It’s all about sales, dammit!

Posted on September 2, 2009 Written by ripitup

image: http://www.reiq.com.au/assets/Shop/Products/BookClub/Selling_is_Everyones_Business.jpg

I have never been interested in becoming a sales person, not directly. However, being the force behind the sales is intriguing, such as in advertising. After graduation, I started working at a consultancy firm. The premise sounded fun enough: The firm specialized in consulting people on language schools, universities, master degrees and certificate programs in different countries. It required interaction with people from all over the world and I loved that aspect. Yet, I also had to talk to people who came to the office and try to sell them the programs. Some programs were really promising and I wanted to join them myself, so I had no problem bragging about them. But some programs and most potential customers made my life really boring. The job also required mind-numbing data entry and worse, customer follow-up. You see, I don’t like to follow-up. When I am the customer, I hated to be followed up on. I believe that if people liked your pitch, they will come to you. I also believed non-aggressive pitching would make us even more distinguished since all our competitors looked downright desperate. But the boss man had other ideas. So I got bored and took off.

Then I got another job. A freelance, totally likable job. The title is customer relations/business development. The requirement though? I still had to talk to customers and potential customers-face to face and/or on the phone and persuade them to use our services. What at first sounded like a piece of cake, turned out to be a challenge since the customers have apparently turned into arrogant asses over the year. The results in the end weren’t worth the effort so we stopped the project all together.

image from: http://irrationalayush.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sales-fail.jpg

Do you like sales? I am not asking if you like shopping during the sales seasons. Do you like the concept of selling? Do you like people stopping you every few meters to ask you questions about a new product/service or a reminder of a beloved organization and asking for donations? Do you enjoy being “stalked” by the seller, the persistence, the incapability to leave you alone; or do you just like it when they give you the space you need?

Shopping/buying can be a pain in the ass. But the funny thing is whether you like sales or not, whether you work as a salesperson or not- you have to sell somethings throughout your life and you have to do it constantly. Oh, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to survive at the cash register at a supermarket. And I am sure life at any sort of box-office wouldn’t be fun unless you enjoy the interaction with people. But not only shopping assistants or street vendors sell. Not only telemarketers try to convince you to spend money.

selling yourself — Funny. But this is how the world works.

If you are in public relations, you are after selling a good image. The public is your audience.Your clients rely on you to develop the relationship. So you have to sell yourself to the client, to make them pay for your services.If you are in advertising, you need to sell your company and your campaigns. Oh-if you are not working in a service or product related business/shop/store, you still have to work your butt off trying to sell yourself.

Business, Engineering, IT…Whatever career you have picked, you need a CV and/or a portfolio. Then you can send it to your potential employer and then maybe get an interview. And then maybe get the job.

You might be a creative artist. Your job gets tougher. You need to go out there, make connections, send out sample, write beautifully crafted letters so that maybe,just maybe they will like your stuff and give you a chance.

It never ends. After all these years, all those box office hits, all those big shot actors and musicians are still out there, still selling themselves. Tours, premiers, award shows, interviews…All designed to sell the movie/record..whatever. If Keanu Reeves needs to sell his work, I guess I should shut up and stop complaining, right? Well, at least we LOVE what they are selling.

Keanu Reeves in The Lake House — Keanu has been in the industry for over 20 years. Yes, he is so rich he owns an island. But he still promotes his work. But hey, I love his line of work.

image from: celebritywonder.com

One-sided Business Ethics and Expectations

Posted on August 3, 2009 Written by ripitup

Freelancing is a bliss. Yes, you don’t have a monthly/timely paycheck (this is the worst and probably the only downside at all). And still you have to deal with a boss. In this case, the boss is pretty bearable and mostly fun to work with. His wife, however, is insufferable. I had to do two projects for her and we had some problems on both. The problematic thing was that I was supposed to work very hard and very fast with a computer program that I had just learned and had had no time to practice. Since they had a tech guy in the office, I had to camp out there 9 to 5 for about a week so that I could get help from him if needed. There are so many problems in this scenario.

1) I signed a contract to freelance and yet there I was, working in an office- working the usual hours, open to supervision- something I am really allergic to.

2) I am social and extroverted so if I am to work in an office, it should have the odd social perks, such as the watercooler chats. There was nothing social about 15-20 people working at their desks, not bothering to talk to the newcomer (myself) -totally isolated from the rest; apart from the 1-2 group mates that happen to be working on the same project.

3) So I have the pressure, a program that drove me crazy, co-workers that no way deserved the “co” and a demanding supervisor.

Results?

* I didn’t progress too well, was a little late on the deadline (on the supposed deadline-I’ll talk about that in a minute) and she wasn’t very pleased. By the time the project had ended, I was swearing off the program.

