Tough love - being salesy

Every week when I'm talking about marketing, or someone is asking me how to generate more revenue in their business, the same thing crops up. 

"I'm scared I'll be too salesy or seem too pushy" or "I don't want people to think I'm doing a sales pitch" or "it feels like I'm in sales mode". 

Tough love:

You need visitors to buy, book, visit and pay you money.

You need sales.

You need to generate income. 

So you need to sell. 

It's not a dirty word. Selling can be done in the way a dodgy second-hand car salesman might operate. But it doesn't have to be. 

Selling can also mean solving some-one's problem. You could be offering a solution. 

When you fail to sell, you not only risk going bankrupt, but you're also failing to help people who might benefit from what you have to offer. 

Imagine a family who've had a busy or hard time and who desperately need some down time together. They see a facebook post talking about a beautiful cottage to stay in that really appeals to families, so they book. That cottage owner makes a sale: they've also provided a solution to a problem. 

If I send you an email with a link to a marketing masterclass I'm promoting, my aim is to sell the event to some of the people on my list. They'll pay me so I can keep doing what I do (and writing advice like this for free). Some people won't want to participate. Some will have been fretting about how to improve their marketing or wondering about a particular issue. They'll actually feel relieved when I offer them a solution. What-ever the price for the masterclass, it will be a small price to pay for practical knowhow and clarity. I'm selling something, but also solving problems and answering needs. 

You're doing exactly the same. 

Sometimes you might feel you're being pushy by mentioning something several times. You're not. You're making it more obvious, offering more chances for some one to benefit, giving an extra opportunity to those who didn't see it the first time. 

When I send out a mailing about a masterclass about 40% of people buy on the first mention. Another 20% buy on the second mention. The rest buy on the third. It's human nature to procrastinate, to miss things, to need a little extra reassurance. 

So no, you're not being pushy or over salesy.

You're not doing a icky sales pitch.

But you do need to sell. Otherwise just open the door of your business and welcome in the world for free...