And now I would like to take the next step. It’s in fact a very important step as it [...]]]> Dear friend, the series on benefits of copywriting services to a modern business continues. So far we have covered the following benefits:

1. Create customer loyalty
2. Say it better

And now I would like to take the next step. It’s in fact a very important step as it touches so many businesses today, businesses that have an online presence.

Yes, it is the popular one, the most sought after benefit:

• How to be easily found by search engines (mainly Google)

If you search on Google for freelance copywriting services in Swindon, Wiltshire, for example, there will be thousands of pages that will come up for you. The question is: have you got the time to go through all of these pages before the sunset?

And of course the answer is no.

Myself, I don’t remember the last time in the recent years that I wanted to see what’s on the second page when the search engine results come up on the screen.

I usually rephrase the search as something at the back of my head tells me, ‘If it doesn’t appear on the first page then it’s not important.’

And it’s true. If your business doesn’t appear in the first page and basically within the top ten search results then you need to call me right now. I’m not joking. This is a very serious matter.

A 21st century business, that has an online presence of some sort – especially a website/weblog, then it deserves to be found on the first page and still on the top ten results of a particular search.

Any modest copywriter, if you end up with one, will tell you this when you ask them to write your website content: ‘how do you come up on search engine when customers search for your services?’

And if you don’t know then ‘woe unto thee, for thou aren’t serious’.

In my view, every business person, every entrepreneur MUST make sure that being found online by customers/clients is given an important investment.

Brilliant copywriters know what work and what doesn’t work when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

They will help your business have the right content that isn’t off-putting or unintelligent. But even more than that, they will make sure that in just 14 days you are right there among the first top 10 search engine results.

But there are other vital details you as a business owner, entrepreneur, or may be a business writer (of some sort) that you must understand when it comes to Search Engine Optimizing your website.

And that’s how copywriters will charge you for this service.

Since this is an important service, most copywriters charge it separately.

They will talk about charges of writing your About page and then they will add, at times the similar amount, simply for SEO.

As a client you have the right to question this practice as to why is it not included in the total amount of writing website content.

That’s why, for me, as a professional freelance copywriter I don’t charge SEO as a separate service. Why should I?

Yes, these days McDonalds charge for sweet n’ sour sauce but I’m waiting for the day that they will charge for the Big Mac sauce for each Big Mac purchased. And I don’t think that will ever happen because BIG MAC comes with the sauce anyway…so why not website content copywriting exclude SEO as if it’s if it’s an extra Mac Fries?

Stay vigilant. SEO can only be a separate service if that’s all you want…but when there’s an element of writing fresh web content then SEO, to a smart copywriter, must be included in the fee mentioned.

Lastly, there’s one more thing that a modern business person, modern business writer should know about SEO. And of course that’s about keywords.

Yes, they are the key phrases and words that describe your business. They are key lines of words that customers type on Google or Yahoo! to find your services.

For example, freelance copywriters in Swindon, Wiltshire. If you are operating your business here in Swindon, there are the words that you will type on Google and the expectation, and usually the assumption, is that what will appear on the first page is the real deal.

Nine out of ten you will be right but at times incompetent writers will write their website’s content in a duff manner that they will end up on the first page but once you get to know them they are empty vessels.

Well, let me end right there. SEO is a big subject. And the reason is obvious: it helps your business be easily found online. An experienced online copywriter can really help. So, if you are searching for SEO service then make sure you find one and increase your sales and customer base.

Of course I know all these because I’m a freelance copywriter too. May be you knew that already, and if that’s the case please take my apologies for being repetitive.

But then, here is my request for you: when you want to be found online by search engines – mainly Google, then don’t start your search miles away. Get in touch with me. My name is Josh Paul Lugembe and I live in Swindon with my cool family.

Get in touch even for free copywriting advice. Or else, simply connect on Twitter or at least Like my Facebook page.

Remember, this series – the Importance of Copywriting Services to a Modern Business – isn’t over yet. The next post will look on how copywriting services can help you inspire trust in the minds of your customers/clients.

Until then, thank you for reading.

By Josh Paul Lugembe – the freelance copywriter.

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

This is the second part of the series the Importance of Copywriting Services to a Modern Business – as titled above.

And having discussed the first benefit of freelance copywriting to a modern business: creating customer loyalty, I would now like to go further to the second benefit.

The reason is this: there are countless benefits of using freelance copywriting services to such businesses. In fact, most of the successful businesses know the fact that [...]]]> In today’s economy, there are countless benefits of using freelance copywriting services.

