Clean Selling

I meet so many creatives that hate selling. They don’t want to do it. They don’t want to learn how. They want someone else to do it for them.  

The reasons behind these thoughts most often are: It just feels icky, I don’t want to feel like I am manipulating anyone, and I certainly don’t want to feel like a used car salesman. 

However, no matter what you do in life and work, selling is part of everything. Whenever you are trying to get someone to do something you want them to, you are selling. When you want someone to pick you for a promotion, you are selling. When you are presenting your services to a prospective client, you are selling.  

So, how can we sell, grow our businesses and our passions without feeling salesy? Here are a few tips…

1. Connect to your purpose, mission, and values. When we connect to our purpose, mission, and values, why connect to our why. The thing that drives us to do what we do. When we present, work, and sell from this place, our work feels infused with meaning which is the opposite of feeling manipulative or icky.

2. Clean up your thinking. Ask yourself the following…How do you want to show up for your client, prospective client, or audience? What judgments are holding you back? What is keeping you from focusing?

3. Be prepared. Do you have an outline, sales process, or list of questions to ask the client, potential client or audience that can help you best serve, educate, or add value?

4. Know your value. People don’t buy what you do or what you make, they buy what it does for them. What does your product or service do for your clients? If you can sell from that place of adding value, your pitches will never feel icky. 

What is holding you back from selling your product or service?