tech had/have day jobs with the City so normal business hours for us start at 5pm and go until we get tired enough to leave (usually midnight but sometimes earlier).

November:

- I spent my first day 5 hours going through the online order invoice cache and “completing” orders that had been sitting there since July.

- I took inventory and organized all 7 of the bow cases. Four of the bow cases hold up to 24 bows, the other two hold 12. This is how I learned to tell the difference between violin, viola, and cello bows. I also have tons of manufacturer model codes burned into my brain.

- My job description in our time clock app is “inventory” and my brain processed that like a robot with a single command. I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that so many things in the shop were never recorded in any sort of inventory sheet so I took it upon myself to fix that and count everything I possibly could. I started by counting all of the cheap bows that sit in a mess of cardboard boxes in the back room. Next, I inventoried every cello bow hanging on the rack of pegs in the show room.

- Our back room remains a horrifying, unusable disaster area. I spent a while considering how to make it more organized and functional and made a game plan. I also demanded my boss buy more pegboard so I could fix the show room.

I think that covers it for November. I started on 11/13 and had a concert cycle in LA that started two days later. There were plenty of other rehearsals and concerts that month that prevented me from working in the evenings. It took me a while to learn that I could come in whenever I want during the day as long as I could find something to do.

December:

- More bow inventory. I also inventoried all of the rosins. Sadly, our webstore host service is kinda derpy so I can only set up inventory tracking management for products that have NO variations. Anything like strings (different strings or sizes) or something that comes in different patterns or colors cannot be tracked because things get janky when we set up product options that way. This forces me to do inventory the old fashioned way by literally touching and counting everything once a month and entering it into a spreadsheet.

- Received and installed pegboard in the show room so it became a shopable area as opposed to a jumbled mess of stuff no customer feels like they are allowed to touch. The skills I learned about merchandising a wall at the Halloween store really helped with this task. Since the “chachki wall” was completed I believe every single customer that has entered the shop has approached and spent time looking at the wall. Some have even bought things! (most of our business is online so walk-ins aren’t frequent)

- Organized the back room by putting all of the packing materials in plastic storage bins so they no longer spill out all over the floor.

- Watched and took notes on how to rehair a bow. I also learned how to prepare one for repairing by “taking it to the spa.” Every rehair we do consists of checking that the mortis angles are correct or correcting them, filling any crazy-deep mortis with ebony, removing rosin residue from the stick, polishing all the silver bits, and lubricating the eyelet and screw of the frog. We might also do a bit of straightening at no extra charge if we notice things are a little wonky.

- Learned how to do shipping. I still have some stuff to learn about where things are in the shop or if we even have the item in-store. We offer TONS of stuff on our website, some of which we are out of (because nobody every inventoried it) or some of it we get dropshipped directly from the company to the customer because we don’t have the model they want in-store. We have lots of shipping options so learning how to do them all and remembering how to do each one correctly is tricky.

- Took inventory of all cellos needing repairs and sat down with Boss Lady to categorize them as “quick fix”, “slightly involved”, or “nightmare”. Customer cellos are just a whole ‘nother category of “DO THIS NOW REGARDLESS OF HOW INVOLVED IT WILL BE.”

**Now we are getting to the good stuff**

- Learned how to tie hanks (small sections of hair) to rehair bows. I also learned, or taught myself rather, how to DYE hanks. Boss Lady (who also has neato colorful hair) asked me what I thought about dyeing bow hair and I told her I was 100% on board. I will do a more in-depth post about this later but if you want to see the finished product check out http://www.lindawest.com/Color_Bow_Rehair_p/colorrehair.htm

I think that is it for December. I spent a week down in LA rehearsing for the Yeethoven II concert (freaking AWESOME btw. Check it out on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter) because the Thomas Fire had me concerned for the safety of my cat if I were to get an evacuation notice while 90 miles away. A very kind friend let me spend the week in his house. He even gave me his room despite the fact that he is allergic to cats (thankfully Baron didn’t seem to be messing with his allergies.) Between Yeethoven II and a NYE concert out of town I missed another week of work, essentially.