* Then the boss’ s wife called again, asking for another project. I said yeah- thinking I had taken all the precautions to deliver a flawless project. But no. the program had problems again. Problems tech guy couldn’t solve on the phone. A whole project I had had to do manually and delivered delayed again. So I had a fall out with the wife. Of course she didn’t take any responsibility and tried to put all the blame on me. Was she right? No. Let me prove you why.

They make you sign an agreement before you start to work. It tells you to deliver on time, to produce correct and respect confidentiality. All is good and right so far, right? However the agreement doesn’t really cover the freelancer. While the it mentions possible paycuts if the freelancer happens to make mistakes, it doesn’t claim any responsibility if the paycheck is late. My 2 paychecks are late, and it is the case with all the freelancers. So shouldn’t they pay a fee for being late?

Shouldn’t they be more tolerable towards you when there are problems with the system that even the tech guy can’t work out and/or tries to take the easy way out by putting the blame on your computer (which he had to admit wasn’t the case) and/or the experienced office workers have similar problems with you and they need help? How about that?

Why don’t the people hiring you have to respect your rights but you have to be perfect? Since when is unfair trade OK? If my service needs to be perfect, so should the working conditions. Am I dreaming? Maybe. But I believe this is what happens when the boss (wo)men “make the mistake of hiring ” people who are able to question. For instance, blame Marx if you will. Blame you and your “super-efficient” support teams and your socially inadequate employeess who give in to your every whim. But you can not make me accept your faults. I might need the money but I don’t need the slavery.

Oh and why is this post here? We all need the money to finance our dreams. We have to put off with all kinds of people. It just doesn’t mean we should give in without a fight.

People who screwed us over…in a good way.Part 2: John Grisham

Posted on July 21, 2009 Written by ripitup

I am not sure fans of Hemingway or Tolstoy will enjoy Grisham but millions of people love him nevertheless. His stories are captivating, original and hell- i think his name might be synoym for the concept page-turner.

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Even if you haven’t read him, you have probably watched or heard about the movie adaptations. The Firm, The Pelican Brief, A Time to Kill, Runaway Jury, The Client… to name a few. The movies always had major stars in them such as Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington (The Pelican Brief), Dustin Hoffman and John Cusack in The Runaway Jury and Chris O’ Donnel and Gene Hackman in The Rainmaker. The list goes on.

His paycheck for his second novel’ s (The Firm) was $6 million. The movie starred Tom Cruise.

So how did it happen? How did he become such a consecutive best-seller? How does he find so much material for so many books that are about lawyers and the law? Well, here it goes:

John Grisham is from Missisipi and is a lawyer. His first novel is A Time to Kill, though it was published after the success of The Firm. He worked the long hours at a law office. One day he witnessed a trial that practically changed his life.

A father’s young daughter had been raped and there was a chance the guilty party could walk away. John was a father too and he thought to himself that he would want to shoot the bastards dead. Hell, maybe he really would. So he imagined a story where the father was black, the girl was 10 and the rapists were white. He also imagined the father would shoot the guys- right at the trial. He also imagined a young white lawyer who took up the case and racist groups that made life difficult for everyone. And he wrote A Time to Kill. The movie features Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashley Judd and Kiefer Sutherland. It is a good book and a good movie that pays its respect. But funnily enough the books were rejected when John first sent it to publishers. He gave up after a while and wrote The Firm. This book went to print, and became a smash hit. After that, he didn’t have a hard time finding a publisher.

The path to building your career-no matter what the sector-involves a lot of failed expectations, unreturned calls and emails to job applications, bad intervies and well, hopeless moments. I believe trying to make it as a writer is even more difficult because rejection gets to be a part of your everyday life. Sometimes a project you are so fond of are going to be turned down. But just like you do not hit rock buttom and enter into the depression zone after a bad interview, you have to take it in and start working on something else. Grisham is one of the richest and most successful writers. I loved his books so much my dad seriously thought I should become a lawyer. My addiction to courtroom suspense started with him. I only dream about improving my penship so that I can become half the writer he is.

But there. You have a guy who managed to look after his family, produce a book in between 70 hour work weeks, handle rejection and write another book among that hectic work schedule. Wow!!!!

Now you have a guy, who takes cases when he wants, writes full time, who can afford anything he wants, and coaches baseball at his kid’s team. (Did I mention he wanted to be a baseball player when he was a kid himself ?)

So as far as idols go, Grisham is one of my heroes. Who are yours?

Why Jon Bon Jovi, Edward Burns and Timothy Ferris Ruined Us

Posted on June 30, 2009 Written by ripitup

They totally ruined it. They proved that indeed nothing is impossible if you have the soul, drive and guts.

