I have many skill sets that I rely on to do my job. I know how to write, I dabble in podcasting and thus know how to edit video and audio, I know my way around Adobe Creative Suite, heck, I once even created my own magazine (a story for another day). I am constantly reading about business, self improvement, and love reading biographies of well-known figures to learn how they think and what’s made them successful. I do have a certain weak point, however–I hate, emphasize, HATE, to sell.
Now, momma taught me that it’s not polite or good to hate anything but c’mon, sales … eck! Sales is something I’ve struggled with most of my professional life. I’ve always said that if I knew how to sell, then I honestly could be be my own business.
Wait.
I could what?
Recently I read the famous book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” In this book, author Robert Kiyosaki said something that Oprah would term an “A-ha” moment: “You are one still away from great wealth.”
Sales is something I’m not comfortable with. In fact, I’d say it scares me. As a writer and creative type, I’m often approaching people to ask them for their time. “Can you give me an hour of your time for an interview?” “I’m working on an article. Can you send me high quality photos of yourself that we can use in the design of an article layout?” Those for me are always big asks and I always attach a value to anyone’s time but I struggle with asking someone to GIVE me $X of money because this or because that. How do I attach a monetary value to a banner on a website, to a logo design, to social media management, to any sort of service?
That’s why Kiyosaki’s advice makes a lot of sense–everyone has one thing they struggle at that if they learned more about, boom, their prospects and careers would take off.
At first, I was going to name this post “Why Everyone Needs to Learn How to Sell” but then I realized that by doing that, people who already know how to sell would be like, “Pssh, well, that blog ain’t for me.” I have a friend who’s a great salesman–he can convince even the most monetarily conservative of people (ahem-cheaps) to invest in a good idea to the tune of thousands of dollars. She obviously doesn’t need to become better at sales. There are other skills she’s not as good at–reading some of her e-mails or correspondence would give the best writers and author out there a near heart attack.
There’s something YOU aren’t good at and YOU know what that is. Maybe you suck at writing; maybe you don’t feel you’re creative in the least bit; you could be the slowest runner out there; or you may feel like the most uninformed person in your clique of educated friends. Whatever you suck at, acknowledge it and set a goal of becoming better at it.
For me, that’s sales. I’m currently reading a 600+ page book all about the best sales techniques out there. Is it because I plan on becoming the world’s greatest salesman? Nope, ain’t gonna happen! It’s because sales has a lot to do with writing and creativity. If you can’t sell an idea or message to someone, you aren’t an effective writer. I love writing and I love being creative, thus, I need to learn how to sell an idea or message.
YOU ARE ONE SKILL AWAY FROM GREAT WEALTH!
Figure out what that skill is and commit yourself to mastering it. Your bank account and best yet, your career will thank you later.
Recommended Read: “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki (Amazon Link)
