We believe that direct sales is more than any one platform, or any one modality. It's a network of platforms and strategies that form a foundation for your author business. When you try to define direct sales across any one axis, you lessen its impact. We didn't want to do that. We wanted to show you the full scope of what is possible with direct sales, which ended up being a lot of words. The book became so long that we actually split it into two books. When we looked at what we've already written, and what we have planned, we realized this really is the definitive guide to direct sales for authors. Direct Sales Mastery for Authors Volume 1 This volume makes the case for starting direct sales, explains the publishing trends leading to so many direct sales avenues opening up, and explains our personal philosophy on direct sales for publishing and how it may differ from other approaches in the industry. We also dive deep into our signature archetypal framework called Author Ecosystems. There are five archetypes total—Desert, Grassland, Tundra, Forest, and Aquatic—and each matches up with specific sales and marketing patterns across six key areas: Trends: How each type approaches trends in the marketplace and uses trends to their advantage in their marketing efforts Fandom: How each type approaches building both a readership and a fandom Data: How each type approaches using data vs. using a more intuitive or creative approach Stages of Audience: How each type approaches the Sales Funnel + Flywheel diagram and who they are organically good at attracting Optimization: How each type attempts to optimize their writing, publishing schedule, and marketing and sales efforts Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking: How each type approaches approaches sales over time, and whether they are looking for quick wins or to build a sustainable business We go through all five archetypes in detail to help you identify your most likely type, as well as your most likely career stage. We show you what your archetype should be focused on right now from a sales and marketing perspective, since you likely don't have infinite time, resources, or attention and can't implement all of direct sales at once! We also show you what strategies and approaches might work for you across many different popular publishing platforms in the direct sales space.

We believe that direct sales is more than any one platform, or any one modality. It's a network of platforms and strategies that form a foundation for your author business. When you try to define direct sales across any one axis, you lessen its impact. We didn't want to do that. We wanted to show you the full scope of what is possible with direct sales, which ended up being a lot of words. The book became so long that we actually split it into two books. When we looked at what we've already written, and what we have planned, we realized this really is the definitive guide to direct sales for authors. Direct Sales Mastery for Authors Volume 2 This volume dives deep into the StoryUrge Messaging Framework, which helps authors create strong marketing messaging that actually helps them sell a book. This goes far beyond a blurb or some ad copy. (Though it can be used to make those pieces better too!) The book then shows you how to apply the StoryUrge Messaging Framework across all five areas of direct sales: Website Landing Pages, Website Storefronts, Crowdfunding Launches, Subscriptions and Memberships, and Live Events and Signings. There are three major pieces of the StoryUrge Messaging Framework: Excitement - Why people should be excited about your project. This can include telling them about the tropes, characters, relationships, settings, special features, special offers, and more. Objections - Why people are holding back from your project. This includes general objections to your genre or niche, but can also include specific objections to you or your books. With direct sales, it is particularly important to include objections to the platform, method of sale, or business model as readers may not be as familiar with it as they are at retailers. (For example, we always advise our students to talk to their readers about why Kickstarter is not “begging for money” or similar to GoFundMe.) Psychological Triggers - Why people buy. Russell and I have extensive experience in marketing and sales and have collected these over the years. We have shared our secrets to creating exciting offers and messaging in one chapter of Get Your Book Selling on Kickstarter—Chapter 6—but we are greatly expanding on that in the second volume of Direct Sales Mastery for Authors to help answer all the awesome questions we’ve gotten on this topic in the last few years. Our psychological triggers section offers nearly 50 different buttons to push to bring people into your work across six categories: The X-Factors - These help you position yourself or your characters in a leadership position or several steps ahead of your readers Connection Deepeners - These help you position yourself or your characters as a peer to your readers (making you or your characters relatable and sympathetic) The Button-Pushers - These encourage action at a subconscious level Pleasure and Pain Inducers - These evoke visceral and resonant emotion in your readers Core Wounders and Healers - These take the audience on a transformational journey with you (for memoir), with themselves (for nonfiction), or with your characters (for fiction) Emotional Fantasies and Nightmares - These allow the audience to explore a different life in safety We teach how to use these triggers in the book itself (yes, even for fiction!), in the offer you are trying to sell, and in the marketing messaging you use to sell the offer. When all of this is in alignment, sales happen more easily!