They are self-made and they all started from scratch. Read on to see how they got to where they are (I also explain who they are, so keep reading even if you don’t know these guys or if you don’t know how they started).
Some people lead glamorous lives and live to talk about it. These are talented and driven people who have had the guts to try again and again until they’ve made it. These are the people who actually risked poverty (no,I am not being dramatic…OK-maybe a tad…), faced constant rejection and came back on top. My list has a lot of names,whose jobs I wanna have. Why do I feel they screwed me over? Because I know that there are people out there who made it,so I am tempted to try. Because I know am never gonna be satisfied with a simple paycheck and two days free in a week-and this is if you are lucky-in a city where there is so much traffic that you spend half your life on vehicles…Would I be considered such a dreamer had these people not existed? I don’t know…All I know is, life would be so much more boring.

So let’s start with the criteria: people like Gwyneth Paltrow don’t count. Born to parents in movie business??? So she is pretty and can act, but she has had the connections first!!!

So let’s go over Jon, Ed and Timothy.

1) Edward Burns: actor/director/writer/producer

You may not know him. I am a movie nut and he is one of my fav. guys in Hollywood. Does he make masterpieces? No, not really. Why do I like him so much? Because he is so multi-talented. He writes, directs, produces his movies and stars in them. Sometimes he does take part in other people’s projects but mostly he is this multi-functional movie maker. He writes heartfelt and down-to-earth stories. He writes the kind of stuff I write. And he has the job I dream about. I don’t have to direct, but I write screenplays. I would love to have the chance to make it into a movie,play the character of my choice.I don’t have to produce it. But I would love to get involved in choosing the songs for the soundtrack and give some ideas for the clothes. No, I am not a control freak. I am just fairly emotional. Because I wrote the story, I lived it in my head, I carried it around with me…It is my baby and I want Ed’s job!!!

2) Jon Bon Jovi: singer, song writer, guitar-player, actor

So he did have this cousin or something who worked in a record studio but that didn’t really help Jon gain anything apart from observing rockers, cleaning the floors and recording at night when the place was empty. He worked at crappy jobs and worked his ass off to get noticed by the music industry. He started from 0, made all his dreams come true…Hell, the guy went beyond his dreams. He is the singer of my favorite band ever, he writes most of the songs and when he’s not touring or recording with the band, he is acting. He started acting from scratch too. He has played in a number of movies, got both big and small roles. He even co-stars in one of Edward Burns’ movies. Gotta respect this guy…

Love Jon Bon Jovi? The Band? Both?:

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3) Timothy Ferris: entrepreneur,writer,wrestler,tango dancer,actor…

Up until April 2009, I had a regular office job. I didn’t like it, I just needed it to save money. Time lost in traffic and lonely lunches ( my co-workers weren’t really outgoing) gave me a lot time to read…I decided it was research time. I was buying anything I could get my hands on about writing, getting published and freelancing. And this guy had written the marketing book with the most appealing title ever: The 4-Hour Work Week. The cover included a hammock…The more I read, the more hooked I got. He had started out as a guy who worked in an office. Then he realized he wanted more to his life. Are you wondering how he managed to pull more titles than Jon and Ed combined? He founded his own business. Became his own boss. Of course the process that led to this is complicated and I’ll be covering his book in a post dedicated to it alone. But let me just say, he now has enough money and time go and dance the Tango in Argentina, learn languages,star in TV shows in Asia and become a professional wrestler. He talks about how we can market our ideas and turn it into cash, how we don’t need to be millionaires to live like them and well…isn’t it enough?

But the guy with the most imitable strategies is not doubt Ferriss. Edward was lucky enough to be born in New York. Jon had the relative’s studio to wipe the floors of. Tim is a businessman. He is self-made. He has trained himself in so many areas and he has been having the time of his life ever since he set up his business. I don’t have Jon’s voice or musical talent. I don’t have the 25.000 $ Ed used to shoot his first movie “The Brothers McMullen” . Don’t get me wrong, he accomplished a major thing. However, 25.000 $ is a huge sum to me and to a lot of people but in Hollywood terms,it is nothing. He managed to scrape it together. Do you know his modest movie earned? 10,000,000 $ !!!! You can calculate the profits,right? His second movie had Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Anniston. But I don’t have any resources to get that first 25.000. If I do find 25 grand, it will be spent on one of the film schools I’ve been dying to go to. So I will combine everything I’ve learned from Tim, plus the drive and the relentlessness of Ed and Jon and fingers crossed, I will make my own dreams come true. What are they? Apart from becoming the female Ed Burns of my generation? To become a best-seller novelist, a freelance non-fiction writer for all my favorite magazines, a great dancer, speaker of 4 different languages, a really good-guitar player….Oh I have more. If you think I am wasting time writing this blog, you are wrong. The thing is, I have already gotten to work. Blogging is a part of the plan.

Now tell me, what are you waiting for?