How to Get Past Your Distaste of Selling
Issue #2509
- WEALTHY: Making lemonade out of the sour economy (Christian Hill)
- HEALTHY: Unusual advice for dropping that extra pound or two (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Jay Abraham on selling your ideas
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- One caveat to starting a business (Michael Masterson)
- How to save money on holiday airfare (Lori Allen)
- It’s Fun to Know… before you pass on that interesting “fact” you just read
- Add “bifurcate” to your vocabulary
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Time to (Re)Build Your Portfolio
The last 10 months in the market have been terrible. The Dow is down more than 30 percent, the S&P is down around 35 percent. One day we may look back on this year as the single greatest financial crisis ever, depending on how the next few months unfold.
The individual investor has taken it square on the chin. Over $2 trillion has evaporated from retirement accounts in the last 15 months. Given the massive amount of lemons around, how can you make lemonade?
You can start by either building or rebuilding your portfolio.
If you are just starting out in the market, value picks are plentiful. Now is the perfect time to pick up shares of industry leaders at deeply discounted prices. Sure, there may be some downside left, but no one can perfectly time any market.
And if you are one of the many who have seen their investments beaten up, now may be the time to buy into some industry leading companies that were too pricey for you in the past. Remember when Google was at $700 share? You can now buy it at half that.
If the price is right and you feel strongly about a company, you might as well buy it now. The market will rebound, valuations will return, and you will be wishing for the opportunity to go back and buy at today’s prices.
[Ed. Note: Keep your money safe during these shaky times by making smart investment choices. Companies with strong fundamentals are best equipped to withstand major market changes. But don't be afraid of fluctuations in the market. These movements can offer you the perfect opportunity to profit.]
“Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence, and income.”
Jay Abraham
Business Is Selling
As we keep telling you, just about anyone can start a business. But there’s an important caveat – and it jumped to mind when I got an e-mail from Lynn, who wants advice on starting a newsletter. She writes:
“I’ve worn many hats, juggled them off and on in my years as Mother, Grandmother, Realtor, Concessionaire, and Artist Retailer/Wholesaler. Love, divorce, custody issues, death, inheritance, bankruptcy, accidents, health issues, friendship, betrayal. I’ve either been through it or carried someone through it.
“What I seem to do best is calm nerves and give good advice, to the point where it often interferes with other endeavors. I’ve seriously thought about ETR’s copywriting/ Internet ideas, but I’m wary of selling things. It seems that, among family and friends at least, I am the oracle of issues, the witchy woman matriarch with the final answer. The trendy term ‘life coach’ isn’t quite it. I want to be like an e-mail comforter. A listener of last resort. A sounding board.
“It’s the only thing I think I’m really quite good at. Could this be a business?”
Yes, it could be a business. But not if you are leery of selling.
Business is selling. You can’t make money unless you sell something. As Robert Louis Stevenson said, “I find it useful to remember, everyone lives by selling something.”
So the first thing Lynn needs to determine is what it is she is going to sell.
People will pay for comfort… but not if it’s billed as comfort. Think about what therapists do. They charge pretty good money to give people comforting advice. Yes, there are some who deliver discomfort, but they don’t stay in business very long. People pay money to have their therapists make them feel good. If you’ve ever been in therapy with a successful therapist, you already know that.
But if therapists said that they were in the business of comforting their clients, no one would take them seriously and no one would pay them good money for their comforting advice. Rather than advertise what they are really selling, therapists advertise their methodology (Freudian, Behaviorist, etc.) or the type of “problems” they deal with (addiction, obsessive compulsive disorders, etc.).
Since Lynn isn’t a trained psychotherapist, she can’t honestly advertise those sorts of things. So she will have to come up with her own ideas about why people get themselves into trouble and how they can find solutions. These ideas will form themselves into a unified whole, if she thinks about them long enough. This unified whole is what we call an “intellectual franchise.” That’s what Lynn needs to develop. And then she needs to test it and see if it sells.
