‘I hate marketing my work. I feel like I’m selling.’
Heaven forbid!
There are many well-earned reasons why sales has a bad rap. It’s gotten confused with manipulation and Machiavellian intent….because some people are manipulators with Machiavellian intent.
But are you?
I subscribe to what I see as the true nature of selling: Helping by providing value.
When someone goes shopping for something, they are trying to satisfy a need. They shop because they lack the necessary resource. They need help.
That is why the first tenet of ‘finding your niche’ in marketing is answering this question: What problem do you solve?
I don’t care if you’re a fine artist or a used car salesperson. You are filling a need.
What is it?
The desire for beauty. The cultivation of connoisseurship. Status. Ease. comfort. Exhilaration. Entertainment. Knowledge. The capacity to feel something. An escape. Something to believe in. Validation. Guidance. Inspiration. The satisfaction of curiosity. Think about anything you have ever desired on a physical, emotional, or aesthetic level.
I am not here to ascertain the wholesomeness of anyone’s need. I am only here to clarify what the act of selling actually is: fulfillment. Fulfillment is not just what is done once a sale is made, it begins with the sale itself.
Try this lovely exercise: Think of someone you love and why. Include them in a sentence:
I love my husband because he sees who I am, accepts me, and supports my dreams.
Now swap out that person for the act of selling:
I love selling because it allows me to see and accept others, and support their dreams.
Now you try.
What if that were what selling was for you? Take it for a test drive, and let me know how it goes.
