Glengarry Glen Ross For Bloggers
Dec
As bloggers, our goal is to try to earn income from our websites. Our goals may include sharing our knowledge, helping others succeed, or even changing the world. But at the end of the day, we want to make money doing it.
In that, we are in essence salespeople. We may call ourselves writers, bloggers, Internet marketers, or online entrepreneurs, but we’re salespeople. We are selling our ideas, knowledge, and yes, products.
If you haven’t seen it, Glengarry Glen Ross is all about the art of the sale. It’s a dark, raw look into the lives of hardcore salesmen. It’s a cult classic and kind of like “Office Space” for the sales industry.
Anyway, if you watch this movie enough, you begin to see many principles that can be applied to our lives as bloggers.
5 Lessons I’ve Taken Away From This Movie
1. ABC. Always Be Closing.
As with any sales position, closing the sale is key. As bloggers, we are constantly closing sales through our posts, email newsletters, and social media communications.
We may not be selling physical products all the time, but everything we say or do online is a message. If our message is poor, inconsistent, or unclear, we will have trouble closing sales.
If our messages are clear, concise, and on target, we have a much better chance of making the sale when the time comes. Point being that we need to figure out exactly what we’re trying to convey to our readers and then do exactly that.
2. We Need Brass Balls. Sales is the training ground for rejection. If you can’t handle getting turned down 90% of the time or more, sales is not for you. It’s the same with blogging. Our opt in rates may be low, our conversions terrible, and affiliate sales almost non existent.
This is where your mental fortitude or brass balls come into play. We need to push through the rough times when it looks like we will never succeed and keep moving forward.
This is the Flemish Cap for bloggers (if you don’t get the reference, go watch “The Perfect Storm”) and where the ability to make the real money is. What I mean by that is when things look bleak, most people will quit.
This is where you and I can shine by understanding that adversity is part of the learning process and the only way we can fail is by quitting!
3. Be A Storyteller. Just like Al Pacino in the bar scene, we need to learn how to tell a great story. Your ability to get people involved emotionally is paramount to your success.
Being able to resonate with your readers, in my opinion, is the greatest sales strategy of all. The great thing is, it’s not really selling at all. If people like you, trust you, and want to hear what you have to say, they will buy what you are selling.
4. Take Responsibility. “The leads are weak” is a cop out. Don’t blame the process, the product, or the person. Own up to it and take full responsibility.
If your blog sucks, fix it. If you’re not making any money, try something else. If you want to quit and go back to working for Safeway, go ahead. Just remember, YOU are the only thing that makes a difference. Only you can change your situation.
5. A.I.D.A. Attention, Interest, Decision, Action.
If we are ever going to have a successful blog, we must first start with attention. How do we got attention? We promote ourselves and let others promote us. Social networking is perfect for this, assuming you do it correctly.
Once we have a readers attention, we need to hold their interest. If we have nothing valuable to say, we will never see that reader again. Point being-be insightful, helpful, controversial, or just plain different!
We all want our readers to make the decision to become loyal readers, new customers, or raving fans. Be remarkable and maybe they will!
And lastly, all of our good intentions mean little if we cannot elicit the action we want from our readers, whatever it may be.
Even if you’re not a fan of the movie, you’ve got to love this scene!!
This post was not meant to imply that we need to get aggressive and ram our blogs down people’s throats. It simply means that we, as bloggers, need to become better salespeople if we want to create the success we are all striving for.
Ian
“ABC”: Don’t you think that people who frequent the internet are hit with enough sales messages every day? Some bloggers and internet entreprenuers try to go about the sales process much more discretely, winning the friendship and admiration of their audience by making most of their content completely void of a pitch, simply trying to offer consistent value to keep them coming back for more. When the time comes to sell, people gladly jump on.
What are your thoughts on this type of approach instead? Is either one “better” than the other?
-Ian
Steve
My point with this article is that everything we put out there is selling. I’m not talking about being a slick salesman to try to get more sales because I truly believe the best way to build a profitable blog (or any other business) is to build relationships.
By being better salespeople, we learn how to position ourselves to be able to earn income without the typical sales pitch.
The way I am responding to your comment is sales. Some people might like what I am saying and therefore may become a customer at some point. Others may think I’m an ass and are sold on the fact that they don’t like me and will never be a customer.
As you can see, I am not selling anything on this blog, rather I trying to provide valuable content that is beneficial to my readers. Do I want to make a full-time income from this blog in the future? Yes. But like you said, winning their friendship and admiration is what I’m interested in.
I have never been a hard sell person, nor do I like that approach and if it takes me twice as long to make money here, then that’s fine.
I believe people hate to be “sold” anything. They want to make their decision based on the information they have. If I have earned their trust and they feel what I am selling is going to be of value, then that’s what it’s all about.
greg urbano
first place cadillac, second place steak knives, third place – you’re fired !
Derek Potocki
Hey Steve,
This is my favorite blog post, you’ve written. I wrote a similar post some time ago. Everybody sells something. The question is not whether to sell, but how to sell better.
I enjoyed the video.
Happy and prosperous 2011! ABC:)
Steve
Thanks Derek,
I don’t think of myself as a salesman, but when we write, we are selling our ideas.
I think the key is to understand how to sell without being a “salesman”.
Derek Potocki
Hi Steve,
I will take it step further. Every blog is a store. Some blogs are Dolce & Gabana and some are just flea market stands. Yours is becoming D&G:)
Derek