How to Create Self Extracting Zip Files

How to Create Self Extracting Zip Files
by Ed Zivkovic

What is a Self-Extracting Zip File?

A self-extracting zip file enables your computer to unzip
zipped files without installing any new software. The zip
file gets converted to an exe file which once opened,
unzips the contents to a predefined destination folder or a
destination of your choice.

Why Create a Self-Extractor?

The other day, a customer purchased a resale rights eBook
from my site then emailed me because she thought that I had
not included a special file which would enable her computer
to read files of the zip type.

Part of this is my fault because I had not clear
instructions on the download page. I had used a generic
“thank-you” page from the original author which did not
explain the need to unzip the product.

The Solution? There was two options.

Option 1 – I could instruct the customer to go to
winzip.com and download an evaluation version of WinZip.
The customer would then have to install the software which
in my opinion would be a bit time consuming and could cause
confusion, frustration and maybe even resentment. After
all, all the customer wants to do is access the product.
Right?

I have been in a similar situation before and I know from
experience that when I think I am getting “Instant Access”,
that is exactly what I want. I do not want to hear about
the shortcomings of my computer system. I want my product
and I want it now.

Option 2 – Create a self-extracting zip file. Because I own
a registered version of WinZip, I am permitted to create
zip files and self-extracting zip files and distribute
them. This is exactly what I did in about three seconds
flat. I then uploaded the file and emailed the customer
with the download link and explained the situation.

Later I received a thank you email which I think I would
not have received if I had chosen option number one.

How To Create a Self-Extracting Zip File

I myself only know how to do this with WinZip available
from winzip.com. You need not have a head like Einstein for
this.

1. Ensure you have WinZip Installed on your system.

2. Right mouse click on the zip file you would like to
create a self-extractor for.

3. From the WinZip Menu, select “Create Self-Extractor
(Exe)”.

4. A Window will appear. Click OK and WinZip will create a
self-extractor in a couple of seconds.

You can also select a default “unzip to” folder if you
wish. If you leave this option blank, the self-extractor
will unzip to a temp folder.

Notes

You will need to have a registered version of WinZip in
order to distribute any file you create with WinZip. Files
created with an unregistered version will display an
UNREGISTERED message once the file is unzipped.

The author, Ed Zivkovic owns his own website which contains
articles with all sorts of tips for work at home
webmasters. Here is the site: http://www.ezau.com .

How To Obtain A Merchant’s Credit Card Account by Dominic Ferrara

How To Obtain A Merchant’s Credit Card Account by Dominic Ferrara

It’s a proven fact that mail order marketers can increase sales substantially by offering their customers a credit card option.

Some marketers enjoy increases of 10% to 30% in sales when they get up with a Visa/Mastercard merchants account. Others have reported increases up to a whopping 100%, or even more!

If all of your sales are made by mail, you can expect to up your total sales by at least 10%, and more likely 15% to 30% simply by offering the credit card option. If you plan to use the telephone a great deal as a marketing tool, offering a credit card buying option could double or triple your sales.

Credit card buying is seductive. Many people like the option of buying something today that they won’t have to pay for until later. Also, most consumers tend to spend more using their
plastic, than when they’re writing a check, or paying cash.

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BECOME A CREDIT CARD MERCHANT

There are many good reasons why you can benefit from securing credit card merchants status. Here are some of them…

* People with credit cards are more affluent than those without plastic. They can afford to spend more money. * They tend to be better “credit risks”, if you want to sell
“open account.”

* Overall, they buy more by mail than those without cards.

* You cannot effectively sell from commercials on radio or TV without offering credit card purchasing. Visa and Mastercard are
by far, the cards most consumers have.

* They often will make credit card purchases even when they are short on cash, and/or when their checking account balance is low.

* You can sell on installments, obtaining permission to charge the buyer’s card on a monthly basis.

* You can ship goods with the secure knowledge that payment has been secured before shipment is made.