Remember, starting a business and making it a success is not just a matter of having a good idea. The idea has to be one that people will be happy to pay money for.
So if you are in Lynn’s position – looking to turn your idea into a profitable business – you have to become comfortable with selling.
How do you develop the skill of selling when you are “wary” of selling, as Lynn puts it?
The first step is to understand that there are really two kinds of selling:
1. pushing people (to buy things they don’t want)
2. helping people (to select those things they do want to buy)
Pushy salespeople – the telemarketer who calls you while you’re eating dinner, the broker who calls you on the weekend with a “hot deal,” the proverbial used-car salesman – take delight in persuading you to do what you don’t want to do. Such salespeople see the selling process as a kind of battle where they bully and beat you into submission. It’s an ego game for them, and your acquiescence – even if you really do want the product – is an indication of submission.
Such salespeople should be tarred and feathered, run out of town, dunked, and pilloried. They are the same people who delight in not letting you merge in traffic and cutting ahead of you in the supermarket line.
Helpful salespeople are actually more common than their obnoxious cousins.
If you understand that the job of a salesperson is to solve a customer’s problem or help him meet a need, selling won’t seem so odious to you.
Let’s say your prospect’s main concern is the future of his marriage. What you would do, in this case, is ask him questions about it and find out, in as much detail as possible, what his worries are. Having done this, you are then in a great position to address each one – to explain how your product (in Lynn’s case, her advice) can give him effective solutions. By driving home the benefits of your product that the prospect cares about, you are making a very strong sales presentation. You are telling him exactly what he wants to hear.
Remember – your prospect wants to be sold. So long as you help him understand how your product can help him achieve his desires or solve his problems, he will be prejudiced in your favor. You lose your prospect when you start talking about other things – your interests, for example, or product features that he doesn’t really care about.
So don’t sell him, help him. Begin by finding out what he wants and needs. And then (if and only if you can really help him), make the strongest, most specific case you can make to convince him that his desires will be achieved and his problems solved.
Once you’ve figured out how to sell your product, and have gotten over your distaste of selling, you need to start testing… preferably on the Internet… until you find some way to position the product that catches on.
And then, to grow your business, you will have to produce lots of products that tie into your initial business idea and lots of sales letters to convince people to buy them.
Does this sound like something you can do? If so, you are on your way!
[Ed. Note: Getting over your distaste of selling is critical to succeeding in any business. Fortunately, you have the chance to learn six-figure marketing and business-building techniques from a dozen top-notch Internet marketers - including Michael Masterson himself. And you can get the benefit of their ideas and expertise in the comfort of your own living room. Discover how right here.]
Our Goal for YOU: Cash Flow of No Less Than $2,031 Per Week Within the Next 3 Months
Sound crazy? I hope not because this is as real as it gets. I have 20 different businesses you can choose from that can bring you financial freedom if you are willing to follow the simple steps I outline for you.
Each of these businesses can be started for less than $99. That’s not a misprint. And I have a goal I have set for every person who chooses to act on this opportunity. I am confident your new business can generate a cash flow of $2,000 or more every week in less than 3 months – and I am going to give you everything you need to do exactly that.
There is one catch. I am limiting the number of people I share this with. If you wish to be one of our next success stories, please click here to learn all the exciting details and get started today:
Know When to Flex Your Dates and Save on Holiday Flights
By Lori Allen
When you fly this holiday season, you could save significantly on your tickets by keeping your dates flexible.
To get the best flight deals for Thanksgiving, you’ll want to keep your return date flexible. Consider coming home after the weekend. The Sunday after Thanksgiving promises to be a skyrocket price day, so wait if you can.
However, when it comes to the Christmas holiday, you’ll save more if you keep your departure date flexible and steer clear of flying on the weekend.
[Ed. Note: Stay up-to-date with the latest travel tools, tricks, and tips by signing up for The Right Way to Travel FREE e-letter from AWAI's Travel Division. Sign up here.]
