January 4th, 2010 
Maria Helm 
We all have to sell, whether we realize it or not. For those of us who own our business, we have products and/or services to sell. Some make their living selling goods and services offered by their employers. Even if you’re not a salesperson by profession, you still have to sell. Anytime you need to convince someone to agree with you or get buy-in to your latest scheme, you are selling. You have to sell if you want that plum project. How about if you want to manage that high-profile account, or if you want your boss’ approval on your latest plan? Well you have to sell and get the order. To be a salesperson who sells, consider these :
- Know your customer
- Identify your customer’s pain points and needs
- Determine how your “product” will solve or satisfy your customer’s needs
- Make the “sales call”
- Ask for the order
- Develop an unshakable attitude of persistence and tenacity. Be prepared to make as many sales calls as are necessary to get the order
Posted in 
Tags: 
Marketing your products and services is a constant, ongoing process that is a never-ending job. Especially if you’re looking to generate revenue and increase your customer base and of course, hold on to your current customers. The good news is you don’t need much to market your small business successfully. Here are some tips of low-cost marketing tactics you can apply to your marketing plan today!
Flexible, dependable, creative, efficient, honest and optimistic define my personal brand. To help me transition from being an employee to a business owner, I used a brand value proposition document, which I developed years ago to supplement my resume and tell employers why they should hire me. The core values stay the same, while attributes change as you gain experience. The key components of it are your positioning statement, what differentiates you from others; value drivers, things that support your positioning; proof points, accomplishments you have made that uphold your claims; and brand characters, your personal attributes. With the document and a clearly defined brand, it was much easier for me to craft my elevator pitch, improved my confidence in terms of what I wanted, and for the most part it made me fearless in terms of “I offer something of value and here’s why we should partner.”