There is no better way for a modern business to succeed for long without the help of big creative ideas – mainly written by smart and bold copywriter.

The reason is this: there are countless benefits of using freelance copywriting services to such businesses. In fact, most of the successful businesses know the fact that without brilliant copywriters; they will soon be swallowed by the competition.

In this series, I am going to write the guaranteed benefits to any business that embraces copywriting skills.

So let us start with the first one:

• Creating Customer Loyalty

Today, customers have more choices than ever before. Whatever their needs and wants, they can choose from a wide range of suppliers/sellers/businesses.

So if a business wants the right customers to buy from them today, tomorrow and probably always then copywriting can really help.

Customers/clients want to be treated well – we all know that. They want to believe in your business and that you care for their wants.

They would like to know that you think about them. They would like to know that they are indeed special – and of course they are.

While they are buying from you, the obvious thing to do is to serve them with excellent customer service (I still don’t know why it’s not called ‘client service’ instead).

Such services can almost guarantee that your customer will buy from you again.

But what happens when your client is miles away from you? Or that they have bought from you and gone back to proceed with their lives?

Well, to understand it better, let’s take this personal example.

I’m a good customer of Amazon UK. And because I have bought a number of items from them, especially books, every now and then I receive an email with suggestions on a few more titles of my liking.

At times they even want me to send my old books in exchange of other, new books. They of course think about me. Yes, it’s the database, a system doing its work but it’s because the business owner/developer thought of how to give me with the best customer experience.

So if you want your customers to keep buying from you then let me ask you a question or two:

• Are you writing to them after they have bought from you to remind them that you miss them?
• Are you writing any newsletters, updating your web content thinking about your customer and not yourself?
• Did you know that you are in business because they buy from you (that is too obvious)?

Anyway, it’s good to remember that customers, even if you have thousands, or even millions of them, each one of them expects to be treated in a special way. Each one of them would like to know that your business development develops with them in mind…

So it’s wise to keep in touch with them. And that is when my copywriting skills come in.

When you want to keep in touch through monthly newsletters, or personalized emails, advertorials or any other written way… remember that I can and would like to help you.

I believe that creating customer loyalty is absolutely vital to your business. Employ smart copywriting measures and reap the rewards thereof.

Please do get in touch when you want a copy or three written for your business. Drop me a line through josh@awewrite.co.uk or pick up the phone and ask me for a coffee on 07946 750 390.

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

Most business people think advertising works but the truth is it doesn’t work. The only way any advertising will ever work is if it meets the standards of poisonous gas – disturb your [...]]]> When George Lois was asked by David Susskind what is advertising, he reply was: ‘advertising is poison gas’. Well, thank you George.

Most business people think advertising works but the truth is it doesn’t work. The only way any advertising will ever work is if it meets the standards of poisonous gas – disturb your nerves and thoughts to the point of knocking you down. Otherwise, a waste of money.

I know most people will think I’m a simply Judas since I claim to be a copywriter myself, but hey, let me tell you a bit more.

It’s by getting so deep into copywriting that I have the guts to write this: mediocre advertising doesn’t work. And the good news is this: there’s plenty of mediocre advertising out there right now. That’s not so good news…or is it?

But unless the copywriter has a mind of soldier, and isn’t afraid to throw a bomb straight to his enemies, then we know for sure what the outcome would be – bitten down.

Back in days when I was being taught what is advertising by men who had no knowledge how to write one, I was lucky enough to get an important tip that over the years I have been able to prove it right.

When a business advertises today and reaps a big harvest tomorrow that doesn’t mean the advertisement has worked. Well, it might have worked somehow but may be the competitor has run out of products, or maybe they went out of business over night; or, the demand for the particular product/service has risen. Or, they got run over by a drunken van driver and they are now breathing with the help of tubes. Or, even worse, maybe Barclay’s traders and nerds have caused another economic meltdown.

You see, it’s not entirely true that you are selling more today because you advertised yesterday.

Decades ago, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford admitted that half of his advertising worked and the other half doesn’t work but the trouble is he couldn’t figure it out which half.

As I mature in copywriting and observe curiously many adverts all around I feel like most advertisement writers need to see their doctors. And I’m serious. I think some of these writers are either sick or they haven’t fallen in love with their readers. I will tell you why.

In fact, let me tell you a story.

