The ONE Sales Problem 99% of New Entrepreneurs Have

And I had it too.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Issue #78 | February 20, 2024 Are you a fan of the Unstuck newsletter? We'd love to hear your thoughts! [Share your testimonial]() with us, and you could be showcased on our brand-new website! Your support means the world to us — thank you! Hi, it’s Pat! I recently attended a marketing workshop hosted by Rory Vaden, a branding and marketing expert who has helped people like Amy Porterfield, Lewis Howes, and several other well-known personal brands. And yes, even though I’ve been doing this online thing for 15+ years now, I still make the time each year to get training from others. Rory was amazing (you’ll hear him on the SPI podcast soon), but I wanted to share one moment during the two-day workshop that made me cringe. In fact, when Rory shared this idea, I literally made a grimacing face that looked like this: 😬 I was uncomfortable, not because Rory misspoke but because he was 100 percent right in describing the first few years of my business journey and why I struggled so hard to make any real progress. I’m going to share what he said in the featured quote below today, and perhaps it’ll strike a chord with you as well. Let’s get unstuck. QUOTE OF THE WEEK “If you’re not generating revenue, it’s either because of one of two reasons: your product isn’t good enough, or you’re not asking enough people to buy it. That’s it.” ​—Rory Vaden THE STORY Rory’s quote hit me like a brick wall and simultaneously brought back a rush of business memories that made me ask: what was wrong with me back then? In 2008, I spent two months writing an ebook study guide for my architecture website, and my way of asking for a sale was to simply put a little PayPal button on my website’s sidebar. I never even talked about it. I didn’t want to upset anyone coming to my website. It wasn’t until 2009 that things changed. A more experienced entrepreneur in my mastermind group told me the magic of sales pages and advised me to link to them from all entry points of my website, including forum discussions I was having. It worked. A few months later, that same study guide generated over $30,000 in sales in March alone. In 2013, I published [Let Go](, my first book. I wrote a single blog post, published a single Instagram photo, and sent one email to promote it, and that was it. In 2015, when my second book, [Will It Fly?](, was about to be published, I got help from some experts. Not only did I publish several more pieces of content about it, I created an entire campaign around it, knowing I would be asking people to support and buy the book. I appeared on over a dozen podcast episodes, and I even had an email campaign with automatic follow-up sequences for people who didn’t click the “buy now” button the first time. That book went on to become a Wall Street Journal bestseller, even as a self-published book. It was wild. In 2017, after finally finishing my first online course about podcasting (Power-Up Podcasting®), I was asked to speak on stage at an event hosted by my friend Chalene Johnson. She asked me to be a joint-venture partner and promote my podcast course to her audience live and on-stage. I told her immediately: “I don’t do that, I’m sorry. That just makes me feel uncomfortable.” To which she replied: “Helping people and giving them exactly what they need right now makes you feel uncomfortable?” I knew where she was going with this, but I told her the truth: “I just don’t like selling.” To make a long story short, over the next few weeks Chalene coached me on what it meant to sell, which, as it turned out, had everything to do with serving, not selling. But to serve an audience, I still needed to ask for the sale. I still needed to position the product as something that was clearly the next best step for those who wanted to learn more about podcasting and grow their audience. When the event finally happened, in front of about 1,000 audience members, exactly 235 people rushed to the back of the room after my pitch and bought Power-Up Podcasting. Some of those students have gone on to make multi-million dollar brands, and many still have podcasts running today. I said earlier that Rory’s quote made me ask what was wrong with me back then. But here’s the thing — nothing was wrong with me. I cared about how I marketed to others, but as a result, I hardly asked for the sale — even when I knew my product could really help people. I was just scared because I’ve been on the receiving end of promotions and pitches that made me feel more like a credit card number than an actual person. They felt icky and insincere, and that was the last thing I wanted to be, so I avoided selling as much as possible. The truth is, if you know you have a product that can help someone, it’s actually your obligation — your responsibility — to let those people know about it. As someone once put it to me, “If you have the cure for a disease people have, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to let them know about it?” Absolutely. So don’t be afraid to ask for the sale, even multiple times. Not asking is a disservice when you know you’ve got something that’ll actually make a difference for the people you serve. The other lesson here is this (and perhaps you noticed the pattern in all of the stories above): each time I was stuck, mentorship helped me break through the next barrier. Since the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, the advice and lessons of others helped me reach the next level, and this is exactly why I went to Rory’s workshop earlier this year. Again, he’s amazing and you’ll hear from him soon, but I just wanted to share this with you and encourage you if you’ve been seeing little revenue with your business up to this point. I hope this helps and thank you, as always, for being here and supporting SPI. SPONSORED BY CONVERTKIT Grow Your Email List Passively Add a new, passive list growth channel to your 2024 strategy with ConvertKit Recommendations. Set up your profile in the Creator Network and increase the chances of your content getting noticed and your subscriber list growing from recommendations of other creators — even when you’re out playing with your kids, grocery shopping, or setting up your next big launch. Just set up and let it go. [Start Growing Today!]( SPI NEWS AND EVENTS How can we leverage AI to streamline our businesses, work fewer hours, and increase profits? In this episode of The Smart Passive Income Podcast, Pat Flynn sits down with Rick Mulready to discuss the best strategies for automating repetitive tasks to save time and money. [Tune in](=) as they explore Rick's framework for starting with AI, share favorite tools, and provide a blueprint for creating ChatGPT prompts like a pro. [Hit "Follow"]() on your podcast player of choice to subscribe and get the latest episodes! Dive into the business side of podcasting! Join SPI CEO and Expert in Residence, Matt Gartland, for a dynamic B-Side event on February 27th at 11:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM ET, exclusively in SPI Pro. This month, Matt is joined by Brenden Mulligan of PodPage to explore the rapidly evolving landscape of podcasting from a business perspective. Don't miss out — [apply to SPI Pro]() today to stay ahead of the curve! Can you create a professional brand presence without a graphic design background? 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