JANUARY! Week 1:

- How do I start every month? Counting things! I have reorganized the bow cases, updated the sheets that are taped to the cases, and made an index card for the top and bottom of every case so that bows can be easily put back in the spot they belong when someone is trying out many bows at once. I didn’t come in FOR ONE DAY and I came back to find bows everywhere and cases laying open on the floor. When my boss came in this evening I said “So the index cards didn’t work, huh?” And she was like “well, they would have! If... well...” and started putting the bows back where they were supposed to go. Sort of. It is still a mess. Maybe she will try harder next time. Or maybe I will be there next time. I am so fed up with how quickly these bow cases go to shit.

- I touched almost every string in the shop. I counted all of the full size and fractional strings that were in packaged and then untangled and learned to identify all of the strings that had formed a rat’s nest on the bench. Each string was rolled and put into a small plastic baggie and labeled as “tried but new” (strings that we literally took out of the package and put on an instrument for someone to try and that person didn’t like it so we took it right back off) or “for rentals.” The really busted strings got tossed into a horrific box of “donation” strings for school cellos.

- *crazy singsong voice* I counted all the bows again. All the bows in boxes. And all the bows on the rack in the show room. I still have to inventory the violin/viola bows on the other showroom rack though... TOMORROW!

- Figured out how to wrangle the mountain of fking gig bags: roll them up. I have spent the past two days rolling and strapping most of the gig bags in the shop. We mostly use them for rentals or donate them to schools (or toss them in the garbage when we get way too many because Goodwill doesn’t want them and selling them on EBay doesn’t really work.) I ran out of bag-wrangling straps today but Boss Lady ordered more.

- I learned how to fit pegs. You might think that you just put pegs into the holes and *boom* you’re done. In reality you have to reshape pegs that are out of round with a giant pencil sharpener, ream the holes of the peg box, and make sure the length of each peg is correct. It should barely peek through the hole on the opposite side of the peg box so if it is too long you grind the end down with an electric sander. Once you have it at the length you want you shape the end by hand by rubbing it on sand paper from 120 - 600 grit until it is that smooth dome-shape you are familiar with. You can even do this with plastic pegs. I helped to fit a set of new geared pegs onto a rental cello. Geared pegs seem like a luxury item but it actually just helps to keep people from snapping strings when they tune so in the end the cost of one set of geared pegs on a rental makes up for all the strings we would have to replace because kids or parents break them.

Side note — we had a bow returned to us from a renter that was literally the most busted thing. The Thomas Fire really dried things out so the hair got very tight even when the bow was technically loose. I guess the girl kept cranking on it trying to get it to tighten and either she or a parent took some pliers to the bow screw. Technically, the bit that you turn to tighten or loosen the bow is called the button and the screw is the long piece with threads that is inside the button/frog. These people busted the button by using pliers, stripped the screw out of the button AND the eyelet it screws into, and cracked the stick from the force of it all.

PSA: If you ever think of using a household tool to solve a problem with your instrument you should probably stop and take it to a professional instead.

- I learned how to take the top off of an instrument. The top meaning the whole piece of wood with the f-holes on it. After taking the top off I learned how to glue the center seam crack, make cleats, reglue the top, mix watercolor and wood stain to match the varnish, and set/cut a bridge.

I also sat down with my boss and had her tell me what she wanted me to do each week and each month. Counting will basically be a monthly thing: strings, bows, cello cases, rosin, anything else I can find to count... Weekly things will be mostly be computer tasks. It is also apparently my job to keep Boss Lady on task so now that this junior high violin has been repaired I am going to have her teach me how to do a sound post patch so I can start fixing that which is a problem with many of our cellos needing repair. I also want to learn how to sharpen blades properly because most of our stuff in the shop is dull and that makes it hard to do things accurately. Tomorrow I am going to force Boss Lady to start on the very broken customer cello that has been sitting downstairs for a bit.

Well, it is 3am and my brain has definitely stopped working so I’m going to stop this post here. I’ll post more info about the colorful rehairs at some point and aim to write a post every Sunday evening about what I’ve done and learned that week so I can keep track of my progress as a “chihuahua doctor.” I work in a cello shop so violins and violas are referred to as “chihuahuas” and sometimes turned down for repairs because Boss Lady hates working on the tiny little things. Being the only violinist/violist in the shop means I not only am in charge of familiarizing myself with our stock so I can help our customers find what they want, but I will eventually become the high strings technician because Boss Lady doesn’t want to do it but we are the only shop for at least 90 miles that is capable of doing this kind of work.

Be back next week with more tales of counting things and learning repair skills.