When I started out in this field I wanted to read all I could and I read almost all known books on copywriting out there. But before copywriting I already read over 41 books on personal development and the psychology of thinking. So when I got into copywriting I expected to read from thinkers slash nerds slash politicians slash weird minds slash poisonous pages. Yes, I expected this because it’s the mix of these characters that make one a great writer, a brilliant copywriter. But only after reading a few books I got stuck. Why? And with what? Well, let me tell you.

There were so many books written by the self-advertising copywriters that had inviting titles but poorly written content. I couldn’t understand: why should a copywriter do this? How could a copywriter come up with such a bright title idea and write such rubbish chapters?

Then with time, I got the answer.

I was reading one of the David Ogilvy’s books when I realized that the disappointment I was going through was the same as to the one he went through back in his time.

He tells a story when he was travelling by train reading advertisements on a magazine and he couldn’t believe what he was reading. Then he asked, I guess, one of the important questions in this profession: ‘Doesn’t copywriting attract inquiring minds?’

For sure, poor ads are written by copywriters who walk sideways away from the most important role in copywriting: to think.

Now the secrets of successful advertisement aren’t:

• medium
• money spent on it or
• frequency of the ad

But secrets of successful advertisement, actually, there are no secrets but only one secret, and that’s:

• a copywriter: got to embrace clear thinking, got to be courageous like a frontline soldier, and the one who can step into customer’s shoes at the smallest detail possible.

If a business man or lady get this wrong, if the advertising agency overlooks this one, if a graphic designer think that in the beginning there was a design and not a word, if a copywriter takes him/herself lightly like a chaff instead of a seed, then we know that we are sure to join majority of money wasters in the making of average ads.

When you are about to advertise for your business thought press, online, on TV or even on Radio then make sure your copywriter passes the test above. The other simpler way to check this is to ask them why they are copywriters and not accountants; why in advertising agency and not in some kind of porn agency; why they call themselves designers and not mechanics… And if they respond with empty words then ‘forgetaboutthem’…and come unto me and I will give thee poison gas.

I am telling you this because I have passed the test above (anyway, how would I not while I’m the one who set the test?) and because I love to serve your clients/customers in the best way possible or your money back.

So remember, for a brilliant copywriter, a bold and not so beautiful and the one who will definitely work harder for your advertisement then drop me a line at josh@awewrite.co.uk or simply give me a tweet @awewrite. Otherwise check my copywriting services page for more.

Now, let me go get some breakfast: last night’s left over .

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

~ David Ogilvy

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

Thank you for reading this far.

Now copywriting (in case you don’t know) is that art of creatively using the right words for a specific end. For instance: you want to tell the members of the public (carefully chosen) about your new product or service, about your special offer and why you think it is of great benefit to [...]]]> What’s Copywriting?

Now copywriting (in case you don’t know) is that art of creatively using the right words for a specific end. For instance: you want to tell the members of the public (carefully chosen) about your new product or service, about your special offer and why you think it is of great benefit to them.

For the records, since the beginning of what they call industrialization, the rich guys depended on copywriters to help them pass the right message to the right people. And so the rich guys grew richer.

That trend is still going on today: copywriters’ works make rich guys – entrepreneurs if you like – richer. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as copywriters get their share.

In this post…

…I am going to discuss the fact that while in the past writers could get away with long copies – I don’t know if people had more time to read or what – but from this century on writers, and especially copywriters have to work harder to write short and punchy lines.

Examples of long copies

Just imagine that when Napoleon Hill first wrote his Law of Success, he produced an over a thousand pages book that people read with joy. Today, that kind of book is something most people won’t have time to read.

Yes, I have mentioned Napoleon Hill as he too was in advertising at some point in his life before venturing exclusively to personal development where he wrote the best seller Think & Grow Rich. But he wasn’t alone.

I have read a good number of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson such as the famous: the Law of Compensation which is around 7000 plus words.

Now if you are after wisdom like I am, at times, then reading that long work won’t be a problem. And also, the fact that I am a writer, well, copywriter, I am solemnly expected to read wide.

But then the world has changed.

Rat race has taken over. Every morning in major towns and cities people are almost sprinting. They have what they call a secure job somewhere, so they better be there on time. Of course.

And these are the same people that today, most writers’ target. The question is: are they going to have time to read 7000 word copy?

What about a 1000+ pages book?

What about all the blog posts that are out there crying for the same readership?

What about the newspapers that are now given even for free?

Will they get time to read?

And when are they going to update their Facebook pages about their new hair style or mourning and about the hustles of the rat race?