THE PROBLEM

By now, you’re probably convinced that accepting credit card orders is a darn good idea. But how can you obtain credit card merchants status? Truth is, it’s not always a piece of cake. In
recent years banks have been playing hard-ball with many business people, especially anyone doing business by mail. It’s the same old story, a handfull of mail order crooks have almost totally screwed-up a good thing for honest dealers. The major credit card companies have told the banks to be very, very selective in
issuing merchant accounts to mail order sellers and home business operators.

Because a few scum-bags have ripped off some banks, and run off with the money, your local friendly banker may not be too “friendly” when you tell him you want a merchants account. It has
become increasingly more difficult for mail order sellers to secure a merchants account, and if you only sell by mail, but also do consider setting you up for Visa and Mastercard
processing. That happens to be reality…but always remember WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE MUST BE A WAY! In this special valuable report I’m going to cover some of the best way to obtain
your merchant’s status.

THE BEST WAY TO OBTAIN YOUR MERCHANT ACCOUNT

Although your banker may have already told you that they “cannot” accept you for a merchant account, the simple, unvarnished truth is that he/she can. Visa and Mastercard do set some rigid
guidelines for their affiliated banks to follow, but ultimately the banks must approve or disapprove each application. Excuses concerning “doing business by mail”, “operating a home-based business”, “not having a long business track record”, are just that-excuses! A somewhat polite way to tell you “no”!

Could a mail order businessman, (books, home-study courses, etc.) but how also conducts his business exclusively in his home get a Merchant Account? Fat chance of him getting a merchants
account. Right? Wrong: He happily processes credit card orders for his customers will full knowledge and cooperation from his bank.
How did he do it? He never stopped asking for what he wanted.

When his own bank refused to even consider him for a merchant account, due to the fact that he was in mail order, and also doing business from his home, he beat path to several other
banks.

The first four banks he visited also said “no”, (2 were large institutions, 2 mid-size), so he decided to try some smaller banks. Guess what? The very first bank he went to said “Maybe”.

They asked him to transfer his account to their bank, so that they could “monitor” it for six months. He told the bank official that he would consider their proposal, and the proceeded
to another small bank one block up the street.

He liked what the second small bank said. They said “Yes!” All he needed to do was establish a checking account with them and maintain a modest $1,000, business checking account balance. This
he quickly did!

He is not unique. But he was very persistent and kept asking for what he wanted, and you must also. Probably th two best ways to get a merchant account are:

(1) Keep pestering your own bank about granting you charge card privileges, until they agree to do so.

(2) If your bank outright refuses, make a list of all banks in your immediate area, putting some special attention on small banks. Next, get out a pair of your most comfortable shoes and
get to it! Ask…Ask…Ask..Ask.. Ask! You have nothing to lose, and much to gain by being persistent, and by constantly asking for what you want (that’s good advice in all areas-business and
personal) of your life!

CREDIT CARD MERCHANT ALTERNATIVES

If you absolutely have no success in obtaining a merchants account from a local bank, you should consider the alternatives. Here are some of them…

***Ted Nicholas, best known as the best-selling author of “How To Form Your Own Corporation Without A Lawyer For Under $50.00″, has established a small business organization entitles “Entrepreneurs of America.” Membership is $50.00 per year. This organization intends to offer reasonable rates on credit card processing to their members. For more information write to: Entrepreneurs of America, 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., Suite 224, Washington, DC 20006.
Phone: (800) 533-2665.

*** The Late Howard E. Welsh is the founder and director of the fast growing National Association of Publishers and Mail Order
Dealers. His association has many exciting programs to help small order tabloid publishers and small mail order dealers succeed. Just prior to printing this report, For more information,
write: NAPOD, 12 Westerville Square, #355 Westerville, Oh 43081.

***If you sell books, manuals, magazines, or forms of “paper and ink” products, you may wish to join the American Booksellers Association (ABA). This is the No. 1 booksellers professional
association in the United States. In addition to many other benefits (National and regional conventions and trade shows, educational programs, etc.), members also can have their credit card orders processed through the ABA’s Merchant Service Discount program. Write to: American Booksellers Association, 122 E. 42nd
St., New York, NY 10168.

