"Variety is the spice of life."

Is everybody in your group the same? Do you read blogs, books and articles written by people that are different than you, come from different worlds? Are all of your friends, left brained, right brained, nearly-deads, newly-weds, business owners or union members? On Tuesday, Trisha Wooldridge published my guest post on her blog. Next week, I'll be out of town and Trish will share her thoughts on selling all week long. You are in for a treat. Enjoy! and Thank you Trish!

Herewith her introduction to Five Things Salespeople can Learn from Successful Authors.

When was the last time you supported someone's fantasy?  Paid money for other people's stories about imaginary people?

When's the last time you bought a book?

Saw a movie based on a book?

Thanks for keeping dreamers like me in business.  :)  I'm an author, among other things.

I never quite got my head out of the clouds, despite so much advice otherwise.

So what's a storyteller and daydreamer like myself doing offering advice to salespeople? 

'Cos to achieve this crazy pipe dream, I've got to not only sell my idea to an agent/editor, but I've got to sell the finished product to people like you who may or may not want to spend hours on end at bookstores - where hundreds of thousands of my competitors exist. 

Now, as a professional writer of both fiction and non-fiction, I've been blessed with a lot of learning from people in the sales industry.  I met Rick Roberge at a Society of Professional Communicators networking meeting.  Through Rick, and many others I've met through professional networking, I've had the chance to apply and share these lessons in the writing profession and community - and now I'd like to return the favor.

Especially after reading Dave Kurlan's post that asked sales evolution and education.  Educating oneself is always a good thing.

As the only salesperson for myself - and as a consumer - here are some lessons that authors can give salespersons.... (to be continued)