Selling a box of nails is simple. Almost anyone can muster the confidence to argue the nails are worth the price on the box. And no one would have an issue assuring a buyer the nails would get the job done.

But start trying to sell yourself to someone else, and things can get just a wee bit more complicated. For some reason, people find it far easier to be confident in the value of a box of nails than they find it to be confident in the value of themselves.

If confidence was the only hurdle, mastering the skill of Selling YOU, while not easy, would be extremely realistic.

Unfortunately, the challenge is actually much greater than that…

Because mastering the art of Selling YOU requires you address a lot more than just selling. There are three levels that require your attention:

Level 1:
You Have Been Trained, Since Childhood, To Believe That You Suck

I could have phrased that more eloquently but I wanted to make sure the point got through.

You’re not supposed to be successful. You’re supposed to fall in line like everyone else and pull your weight like a worker bee in the system.

So whether it was school, or religion or your parents, programs were installed in you that make you the LAST person to realize just how valuable you are.

You realize this is an issue when you go out to sell yourself and you spend years waiting for others to show you that you’re worth what you want.

This programming is evil. It is also reversible.

It’s not the easiest work to be done, but it is absolutely required if you want to become adept at selling you.

Level 2:
Developing a Laser Focused Clarity of Purpose

The extent to which you are clear on your purpose in the marketplace is the factor governing the difficulty you will have making the decisions you need to reach success.

Greater clarity means simpler, easier and quicker decisions. The path becomes obvious. It also completely insulates you from ridicule, ostracization, and fear of what others will think of you.

Much of the frustration that comes from trying to sell yourself is created by giving your time and attention to prospective buyers who do not deserve it. They do not deserve it because they are actually people who should not be welcomed onto your path towards success.

When you are clear about where you are going and how you are getting there, you can instantly spot people and opportunities that should be disqualified. Then you can move forward without issue.

Lacking that clarity and understanding, however, you will be caught up in time wasting pursuits that tire you out without moving you forward.

Level 3:
Building and Refining the Process to Structure and Engineer Sales

There’s a difference between traditional selling and the type of selling you have to do when you’re selling yourself as a one-of-a-kind option.

Traditional selling is a bit like wearing your poor buyer down until he says yes. Think of the annoying guy asking out the girl 50 times until she says yes.

Our type of selling is where your buyer wakes up one day and decides that TODAY is the day to buy what you have.

From the outside, it looks effortless–like magic. That’s because it is magic. But it’s magic anyone can learn.

What Is Possible When You Master The Skill of Selling Yourself?

The short answer is there’s not much that isn’t possible. But that’s not a very specific answer.

Here are just a few data points from situations I’ve been involved in where the skill of SELLING YOURSELF was at play.

This skill was used to…

• Generate $1.8 million from just 9 buyers in a room of 20 workshop attendees from one of the most skeptical and jaded professions on the planet.
• Transform 1.4% of an entire magazine subscriber list (of 50,000 subscribers) into qualified leads with a single marketing piece designed to sell professional services priced between $36,000 and $90,000.
• Completely remove the need for traditional selling from a professional services firm selling to Fortune 50 companies across the globe. A single weekly newsletter and “word of mouth” now power the entire revenue generation machine.
• Boost the conversion rate of a single product promotion from 1.18% using traditional email marketing to 17.32% using a media platform model resulting in a revenue bump of $40,000.
• Use the power of positioning, tone and other attraction methods to boost the annual revenue of a multiple six-figure company by 80% and double its profits in a single year.
• Grow a professional services firm from 3 guys in a basement to $500K per month after designing a strict application process for prospective buyers.

You’ll Play Chess While Everyone Else is Playing Checkers

If you want to succeed in ways that others don’t, then you need to think and do things very differently.

This means you want to play a completely different game than those around you are playing.

So rather than pursuing selling yourself directly, you will pursue something else, something that creates a similar result in a very different way.

The way you “sell yourself” is to become an expert in the art of DEMAND CREATION.

When you know how to do THAT, “selling yourself” becomes rather effortless.

