You, Inc: The art of selling yourself

It's easy to dislike selling, or even the very idea of it… Selling is dishonest, dehumanising and cruel, and only the slick survive. For a time, some do. But let’s skip that momentarily. Let’s deal, instead, with an easily-overlooked fact: living is selling.

Start from childhood and remember all the sales calls you made. You worked up a sales pitch to get your parents to raise your allowance, go for a nicer bike, and on and on.

You sell your friends on going to your favourite restaurant. A husband and wife sell constantly: what movie shall we go to? Who takes the dog to the vet? And on and on.
    
Life is a sale. And the path to success at both living and selling is the same. Inexperienced salespeople invariably start their pitches with the price and the product, then talk about the company.

Only at the end, and perhaps not even then, do they finally sell themselves. Experienced salespeople proceed in the opposite direction. They sell themselves and their organisation, then discuss the product.

At the end — at the very end — they say, “Now, let’s talk about how little this costs, considering everything that you will get.”
    
Attitude matters. Attitude sells. To see what people really value, watch when they put their money where their mouths are — literally. People tip more when the waitperson makes them feel good.

Develop your skills, sharpen them, and then sharpen them more each day. People value — and pay more for — the way you make them feel. People buy feelings.