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When you start your own business no matter if it is a company or freelancing, one of the most important thing to know, next to accounting, is how to sell. Some people know this naturally and some have to learn it. Selling is, by many people, still seen and also done more like trying to force someone to buy things they don’t want. Let’s take a look at how to make selling more pleasure.
Selling is helping
You probably know that old image of that obdurate guy selling you insurance or something else. Did you see “The Wolf of Wallstreet” or “Boiler Room” movies? If “Yes” is your answer, you probably saw the end of those movies too. How these guys ended? Not well right? It doesn’t matter how you call it, karma, cause & effect, higher power or whatever, bad guys just often ends badly. So, you better forget that crap.
If you don’t like this type of selling, I have great news for you … This is new era. These times of sleazy car sellers and “bad guys” from Wallstreet are gone. There is no reason why you should learn to sell something you don’t like or don’t believe in. Your clients will spot that from miles away. No, the best way to sell successfully is to help people and to solve the problems they have.
Most of you are probably in web design industry or want to get in. If not, no problem, this applies to every industry you can imagine. Take a look at sites like Elance.com or Freelancer.com. Almost every second or third profile contains those shiny keywords like “CSS3”, “HTML5”, “responsive”, “mobile”, “jQuery”, “WordPress”, etc. All of these people are doing the same mistake all over again and there is no chance to differentiate between those profile, except the profile picture. What is that mistake? They are trying to sell their skills and stuff they know. Sure, you can fill up your portfolio and CV with as many skills and latest buzzwords you want. However, in reality, the skills you have does not matter. You are just another person in pretty huge crowd and anyone can learn some of the skills mentioned above in a few days and come up with better price.
Another two often spelled words are “generalist” and “specialist”. We already discussed this topic. You can specialize or generalize yourself as crazy. You can focus on such a niche market you want, but the only way how you can really differentiate yourself and succeed is to solve problems other people have. This is the direction you should go. Forget the skills, they can be learned, and ask yourself what problems can you solve. By solving real problems, you don’t have to be pushy, people will willingly pay you.
I’m not suggesting you to scarp your portfolio or CV. You still have to show yourself and your work because no one will do that for you. However, I suggest you to focus more on how you can help people around you. How can you help people and companies by creating great looking websites. The more you can help, the more you will gain both, in respect and money.
Summary
You are not selling a problem, but a solution. By doing your craft, you are helping your clients to differentiate them and their business. You are creating unique online presence for them and also making the web to look and function better. Remember this every time you are approaching new client. Focus on what problems can you solve and how you can help them. Selling is helping.
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