Fasting for Weight Loss
Michael Masterson recently mentioned that a friend of his uses fasting as a weight-maintenance technique. “He weighs himself every morning,” said Michael. “If he is heavy – even one pound heavy – on any given day, he fasts. The next day, his weight is below his target.”
As hard as it may be to believe, more and more nutrition experts are incorporating fasting into their weight-loss programs. But when most people hear about this practice, they have a lot of questions. One of the biggest concerns is how it can be possible to make it through a day without food. But that’s not a problem, according to a study from the U.S. Army.
Twenty-seven healthy young subjects were tested on reaction time, learning, and other cognitive functions after receiving first 313 and then 2,300 calories for 48 hours. Not surprisingly, they reported more hunger on the near-fasting trial – but the extreme calorie restriction had no effect on mental performance, mood, or sleep.
For weight loss, Brad Pilon, author of Eat-Stop-Eat, recommends fasting 1-2 times per week and eating normally on the remaining days. I’ve used his program to fast on the weekend, finishing dinner at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and consuming only water and green tea until 8:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Do this once per week if you have only a small amount of weight to lose. Not only will it help you cut calories from your diet, you’ll be amazed at how much time you save when you don’t have to prepare (and clean up after) the six meals per day suggested by most weight-loss plans.
[Ed. Note: Extending your life and living out your years in tip-top health is really a matter of making simple lifestyle choices. For more easy-to-implement ideas about how to live longer and feel better, click here.
Of course, fasting isn't the only way to lose weight. Discover how you can burn fat with fitness expert Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training exercise program.]
It’s Fun to Know: Before You Pass On That Interesting “Fact” You Just Read
When you look at a commemorative statue of a horse and rider, you can tell how the rider died. If the horse has both forelegs in the air, the rider died in battle. If it has one foreleg in the air, the rider was wounded in battle and died later. If all four of the horse’s legs are on the ground, the rider died of natural causes.
Interesting, isn’t it?
Too bad it’s not true.
This particular bit of misinformation has circulated for years, and has even been published by respected research resources (including The New York Public Library Desk Reference). It is just one of many widely believed “facts” debunked on the Snopes.com website. Check it out.
Reader Feedback: “Thank you for the daily Word to the Wise.”
“I just wanted to thank you for the daily Word to the Wise section. I have a very large reading vocabulary, which means that although there are numerous words which I more or less understand and can use in context, I am often unsure of pronunciation or exact definition. It is nice to have this reference to provide additional clarity and confidence.”
Rachel S. Heslin
Big Bear City, CA
[Ed. Note: Want to get your name and opinions published in ETR? Let us know how reading ETR has helped you - maybe even changed your life. Send your comments to ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your name and hometown... and we may print your e-mail in a future issue.]
== Highly Recommended ==
So Simple, You’ll Wonder Why You Didn’t Think of It!
What if everything you want to do could be just a little bit easier?
- That raise you’ve been gunning for could be suddenly within your grasp…
- You could drop that 15-pound “spare tire” from your belly in no time flat…
- More money could seemingly “float” into your bank account…
Sometimes, the most powerful strategies for achieving success are the simplest ones.
But once you’ve mastered them, success is right there in front of you.
Word to the Wise: Bifurcate
To “bifurcate” (BY-fur-kate) – from the Latin for “two-pronged fork” – is to divide into two parts.
Example (as used by Amy Tan in The Bonesetter’s Daughter): “There it was, a sliver of a million-dollar view: the red towers of the Golden Gate Bridge that bifurcated the waters, marking bay from ocean.”
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008
I let people merge in traffic and cut ahead of me in the supermarket line. I hate selling. I hate being pushy.
But I want to start a business that pushes people, and my selling “forces” people to buy a product they don’t want.
I’m thinking the only way I can succeed is to bribe people.
But since I haven’t made a dime in my business, I don’t have the money to use for bribes.
So I thought about a wager.
What do you think?
http://AnarchistBibleBet.com