Let me tell you about Shamus, my neighbor’s cat.<\/p>\n
When I first moved to the Burgle last year, I was on the phone one\u00a0day in the kitchen and noticed a small snake slinking in under the\u00a0door. I’ve seen stranger things and just kinda shrugged my\u00a0shoulders, kicked it out, and went on about m bid’niz.<\/p>\n
Next day… same thing.<\/p>\n
Except this time it was a salamander.<\/p>\n
Wtf?<\/p>\n
Again, I shoe it out.<\/p>\n
But, this time, I see Shamus nearby with a grin saying:<\/p>\n
“See what I did for you?! I gave you a couple gifts!\u00a0Feed me!!”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’ll never know for sure.<\/p>\n
But, I suspect dropping that snake and salamander on my stoop was\u00a0Shamus’s way of getting himself a reward of some kind.<\/p>\n
(Food, attention, who knows?)<\/p>\n
The point?<\/p>\n
Lately people have been sending me unsolicited books in the mail.<\/p>\n
I don’t know who’s teaching people to do this.<\/p>\n
But, sometimes I will get a book in the mail from someone I don’t\u00a0know, have never heard of, and who didn’t even give me a heads up.<\/p>\n
I’m guessing they think I’ll reward them somehow.<\/p>\n
(With what, I have no idea.)<\/p>\n
But, it doesn’t work that way.<\/p>\n
For one, I never asked for any of these books.<\/p>\n
In fact, I’ve already got enough reading to last me the next\u00a0several years, which they’d have known if they took 10 seconds to,\u00a0you know, ask me first. Nothing against receiving gifts, but, like\u00a0Shamus’s gift, if it’s not something I want, it becomes more of an\u00a0imposition — gotta find a place to put these books or else throw\u00a0them out or whatever — than a gift.<\/p>\n
And secondly:<\/p>\n
Offering strangers stuff they don’t want ain’t persuasion.<\/p>\n
It won’t kick-start the so-called “law of reciprocity.”<\/p>\n
And, frankly, it’s a waste of your money.<\/p>\n
And you know what?<\/p>\n
That goes for trying to sell anything.<\/p>\n
I don’t know who said it.<\/p>\n
(Dale Carnegie?)<\/p>\n
But, just because you like strawberry shortcake, doesn’t mean you\u00a0should try to catch catfish with it.<\/p>\n
Anyway, down to bid’niz:<\/p>\n
If you want to learn how to sell (not just be a giveaway artist)\u00a0check out the “Email Players” newsletter.<\/p>\n
It ain’t cheap.<\/p>\n
And, it ain’t for price shoppers.<\/p>\n
But it shows you how to sell.<\/p>\n
And, in a way people *like* buying from.<\/p>\n
Subscription info here:<\/p>\n