Have you ever heard the term “selling your soul”? Well when you are trying to sell yourself and become the best sales person you can be (a trait no entrepreneur can be without) go right up to the line of soul selling & back up a few feet. Now you are ready to really sell, sell, sell.

As an newbie entrepreneur I’ve realized the one thing between me and money is a tricky little bugger called making the sale. As long as you have a good product and the ability to communicate (be it verbally, pen or with smoke signals) you have the ability to make money. People too often connect the word ‘entrepreneur’ with ideas of kid genius’ in basements creating the next Microsoft or venture capitalist funded superstars driving Lambos. Neither (and i know from personal experience) is true. The reality of starting your own small business is much more basic.

The ONE thing you need to be an entrepreneur, more than a great idea, an office or even $100 bucks in capital is the ability to sell yourself. Good sales people will always have jobs and be able to support themselves, great sales people usually turn entrepreneurial. And entrepreneurs who never thought of themselves as sales people need to change that real fast. Here is how I do it and you can take what you like from my approach.

1. Get yourself out there. I have always been shy, maybe it was from being teased in highschool, maybe its from getting practically stood up at Prom, maybe its because I’ve always been a bit of a pansy. But the shy days of Maren Kate Donovan abruptly ended at the tender age of 21 when I started bartending while in college, that was one of the best (and worst) experiences for my future since dealing with loud, drunk, ruffians helped teach me how to be loud, be heard & at times be persuasive.

Now I put myself out there on a daily, almost obnoxious level. Wherever I am, be it the grocery store, a coffee shop or the doctor’s office I make sure I mention at least one time what I do & ask what the other person does. Usually it starts with this smooth line: “Hi, I’m Maren, I can help get your business viral, would you like that?” Yes it catches people off guard and rarely I hear the answer “no beat it” but usually it starts a conversation that has a VERY high rate of return. Almost on a daily basis I get a new business card, email address or phone number from someone who I file in my ‘potential client’ folder to bug at a later date.

2. Business card up. Ever heard “he lawyered up” on a late night TV cop show, well.. now its your turn to “business card up”. Check out hotcards.com, create a basic design or pick one that is already made & send off for your cards. Then wait patiently by the mailbox & the moment they get in begin using them as much as possible.

I put “follow me on Twitter” on the back of mine, which I’ve personally never seen before but seems to work well. I hand business cards out like creeps hand out candy. I will approach people at whatever function I may be at that look like they are the most successful person in the room and just introduce myself with a card. It catches most off guard and they appreciate the candor. I don’t try to “sell” during introductions just to give them an idea of who I am and what I do. Then if they inquire further I give them my “elevator pitch” ending with “and thats why you should be doing X, Y or Z.”

3. Never say never. If I am talking with a potential client about my social media marketing services or my ebay coaching biz and they ask me if I can do something off the wall for their business I always, always say “YES”. Now this tactic has come awfully close to getting me in hot water before, but as long as I can find someone who can preform the services they need (such as hosting, graphics design or Llama grooming) I wind up looking like a ‘can do’ kinda gal & they wind up pleased at the lengths to which I will go to ‘woo’ new customers. In following my “YES” to everything rule I have stumbled into the niche of website design, for companies that I pitch my social media packages to. It is a profitable niche & easy to delegate to others, also it adds another ‘layer’ to my business cake & helps bring in extra business when things are slow.

So here is your ‘action’ step: Go out there and sell yourself, even if you have NOTHING to sell right now introduce yourself to 10 people in the next 24 hour & just be honest. “Hi, I’m Jim & I want to escape the 9 to 5, I need a product to sell or business to get into, do you have any suggestions?”. You’ll be surprised at the results.

I’d love to hear any of your stories of ’selling yourself’ so please add them to the comments page below.

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