COMMUNICATING TO MARKET – the act of selling.

Carmel Rowley

Communicating is to impart knowledge of; and make known. Isn’t that exactly what you do to market? Or do you?

Whether you’re trying to sell a horse, a painting or a book most people think if you get publicity for yourself and your products, sales will automatically follow. Sometimes they do, but just as often, they don’t. Why? 

I’ve listened to a large number of both horse breeders and authors who often feel that because they’ve had some media exposure they’ll make sales. But this is only one of the elements involved in marketing.
You hear people say, “I’ve been on the radio and in the newspaper, I’ve had a profile in a magazine but no one has rung me about buying a horse or I’ve only sold three books! Why is that? So why am I not selling more books?”

Over the decades, I’ve thought about this a lot and one of the things I keep going back to is – what sort of message are you putting out there?

Another thing to keep in mind is that selling shouldn’t be about manipulating, pressuring, or cajoling people into buying. There’s a fine line to what people can tolerate. There’s logic to selling. Horses or books, you have to meet the market demand at the time and have a feel for what’s sought after and price accordingly. You, yourself, need to recognise what causes market changes and plan ahead for them. In horses, overpopulation occurs at least once every decade. In books, the e-book explosion is an example. So in that case it’s imperative to adjust and evaluate your aims regularly.

I know it sounds ridiculous but I’ve found that selling books or horses doesn’t seem to be very different; all those thousands upon thousands of books like the oversupply of horses sadly don’t all find happy homes. You still need to convince people to work with you. Selling is overcoming objections and roadblocks.

Selling is the foundation of business and personal success: knowing how to negotiate, to deal with the dreaded “no” is a challenge like no other. You have to be patient, and stick to your goals. It’s important to be thankful for the fact that someone has even noticed you. Who’s to say they won’t come back. If you can maintain confidence and self-esteem in the face of rejection, you begin to build long-term relationships while learning to communicate effectively with a wide range of people. An ideal skill to possess.
When you truly believe in your idea, or your books, horses, or yourself then you don’t need to have a huge ego or a huge personality. You don’t need to “sell.”
You just need to communicate.