***Barry Reid, owner of the Eden Press, has advertised that he can help mail order marketers obtain credit card processing. Write: Eden Press, Box 8410, Fountain Valley, CA 92728.

***Mountain West Communications of Colorado offers a business telephone answering service that handles inquires or orders. When
you subscribe to their service, they can also process your credit card orders for you. Write: Mountain West Communications, P.O.
Box 216, Hotchkiss, CO 81419. Phone: (800) 642-9378.

NEVER GIVE UP!

Although this special report gives you various sources that might be able to help you with your credit card processing, the main
message of this report is “NEVER GIVE UP” Never take “NO” for a final answer. Keep asking for what you want! Those who keep asking and seeking, usually obtain what they want.

Find great information for getting a Merchant Account.
http://www.merchant-account-setup.info

Getting Hundreds of Links to Your Website

Getting Hundreds of Links to Your Website by Rick Hendershot

If you have begun exchanging links, you know how time consuming — and time-wasting — it can be. On the other hand, you don’t want to give up the process because you might actually unearth the occasional valuable link partner. After all, you know that getting links to your site is important because it brings in traffic, helps you find strategic partners, and enhances your Search Engine rankings. Your objective is to get hundreds of links, and you cannot get the job done unless you have a strategy that works.

First you have to accept that not all links are created equal. And that means that link partners have to be prioritized. Some are worthless because your links end up on pages that nobody looks at and have no PR.

But at the other end of the spectrum a few of your link partners will be very valuable because they will give you links on high value, high traffic pages.

Most of the rest of your inbound links will be marginally valuable. How you tell the difference between the valuable ones and the useless ones is the subject of many discussions and articles, some of which you will find at the Linknet Marketing Resource Library.

————————————————–

The fastest, most direct, and least painful strategy is to find link partners who will either sell or trade text ads on a number of high value pages. For example, at Linknet we do both of these things (selling and trading multiple links).

We offer up to 25 free links across 25 websites. And we also offer packages of 30 and 50 links for one small annual fee. For more information go to our Free Advertising page.

————————————————–

One solution is to put prospective link partners into three levels. This assumes that you have already rejected those that have negative value — the sites you don’t want to identify with for various reasons — pornography, violence, racism, pharmaceuticals, and so on. Here is a suggestion for three levels of inbound links (links pointing at your pages):

Level 1 – Basic Links
These links will often be from sites you have not taken a lot of time to study. So they may not have significant positive value. But they will not have negative value either. Therefore, if exchanging links with these partners can be done efficiently, there is no downside to doing it. These will usually be “reciprocal” partners and can be given links on properly formed “link directory pages”. The more time and effort you put into your directory, the more valuable it will become.

Level 2 – Self-Generated Multi-Links
The second category consists of “multi-links” that you generate yourself. You do this by seeding your articles, forum posts, blog entries and so on, around the web. Many of the strategies used to create these links are discussed in the “Power Linking” section of the Linknet Marketing Resource Library, mentioned above.

Level 3 – High Value Links
The third and most valuable category consists of “High Value Links” on sites that you specifically target. These include high traffic sites in your area of interest, highly rated directories, and sites where you can get a number of quality links all at once. In some cases these links will bring you lots of traffic. In other cases they will enhance your PR and Search Engine ranking. You need both kinds.

As I mention in other posts, there are a range of strategies to get these “Level 3″ links. For instance,

- Write glowing testimonials. Target 10 or 20 high traffic sites in your area of interest, and send your testimonial to the webmaster. Usually they can’t resist publishing it where everybody will see it.

- Write positive reviews of sites and/or posts. Target 10 or 20 high traffic products/sites. Post the reviews on your site or in your blog, and make sure to send a copy to the reviewee. Again, most webmasters or online entrepreneurs are hungry for this kind of exposure. You might even create a “review” section on your site to show you are serious.

But the fastest, most direct, and least painful strategy is to find link partners who will either sell or trade text ads on a number of high value pages. For example, at Linknet we do both of these things (selling and trading multiple links).

