Fact: money gets transferred between people because one of the people has something that the other person values enough to pay for.

In order for a transaction to take place, the buyer has to have found out about the valuable thing the other person is selling in some way.

It doesn’t matter if what’s on offer is a life-changing operation, an incredible healing modality, a beautiful charitable cause, or a shiny new sports car: there’s always someone getting the message out there to a desired recipient.

If you want to make money, especially if you want to do it in a way that truly helps people, you have to embrace two things: sales and marketing.

Whether we’re aware of it or not, even if there’s no money exchanged, we’re all selling something. (Tweet it!)

I love Dan Pink’s definition of selling in his book To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth about Motivating Others. He says that even if no money is exchanging hands, studies show that 40% of the time we spend at work, regardless of our profession, is spent influencing, persuading, or convincing others. This, my dear, is sales.

What Are You Selling?

We sell our spouses on marrying us. We sell our children on brushing their teeth. We sell our co-workers on our brilliant ideas at meetings.

Marketing is what you do before you sell. It’s communicating the value of what you have for them so that they will hopefully buy it.

To me there’s no defined line between where marketing ends and sales begins. The two are a match made in heaven.

We’ve all had experiences where someone tried to sell to us in a way that left us feeling grossed out. And many of us have been in situations where we felt we had to convince someone to do something that we knew wasn’t actually in his or her best interest.

But just because we had one bad meal when we were out to eat doesn’t mean we stop going to restaurants altogether, right?

One or two weird sales experiences do not make the whole endeavor immoral, sleazy, or slimy.

In fact, my friend Marie Forleo says that if you have something to offer that makes the world a better place, that you truly believe in, and you’re not learning how to get it out there (i.e. marketing), then you’re actually stealing from the people who need you most.

How’s that for a reframe?

Modern, Elegant Marketing

If you have negative feelings when it comes to sales and marketing, you’re going to block the flow of financial well-being in your life.

Why? Because the channel that money is exchanged through requires sales and marketing. And if you’ve got your panties all bunched up about the route through which money flows, money isn’t going to be flowing in your general direction.

If you want to make money, in a business, in a job, or any other which-way, understanding elegant, full-of-integrity, modern marketing is key.

Over to you:

How do you feel about sales and marketing? Leave a comment below – I’d love to know your thoughts and feelings on this!