DEMAND CREATION is part art and part science. It is not a hack or a best practice or something you’re going to see at most business seminars. It’s too advanced. Too nuanced.

It’s not obvious enough for the masses of “I want success tomorrow, so give me a paint-by-number system please” entrepreneurs who haven’t gotten up over the “hump” that we all have to pull ourselves over in business.

DEMAND CREATION is a craft. It is for “players.”

When the demand for you exceeds the supply of you, YOU WIN.

And that’s a scenario you can engineer, if you know how to do that.

Not long ago, I sat down and wrote out instructions for doing this. These instructions walk through the steps required to engineer a situation that generates demand for you and what you have.

The document is called: DEMAND CREATION: The Secret Method For Selling More, Charging More and Getting “Them” to Chase You.

DEMAND CREATION is like a magnet that comes with buttons to increase the strength of its attraction. Instead of chasing down business and selling yourself directly, like most people think you have to do, you can simply “turn up” the power of the magnet and pull everything towards you.

You DO end up “selling yourself,” but in a way that looks a whole lot more like magic!

While this document is not for sale, at any price, I will send you a copy of it should you decide to accept the invitation you see below.

And that brings us to the purpose of this short message:

The Selling YOU Newsletter

If mastering the art of Selling YOU is a journey you want to take, then accept my invitation to become a subscriber of the Selling YOU newsletter.

Each month, you’ll get a new printed issue, delivered to your home or office. In each issue, I’ll focus on some part of the journey we take towards mastering the art of selling ourselves.

The issues are shipped to the printer on the 1st of each month and in the mail shortly after that.

While there are no refunds, there are also no long term contracts. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

Some months you’ll find practical and actionable information. Other months you’ll find deep and profound insight that may not translate into action until months into the future.

The MONDAY HOTSHEET

Each Monday, SELLING YOU subscribers will also receive an electronic copy of The Monday Hotsheet.

Each issue is a “from the trenches” report of my recent discoveries in the business world–both from my own projects and client work.

I spend a lot of time and effort developing my skills to grow businesses using the power of direct response copywriting and marketing. And due to the nature of the clients I’m affiliated with, I am also privy to a level of “what’s working” knowledge most aren’t.

The Monday Hotsheet is how I share some of what I know with the greater community of SELLING YOU subscribers.

Success Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All, It’s a Trail Specifically Made For You… You’ll Get My Help Finding That Path!

While there are specific universal principles that can lead you closer to success in your business, the exact path to the goals you want to achieve is something each business owners has to figure out for himself.

I spent years thinking there was a paint-by-number approach, a magical system that, if I could just find it, would deliver to me the business of my dreams.

Not only was this stupid, it was extremely frustrating. And it led me to wander around in the business building “wilderness” for years.

I am here to give direction to business owners that leads them in the direction of their own success. It is my “stupid human trick.” It’s the thing I do better than anything.

But for me to do that, I need to know something about you, something about your unique situation, something about exactly what you’re trying to achieve and what you feel is standing in your way. I need to hear your voice, feel your vibe and understand who you are.

And for that reason, I make available to subscribers of SELLING YOU, bi-weekly “office hours” during which you can schedule a private 20 minute business consultation with me. During the consultation, we can speak about anything that will help you move forward in your business.

Success in business is a marathon, not a sprint. Once you’re on the inside of the Selling YOU Community, you’ll have access to my advice for helping you move forward in your business.

The “Slow” Way IS the “Fast” Way

Most business owners are looking for fast. They want progress yesterday. They want total transformation from a three hour seminar.

But that is not how growth and transformation happen. They happen in pieces, over time. Those who are looking for a big flash of transformation to come down from the heavens so they can get on with things end up waiting for a long time.

It’s far smarter to move forward, one step at a time, and develop your skills and abilities in a consistent manner. One day, you’ll look back and find it hard to believe just how far you’ve come.

Selling YOURSELF is most definitely the most valuable skill you can develop.

You can choose to master this or you can watch as it masters you.