The Man Who Sold Stone
Why the Natural Stone Promotional Campaign Matters
There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold stone. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. He had troubles with his eyes, so he read no newspapers. But he sold good stone. He put up signs on the highway telling “How good THE STONE was.” He stood by the side of the road and cried: “Buy stone.” And people bought! He increased his stone orders. He bought more equipment to take care of this trade.
He finally got his son home from college to help him out. But then something happened. His son said, “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio? Haven’t you been reading the newspapers? There’s a big depression. The European situation is terrible. The domestic situation is worse.”
Whereupon the father thought, “Well, my son has been to college, he reads the papers and listens to the radio, and he ought to know.” So the father cut down on his stone orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand on the highway to sell his stone. And his stone sales fell almost overnight.
“You’re right, son,” the father said, “We certainly are in the middle of a great depression.”
This article (circa 1930) was found among the archives of the Cleveland Quarries Company and used in the book Sandstone Center of the World by James Hieb in 2007. The caption below the article read, “I hope your judgments are on what you know and not on what you hear.” Today, as the natural stone industry prepares to ramp up a promotional campaign, we too must be focused on what we know, and make sure consumers and the design and architecture communities are hearing about natural stone’s positive attributes.
We may not stand by the side of the road and cry “Buy stone,” but that same message will be shared as we produce a series of positive articles about natural stone to be published online and in several magazines for consumers, architects, and designers.
Let this be a reminder for us to be diligent in promoting what we know:
- Natural stone is a great building product
- Natural stone is both classic and contemporary
- Natural stone is versatile
- Natural stone is long-lasting
- Natural stone is easy to maintain
How to Get Involved:
- Visit www.usenaturalstone.com and share the articles on your website, social media, and to any news outlets in your community
- Share ideas for future featured articles
- Contribute financially to support the campaign
For more information on how you can get involved with MIA’s Natural Stone Promotional Campaign, please email networking@marble-institute.com.