How to sell in a way that’s not sleazy

Grow your business with the art of authentic self promotion

Having a great product and lots of knowledge isn’t enough. To grow your online business, you need to be comfortable with selling your products and promoting yourself. That way you can get featured on sites with larger audiences to reach more people.

I have a question today from Brandon Moore. He asks:

“I like that you said you overcame the ‘selling is sleazy’ mindset. Could you expand on this and your thoughts on how to sell a product or yourself in a non-sleazy manner?”

I went through a lot of psychological torment on how to sell something without being sleazy. I went so far in the other direction that I was afraid to sell.

I’ve told this story before in a video about my $4.95 e-book. I was selling this ebook. And I was so scared of selling that I wrote this cowardly copy: “Why should you maybe, possibly buy this because I know you could find it online.”

It’s horrible. I look at it and cringe.

It took me about three years to really internalize different mindsets of selling. It’s interesting.

Later, I sold a $12,000 product, and I was just totally upfront about it. I was confident. I said, “This is probably not right for you. Here’s why. Boom. And here’s the select group that I’m looking for. No harm done if you don’t buy.”

I mean, just think about that. So different, you wouldn’t believe it. And I got more complaints about the $5 ebook than the $12,000 product. That’s crazy!

Think of yourself as a trusted advisor

I recommend a book called The Trusted Advisor by David Maister and Charles Green. It talks about how it’s your duty to put clients first. And if you do, if you become their trusted advisor, you’re not selling to them.

It becomes your obligation to protect them from the vagaries of the market. If you have better knowledge, better products, better refund policies, and better support, why wouldn’t you?

If others understood what you do about the marketplace, they would make the same decision.

Get clear on who you’re selling to

I also learned from Jay Abraham, another one of my mentors, that it’s your duty to put customers at the center of your world. That means being crystal clear about who you are selling to and who you are not.

For example, we prohibit anyone with credit card debt from joining our flagship programs. That costs us millions of dollars a year. But that is crystal clarity on who we are selling to and who we are not.

So if you are not in that select group, then please use our free material. But if you are, we’re going to sell you aggressively. Because we know our product can help you.

Getting over your fear of self promotion is crucial to your online business

Embedded in this fear about selling is a fear of promoting ourselves. And the truth is, you have to get comfortable promoting yourself as you grow an online business.