Does it drive you nuts that some idiot with a terrible product seems to be constantly making sales, when you know your product is better?
What’s the difference between you and that “idiot”?
Why Many “Idiots” Are So Successful
Idiots Successful entrepreneurs truly believe in their products/services, and aren’t afraid to show it.
When I was young, my dad told me, “Erica, no one wants to hear about your success.” What he meant was, “Don’t brag about all your stuff.” (For many of his cohorts, “stuff” equaled success; he’s an attorney.) Unfortunately, I took his comment literally. I almost never talked about my business.
I finally opened up at a conference several years ago. I talked about hiring my first employee, about how my business had hit 6 figures in annual revenue, and how we were growing like gangbusters. People’s jaws dropped. “How old are you?” they said over and over again. (I was 24 at the time.)
“But it’s no big deal, right?” I said. “Anyone can do this.” I truly believed that at the time.
Now, I know that’s not true. Very few people have what it takes to start and grow a successful business. Most of the people I met at that conference are still tinkering away, not really getting anywhere. Some of them gave up and got jobs. Only a few are true standouts.
Step 1: Be Confident in Yourself and Your Product
Not long after that, I was at another conference for up-and-coming entrepreneurs. The guy putting on the conference brought up an entrepreneur a year younger than me on stage and started talking about how great this guy’s product was.
I was infuriated! I had just started to believe in myself and stop believing that anyone could do what I do, and here was this “kid” on stage talking about how awesome he was. His company didn’t even sound that great! Unhappy about the situation, I resolved to corner the guy who ran the conference and talk to him about my business. I figured the problem was that he just didn’t know me, and I intended to resolve that.
I plopped down next to him at lunch, but he was swamped with conference logistics. He didn’t even give me the time of day, despite me waiting patiently for nearly an hour for him to finish lunch. In the meantime, other people kept coming up to him, and frankly, he looked exhausted. At the end of the hour, he walked away in conversation with someone else who was helping him run the conference.
I was so mad that I went straight to the elevator, intending to go up to my room and have a good cry! Instead, another conference attendee stopped the elevator door just as it was closing and noticed the tears running down my face. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
I blurted out the whole story, about how I had waited an hour for this guy and he completely ignored me the whole time. I was so angry that he hadn’t recognized me or my business. I mean, I was supposed to be this awesome young kid, right? So why was that dolt on stage while I was having to struggle to get this guy to even remember my name?
I was so angry I don’t remember the exact words he said to me, but later, in my room, as I cooled off, I got the gist of it. No one knew me because I wasn’t confident in my own abilities. I wasn’t showing this guy, or anyone else, for that matter, why my company was different and awesome. I was playing my cards like I was running just another web hosting company, instead of having a groundbreaking, Earth-changing idea.
I had brought this on myself. I was not happy.
I resolved then and there that I was going to be confident. I was going to have to act it, even if I didn’t believe it inside just yet.
Over the next year, I started to articulate why my business was better than every other web hosting company. I had to take on that role. I had to believe it myself. We weren’t just another web hosting company, we were changing the whole shitty web hosting industry by offering better service, a real office where our customers could hang out, top-of-the-line bandwidth, and real, personal relationships with our customers.
The company took off and soared. We were doubling in size every year.
Step 2: Stop Thinking of Sales as Manipulative
A side effect of this was that I no longer thought of sales as manipulative. Manipulation was when you had crap that you were trying to package as gold. Nope, we had the best stuff, and you either wanted the best or you didn’t. If price was your main objective when buying web hosting, we no longer wanted you as a customer. Go somewhere else and put up with their crap. We were for the people who wanted to run businesses and not have to deal with outsourced support, “What’s your customer ID?” as the first words out of a tech’s mouth when they called, and a staff who didn’t have a clue about your business. In short, we were the opposite of most cost-cutting, bureaucratic, run-by-robots hosting companies.
I closed 90% of the people who walked in the door. I gave each of them at least half an hour to just talk about their businesses without me interrupting them at all. Then I explained how we would be their partner, a part of their team, and there to support them as they grew. Their faces lit up. Most of them signed contracts and handed me the first month’s payment on the spot.