Check out how to get 25 FREE Links.

Sign up for our Free Course in How to Get Hundreds of Links to your Website.

About the Author
Rick Hendershot is a marketing consultant, writer, and internet publisher who lives in Conestogo, Ontario, Canada. He publishes several websites and blogs, Marketing Bites, SuperCharge Your Website with Powerful Linking Strategies, and many more.

What You Need to Know About Incorporating Your Business

What You Need To Know About Incorporating Your Business by Diane Hughes

Most US-based small businesses are getting eaten alive in taxes! That statement has proven itself true over and over again. However, while small business owners want to save money, many are literally afraid of incorporating their companies. The paperwork, the additional reports, having a set payroll amount each month, and other visions swirl around their heads. Those visions could be costing you a ton!

Let me take a few minutes to explain what you need to know about incorporating your business. While it certainly isn’t a move every business will want to make, there are definitely some large benefits associated with incorporation.

MYTH
Incorporating means I can’t take money whenever I want it.

TRUTH
Yes you can! This is a MYTH that holds a lot of small business owners back from incorporating. If you set a payroll amount for yourself, then decide you want/need more money, you simply write yourself another check and call it an “owner distribution” or a “draw.”

MYTH
There’s too much paperwork involved once you incorporate. I don’t have the time.

TRUTH
There are some additional forms you have to complete. There are some additional taxes you have to pay. HOWEVER… read this carefully… for the three or four extra forms and the cost of the additional taxes, most businesses will still save when compared to counting every dollar you make toward personal income.

MYTH
The only good reason to incorporate is for personal protection. The difference in taxes isn’t that much.

TRUTH
While incorporating your business will help protect you from lawsuits and from having your personal property seized, there are more benefits than that. The tax savings can be quite significant.

MYTH
With the attorney’s fees, the CPA’s fees, the additional income tax returns, and the forms I have to file quarterly, it’s just not worth it. I won’t really save any money.

TRUTH
Every case is different; however, most small businesses will more than make up the $1500 – $2000 it costs to incorporate within the first six months to one year. Also, most small businesses will save about 50% on taxes after they incorporate. (A qualified CPA will be able to look at your books and give you a more accurate figure.)

MYTH
I’ll have to hold meetings and keep lots of records that I don’t have time to keep.

TRUTH
Not if you register as a “closed” S-Corporation. This means you have waived the requirement to hold all those meetings and keep all those records.

How Do You Get Specific Details?

Contact a qualified CPA in your local area. He or she can give you detailed information on how much it will cost to set everything up, and – most importantly – how much you will save in taxes.

Incorporation is not something to be afraid of. In fact, if you’re one of the many who will save 50% off your taxes in the next year, it’s something to go after with a vengeance!

About the Author
Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com

FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful)
Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business
Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane

Seven Reasons to Use Direct Mail for Sales Lead Generation

Seven reasons to use direct mail for sales lead generation. by Alan Sharpe

1. Personal
Unlike an advertisement in a trade publication, which can be read by anyone, your sales letter arrives at your prospect’s place of business as a piece of personal communication from your mind to his. Also, unlike any other medium, direct mail can be personalized (Dear Mr. Smith) and customized to each reader (“As an IT manager, you know that . . .”), showing your prospect that you know about him by name and understand his business in particular.

2. Cost effective
Advertising by its very nature is expensive. To reach a lot of people, you need to spend a lot of money. Direct mail, on the other hand, only targets the prospects you want to reach. Instead of pitching your product to a huge audience of potential buyers, you aim your sales message only at prospects most likely to buy.

3. Breaks through the clutter
Your ad can easily get lost among dozens of competing ads in a trade newspaper. Your sales message is also easily forgotten on radio or television unless you repeat it many times, which is expensive. But a simple letter, addressed to your prospect by name and arriving on her desk in the morning mail (which she must open), cuts through the media clutter and gets her attention.

