{"id":27594,"date":"2014-11-10T05:00:42","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=27594"},"modified":"2014-11-10T05:00:42","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T11:00:42","slug":"bashful-about-selling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/bashful-about-selling\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons You Shouldn\u2019t Be Bashful About Selling Your Own Products"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people who want to build an online business are reluctant to sell. They seem hesitant, almost apologetic, when it comes to promoting their own products. Why is that?<\/p>\n\n

I recently saw a Facebook promotion for a book that actually asked, \u201cAnybody interested?\u201d It\u2019s almost like the author didn\u2019t believe in his own message. Crazy as that might sound, it\u2019s more common than you\u2019d think.<\/p>\n

When I was CEO of Thomas Nelson we had authors who didn\u2019t want to promote their books. Some were just a little old school, but not all. One major pastor we worked with, an important thought leader, couldn\u2019t bring himself to promote his books even though we were investing a lot of money in his projects.<\/p>\n

Why is this so difficult? In the case of the pastor, it made him feel strange. He thought it of it as self-promotional, like he was greedy or grandstanding.<\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s true for a lot of people. But it totally misses the point, and it\u2019s a sort of self-sabotage. We end up halfheartedly pushing our product, uneasy and possibly embarrassed to mention it at all\u2014even if we\u2019ve put months or years into developing it. What\u2019s the point of releasing it at all?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got this all wrong. Here are three reasons we can feel free to sell with our whole heart, starting now:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Leadership is service.<\/strong> Normally we hold back because we don\u2019t want to be seen as driven by ego. But that just means we\u2019re focusing too much on what others might think about us. Leadership is not about us. It\u2019s about the people we\u2019re trying to help.\n

    To sell is to lead, and to lead is to serve. If we really understand that, we can market, promote, and close deals without any hesitation. Maybe it\u2019s as simple as reconnecting with our value proposition and seeing how it can help others.<\/li>\n

  2. People need what we\u2019re selling.<\/strong> The second reason follows directly from the first, but it requires some faith. Do we believe in our product? It could be a book, a course, an app, a software solution, consulting, whatever. Do we stand by it? If so, we have an obligation to sell with our whole heart.\n

    If people need what we\u2019re offering, then being squeamish is underserving those people. Think about a book on marriage. Are couples helped by not promoting it? Think about a new WordPress plugin. Are developers better off if we sit on the code? <\/p>\n

    If we believe our product is beneficial, then we need to do our part to make sure it succeeds. People are waiting.<\/li>\n

  3. If not us, then who?<\/strong> The third reason ties back to the second. People have needs, and they\u2019re not going to wait forever for us to meet them. We may have exactly what they need, but if we\u2019re late to the party, they\u2019ll address their problem another way.\n

    We\u2019re not being selfless when we avoid promoting our product. We\u2019re just undercutting our own mission and creating an opportunity for someone else to take our place.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t