Introverts Guide to Business #4

Hello everyone - first thing - I want to apologize about last week's issue - it looks like I didn't set it up correctly and so it was not included as an issue of Introverts Guide to Business but published as just another article. Here is a link: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/dawn-m-marcotte_issue-3-thanks-to-everyone-who-has-already-ugcPost-6874380705745502208-7GaG

Hopefully I understand the process better now and won't make the same mistake again.

Having said that it looks like the topic from last week isn't of interest to a lot of people - I actually do a poll every Tuesday on the topic for the newsletter for next week and the only vote I got on last week's topic was my own. So, I am not going to talk about email providers (if you really want my input feel free to connect and send me a message.)

This week I want to talk about sales.

As an introvert I have never considered myself a salesperson. In my head a salesperson is someone who convinces you to purchase something you don't really need and often at a price that is more than you can afford.

Intellectually I realize that isn't actually true, but I just can't shake that emotion. The idea of trying to book discovery calls, let alone actually asking someone for money makes me really uncomfortable. That may be part of why I write books to sell online instead of having clients that I write for. It is so much easier for me to send a message on LinkedIn asking someone to write a review than to ask them to pay me to write something for them.

But growing a business requires sales.

Over the past couple of years, I have spent a lot of time on social media building a sales funnel that points at my Facebook group, but I could never really get it to work for me. That process has actually helped me change my thinking about sales. I realize that part of the reason I struggle is because I have not been specific enough in my target audience. I was trying to get everyone's attention in the hopes that at least some of them might be interested.

When I post on Facebook it often feels like I am shouting into the wind. I have no control over the algorithm, so no control over who sees my post. Even in my own group I know most of the almost 1K members don't actually see what I share.

But if I share a post and tag someone because I think they will be interested - I almost always get some kind of positive response. The same thing happens when I send individual messages here on LinkedIn. I get a positive response rate of around 10 percent. (For those that may not know, this is a great response rate for a direct marketing campaign.) And this newsletter has grown far beyond my email list in just 4 weeks.

But each of these activities is targeting a specific audience. The content is designed to be interesting and helpful to those people, not everyone, just that audience.

Epiphany - Selling is serving.

When I recommend someone as a coach it is because I have worked with them and they have proven themselves worth the time and money. (@dianeRiis) It is easy for me to articulate what they provided and why they would be a good fit for someone else to work with. I am happy to 'sell' their services.

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to talk about other people's businesses and skills than it is to talk about your own?

Knowing that I have skills that can truly make a positive impact in another person's life has helped me change my mindset.

I never considered writing to be an important life skill, just something I enjoy and am good at. But when I was writing Success Guaranteed 9 Lies Online Entrepreneurs Need to Know (available on Amazon.) I realized that my writing allows me to share information that can make other entrepreneurs' lives better.

The book resonated with a very specific audience and when I interact with that audience and share what I wrote it doesn't feel like selling anymore. (I love being a podcast guest!) I am helping them learn and grow. This in turn has helped my book sales.

This change in mindset doesn't mean I am going to change what I do and start to offer coaching or freelance writing as a service. It does mean I am taking a different approach in how I sell my books. I will share more on this in a future issue.

Sales can be very difficult for an introvert, but when we change our mindset it can become more manageable. Find what works for us, regardless of how the world is telling us it 'should' be done.

Next week I am going to talk about goals and outline a process to help you get 2022 off to a great start.

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