I get it. Times are tough. Many people are knocking on doors asking for work. Or calling on the phone. Because of my early entrepreneurial experiences, I have more empathy than most for door-to-door salespeople and telemarketers.
All I ask in return is a little respect.
When I was about 10, I started making potholders with the loom and a bag of loops that I received as a birthday gift. Pretty soon, I had my own little business going. I sold my homemade goods door to door in our suburban neighborhood. Along the way, I learned some important sales techniques.
In an effort to personalize purchases, I took orders for special designs to match kitchen colors. Sometimes I would pick flowers from our yard to give us an offering along with my sales pitch. I often approached prospective buyers when I could smell dinner cooking in their kitchens and they might actually need a potholder. But never when they were at the table eating and not…