When I internalized that we were the best web hosting company out there in terms of dedicated servers and colocation, my business went from 6 figures to 7 figures.
Unsuccessful people either don’t have the best product, or they don’t believe they have the best. You have to have both to be really successful. The great news is that your best product can be for a tiny niche at the beginning. You can always grow it later.
Were there other great web hosting companies out there? Could my customers have gone with another one and have been just as happy? In some cases, sure. Was there another hosting company as good as mine in the San Jose metro area? To this day, I don’t believe there was. We had cornered the market on true personal service.
Make the best-in-class product, then believe it. Go out there and show people what you have. With confidence on the front end and a great product behind it, you won’t need to manipulate anyone into buying it. Instead, you will bring in happy customers for life.
“No fear or doubt; there’s one way out — you’ve got to believe.” DB Boulevard, “Believe”
Recommended Reading:
- Sharing My Journey to $1 Million. I wrote this just after selling my company, but I was still under embargo from the sale, so I had to write it as if I still owned it. I was coming to terms with what had just happened.
- Web Site Copywriting Secrets. What’s the difference between web sites where visitors buy products consistently — and web sites where visitors don’t buy at all?
- It’s Time To Completely Change Your Marketing Strategy. Our customers are speaking a different language than they were last year. The sales tactics that worked then won’t work now without major tweaking.
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8. October 2009 at 3:02 am
Very interesting story. I still have to develop a product that I have confidence in. Sometimes I feel that all the good ideas for Ebooks have already been done very well. It can be a bit stressful at times.
8. October 2009 at 3:09 am
Good advice!
I believe it is really important to have a slightly inflated ego. Humility doesn’t come across well on the web, it implies weakness and insecurity. Tell the whole world how great you are and you are bound to get a good percentage believing you.
A little creativity with your resume also goes a long way. Almost any experience can be turned into something amazing. Look what Tim Ferriss did with the Four Hour Workweek. He is a master of self-promotion!
8. October 2009 at 3:12 am
I stopped selling an ebook because of my first refund request.
Then I got an email from a previous customer asking me why, and going on and on about why he had loved it.
Tuning out criticism (without ignoring the constructive part) is a big part of building and maintaining confidence, especially if you are by yourself.
I never put the ebook back up, but went on to bigger, better things. That second email had done me a whole lot of good!
8. October 2009 at 3:35 am
Sometimes, I think the “idiots” become the successful ones because they don’t think too much about many of those things that “smarter” people would think twice about. For example, making sure everything is perfect before you sell it, or calculating too much risk. Those idiots get into markets that others would not even think about, then they are successful because of that. Great read. Thanks Erica!
8. October 2009 at 5:07 am
Great points as always!!
I think believing that you have the best product or service is key.
Also you have to watch out for perfectionistic traits .
One of the keys is to know that everyone who is at the top once started out at the bottom and intially they did not have the confidence but somewhere along the way they became very confident. Usually competence leads to confidence and confidence leads to more competence.
8. October 2009 at 5:55 am
If you don’t believe in your own product, who will believe in you? This is why its important for any entrepreneur to be confident – its the best marketing tool
8. October 2009 at 6:33 am
This is a very timely post for me.
A friend said to me the other day that the internet is filled with people who are talking about garbage, but are just so confident in themselves that people are willing to pay them for it.
While I don’t agree about the garbage, I do agree that it is all about selling yourself, and the first person you have to sell on your product or idea is you!
8. October 2009 at 6:56 am
Ahoy Erica,
I like your Step-1 story and I 100% agree with Step-2.
I’m a little confused with the start, about the idiots with terrible products making money… But it is still kinda early in the morning. LOL
Rob
8. October 2009 at 6:59 am
People will feel the energy resonating from you and your business. If your not confident in the product or service that you sell, then others will feel that energy and be turned off.
Building confidence is an internal job. First see yourself successful and play that movie in your mind. Then, go out and do something that you’ve always feared to do. This will build confidence in yourself and therefore build confidence in your product or service.
I use to have a lack of confidence meeting women. One day, I was tired of all my buddies getting the girls and me being stuck dateless. I decided to change that. So, I first played the movie in my head as successfully meeting and dating every woman that I wanted to talk to. I felt and heard the conversation going great and the date turning out successfully.
