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Generally, in small businesses the founder and the business make just one thing. As a consequence, when you are trying to sell or market your business you are truly marketing yourself, but this talent isn’t something innate or easy for everyone.
So here are some tips to help you become an expert at selling yourself and your business.
But at first let’s say that the smaller your business or company is the more you and your business will just make one. Your target may not know the name of your business or brand but they may know you directly, so you have to know how to sell yourself to help your business grow and get the awareness it deserves.
As you master this skill, your business will inquire its own identity outside of yours, but when you are starting, You Are everything.
You may have seen or noticed in conferences how this works, some people are really experts when it comes to public speaking, organizing events, they have stories for any situation, they can bounce from one subject to another very smoothly, sometimes they may tell cheesy or annoying jokes but they always succeed to entertain audiences and get their attention.
If you want to succeed and improve your pitch, you need to become more like those persons; this doesn’t mean that you need to become someone else, but it simply means that you need to get some skills to be able to effectively sell yourself.
- Be confident.
If we will some it up, all the international speaker you see on TV or in the internet have one big shared quality “they exude confidence”.
They may have issues or problems to deal with as all human beings, but they know that showing confidence is the key that gets them in door.
Confident people are naturally attractive and magnetic, they have the skill to make people hear them and get interested in whatever they are talking about even it is a trivial subject.
But if you are not very confident, we may suggest you one simple solution “Fake it till you make” is your way to go, try to show confidence while you keep practicing until you become an expert, but be careful there is a thin line between confident and arrogant.
- Don’t be boring.
Being boring and lacking charisma are the mistakes you want to avoid when selling yourself.
So even if you lack social skills, try to find a way to be unique and authentic.
Being an introvert is not a handicap that will prevent you from shining and standing out.
If you can’t stand out you will not be able to sell yourself because you want get noticed.
Besides being unique, your offer and products also need to be unique too to attract your target.
- Be persistent.
Each new opportunity there is a ton of people to go for it. So basically, every customer you are trying to attain is courted by other competitors all claiming to have the solution to his problems.
The solution here is to be persistent and tenacious. You have to keep sending texts, emails, to inform them about the latest features and releases. Keep in touch with your audience, be near to them, instore a strong relationship with them, at least even if they are not ready to buy now, you will be there first choice when they will decide to buy.
- Stop with the resume speak.
Repeating your resume and presenting yourself as a problem solver or a go getter doesn’t have any meaning to your target. Your customer is interested about your added value, details, extra advantage that distinguish you from your competitors. Have you worked with people sharing the same problem as them, and what kind of solution did you brought to them?
Focus on your strength, competitive advantage or those of your business to sell it easily to your audience.
- Offer a solution.
Nowadays customers are aware and clever enough to identify their specific problem; what they really need is an expert that dig in to details to find relevant solutions, not things that may approximatively work.
Be innovative and creative, go the extra mile, be different from your competitors by creating specific reports or giving advice free of charge.
Be a part of their solution before selling them something, talking is certainly important but bringing solution to their problems will give you more credibility and value than anything else.
- Always be positive.
Positivity is a strong tool to market yourself and your business.
We all live in a world filled with negative news, gossiping, complaining and social media doesn’t help it at all.
That is way we keep looking desperately for positive people to place in our lives, we are in fact searching for a fresh breath, some positive vibes, or a stray of light to add to our days.
Smile to your audience, be grateful for what you have, talk about your passion, tell your customers that everything goanna be alright.
Positivity improve self-confidence. Don’t look pitiful or miserable. No one likes to hear you complain about your own misery and sorrows.
- Improve your non-verbal communication.
Nonverbal communication is the hidden side of the iceberg. In fact, it tells more about the person real personality, attitude and intention than the verbal communication.
So, when you talk about yourself or business, stand straight confidently, maintain eye contact, don’t use your hands too much when you speak, have a firm hand shake and avoid crossing your arms and legs when you sit.
Your nonverbal communication will reveal more things about you.
Finally, even if you prepare the most luring and perfect selling pitch, the ability to sell yourself is your best to market your self or your business to your audience.
It is a combination of skills including being confident, positive, persistent but mostly problem solving oriented. Those are strong basis on which you can work to create a strong long-term relationship with your customers.
