First Word

"Here just try some!" "Take my product." "Let me get you some literature." "Oh, take my card too." Those are four sentences that no one wants to hear. Pushy sales no matter how pretty the package have the opposite effect of what you want. Last night while networking, my group of gal pals experienced the pushy sales technique from this vendor. These folks were non-stop. They practically chased us around the room, shoving product and literature in our faces. And here is what we all griped about when we got in the car, "Did you get a load of that vendor?" No one was impressed. Truth is, the vendor products were probably excellent, but it wasn't the product that killed the sale. When you are selling products or services, be very careful and never do the following: 1. Desperately chase me around the room. 2. Demand I try your product by shoving it in my face or insisting I put my hand out so you can apply it. 3. Shove literature at m...

or a stream :). Actually, I got a little jealous yesterday when I was looking at some popular blog spots that had lots of visuals and pictures. For the record, you can't just grab people's pictures and post them to your site. It got me to thinking about blogs, though, and how I needed to make mine more interesting to look at. Hence the stream picture from my weekend adventures; but here is the real deal on blogs. Some bloggers have huge followings. I've found with book promotions, don't under estimate the value of a really well-followed blogger. With the book, A Feast at the Beach , we've had several high-value bloggers review the book -- and the sales went crazy. A fabulous blog can offer a real sweet spot to create sales momentum for your products. And then I got to thinking that my following here in First Word land needs to ratchet up. I would love to create a bigger following to help promote our authors and what we're doing. So, if you're reading this an...