A Chapter Excerpt From Book, Hardcore Sales and Marketing

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Much has been written on the topic of sales and marketing and this is certainly not a complete guide to everything there is to know. These are the best ideas, tips, and overall wisdom I have learned over the past 20 years to be successful in my craft of sales and marketing, both as a career and as a side hustle.
Over the years, I have learned how to eat lunch in my truck, been turned down and rejected countless times and had successes and failures, both in grand proportions.

Through it all I have learned to trust in the plan God has for my life and live with purpose, meaning and significance in all I do. I believe we exist as humans to learn to love deeply and acquire knowledge as our two primary needs and purposes.

I created this eBook as a guide to some things that I have done that have worked well in the work I have done over the years. All tools and tactics here. No BS “methods” that seem to be taught by the endless social media advertisement sales gurus out there.

This is not a “get rich quick” publication. Instead, I am offering some timeless ideas to help you in your journey of making business deals work for you.
I, like many writers on the subjects of sales and marketing, started from scratch. Nothing. No silver spoon, trust fund or handouts. When I was 22 years old and a college graduate, my stepfather gave me a tape set of Brian Tracy’s Psychology of Selling program. And I have been hooked on this subject of how people buy products and services ever since.

My goal here is to share some of the best tactical and practical advice I have used to close deals – lots of them. In exotic hoofstock live sales (AKA “deer trading”), a selling niche I have excelled in over the years, an average ticket is $6,000 to $12,000 for a load of animals without breaking a sweat and those are common transactions on a weekly basis.

There are some big wins and losses alike in the deer trade and you must move with the proverbial punches and stay off the ropes or you will get eaten alive, so to speak, in that business.
The one thing I have learned through all of my business dealings, especially deer trading, is that there is no shortage of money in this world. Some people may not have a lot of money and complain often about their mounting debt and past due bills.

The customers that have money to spend in abundance typically don’t complain about their money problems because they usually don’t have a lack of it at any time. While not every business has a client list with lots of cash reserves at hand, the truth is there is opportunity waiting for all of us.

The point in all of this is that there is no reason to live in scarcity. Live in abundance. Always be thankful to God for your future favor, grace, and mercy.

Imagine taking a teaspoon of water out of the ocean. The ocean water is the pool of available resources, such as money, and the teaspoon is your portion. Using that analogy will teach you that there is plenty of opportunity for everyone. There is enough out there for you to have more than enough, especially in the USA.

Furthermore, I have learned to go where there is abundance, not scarcity, when I am both selling and marketing. Sure, not every client is a “whale” but I have learned to deal with people that want to deal with me and have the means to do so.

Target your efforts where they make sense. Go where the money is waiting for you. Don’t waste your time where there is little to no opportunity or where the money isn’t plentiful. Both abundance and scarcity are contagious after all.

Two things I warn about in my work is the “Disease of More” and the “Disease to Please” and, while I want everyone in business to do well, I don’t want possessions (“stuff”) and achievement in an effort to please others, to ruin them.

Don’t get caught up in serving everyone but yourself and lock on to having to have the next thing and the next thing better and better. That race for “more” and the approval and validation of others never seems to end. Both of those are “highs” that go on perpetually. You really can’t please everyone, and you certainly can’t be everything to everyone. Let go of that.

Be at peace. Take life as it comes and have reasonable, healthy goals but don’t obsess yourself with the next thing to acquire or accomplish. Your health and sanity are far more important.

My prayer for your life is to live happy and healthy with positive goals and a great mindset. The rest, more often than not, will take care of itself. The resources and tools to better your situation are all around you. Tap into them. Don’t stray from challenge, get in front of it. As Jim Rohn taught in his lifetime of work, “Grow bigger than your problems.” We grow from our struggles and there is a lesson in every circumstance.

Learn More About Dustin at www.DustinsProjects.com.