Then, I did what I feared–going up to women I found attractive and just talking to them. After doing this a few times, I realized that all my fear was a mental projection. My confidence grew and I began dating more women.
The same applies with your product and service. Grow the confidence from the inside out.
Nick
8. October 2009 at 7:02 am
Hi Erica,
Great post, reminded me of a podcast episode by Pam Slim where she says that becoming an entrepreneur is the best way into personal development.
I also agree with Pat, I´ve had so many project ideas that are still to this date, just “projects”. What if I didn´t try to make them perfect and simply try them out? At least I would´ve known if they could work or not.
But instead I just let them all sit in my ideas notepad and die.
Now I´m trying to change my mindset, where “good enough” is the new “perfect”.
Things are already a bit brighter and it started reflecting on my current business in a positive way.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
Have an amazing day!
8. October 2009 at 7:09 am
wow, what an experience you shared there. Love to hear success stories and your is one of those that other’s should read and be like you in terms of confidence and trust.
Very well done
8. October 2009 at 8:17 am
I believe your biggest point was listening to your prospect, and then displaying how you can connect with them on an individual basis; not the common cookie cutter “service”. Confidence in sales is important, but listening even more so. As a former financial planner, almost every company out there says the same thing and believes their product/service is best. My difference: listening and individualizing. Your point though, is not lost. They won’t know to come to you unless you tell them. Thanks (& congratulations).
8. October 2009 at 9:48 am
I’m working on the next version of an ebook right now, literally, taking a break to do some reading.
I have no plans to ever give this away, so I’m spending probably too much time creating something that I believe will be a true “best of breed.” When I put this kind of work into something, I become more confident about it’s quality. Whether I manage to tap the market correctly is a whole ‘nother story, but the product will be first class to be sure.
But it’s sure building my confidence!
8. October 2009 at 12:49 pm
Thank you for a great article! As a new kid on the internet block (I just started my site a month ago), it is definitely easy to see those who are already successful in your niche as “idiots” and criticize their work when you think you could do better. However, it helps to step back and realize that you may be looking through jealous eyes and may just be frustrated with the time it takes to build up a successful business/readership. Those other guys are successful for a reason and you are better off to engage with them and learn from them than to try and be adversarial and look down on their success.
8. October 2009 at 1:57 pm
Great Post and I could not agree more…
I am not one for lack of confidence. However, one must have a unique advantage within your product/offer to allow a healthy balance of confidence.
For me, the issue is that I am a perfectionist and as one reader had mentioned, many ideas “Projects” do not make it from the notepad to reality simply because they are not perfect or ready. So, at what point does confidence begin?
There were a number of years (After having built a successful dotcom and selling it to a much larger), where I was beaming with confidence – but, had not any current projects to pitch and others would ask, “So, what are you working on next?”. This never ending inquiry was an ideal opportunity to raise funds, sell products, or solicit contacts and as a result, I began pre-pitching ideas that were not fully developed nor ready for the market – too much confidence.
Second, the other concern is that there is indeed quite an amount of “Rubbish” on the Web and everyone is a so-called “Expert” selling something – you don’t know who to believe until you purchase their system, widget, ebook, this or that and find disappointment and half-baked and/or incomplete information. This as well shall pass as consumers will become more discerning about from whom they choose to purchase their information and products.
So, the moral of the story is to know and understand the strengths and unique advantage of your product (Perfect or not) and feel confident in what sets you apart from the myriad of competitors – this is what you are selling and this will allow your confidence to ensue to grow your business.
8. October 2009 at 2:05 pm
Unsuccessful people either don’t have the best product, or they don’t believe they have the best. You have to have both to be really successful
This was the biggest take away for me from this article.
Great Post Erica!
8. October 2009 at 3:29 pm
I think most people make a lot of money, so it’s not really something new. 28 year olds routinely make $150,000/yr out of business school, and 2-10X more, 5-10 years out every year for the rest of their careers.
Confidence is key, as is being happy with what you have.
8. October 2009 at 9:15 pm
Erica, you truly are an inspiration. Great post!