4. Measurable ROI
Direct mail is one of the best mediums for measuring the return on your marketing dollar (or pound or yen). Simply code your business reply cards, and count how many return to you in the mail. Then calculate how many of those replies generate a sales meeting or a sale. Now you know immediately–and exactly–how effective your mailing has been. Direct mail numbers never lie.

5. Predictable
One advantage of knowing the success rates of your past mailings is that you can predict the success of future mailing. If you mail the same package with the same offer to a similar group of prospects at the same time of year, you can predict how many responses you will receive, and how many of those will translate into sales.

6. Can be improved through testing
Because you can measure your direct mail results, you can also test your mailings. Test one package against another, one list against another, one offer against another, and you’ll discover what works and what fails. That way you’ll spend your marketing dollars where they are most effective (without relying on guess work or hunches).

7. Immediate
General advertising builds brand awareness. Sales brochures inform. But a direct mail letter asks for action now. So if you need to generate sales leads, and don’t have time to wait for your ad to appear in “IT Buyers Quarterly,” send a direct mail letter and wait a week or so for a response.

About the Author
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter, sales lead consultant and owner of www.sharpecopy.com. Alan helps businesses attract qualified prospects using creative, compelling, cost-effective direct mail marketing.

A Home Based Business Modeled After Google

A Home Based Business Modeled After Google
Copyright 2005 Gobala Krishnan

Probably the most exciting company to not only survive, but
come out strong out of the dot-com crash of the late 90’s
is Google Inc (http://www.google.com). Having started out
small as a company operated in the garage of a friend and
employing a staff of three, Google’s meteoric rise to a top
name on the Internet is not really that perplexing when we
analyze the core strengths and policies of this company.

I am a super-fan of Google. I am also a fan of studying
success so that I can learn from it. Here are a few key
points that you, as a home based business entrepreneur, can
learn from Google:

1) Capital Isn’t Everything

It may be hard for the newcomer to the home based business
scene to swallow this fact. After all, more capital
investment would mean more money to spend on advertising
and building a home business. It’s tempting to think how
your business would be right now if you had, say $100,000
to start with, instead of the meager $1000 you scrambled to
get from selling things around your home.

But here’s one thing more important than capital -
ingenuity. Ingenuity involves making the best of the
resources available to you, making every advertising dollar
count, and treating every customer or prospect invaluable
to your business.

Capital in the wrong hands, in the hands of an
inexperienced entrepreneur or marketer, is just a waste of
money. Ingenuity, on the other hand, can turn a $1000
capital into a thriving business. And yes, when you get the
ingenuity part right, then whatever extra capital you get
would be worth so much more.

2) Differentiate and Win – Think Outside the Box

Innovation, ability to think outside the box and a
willingness to test ideas and make mistakes is the
trademark of any truly successful company, especially in
Google’s case. Recently when Google’s Gmail
(http://www.gmail.com) was launched, many ISPs and email
providers were scrambling to offer more space to their free
email accounts, simply because Google offered 1G of space.
What they didn’t get, however, was that Gmail was more that
just about space.

So how did Google differentiate? They turned what would
otherwise been just another email service into something
much more. It is, as any user would be able to testify, the
best way to store, organize and find information contained
in emails. Keeping track of business responses and
follow-ups is a breeze with Gmail. Try it yourself if you
cannot believe that statement.

Many home based business entrepreneurs, especially the ones
involved in network marketing, shiver at the word
“saturated”. In a network marketing environment it may dawn
upon every person, at one point or another, that there are
many others with products and opportunities that are
similar to theirs, and the products that they are expected
to sell may be in the highly competitive industries. I felt
that way once too, but here’s the real question – what can
you offer?

Not too long ago a friend of mine, after completing her
course on cosmetics, offered free facials and beauty
consulting to promote cosmetic products sold by her network
marketing company. By doing things most people were not
doing at that time, she simple blew the competition away.

So what can you contribute to your home based business to
make it different, to make it stand out from the crowd?

