Weaving a Story in Business
“But Jason, you said opening and occult store was a BAD Idea.”
Actually, I usually don’t say that. I usually something like “opening an occult store without an angle is a bad idea”. And it is. You cant just hang a sign in a random town with a smattering of stuff for witches and magicians, when everybody already has access to even the most rare books and items at prices that you will never match. Your store might become a community base of course – but that doesn’t pay the bills. You need an angle.
“But Jason, what do you mean by angle?”.
You need a story. You need something that makes you different. Take Moleskine notebooks for example. Its a good notebook: well made, nice elastic band, little pocket in the back, perfect size, but at the end of the day its still just a notebook. Yet chances are you know this notebook because it is absolutely everywhere. How did it get to be so popular? Something else that other similar notebooks did’nt have: a story. Inside every book was a pamphlet telling you how Earnest Hemmingway, Bruce Chatwin, and other writers of the roaring 20’s used this exact notebook. Of course this story stretches the truth just a tad, but all the best stories do (Wicca, the OTO, Key of Solomon, Necronomicon, need I go on…?)
The story, combined with a quality product becomes something epic. You could do the same with an occult shop.
Just an idea off the top of my head:
THE SEA WITCH: Locate it in just about any shore town. Cape May comes to mind. Start a practice of communing with the sea and gathering shells and seaglass and such. Find a crafter that makes seaglass jewlery and sells them to local shops, only this time you will be ritually charging the seaglass and charms as appropriate talismans. You can do similar things with shells. Ever see a demonic seal in a hermit shell crab? That shit is awesome.
You will have your books an Athame’s and classes and such BUT you will also have something unique in terms of amulets that cannot be gotten elsewhere AND you will have a story for the tourists who can visit something unique to the area that they are vacationing in.
Other angles: A Gambling Mojo Kiosk in Atlantic City (could be huge if local laws allowed it), Paranormal/Occult store that combined Witchcraft and Ghost Hunting paraphernalia, A love Mojo store that combined Occult and Sex shop paraphernalia* and gave classes in Sex Magic.
Whatever your business is, find an angle, weave a story, become a legend.
*Did I ever tell you about the time I enchanted a cock ring for a client?