#ThisWeekAtWork #LWCellos #String Repair #Bow Repair #Rehair #Violins #Violas #Cellos #Bows #Strings #String shop #Cello shop

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peplumandprosecco · 7 years

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The best? Yeah thats a big statement I know, but seriously PicPocket is without a doubt the best online store I have ever shopped from. The clothes are all amazing quality, they arrive super quick and the customer service is fantastic. I caught up with the brother and sister duo, Mitch and Renae who founded Picpocket to get some insider info on this season trends, their favourite items as well as why they left their jobs to start a company together.

Mitch and Renae took the plunge and quit their day jobs to pursue their dream of opening a fashion store and now this brother and sister duo are taking the fashion world by storm through the introduction of fantastic brands to Aussie fashion lovers!

What inspired you to start Picpoket?

We have both always had a passion for fashion and Renae had always wanted to own her own boutique. We had spoken on countless occasions about starting our own clothing label but never did anything about it.

I (Mitch) was going to an event and wanted a shirt. We happened to be heading to Melbourne so while there I looked around for something suitable but no luck. I was then in Sydney so once again looked around but once gain no luck. I also tried Newcastle and my local stores but still no luck.

The frustration finally got me to the point that I said to Renae, let’s stop talking about starting a fashion line and actually do something about it.

We started looking into it and decided that our first step should be to begin with an online store, stocking incredible Australian designers and so Picpoket was born.

I still haven’t found that shirt I was looking for but you never know what the future will bring.

What were you doing work-wise prior?

Renae: “Blowing shit up”, also known as being a shotfirer in the coal mines. Prior to this, I began my working life in the photography industry, way back when people wouldn’t know how a photo turned out until it was developed. I would process and develop other people’s photos until one day I decided I wanted to be on the other end of the process and actually be taking photos. I then owned and operated my own photography studio for 5 years.

Mitch: The best part of my working life has been in marketing. For 8 years, I worked at a winery in the Hunter Valley looking after their marketing. I then started my own Marketing agency and operate this alongside of Picpoket.

Who is the Picpoket customer that you curate for?

Stylish and fashionable men and women who are looking for quality clothing by some of Australia’s leading designers.

Demographics – 18 to 40. Sociable, professionals.

What roles do each of you play in running Picpoket?

Renae is the “spender of money” aka the Fashion Buyer.

Mitch is the “maker of money” (or at least I attempt to) aka Marketing & Tech.

What has been the biggest challenge thus far with starting a new business?

As neither of us have previous experience with the online fashion industry, learning how it all works has been a big challenge. Discovering how we source the clothes, what quantities to order, what sizes to stock, how quickly will stock turn over and what styles sell best.

What makes Picpoket unique?

At Picpoket, we believe fashion isn’t just about how you look but also how it makes you feel.

A new outfit can enhance a person’s confidence and self-esteem and we strive to make our customers feel the best they can.

How do you decide which brands to feature on your website?

To us clothing isn’t just a necessity but they are an extension of who you are. They show the world a little bit of your personality. In fact, the right piece of clothing can change a person’s day. If a person feels good in what they are wearing they feel more confident about themselves. They stand a little taller, they walk a little bolder. And that is what we want when a person puts on a piece of clothing, we want them to know they look incredible and feel confident about themselves.

Therefore, we have 3 criteria that a brand must meet before they can join the Picpoket family; Quality, Value and Style. A brand’s clothing must be made from good quality materials to a high standard so that it looks and feels great. Plus, we look for pieces that have a little bit of uniqueness to them.

What are the biggest trend for this season?

This season is all about texture. We will be seeing velvet, lace, leather and sequins. Duster coats and utility shirts will be popular and there will be lots of belted waists.

I absolutely adore the Premonition At Ease shirt as seen in my recent Instagram Pic! Do you have any stand out favourites Renae?

There are just so many that I love. I am always trying to sneak a few pieces into my own wardrobe without Mitch knowing. I do love the new Enforce Jacket from Premonition. This duster coat definitely brings some funk to your wardrobe. The Summer Wonderland Jumpsuit from Mossman is also another favourite. As well as the Eye Spy In The Meadows Top. I really could go on and on.

Thanks so much for answering all my questions! I can’t wait to see where this amazing business goes in the future!

Xoxo, P&P

PS – Picpocket also sell mens clothing!

The Best Online Store Around The best? Yeah thats a big statement I know, but seriously PicPocket is without a doubt the best online store I have ever shopped from.

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