I even know a guy who wrote an entire book by only using the time he travels by train to and from work.

I also know another nerd who lives home at half five in the morning and gets back around half eight in the evening. Sigh

Now, write a long book and expect him to buy it leave alone to read it. Will he?

It’s almost impossible.

So what’s the solution?

Yes, you guessed right. It is Twitter.  Let me tell you how I think Twitter is a solution.

First of all, for those using Twitter would know, each Tweet must be no more than 140 characters. That’s less than a single mobile phone text which is 160 characters.

On the same, Twitter that’s, users can only use up to 160 characters to tell the world who they are and what they do. Here’s mine: “This is all I can give you friend: THE WINNING WORDS – the excellent ones, the vibrant, the bold & the sexy. Oh yes, I’m a Copywriter. Call me if you can!”

And guess what, that’s 154 characters. Cool eh!

My Twitter user name is @awewrite – just in case you are kind enough to add up to the number of my followers.

Now, why is my title referring to copywriter’s future on Twitter’s hands?

Well, I will tell you.

It’s the discipline: the discipline of writing succinct sentences without wasting reader’s time.

Twitter is the future of brilliant writing. As people become busier and busier shorter and shorter sentences are the only way.

It won’t surprise me in 20 years from now, when all adverts will be required to be written in only 300 characters or anything around that.

The fact is, as people have more choices it’s indeed easier for them to choose if they are only informed the important bits.

With this trend from Twitter, if you allow me to call it so, in half a decade’s time we might be only using some acronyms and numbers: asap, aka, lol, 2mor, tele4n, rap-tamus (hippopotamus) and such weird expressions.

Are we going to be able to sell anything? Well, let’s wait and see.

But the truth is freelance copywriting services will be in a deep shit.

And by the way, while we are waiting Tweets to get even shorter, here is a Special Offer for anyone looking to boost their businesses using focused copywriting services. That’s if it’s your first time hiring me, Josh Paul Lugembe, then you could be eligible for FREE COPY today. Get in touch for more. Or simply write to me at josh@awewrite.co.uk or call me on 07946 750 390.

Have a brighter day (or night)!

Let’s keep tweeting.

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

~ Thoreau, Journal, 1842.

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

Other blog entries:

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

Yes, if you didn’t know, from June this year, all Yahoo! staff “from Sunnyvale to Santa Monica, Bangalore to Beijing” are expected to “physically” be in [...]]]> The world is changing: Pope can resign even after 600 years, people can be sold horsemeat as beef and Yahoo! staff can no longer work from home or Starbucks.

Yes, if you didn’t know, from June this year, all Yahoo! staff “from Sunnyvale to Santa Monica, Bangalore to Beijing” are expected to “physically” be in the Yahoo!’s offices.

Please don’t ask me. Ask Yahoo!

Yes it’s 2013 but Yahoo!’s CEO Marissa Mayer wants her people to commute to the offices or “quit” which means back to 80′s.

And I totally I agree with her. And here are my reasons. Only two by the way.

One.

If Yahoo!’s writers were using Yahoo!’s offices they would focus a bit more.

They would notice the difference between   “Entrepreneurs are not born, they made” and “Entrepreneurs are not born, THEY’RE MADE” when writing about The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy’s strap line. The two lines can look the same if you only work from home.

So the question is whether the writer was rushing for a horsemeat burger, a Facebook chat or something ‘physical’.

And while the above mistake was made in an article titled: How Peter Jones made £220m written by Emma Lunn – Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:56 GMT, almost a year ago the same writer goofed on similar grounds.

It was Tue, May 8, 2012 16:58 BST and the title was: “A member of the millionaire’s club since the age of 15 – just how did Dominic McVey make his money?”

The mistake was (and still is) where it shouldn’t have been: at the picture caption.

It reads; “Dominic McVey – picured here in 2001, aged 16 – was a millionaire before he left school (Image © Yui Mok/PA”.

Obviously, Emma Lunn is a good writer, and if she is a Yahoo! employee then I am sure that working from an office will take these small mistakes away from her brilliant articles about the rich guys and their cash.

So that’s focus.

Now the second reason.

It’s about the fact that the internet giant Google doesn’t really encourage working from home or as they call it teleworking.

And even more, if Yahoo! people have to make their company strong in a fierce technology competition then they have to stay in the office.

But will Yahoo!’s staff work along the dotted lines or will go for option B – quitting?

Will the staff think that to make Yahoo! an “absolute best place to work” they must be in their desks at 09am?

