Three Questions to Ask Before Asking for the Sale
Asking for the sale.
It can be tough, right? If you do it right, you’re in business. If you do it wrong (and it’s so easy to to do it wrong), it’s abrupt, awkward, and inauthentic. You end up alienating the person and you both walk away disappointed.
So how do you ask for the sale? How do you get yourself in a position where your ask doesn’t feel forced or completely out of nowhere? It starts with asking yourself a few questions.
Here’s how I break it down.
The Three…
This is a Story about Failure and What it Taught Me
Five years ago, my worst fears began to materialize. The industry I loved and the career I thought I would sail off into the sunset with, was in decline. It didn’t look too bad in 2011, but the warning signs were there.
Ad agencies had become more cavalier about inviting motion graphic studios like ours to pitch work on concepts they hadn’t sold yet. Hell, they hadn’t even presented the concepts to their clients. The widely-held practice of pitching had sunk to an all-time low, and our studio was…
That is the question Elaine Montoya, co-founder of the Motion Conference, posed to me. As a person who has been teaching for over 15 years (at Art Center College of Design and Otis), and as co-founder of The Skool (an online education platform), Elaine knew I was passionate about both design and education. The question is deceptively complex because both worlds — creativity and teaching have so much meaning and require context. My first instinct was to say yes, of course. I’m a teacher. Wouldn’t I be a hypocrite if I didn’t think so? …
Let’s face it. Interviews can be tough. Do it well and you might land the job of your dreams. Your future depends on you saying and doing the right thing, so there’s a lot riding on the line.
Before you go into your next interview, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
- Relax. If you are uncomfortable, it will not only be obvious to you but to the interviewer as well. Most creative types I know suffer from some form of insecurity or “imposter syndrome”— that at any minute someone will discover that you don’t have any real talent. This belief will erode your confidence and not allow you to perform your best. Now…
