Howdy.
As an art form, sales is a weird mix of journalism and storytelling.
And, whether anyone wants to admit it or not …
If you are reading this email?
You probably find yourself in circumstances where you need to sell something.
Whether it be yourself or the thing you’ve put so much time, effort, and energy into bringing into existence.
We are all sales professionals.
We just don’t like to say it because salesmen have bad reputations.
Understandably so.
But I’m going to encourage you to move beyond that perception.
Because over the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about a couple of really important things:
How to tell a story that won’t make people want to punch you in the mouth.
2. And what aspects of journalism you need to understand in order to sell people your stuff.
Because if you put these two skills together, you’ll be able to sell anything to anyone, including that project you’re dying to get off the ground.
So.
Here’s the first thing you need to know:
The one question every human on this planet asks themselves is:
“What’s in it for me?”
Every story you tell should be framed in a way that answers that question.
Is your story going to entertain them?
Is it going to inform them?
If so, you can tell the story.
If not?
Keep it to yourself and just listen to the conversation.
There’s so much information out there.
If you don’t immediately have a purpose for opening your mouth?
You are wasting their time.
And that’s when you get punched in the mouth.
Ok.
Not literally.
But maybe!
People are crazy now.
Who knows what hijinks we get into in the parking lot of a Whole Foods?
So.
You need to remember that any story you tell has to be funny or informative.
Think about it like this:
All stories have a point.
And that point is how you changed because this thing (whatever the thing is) happened.
This information is very useful to our fellow primates because it helps us survive longer on this planet.
Now, listen, I don’t mean you should follow this advice in all circumstances.
Obviously, there’s a time and place for bullshitting with your friends, families, and loved ones.
That’s not what I’m talking about here.
What I’m saying here applies to the people you work with, work for, or want to work with.
There’s some bullshitting in there, and that’s great. Because it means you’re in.
But when you’re first looking to get your foot in the door, and leave an impression, the tips I described above will help you do that.
And listen, with all the consolidation in the entertainment business, we’re all going to need to get good at this sort of tactic.
Because you’re going to need people to invest in you, back you, support you, and you’ll need to manage all of that on your own because the studios, publishers, and other big firms are pretty broken at the moment.
That’s all I got.
It never feels like enough when I write these things. So if you have questions I can answer about how to promote your stuff, please reply to this email and send them my way.
I may have an answer for you in an upcoming edition of this newsletter
-BJ
P.S. Lots of new episodes of WAYWO.TV coming your way.
Not to mention, the final 11 episodes of our first special report, Stupid Sexy Privacy.
If you’re not listening to the show, come check it out here.
We have finally unlocked the backlog of interviews. So between Stupid Sexy Privacy and those interviews with your fellow Creatives, there’s lots of great stuff heading your way.