The thought of receiving yet another dead boring newsletter into my inbox leaves me poised over the ‘delete’ key.  So get the sales defibrillator out because this next edition of Extreme Sales Makeover is all about shocking new life into online newsletters in a way that has readers reaching for their credit card rather than their recycle bin.

Here’s a real-life example for us to work on to improve our skills.

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There’s a lot that goes into making a successful business. So many things to think about and actions to take, the to-do list seems to grow longer by the minute.  That said, I’m always keen to understand how a business – your business – makes money.  How does it actually generate cash?

Take my business as an example.

I blog, tweet, contribute to a thriving business community, meet people, generate ideas and intellectual property, build products, manage cash-flow, plan, collaborate – to name a few activities.  But none of that makes money. How I make money is by selling consulting hours to large organizations and more recently, by selling products on-line.

If we know specifically how each other generates revenue, we can be more efficient and effective in helping each other succeed commercially.

Let’s discuss this important business development topic in the comments.

Too busy to make money?

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So here’s the plan. Give away your ideas, your know-how and your hard-earned wisdom and experience as blog posts, e-books, slide presentations and videos – for free – and crowds of people will come running to your blog. Then do your best to convert as many of these people as you can to buy more of your ideas, your know-how and your hard-earned wisdom and experience.

Am I the only one who has a problem with this logic?

Surely, by giving our precious intellectual property away – the family silver – we not only train people NOT to buy our ideas, but also erode our future ability to earn income.

I would love to discuss this touchy topic with you in the comments.

Giving away the family silver for a golden future

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The thought of having to make cold calls to prospects to generate sales may excite some people, but leaves many of us frozen in our tracks.  This next edition of Extreme Sales Makeover is all about building power, passion and persuasion into cold calls.

Let’s work together on a real-life scenario to improve our skills.

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At the prompting of my friend, Leanne Berry, I applied for the following opportunity WANTED: Big thinking entrepreneur for documentary film. Must travel.  My logic is simply that it could be a really good opportunity to help boost my efforts to build awareness of and promote the members of the online business community I serve – The Centurions.  Here’s how it’s unfolded so far… [Read more]

Writing words that sell is an incredibly valuable skill to have, especially if you plan to market products online.  It’s a skill that affects your income, so it’s worth putting effort in to continually improve it.  Below is a real-life example of sales copy that needs some sales muscle.

Let’s work on it together! Here are five pointers to stimulate your thinking.

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Crowds of people rushed into the bookshop to buy your book. It’s the latest must-read title – a sizzling hot best seller, climbing and dominating the charts for weeks on end. Or that’s how the story goes.

Getting published off-line is something I’ve thought about a lot over the past few years. You?  Have you ever thought of getting published off-line? If so, why? It’s a large undertaking and I’m curious as to why people do it.

I would love to discuss this topic with you in the comments.

Mountains of opportunity

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Word-of-mouth recommendation drives business success – big time! And I’ve got 48 superstars I’m busting to recommend to you – people who have participated in the sharewords community and had their sharewords created.  Sharewords are the new elevator pitch. They are shorter, punchier, and make it much easier for me to recommend you to my friends and colleagues. Check out these all-stars and their sharewords. [Read more]