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	<title>Just Ruthie &#187; social power linking</title>
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	<link>http://www.ruthritchie.com</link>
	<description>Rants and Rambles on life, living, and being Canadian</description>
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		<title>Putting Sales First, Even When You&#8217;re Not Selling</title>
		<link>http://www.ruthritchie.com/setting-goals/putting-sales-first.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.ruthritchie.com/setting-goals/putting-sales-first.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:43:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ruth</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Setting Goals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Masterson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[priorities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social power linking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the introverted marketer]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Do sales come first, even when you&#8217;re not actively selling?
I never used to think so, but now I&#8217;m wondering if I don&#8217;t have my planning and action strategies all wrong.
I started laying out my work schedule for April last night. One of the things I&#8217;ve noticed over the past few months is that I start [...]<script type="text/javascript">SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Putting Sales First, Even When You&#8217;re Not Selling", url: "http://www.ruthritchie.com/setting-goals/putting-sales-first.php" });</script>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Do sales come first, even when you&#8217;re not actively selling?</p>
<p>I never used to think so, but now I&#8217;m wondering if I don&#8217;t have my planning and action strategies all wrong.</p>
<p>I started laying out my work schedule for April last night. One of the things I&#8217;ve noticed over the past few months is that I start running out of steam by about the midway point. So I figured that this time I&#8217;d load up the front end of the month with as much content and product creation as possible. And while that&#8217;s really good in theory, when I looked at my list this morning I realized that I had five projects laid out and not one of them focused on bringing in any income until near the end of the month. Could it be that the reason I&#8217;m burned out by the middle of the month is because I don&#8217;t have anything to show for two weeks of solid work since I don&#8217;t spare any time for the marketing and selling end of things?</p>
<p>It always seems that when I need to learn something I get it from all directions at once. One of the projects I have planned out is to do the 60 Day Plan that is provided to Social Power Linking members. After I finished setting my list up for that, I decided to take a break and read a bit of Michael Masterson&#8217;s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470182024/ritchiemedia-20">Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat</a>. And wouldn&#8217;t you know it, the page where I picked up was one where he was talking about how so many people get it all backwards because they focus on everything but making sales.</p>
<p>I have to admit, that&#8217;s me. Being so shy and introverted as I am, making sales scares the heck out of me. I&#8217;m the type of person who rarely emails my lists because I&#8217;m afraid of seeming pushy. Instead, I spend an awful lot of time writing content that never gets posted. And still through all this I manage to make a sale here and there without in spite of myself. So I decided that this month one of the things I would do is actively try and get one sale a day instead of a few random ones during the month.</p>
<p>How will I do this with my fear of selling? Theoretically, I&#8217;m not going to do any selling at all. My thought is that if I provide enough good content, and funnel enough traffic in to the site using the 60 Day Plan, then the products should sell themselves. This way I don&#8217;t have be pushy and salesy, and yet the sales and marketing functions are at the head of the list where Masterson says they belong.</p>
<p>Am I still doing it backwards? Maybe. But if it works out, then I&#8217;ll have found a viable way to get around the stress of being an introverted marketer. I&#8217;ll keep you posted with stats and comments over on the <a href="http://www.theintrovertedmarketer.com/blog">Introverted Marketer</a> blog. But don&#8217;t expect a lot of details. I respect Jack Humphrey&#8217;s request that the <a href="http://www.ruthritchie.com/recommends/socialpowerlinking">Social Power Linking</a> info remain behind closed doors, so if you want to know the details behind the numbers, you&#8217;ll just have to join me inside.</p>
<p>Feel free to post your comments below. </p>
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