Ideas that are routine in one industry can be revolutionary when they migrate to another industry, especially when they challenge the prevailing assumptions that have come to define so many industries.
Tricks to selling yourself when the selling gets tough
Selling yourself is tough work. I do not recall any fine arts courses in college that was offering to teach me the art of selling and packaging Me Inc. Selling yourself is especially hard in this era, when clients have attention spans the size of tweets. It is downright brutal when you consider that to be wildly successful, your mind-set must include a bit of Jeffery Gitomer, Les Brown, Dr. Phil, Donald Trump and Daniel-o-Son (Karate Kid) at times to move things forward. Wax on, Wax off anyone? Keep in mind; you still must stay abreast of the competition, your product/service line, your industry while also managing your emotions and those of your internal team. It gets so bad that you turn to updating Hootsuite as a stress reliever. Social media never tasted so good!
Tricks to selling yourself when the selling gets tough
The tricky part of selling yourself in the “new now” is also applying everything that you learned in that awful webinar six months ago where they promised you that you could also become a Personal Branding Astronaut. In the interim, you felt more like a Girl Scout selling cookies at the entrance of a grocery store or pulling your cookie-filled wagon door to door. I have nothing against webinars or “big ideas”, but staring at the computer screen hoping for an email from a potential client for days will certainly affect one’s judgment. Ouch! In the interim, I have compiled a few ways that have helped me and others stay sane in an often-insane world. These tips are industry agnostic and have helped me stay focused when I needed a pep talk to endure some uncertain times.
- Today is the most important day of your week.Go to work and avoid the unnecessary distractions that will kill your productivity. Stay focused on building your brand continuously (what makes you different), and your network. Be in your office everyday by 8am at the latest. In the beginning, I worked seven days a week. Hold on, I still do (kind-of-sorta)!
- Write Thank you notes- A minimum of one per day. With the lion share of communication these days, being text, email, chat, Skype, Social media posts, etc… it will be a pleasant surprise for your prospects/clients to receive an actual letter. A letter with an actual stamp is also known as snail mail. Keep the notes in your bag, car and office. When is the last time you actually wrote a letter? It may surprise you.
- Pain, Power & Fit. Say these three words aloud a few times each week, so they begin to swim around in your DNA. They will serve as a sort of litmus test to help you determine if you have a real “opportunity”. Does the client have real pain? Do you have access to power (decision maker)? Is your solution a fit? If you are unsure, not sure or confused then you have more work to do ASAP.
It is by no means easy but you do not need easy, just possible.
Success
Success has a price. Without some discomfort, sacrifice, stress, uncertainty and tension there is often a sandwich filled with status quo, mediocrity and stagnation. We must risk the short-term, uncomfortable feeling connected with exploring new avenues (thoughts) that will offer long-term gain and ultimate success. While getting dressed each day, be sure to grab your (emotional) bulletproof vest because you are going to take a few shots from people telling you that you are not “good enough”.
When you begin to doubt your ability to be successful, take a hard look and remind yourself that you are capable. The magic happens on the other side when you continue to push forward. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it so stay focused, keep grinding and do not quit. You can do it.
I become what I think about
We are capable of dramatically improving our results by upgrading our belief system. Our belief system is a bi-product of what we have read, experienced and thought about it since we were kids. Far too often we take a road trip down Interstate Impossible. It is incumbent upon us to listen to the little voice in the back of our heads imploring us to push forward when others say “you’re nuts”.
In order for things to get better, we must be better. We will get “better” when we begin to believe that we are better. From basketball coaches to biologists, from philosophers to philanthropists and from mystics to medical professionals, they all acknowledge the raw power of thought in changing our performance.
Belief vs. Fact vs. Assumption
In 1954, 25 yea
r-old British medical student, Roger Bannister, broke the four minute mile. Up until that point, it was thought not possible that a human being could achieve such a feat. Within the year following this historic accomplishment, the four minute mile threshold was broken sixteen more times.
What was the difference?
Human beings are a bi-product of their belief system. When we think something is impossible, our expectations drop as does our performance. You become what you think about!
Thoughts Are Things
Some of the greatest thinkers today are in agreement about the power of our consciousness to alter our circumstances. “Thoughts are Things”. From biologists to business leaders, mystics to medical professionals, philosophers to philanthropists, individuals now recognize the role of our thoughts in the unfolding of our reality.
I am convinced that if you truly believe it, you most certainly can achieve it. A small shift in perception can lead to a big shift in performance.
Small Wins
With all the pressures and distractions in our lives, it is all too easy to have our smaller achievements go unnoticed, even by ourselves. Think back on the past few days. Did you achieve any successes that did not make it onto your radar screen?
Take a moment now and congratulate yourself. You earned it!
8 Tips to assist you in developing Me Inc.
- Things are never as bad as they seem. (Nor as perfect) One of the keys to success is progress not perfection.
- Don’t spend so much time trying to be liked by everyone in your network. It is important to be liked but it is as important to be respected too.
- Listen to people with the purpose of understanding rather than waiting to draft a response.
- Write Thank you notes (pen and paper) - A minimum of one per day. With the lion share of communication these days being text and email, it will be a pleasant surprise for people in your network to actually receive a letter. Keep the notes in your bag, car, desk etc…
- Persistence pays the bills. Never give up on anyone or anything that will get you that much closer to your ultimate destination.
- Two hardest things for a high achiever to say out loud; “I do not know and I made a mistake”. Say this out loud to yourself a few hundred times. Perfection is over rated and it does not wear well over time.
- Do one more thing (call, email, text, phone) each day before you shut it down. There are approximately 260 working days per year. Do the math. Success is an acquired taste.
- Bring others with you. Zig Ziglar said it best, “You can have anything in the world you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want….”
