Know What You’re Selling
Do you know what you’re selling? If you say “hammers” or “Avon” or even “windows”, believe it or not, you might want to think about it some more.
In general, people evaluate a purchase intellectually, but they decide what to purchase emotionally. That’s a very important point to remember when creating marketing collateral (Which is just a fancy word for your advertising, etc.).
What does Beyoncé sell? Well, when you get right down to it, she sells sex. How? By getting YOU to feel sexy. Come on, you hear her music, your booty starts bouncing, and you find yourself dancing across the office shaking your hips and singing, right? No? Okay, maybe that’s just me. ☺
Even Presidents and Queens Do It
That’s the bottom line: Everybody sells something. Whether you’re a school, a boutique, a grocery store, or the ruler of the free world, you’re selling something. What’s more, the “something” isn’t always a tangible product, even if said “something” is represented by a tangible product, like say, a CD.
For most of our lives the message consistently received is: “Quitting is for Losers”. Well, I just read a fantastic book that takes another look at that old adage and turns it on its head.
Seth Godin’s The Dip (Affiliate Link) postulates that not only is quitting not for losers, but every winner quits, and quits often. The key, per the front of the book, is to know when to quit, and when to stick. If you’ve ever wondered if it’s time to move on from a job/career/business/relationship, this little book (less than 100 pages), may be something you need to pick up and do some thinking on.
I originally had another post on this subject, but Seth pretty much knocked this one out of the park. In a nutshell, per Seth, there are three key places anyone thinking about quitting finds themselves:
1. The Dip
2. The Cul-de-Sac
3. The Cliff
Of the three, The Dip is the most important one, but the other two can completely derail your life.
Quitting the Day Job and going into business for yourself is hard and not a little scary, and scary things are a little easier to do when you have company, right?
Welllllll, maybe yes…maybe no.
There’s no doubt that having a hand to hold during a long journey can be a comfort, but before you go into business with someone, there’s a lot to think about:
-Who’s going to be responsible for what?
-Are both of you putting up the same amount of cash, or does one bring something to the table that offsets the other’s cash? And how do you both feel about that?
-Will you work out of your home? Their home? Rent a space?
-What product mix are you going to go with? Do you AGREE on the product mix.
-Etc., etc., blah blah blah you get the point.
If you spend as little as five minutes Googling “How to make money” you’re going to run into literally hundreds of posts that encourage you to “find your passion”. Which is great advice!
Although completely UNHELPFUL.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I think finding your passion, living your passion, is an ideal to which we should all aspire. But, friends, that don’t mean it’s going to make you money.
I know — Heresy.
Here’s the thing, Passion and Profit are two very different things. Passion for something comes from your very soul. It’s compelling and invigorating and you can’t NOT do it.
Do you know what you’re selling? If you say “hammers” or “Avon” or even “windows”, believe it or not, you might want to think about it some more.
