Most consultants and service professionals can't stand selling. This book provides consultants with proven and painless techniques for building their businesses. It shows how readers can: listen to potential clients, ask questions and evaluate answers effectively; avoid fatal mistakes; differentiate themselves from the competition; conduct a sales examination; and sustain and grow their business. Allan Boress is the editor of Quality Client Service.

"Repeat after me: I. Hate. Sales." Sales is the bane of the freelancing life. As freelancers, all we want to do is crack on and do the work we enjoy doing (whatever that work/specialism may be), but in order to do that, we have to sell ourselves to people first. ...Ack. One of the biggest challenges that freelancers face is the sales process. Don't just take my word for it: various polls conducted in freelance communities show that "finding new leads/customers/clients" is what freelancers self-identify as their biggest weakness and the area of self-employment that they struggle with the most. We see it as an intimidating and overwhelming prospect, with many of us considering 'selling yourself' as a slimy, sleazy process. We have to go out to business events, hand out business cards and brag about ourselves to complete strangers, right? Wrong. Well, you can do that, sure. ...Or you can sell yourself in a way that really isn't sales-y at all. The best way to sell is not to sell. Let that sink in. The best way to sell is not to sell. It sounds completely and utterly counterintuitive, but it's the truth. Hence the name of this book: Anti-Sell. And in this book, I'll tell you how and why it works, and how to do it. Its chapters cover the following: There's a long list of sales, marketing, networking and lead generation tactics and tips, to give you an idea of some of the traditional ways - but also a number of alternative ways - to get your name and your face out there, How you can tie the sales process into your passions and your strengths - so that sales won't even feel like sales, Getting you thinking differently about the types of events/communities to go to and get involved with, resulting in potentially being the only [insert specialism here] person in the room, rather than spending your time networking alongside your competitors, How being visible, altruistic and contributory within communities is an incredible way to be recognised as the go-to person in your field, There's tips and advice on how to find 'good-fit' clients, as well as why honing in on a niche makes you a lot easier to refer, Plus it covers a whole bunch of other sales-related topics, such as testimonials, awards, how to handle 'freebie' requests, competing against agencies for work, and keeping your cool in stressful moments, Right at the end, there's a list of recommended books for further reading, to help you to take your non-sales-y sales tactics even further, Throughout the book there's also 'Anti-Sell Stories': 8 case studies contributed by real-life freelancers, each of whom details how they've fought the fight with sales (and won). An important note: I'm not a salesperson. I'm a freelancer, just like you. This book runs through my story, my journey and my tactics on how I've managed to win work without selling myself too much (or selling my soul too much, for that matter). So if you're a freelancer who hates the idea of sales and selling yourself, then hopefully this book will suit you and serve you well. Happy Anti-Selling, folks.

Selling Hate is a fascinating and powerful story about the power of a southern PR firm to further the Ku Klux Klan’s agenda. Dale W. Laackman’s uncovered never-before-published archival material, census records, and obscure books and letters to tell the story of an emerging communications industry—an industry filled with potential and fraught with peril. The brilliant, amoral, and spectacularly bold Bessie Tyler and Edward Young Clarke—together, the Southern Publicity Association—met the fervent William Joseph Simmons (founder of the second KKK), saw an opportunity, and played on his many weaknesses. It was the volatile, precarious terrain of post–World War I America. Tyler and Clarke took Simmons's dying and broke KKK, with its two thousand to three thousand associates in Georgia and Alabama, and in a few short years swelled its membership to nearly five million. Chapters were established in every state of the union, and the Klan began influencing American political and social life. Between one-third and one-half of the eligible men in the country belonged to the organization. Even to modern sensibilities, the extent of Tyler and Clarke’s scheme is shocking: the limitlessness of their audacity; the full-scale and ongoing con of Simmons; the size of the personal fortunes they earned, amassed, and stole in the process; and just how easily and expertly they exploited the particular fears and prejudices of every corner of America. You will recognize in this pair a very American sense of showmanship and an accepted, even celebrated, brash entrepreneurial hustle. And as their story winds down, you will recognize the tainted and ultimately ineffectual congressional hearings into the Klan's monumental growth.

Most fitness professionals love helping people change their lives, but many struggle to gain new clients and build a profitable business. They end up drained instead of energized, worried instead of free, tied down instead of creating their own schedule! Following these six simple steps of I Hate Selling for the Fitness Professional will empower you to build your business from the bottom up and keep it growing-all while maintaining your love of serving your clients and members. This book will free you from the ups and downs of the fitness world and help you reach more people than ever before.