3) Give Your Customers Exactly What They Want

The success of Google’s AdWords (http://adwords.google.com)
and AdSense (http://adsense.google.com) is due to this
simple fact – they gave advertisers exactly what they
wanted. Marketers wanted a quick, results based, and
dynamic advertising tool, and they got Adwords. Website
owners wanted more advertising revenue, but did not want
the hassle of maintaining it over the hundreds of pages
that they have, and they got Adsense.

Its a pretty simple strategy – understand what your
customers want and give it to them!

My ex-sponsor in my old network marketing company used to
say that in order for me to move their nutritional
supplements, I had to teach people that supplements can
prevent many hazardous illnesses. Prevention is better than
cure. But here’s what I learned in a few years – the
majority of people are looking for cures, not prevention.
Most of the people I met in Malaysia are looking for a cure
to sleeping disorders, a cure for fatigue, a cure for
arthritis, and so on.

Sure, it may be a noble deed to educate people about
prevention, but the world does not always work that way.
The majority of people look for a home based business only
when they get retrenched, when they run out of savings, or
when they retire. So why not make your recruitment efforts
match this need? Why not develop your niche market based on
this category of people?

Instead of teaching them about residual income and the
power of duplication which they are not interested in,
wouldn’t your message be more effective if you taught them
how to earn a comfortable retirement income, or how to
replace their current income instead?

The point is this – as a home based entrepreneur you must
understand your target market’s need, and serve them well.
You should focus on being the best in providing the cure,
not the best in preaching about the prevention. Focus on
customer needs, and they will flock to you.

4) Are You Having Fun?

Everything about Google spells fun. But don’t get me wrong.
They are probably the most innovative company at the
moment.

The fact that they can present their complicated technology
in such a simple way to end-users is an act that every
company can envy. Have you ever heard anyone complain about
Google search being too complicated to use? Yet as an
Internet marketer I can go crazy trying to understand the
complexity behind the simple white page and squiggly logo.

Leave the complexity of a home based or network marketing
business behind the scenes. Teach people how to have fun,
while achieving goals and building their business. Show
them that you are having fun yourself, and they will buy,
they will join, or at least tell someone else about you,
and your exciting business.

When you’re having fun, it will not seem like work at all.
Everyone could use a little fun in their lives, don’t you
think?

5) Focus on Your Core Competency

Yes, this is another phrase that is thrown around in the
business world, but how many entrepreneurs actually
practice it? As a home based entrepreneur, you may find the
need to explore other sources of income. There’s nothing
wrong in that, but here’s the catch – don’t go where the
money is, especially if it’s not related to what you’re
doing.

Many people tend to find other sources of income that is
totally unrelated to their main home business. As a result
of that, they become an expert in nothing, and they become
the best in nothing. If you make custom furniture at home,
why take a job at a fast food chain to make ends meet, when
you can explore other ways to make money out of your core
competency? Having woodworking workshops, writing a ‘how
to’ book on woodworking, or even a sales job at a furniture
outlet can make good sources of additional revenue, while
building your name and expertise on your core competency
itself.

Starting out as a search engine, Google pretty much
maintained their core competency until today. When they
explore other sources of revenue or develop new products,
you can be pretty sure it’s related to search technology.
And the undisputed result of that is that there is simply
no other better alternative when it comes to search and
information retrieval.

Therefore, we have much to learn from the success story of
Google. Just as much as the age old story of entrepreneurs
who drop out of school, and go on to develop multi-million
dollar businesses armed with nothing more than guts and
ingenuity, Google’s success story is inspirational to say
the least.

A tale of humble beginnings with extraordinary endings.
Maybe that will someday be the story of your life, and your
home based business…

About the Author:

Gobala Krishnan is an internet marketer and home business
owner. Visit his site at http://www.sfidreamteam.com to
start your own Internet based home business today, and get
a free kickstart package, one-on-one coaching and a clear,
proven system to earn a six figure income

7 Ways to Get to the Truth: When the Sale “Disappears”

7 Ways to Get to the Truth: When the Sale “Disappears”
by: Ari Galper

You’re close, really close, to making a sale. Your potential client is in the market for your product or service and you’ve had a couple of good meetings.

