In my TEDxUNLV talk, “Too Much Confidence is NOT Your Problem,” I talked about people's irrational need to make a show of humility. This need to not go too far costs people much more than what it would cost to internally boss up and take things to the furthest extent.

An obvious manifestation of this is in how people constantly undervalue and undersell themselves.

Online and off, I meet many entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. Most of them have products and services to sell, or at least ideas. Many of these people can't sell themselves and their stuff because of deep-rooted ideas that they mustn't go too far.

I don't want to be all sales-y all the time.

I don't want to be all in people's faces with my products.

Is this really worth money???

My family and friends might get mad at me for always selling.

I shouldn't talk myself up so much - I'm not as good as ________ (well-established and/or famous person)

My professional pursuit is to tear down the mental walls that hold people back and unleash Super You. Selling is about creating outcomes. You can't be the best version of you if you cannot create outcomes when you want to.

Here are some tips to start rehabilitating yourself when it comes to getting your name and message out there - and generating money doing it.

Make sure you and others understand why it costs what it costs. You're selling a book for $19.99. If that book can help a person make thousands or even millions of dollars, you wouldn't have a problem promoting your book as the value it is, would you? Then why are you not doing it?

You need to get clear with yourself on what outcomes, tangible (revenue, social media engagement) and intangible (confidence, peace of mind), people get from your offerings. Sell these outcomes, not the product itself. [shareable cite="@DreAllDay "]Sell these outcomes, not the product itself.[/shareable]

If someone makes $1,000 with your book, that is a 4,900% return on investment. Not to mention the intangible value gained in new knowledge, stress relief, confidence, and respect from others, which lasts a lot longer than the time it takes to read a book.

Exchange value for value with everyone, new and old. When you start off, you exchange intellectual property - your information, strategies, and experiences - with your audience for free. Your IP is worth money, but you share for free to establish a relationship. In exchange, your audience pays you in time, attention and esteem.  

Later as you become established, you exchange your IP for money with the established audience. They know you're good, and you know they want more because they're still watching or reading.

At the same time, you still provide free value to people who are just now coming into your orbit. This way you are always serving both the veteran member of your universe and the uninitiated newbie.

The key in executing this strategy: don't run out of material.

Give your buyers what they want. We have smartphones, more clothing than we need, food we don't eat, devices we underutilize, services we pay monthly for that we don't even use… we’re consumers. Consumers spend money. And no one is broke when he sees something he wants or has a pressing need.

We want to spend money. All we’re waiting for is someone with enough guts to tell us - not ask us - what to spend it on.

Do you believe in yourself and your offerings enough for it to be you?

Get paid for your work. I had been publishing videos to YouTube for a year or so when someone left a comment, asking if I could organize the basketball drills I did into a consumable format that anyone could follow.

I replied that I could, but the time and effort necessary to do so meant I would have to charge for the product. Would you all pay for it? The overwhelming response was they would. We've since processed over 10,000 orders of basketball training programs.

This was all because I was willing to make clear that I didn't work for free, and that if I was providing value for someone, that person should be willing to exchange value to get it. As humans, we all understand this idea of reciprocity, so much so that I didn't have to explain this to get the YES! response from my viewers.

Solve problems. Groceries and delivery services solve the problem of going hungry. CRM applications solve the problem of organizing activities when it comes to your prospects and clients. Your smartphone solves the problem of having to actually look at and talk to people in public.

What do these all have in common? We pay for them, over and over, without a second thought. They're necessities.

What problems do friends come to you with most often? What area of people’s lives are you always being asked to address? What questions keep popping up in your comments or DMs?

These are live, ready problems you can solve. And what do people do to solve problems? We spend money.

Understand: You're leaving money on the table right now. The value you're already providing is worth money, if you would just start selling it as if you believed it was worth its cost. [shareable cite="@DreAllDay "]The value you're already providing is worth money.[/shareable]


The Seller's Mindset gives you all the mental tools you need to sell anything, including yourself.