A visual way to easily access the strategies and tactics in Book Yourself Solid Learning new concepts is easier when you can see the solution. Book Yourself Solid Illustrated, a remarkable, one-of-a-kind work of art, transforms the Book Yourself Solid system into a more compelling and easy-to-consume playbook for any business owner. You won't find business school graphs or mind maps. Instead, you'll find compelling, visual stories that reinvent old and tired business concepts, making Book Yourself Solid Illustrated a fun and playful book that you will revisit year after year as you get more clients than you can handle. There isn't a business book on the market that can show you how to apply the strategies, techniques, and skills necessary to generate new leads, add more clients, and increase profits through visuals. Previously you could only read or listen to advice, now you can see it and get it faster. This illustrated version is organized into four modules: your foundation, building trust and credibility, simple selling and perfect pricing, and the Book Yourself Solid 6 core self-promotion strategies. Reengineering the book with visual strategist, Jocelyn Wallace, has given author Michael Port new ways of explaining and expanding his gold-standard material. Author Michael Port has been called a "marketing guru" by the Wall Street Journal and "an uncommonly honest author" by The Boston Globe, and wrote Book Yourself Solid (in it's 2nd edition), Beyond Booked Solid,The Contrarian Effect which was selected as a 2008 top ten business book by Amazon.com and the 2008 #1 sales book of the year by 1-800-CEO-READ, and The New York Times Bestseller, The Think Big Manifesto. Author is one of the most popular business coaches in the world and headlines events all over the world. Master the techniques in Book Yourself Solid Illustrated, and take your service business to the next level today. For the first time ever you can have the Book Yourself Solid Mobile app. Install it on any device and the Book Yourself Solid System comes to life. Do all of 49 exercises from the new book on any device, including your desktop computer. This thing rocks.

To many people, marketing means personal selling or advertising, imposing oneself on others, and trying to get people to buy something they may not want. In this guide to marketing and building relationships with customers to achieve success, Rick Crandell debunks these myths.

Sales managers have the most difficult job in the business world. They are responsible not just for revenue, but also for the hiring, coaching, training, and deployment of the employees who must generate it. Before the advancements that inspired Scientific Selling, sales managers had few tools to help them succeed at these disparate yet essential tasks. Today, however, the scientific approaches described in this book allow sales managers to more effectively measure, refine, and improve every aspect of the sales environment. Using easily-understood examples, graphics, charts, and explanations, Scientific Selling describes how to: Predictably improve sales results. Attract and retain top sales performers. Sharply decrease employee turnover. Spend sales training dollars more wisely. Better target sales coaching efforts. Move into consultative selling more quickly. And much more. Scientific Selling features over a dozen case studies illustrating exactly how scientific measurement and testing have improved sales performance within different kinds of sales groups inside multiple industries.

Why Do You Hate Money takes an ethical approach to marketingfor health and fitness professionals. The truth is, most people choose a career in health and fitness because it's changed their life and they want to return the favor. But if you can't communicate with your audience you're going to get lost in the noise. Many people make marketing confusing, but it doesn't have to be this way. This book makes it simple, even if you're just starting out. In Why Do You Hate Money, former fit pro turned copywriter; Joey Percia walks you through the same proven strategies industry experts pay him thousands to implement into their businesses. The best part is, these time-tested lessons are easy to apply so you can put them to work right away. Whether you're a new personal trainer, an expert nutritionist, local box owner, a seasoned chiropractor, an experienced physical therapist, a martial arts studio owner, or in another health and fitness related field, this book will show you how to use direct response marketing to build a business you love. You'll discover: - Four expert hacks to cure writer's block once and for all...this chapter alone will give you back hours of your life every single week - An honest and ethical approach to market your business in a way that makes you feel good but still gets you more clients. - 13 ways to spark inspiration and get your creative juices pouring out (you will LOVE #7) - The most common fitness marketing mistakes and how to avoid them... if you can avoid these 4 mistakes you'll be blown away at how much your business will grow - How to use Kickass Copywriting to make loads of cash without being salesy - Simple storytelling strategies to boost sales and make people fall in love with you (don't worry you don't have to be a storytelling master) - How to write cash-generating emails like a million dollar copywriter without actually being one - Health and fitness related examples, checklists, templates, and guides to writing high converting copy which means more clients ... and so much more Why Do You Hate Money' is the go-to fitness marketing guide to create content that kills, craft copy that converts, and master the science of selling without selling out. What are you waiting for? Scroll up, and grab your copy right now.

While a Vice President at Salesforce, David Priemer had an epiphany during one of the company's high-pressure selling periods: the very sales tactics they were using were not working on him. Yes, the numbers still showed results, but through brute force rather than elegance and efficiency. Priemer also discovered that his sales colleagues were spending far more time on leads that did not convert to sales than on those that did. His company--and his entire profession--was acting with more than enough gusto, but without enough awareness and empathy. They were not selling the way they buy. Sell the Way You Buy is about much more than putting yourself in the customer's shoes. Customers don't always know what they want or need, or they may be seeking a solution for something that isn't their core problem. They suffer from status quo bias, from recency bias, from confirmation bias. And meanwhile, the state of overwhelming choice has most products and solution providers adrift in the "Sea of Sameness." In today's world, almost everyone is in sales, but as Priemer realized, we don't teach it. Sell the Way You Buy will show you how to ask questions, how to listen, how to tell a compelling brand story, and how to talk to customers (how to talk to people). Priemer reveals scientifically supported methods to understand the customer, identify their needs, and move them toward the right solution--all the while teaching you to avoid all the reasons why the average person doesn't like salespeople. In short, to sell the way you buy.

An illustrated collection of four hundred easy, imaginative, and kitchen-tested recipes culled from the author's three previous "I Hate to Cook Books"