We just left George in a sticky situation, under the icy glare of Albert, the avowed leader of the Stampers Club. How will he get out of this mess? Read the final episode of George’s little adventure here . . .

• “You sell tweezers, you say? One of your kind showed up here not that long ago and it wasn’t so pretty!”

George is taken aback by this reaction. Maybe even a little hurt. He was sure his philatelist marketing scheme was original and had never been thought of before. He asks Albert to tell him more about the other one of his “kind.”

• “I believe his name was Martin; yes, that’s it, Martin S. He came on a Wednesday, just showed up out of the blue. I remember as if it were yesterday. I was on the platform, leading a debate on the value of pre-Revolution Russian stamps versus Soviet stamps—a highly political battle, trust me. From where I stood, I had the perfect view of Martin when he entered the room. He came right over to the platform—before anyone had a chance to stop him—and jumped right up beside me and grabbed the microphone from my hands to tell everyone that he “had an offer we couldn’t refuse.” He opened his briefcase and set it down on the stool next to the microphone and started explaining how—for one day only!—all his tweezers were 30% off and that anyone who bought one in the next 20 minutes would get a second pair free,” continued Albert, his voice trembling with indignation at the recollection of this scene.

• “It was only a matter of seconds before the crowd started booing this Martin bloke,” continues Albert. “There were even one or two guys who tried to get up on the stage to throw him out of here with their bare hands. I was able to reason with them, then turned to Martin and asked him to leave. And get this—he was indignant! He eventually realized that he was not welcome and left—without making a single sale, I’ll have you know. And he hasn’t dared show his face round here since.”

After recounting the calamity, Albert looks George straight in the eye, sending a shiver up his spine.

• “I’m assuming, George, that your son’s interest in stamps is not the only thing that has brought you here today and that your career in sales might have also something to do with it . . . Am I mistaken?”

Uncomfortable, George swallows hard and decides to lay his cards on the table.

• “No, Albert, you’re right on the money. I also thought—like this Martin character—that stamp collectors might be interested in what I am selling.”

Albert smiles.

• “And you’re not wrong. We do use tweezers. And probably far more than our wives do. I personally own at least a dozen different models. Listen, here’s what we’ll do . . . Come to a few of our meetings, talk with our members, and get to know us a little better and we’ll take it from there.”

George smiles. The offer sounds good to him. At that very moment, the conference draws to a close and the Club members, excited about what they just learned, pour back into the room. Mark runs over to George.

• “Dad! It’s so cool! Thanks for letting me come. Do you think we can come back next month?” he asks feverishly.

George shoots Albert a look of gratitude.

• “Yes, I think we’ll come back next month,” he replies as he embraces his son, who is so exicted that he has completely forgotten that he should be acting more mature at his age.

The next month, father and son head back to the Stampers Club, where Albert greets them and introduces George to a few members of the brotherhood. George even unexpectedly makes a sale that night! The month after, he sells ten pairs of tweezers just by talking with some of the members. He even gets two house calls from Stampers wanting to get their hands on some of his tongs.

Month three was the real turning point for George. Climbing onto the stage to announce that evening’s conference on protecting stamps from humidity, Albert starts his presentation with an announcement.

• “Good evening, everyone. As you know, we are going to have an exciting conference on a topic that thrills us all. Before we get started, I’d like to introduce George. Some of you have already had the pleasure of speaking with him. George—standing right over there with his son Mark—is a tweezer salesman and I assure you, he knows his stuff. For the past couple of months, George has been attending our meetings as an onlooker and has taken the time to get to know us. Today he is offering a range of products that no Stamper should be without. So please, should you need tweezers for handling your precious stamps, I encourage you to seek out his advice. He will help you pick the pair that’s right for you.”

From that day on, George was the Stampers’ official supplier. His reputation quickly spread beyond town limits. Almost every town in the county invited him to hawk his wares at their local stamp clubs and George became the official purveyor of philatelic tweezers.

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The moral of the story (I’ve always liked stories with a moral)

This story retains its meaning even when each of the elements is changed. For example, George can become Lucius, a slave trader from Ancient Rome; and Albert, a fan of gladiator sports; or a fabric merchant in Venice or a fashion-obsessed countess. Or maybe, you could tell a modern version of the story by doing the following:

Replace George with the word brand or company. Next, replace the Stampers Club with a target market and Albert, with an influencer. Martin will therefore more than likely be a spammer (or an advertiser). Now replace all the discussions and handshakes with blogs or tweets and, most importantly, replace Albert’s final speech with a recommendation and see his new-found success as owing to his e-reputation. Now you’ve got a modern-day tale, a social media marketing success story.