This book is based on over 35 years of Direct Sales and marketing experience PLUS over 8 years of coaching and training of people in the sales and marketing profession. We consider a Direct Sales Person to be anyone who is selling to or for any Retail, Commercial or Industrial Business or direct to the consumer in the private sector. Direct Sales involves anyone making direct contact with the prospective purchaser to complete the sales process. IF YOU ARE: A Business Owner who needs more sales and marketing skills to stabilize or build your business. Someone who wants to start your own business. An Independent Sales Person on Commission and want to know how to Increase your earning potential New to sales and struggling because you lack the necessary skills Considering sales as a career and want to know more about the Profession Looking for a Sales position and need help with your cover letters, resumes, references and interviews. WHAT WE HAVE We have put together what we feel are the five most important areas that any person who wants to be successful in Direct Sales will need to learn and master. We have placed them in the progressive order (Parts 1 to 5) in which they should be learned. Each part learned will be required before you will be able to properly understand and be fully equipped to handle the next part. Part One - The Essential Elements for Selling Success Part Two - Qualifying and Closing your Prospects Part Three - Overcoming Sales Objections Part Four - Meetings and Sales Presentations Part Five - Finding Prospects and Generating Leads All parts are fully explained in people language an have many examples to clarify each part.

This is just a sampling of the powerful techniques you will learn from this book: 1. Discover the preferred business situations for Directors - on page 8 2. Socializers typically work in these types of careers - see page 17 3. Use the checklists on pages 64 & 66 to quickly and accurately identify the styles of your prospects and customers 4. Learn the 14 traits of highly adaptable people - on pages 87 & 88 5. Discover the best ways to introduce yourself to each of the four behavioral styles on page 116 6. Learn the types of questions you might ask a third person to determine your prospect's style - on page 117 7. Read the best ways to leave a voice mail message for each of the four behavioral styles - on page 118 8. Learn how to use the funnel technique of questioning to discover your prospect's needs - on pages 128 & 129 9. Use the feature-feedback-benefit technique discussed on pages 136 & 137 10. Discover how to get a commitment from a Thinker on page 148 11. Use the four-touch after-sale follow-up system presented on page 152 Time has proven that people like to buy from people they know, like and trust. Your ability to connect with people, maintain rapport, lower tension and increase trust will determine how high you climb in the sales profession. Mastery of The Platinum Rule will give you an unfair advantage over other salespeople. Here are expert opinions: The Platinum Rule is communication and relational genius, translated into a very simple, daily philosophical approach that gets results. Well done! Jim Rohn, CPAE, Author, The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle The Platinum Rule is the priceless key to unlocking the door to empowerment, productivity and all business andpersonal relationships. Denis Waitley, Author, Empires of the Mind and The Psychology of Winning The success we achieve is in direct proportion to our ability to understand and communicate with people. Communicating with people on their terms, not our own, is the key to creating a loyal customer base and creating mutually profitable business relationships; both of which result in higher productivity and increased earnings potential. The Platinum Rule is the single most effective tool for learning how to get exactly what we want in life by helping others get exactly what they want - the win-win we're all seeking. Tod Barnhart, Author, The Five Rituals of Wealth

Unleash Your Potential in Direct Sales Are you yearning for a more prosperous, fulfilling career but uncertain about where to begin? If you're intrigued by the world of direct sales yet feel overwhelmed by its complexities, "The Inner Circle: Guide to Foundational Knowledge of All Things Direct Sales" is the comprehensive guide you've been waiting for. Unlock the Secrets of Direct Sales: This book serves as your ultimate roadmap to understanding the dynamic realm of direct sales. From mastering sales techniques to building authentic relationships, it opens doors to strategies that can significantly elevate your career. Beginner-Friendly: Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned professional, "The Inner Circle" offers a balanced approach to mastering direct sales. With accessible explanations, you won't feel daunted. For those seeking to refine their skills, the book provides actionable steps for continuous growth. All-in-One Resource: Save time and confusion by accessing a wealth of trusted information, valuable tips, and practical steps in one place. "The Inner Circle" is your go-to resource for success in direct sales. Achieve Professional Prosperity: Central to this book is the goal of helping you implement proven strategies into your direct sales career. It equips you to achieve success and balance in a competitive business world. Are you ready to embark on your journey to direct sales success? With "The Inner Circle" as your guide, you'll unlock your potential, master the art of direct sales, and pave your path to a prosperous and fulfilling career. Your journey to success begins here.

♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛ There's a lot of salespeople out there guaranteeing ☞Six Figure Incomes☜, telling you that once you have read their books or taken their courses, your life will change overnight and you'll be living on Mars. They show you their big houses, big cars and parties which make you drool, but once you are finished with their books or their teachings, you are still sitting in that couch of yours, selling as miserably as before. If sales were that easy, everyone would drop their careers and join the pool. Unfortunately, for a couple of bucks, people have sold obsolete info to their readers and sent them to stone age. This info can be found in all the books, blogs, seminars and even webinars if we count Covid-19. To be a real teacher, one has to be a student first and when teaching, holding back the main info and telling the cloudy details will just make it miserable for the salesperson reading outdated recipes and then going off the tracks. So, it is all about finding the new info, the real skills, and genuine examples from the ♔experiences of the real experts in the market♔. Only then, you can head on to this path of success in sales. Now, it will never be overnight success unless you are dealing in lotto. Like every fruit, the sales fruit too takes time to get sweet and edible, but if you are staunch while in the process, no one in the world can stop you in becoming the salesperson you want to be. This book takes a personal approach, the industry related questions, the basics, the pro tips and effective tricks. It talks about the pre-Covid-19 and the post-Covid-19 market and how to prepare yourself to survive this new change in technology, job market, and the new skills industry. For different people, it will have different results. An expert may polish some of their skills while a newbie can follow it like a guide and make sure their sales career doesn't hit rock bottom. This self-help will be the only help that you need in your sales career to propel in the right direction, in the right industry and under the right mentor-ship. Learn the secrets of the new job market that has unraveled with the intro of Covid-19 and get your life the boost it direly needs as this time, everyone has for once a shot in their life. Whether you're an employer, an entrepreneur, or an employee, you can switch your roles and your industries. The offer for this opportunity is limited just like the sale tags. It is time you take ⚡ACTION⚡, and ⚡NOW⚡ is the⚡RIGHT TIME!⚡

This is just a sampling of the powerful techniques you will learn from this book: 1. Discover the preferred business situations for Directors - on page 8 2. Socializers typically work in these types of careers - see page 17 3. Use the checklists on pages 64 & 66 to quickly and accurately identify the styles of your prospects and customers 4. Learn the 14 traits of highly adaptable people - on pages 87 & 88 5. Discover the best ways to introduce yourself to each of the four behavioral styles on page 116 6. Learn the types of questions you might ask a third person to determine your prospect's style - on page 117 7. Read the best ways to leave a voice mail message for each of the four behavioral styles - on page 118 8. Learn how to use the "funnel technique" of questioning to discover your prospect's needs - on pages 128 & 129 9. Use the feature-feedback-benefit technique discussed on pages 136 & 137 10. Discover how to get a commitment from a Thinker on page 148 11. Use the four-touch after-sale follow-up system presented on page 152 Time has proven that people like to buy from people they know, like and trust. Your ability to connect with people, maintain rapport, lower tension and increase trust will determine how high you climb in the sales profession. Mastery of The Platinum Rule will give you an unfair advantage over other salespeople. Here are expert opinions: "The Platinum Rule is communication and relational genius, translated into a very simple, daily philosophical approach that gets results. Well done!" Jim Rohn, CPAE, Author, The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle "The Platinum Rule is the priceless key to unlocking the door to empowerment, productivity and all business andpersonal relationships." Denis Waitley, Author, Empires of the Mind and The Psychology of Winning "The success we achieve is in direct proportion to our ability to understand and communicate with people. Communicating with people on their terms, not our own, is the key to creating a loyal customer base and creating mutually profitable business relationships; both of which result in higher productivity and increased earnings potential. The Platinum Rule is the single most effective tool for learning how to get exactly what we want in life by helping others get exactly what they want - the win-win we're all seeking." Tod Barnhart, Author, The Five Rituals of Wealth