Based on his most recent e-mail, “Everything looks good — I’ll get back to you so we can move this forward”–everything points to a probable sale. You feel so relaxed, happy, and hopeful. Then a couple of days go by with no phone call or e-mail. You tell yourself, “He’s probably busy. I know he’ll get in touch tomorrow.” But tomorrow comes and goes with no word.

You start to panic. Your self-talk turns negative: “I can’t believe this…This is really starting to hurt…He let me believe it was a sure thing…I trusted him…now he’s disappeared on me, and I was counting on this sale…” The relaxed, happy feeling is gone. You’ve fallen victim to “hopeium ” again.

Have you been in this situation before?

Of course you have–we all have, and it’s painful. So, can you keep from getting dropped? Yes–With the new mindset, you can abandon the salesperson role and come from a place of integrity that stems directly from your personal brand that doesn’t compromise your authentic self. This opens communication with your potential clients so you can learn the truth about their situation–and that’s what you always want.

These suggestions will help:

Don’t assume the sale. Potential clients are used to the traditional buyer-seller relationship, so they may decide not to tell you things that might make them vulnerable to you. Until you’re sure you know the complete truth, you can never assume the sale.

Keep making it easy for potential clients to tell you their truth. Toward the end of your conversation, ask, “Do you have any more questions?” If potential clients say no, follow up with the 100-percent-final truth-gathering question: “Now, are you 100 percent sure that there’s nothing else that I can do on my end to make you feel more comfortable with this situation?” You’ll be amazed how often people then say, “Well, actually, there is one more issue…” And it’s at that point that you really start to hear their truth.

Call back to get the truth, not close the sale. Most potential clients who suddenly “disappear” will be expecting you chase them down by calling them and saying, “Hi, I was just wondering where things are at?” Instead, eliminate all sales pressure by telling them that you’re okay with their decision not to move forward, based on their not having called you back. In other words, take a step backward. Most of the time, it’ll open the door to a new level of open, trusting communication.

Reassure potential clients that you can handle a “no.” Of course we’d rather not hear a “no.” But the only way to free yourself and your clients from subtle sales pressures is to let them know that it’s not about the sale but about the best choice for them–and if that means no sale, it’s okay, because it’s ultimately not about you but about them.

Ask for feedback. Whenever potential clients “disappear,” call them back (e-mail them if you have to, but only as a last resort because dialogue is always better) and simply ask, “Would you please share your feedback with me as to how I can improve for next time? Now that our sales process is over, I’m committed to understanding where I went wrong.” This is not being feeble or weak — it’s being humble, which often triggers the truth.

Don’t try to “close” a sale. If your intuition tells you that the sales process isn’t going in the direction it should be going – which is always toward greater trust and truth–trust those feeling. Then, make it safe for potential clients to tell you where they stand. It’s simple–all you have to say is, “Where do you think we should go from here?” (But be prepared: you might not want to hear the truth of how they’re feeling. You can cope with this by keeping your larger goal in mind, which is always to establish that the two of you have a “fit.”)

Give yourself the last word. Eliminate the anxiety of waiting for the final calls that will tell you whether the sale is going to happen–instead, schedule a time for getting back to each other. This eliminates chasing. Simply suggest, “Can we plan to get back to each other on a day and at a time that works for you–not to close the sale, but to simply bring closure regardless of what you decide. I’m okay either way, and that’ll save us from having to chase each other.”
You’ll find that these suggestions make selling much less painful because you learn to focus on the truth instead of the sale.

About The Author

With a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and over a decade of experience creating breakthrough sales strategies for global companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari Galper discovered the missing link that people who sell have been seeking for years.

His profound discovery of shifting one’s mindset to a place of complete integrity, based on new words and phrases grounded in sincerity, has earned him distinction as the world’s leading authority on how to build trust in the world of selling.

Leading companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel Communications, Brother International and Fidelity National Mortgage have called on Ari to keep them on the leading edge of sales performance. Visit http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free sales training lessons.