Below you will find a secret that will be quite unbelievable for some. This secret is critical to the success of any small business and is so profound that without it, your business will fail.
Let's start by asking a simple question...Do you enjoy sales?
The truth of the matter is that when many small business owners are asked this question, they respond with answers like, "No way" or "I can't stand sales, let someone else do it."
Why is your answer to the above question so important? No doubt you have seen headlines like the following, which glorify how easy and simple it is to succeed in business:
"The Ultimate Lazy Way To Start Your Own Business"
"Cash In On A Multi-Billion Dollar Industry In Your Underwear"
"Easily Generate A Lucrative Income While Sleeping"
We are constantly being bombarded with these "easy ways" to make a million bucks. Does success in business actually work this way? Not in reality! Is it realistic? Not even close!
Overall it is how well you can sell and market your product that will determine the success of your long-term business...period. It doesn't get any simpler than that. You can either sell your own product or resell somebody else's product. Either way, your success or failure will ultimately depend on your ability to market it. If you hate sales, you have a slim chance of succeeding in business for yourself.
The most common misjudgment by many new entrepreneurs is that their product will magically sell and market itself once launched. After all, the product is awesome and everybody will absolutely, positively want one. People should be lining up to buy it, right?
Here is another truth about sales. It will take 5-7 sales attempts to close 80% of your sales. Yes, you read that correctly. That's 5-7 attempts before people will say "Yes, I want to buy your product." Running an advertisement one-time or making a sales pitch to a potential customer once in a while does not qualify as effort. Hearing that first "no" and subsequently giving up means the demise of your business and gives someone else an opportunity to turn that NO into a YES.
What most people don't realize or fail to accept is that it may take weeks or even months to get a product to sell according to your expectations. You may have to be constantly adjusting your web site, sales letter, marketing strategy, advertisements and maybe even your product until you get it right. This dedication and determination is what separates the very few successful business owners from the many "wannabes" and fly-by-night hopefuls.
The bottom line is that to be successful in ANY business you will need the ability to market and sell, sell, sell.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Reasons to Shop through Shop to Earn
By: bwritr | 14-07-2008
What is the advantage of shopping through someone else's Shop to Earn web portal? For example, if someone who shops online anyway did not want to own a website or otherwise invest in Shop to Earn, what would motivate them to shop through my site rather than just shop as they do now?
Work from home
By: jabez | 12-07-2008
Are there any legitimate home based businesses. I'm retired and i need to supplement my income.
Anyone interested in designing a business card and web sight?
By: Marsha | 07-07-2008
I'm looking for someone to design a business card and web sight. Any one interested?mkmoseman@yahoo.com Thanks
Is there a basic formula for determining the ...
By: Zoey | 07-07-2008
Is there a basic formula for determining the selling price of a restaurant?
Need contact information for The Abbott Group LLC Matthews, NC
By: Jim | 06-07-2008
What is the telephone number or The Abbott Group LLC of Matthews, NC 28104, Street address 5302 Shannamara Drive?
I am a Long Beach resident and run the newly ...
By: tansel | 04-07-2008
I am a Long Beach resident and run the newly launched web site PoetryVisualized.com Unfortunately I did not know about this festival. I will digg into this and try to get in touch with Fried to see if there is a base to collaborate on future projects concerning poetry. PoetryVisualized.com is a new interactive social networking site about Visual Poetry which showcases hours of famous and not so famous Poetry in form of Video, Animations, Images and Audio. Check it out it is REALLY cool! Since you wrote about the festival I was wondering if you would be interested in covering PoetryVisualized.com and the film festival "The Festival Of Visualized poetry" as a story? Pleas contact me trough the web site's contact us form. thank you up front and best regards, Tansel
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