9. October 2009 at 3:19 am
Hi Erika,
I am really enjoying your emails – thanks for sharing I always come away with learning something!
9. October 2009 at 7:25 am
Hi Erica
Thanks for this post! Really what I needed to hear this year.
Confidence in oneself and our own products and business is what the customer responds to. If we don’t believe, what chance do they have?
Make you a deal, you keep writing, and we’ll keep reading
Best wishes!
Carlin
9. October 2009 at 11:40 am
Great post. You are right on so many levels about the confidence thing. Customers really take to confidence and are willing to pay for it.
10. October 2009 at 9:07 am
Good advice. Confidence and understanding what you’re really doing as a marketer makes all the difference in the world.
10. October 2009 at 11:02 pm
My brother has been running a successful web hosting business since the 90′s. It’s fun to read about your success and experience with the industry.
12. October 2009 at 8:33 pm
I love your site, I love this post
I am so glad I stumbled upon this blog. Your advice is amazing and right down my alley as a young, female entrepreneur in over her head! Its very inspiring and encouraging, thanks!
13. October 2009 at 8:17 am
I too just stumbled upon your site. Kudos to all your great success and willingness to share your experience. In this article you hit the nail on the head. Confidence or at least believing in your service or product being the best is the true key to success. I have seen it time and time again in my work experience. Best to you.
13. October 2009 at 10:32 am
Great post Erica, and how very right you are!
Even though I’m eating in a restaurant and my lovely food is growing cold, I just had to write the comment!
13. October 2009 at 6:36 pm
It just totally made me giggle that the Google ad under this blog post showed “DEDICATED SERVER $39 PER MONTH!!!”
Missing the point, for the win.
In other news…
VAL wrote: “So, at what point does confidence begin?”
It begins inside you, with the belief that you can create an amazing business. It then morphs into courage as you systematically ignore everyone who tells you otherwise, while at the same time balancing the needs of your customers. Tricky, but then again, what isn’t?!
-Erica
27. October 2009 at 5:06 am
thank you for the post, Erica. it is a very good story and I would like to agree with you that you need to be confident in what you do or sell, otherwise it is hard to succeed
3. November 2009 at 3:31 am
Very good article. Having a product and selling it is as much as you make it out to be.
8. November 2009 at 10:35 pm
You’ve got me a manipulative thinking. This is one major reason I’m wary of starting a business. But that was the past, I now learn to take pride in the product I’m selling because it reflects my personality.
21. November 2009 at 9:26 pm
I agree with Kelly’s friend that internet is filled up with ‘garbage’ or ‘recycled’ stuff but still people will go ahead in spending. Erica is just of the people I would bet my money on their product because she offers genuinely researched content.
Since I started reading Erica’s blog I can say she is among the few who give us well researched and appealing content.
I am going to use most of your marketing tips which are practical, to market my web development and graphic design skills. I have began with the overhaul of my website that lacked confidence and purpose other just attracting visitors who never took any action.
3. December 2009 at 5:00 pm
great story.
5. December 2009 at 3:33 am
What the “idiots” realise is that 90% of the punters are as thick as too short planks!
The real “idiots” are those that fall for the bullshit!
When people learn to read and write then the “idiots” will cease to make so much.
But while there are so many who impressed by “idiot entrepeneurs” with a vocabulary of ten words; awesome, OMG, like, ultimate, unique etc. then they have rcognised an easy short term money making exercise.
15. April 2010 at 9:44 pm
Hi Erica,
I have recently launched my first product. I truly believe that having total confidence in my product, and that I honestly want to help my subscribers make money online is what is making my product and business a success.
Thanks for the great tips!
John
26. April 2010 at 10:14 am
The longer I live (and I’m 40 now), the more I believe that confidence in yourself and your abilities is the key to material success.
I too had a “problem” with the concept of “sales”, as I equated sales with a certain amount of sleaziness. I’m working to get over this and work on marketing myself in an authentic way.
I find on the internet, there is a fine line between over-inflated ego and authentically believing in your product. I think the reason you ARE so successful is that you do have a good product and you are authentically confident.
It is tiring wading through so many over-inflated claims on websites…so THANKS FOR BEING YOU!
Kara