I just finished writing my first book.
The experience was a lot like childbirth: more painful than I expected, longer than I wanted. But after all the sweat and tears, the end result is something that I am very proud of.
New authors are like proud parents wanting to show their newborn to the world. I want the whole world to read my book and learn the secrets to becoming more powerful in life and getting unstuck, creating momentum and accelerating success. There’s only one problem: I hate to sell.
Everyone hates selling. Even people who are rock stars at selling hate selling. Especially at the beginning, when you’re starting cold. Cold leads. Cold conversations. Cold calls. Brrr!
Where do you start? How do you build momentum? Who should you call first? It’s not until you rack up a couple of wins that you start to loosen up and gain your stride.
I’m at the beginning right now. I recently had a meeting with my publisher to discuss the need to ramp up sales for this book so we can have a big debut on May 10. Turns out, I’ve got a lot of selling to do.
It’s easy to forget that without sales, great ideas end up nowhere. Without sales, great products end up unsold. And great books end up unread. Trump, Winfrey, Kiyosaki, Welch, Godin and Gates are some of the very best sellers out there. What are they selling? The same thing as you and me: ideas, content, value, products, life improvement and most important, themselves.
You may not be selling a book, but there is something equally exciting and daunting in front of you that requires you to sell. How do you become a best seller, when you’ve never done it? Easy. Simple. Fake it.
Find at least three other people in the world who have already done what you want to do. You need a minimum of three because it proves to you that yes, it can be done. There is a path to follow. In fact, there are at least three paths to follow. The more people you find to follow, the more options, strategies and tactics you’ll have to copy.
Then, just do what the best do until you find your groove. This morning I was reading Chris Brogan’s blog. Brogan is another best seller and author of Trust Agents and Social Media 101. Through his blog posts, I am learning to use social media to sell. I don’t know the first thing about WordPress, search engine optimization or graphic design, but I’m learning.
I hope that by putting myself out there I can help you become more powerful in your marketing and a best seller of your ideas, your products and yourself. It is certainly helping me. Because the truth it, pushing yourself to do what the best do, even if you don’t know exactly how, is exactly how you become a best seller.