What about the idea by the internal Yahoo! memo that “the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions”?

And that, according to the same memo, “to be one Yahoo!” apart from meeting new people, it starts with physically being together?” “From June?”

Should I close my free email account with Yahoo?

Anyway, as sit down to think about it…let me take this opportunity to thank Emma Lunn who writes on rich guys’ cash for Yahoo!,  Margaret Ryan who writes for BBC News, Kara Swisher (and not Switcher) the Co-Executive Editor at All Things D, Peter Jones whose slogan is now ruined and the other young rich guy who is reported to be “picured” (whatever that means in cash)…yes, now I remember, his name is Dominic McVey.

Remember, the one thing that the western world know for sure is this;

‘productivity is important, but since we are already losing our leg, let’s just leave it to Asians. They can make fake anything, and soon they will learn from their mistakes and start making genuine stuff and sell them to us.’

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

Which one would you like to be part of: eating horse muscles and start galloping…

Or pay more for the gas company that has only rating on value for money…

Or the truth that you can be yourself like the Pope [...]]]>

Horsemeat scandal in Europe, British gas makes profit and the Pope who resigned.

Which one would you like to be part of: eating horse muscles and start galloping…

Or pay more for the gas company that has only ★★ rating on value for money…

Or the truth that you can be yourself like the Pope who resigned?

Well you don’t have to choose any. But the truth is, you can’t trust no one thesedays.

Anyway…the big news for us in the UK and Europe, I guess, is the horsemeat scandal. How dare these guys are feeding nation after another horse muscles in the name of beef? (And deep inside me, I end up asking…what else have we eaten already over the years? Rats?)

But the good news is that we all know the answer. And that’s; in competitive business the focus is hardly customers but the cash – the profit.

That’s why when the British Gas (with 400,000 customers) increased the cost of energy last year; they knew what they wanted to announce this time this year: An 11% increase in profit. But what if this PR geared announcement was; “An 11% increase in customer satisfaction. We rock.”

In fact, according to the report that rated energy companies in the UK this year (yes, already) Which – the experts on consumer interests and rights for 50 years on a wide range of subjects -  rated British Gas the overall 12th out of 15 companies. And comes with an impressive two star on value for money.

That’s why it’s important at times to know what your energy bills pay for.

But walking away from energy and horse rubbish, the other big news across the globe is the gentleman who clearly is no follower of no one. He’s the master, so far, of non-conformity spirit. He has dared to break the tradition that has been embarrassed for 600 years.

And that’s, ladies and gentlemen…Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger – the 265th pope.

He must have thought, I am now on Twitter, I don’t need Facebook, Google+ is shit, my name is well optimized and who said, “Thou shalt die in thy throne?” I must resign. And he did it.

The thing is, if I was a pope of some sort I would have resigned just like him, only a bit earlier. Just after Christmas or earlier!?

This gentleman is fluent in a number of languages and has written numerous books and most of all he has dared to quit the top position of the Roman Catholic Church. Well done!

I guess he understands what the big books say; ‘Thy shall quit thy position therein, for thou shall inherit the global coverage for generations’.

But the question is; what’ll Pope do now?

Pray for the world peace, read and perhaps write a few more books. Also according to BBC, he will be spending time with the cat Contessina while watching black and white comedy.

Anyway, big news or not life heads on to a direction we choose.

Let me see, my to do list is still full. And it’s midday. What’s wrong with me?

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.

Life’s a Pitch: What the world’s best sales people can teach us all. By Philip Delves Broughton, © 2012. Portfolio, Penguin; 291 pages; ISBN 978-0-670-92151-5 – £12.99.

What’s on TV?

Watching TV after midnight in Africa you will, most of the time, end up watching music. And when you [...]]]> Book review

Life’s a Pitch: What the world’s best sales people can teach us all. By Philip Delves Broughton, © 2012. Portfolio, Penguin; 291 pages; ISBN 978-0-670-92151-5 – £12.99. ★★★★

Life’s a Pitch: What the world’s best sales people can teach us all. By Philip Delves Broughton, © 2012. Portfolio, Penguin; 291 pages; ISBN 978-0-670-92151-5 – £12.99.

What’s on TV?

Watching TV after midnight in Africa you will, most of the time, end up watching music. And when you are in the Eastern Europe it is tarot card reading. Normally by weird-lazy looking ladies with sleazy dresses of many colours slurring words about future for those who want to know.

But when you are in the UK, and you aren’t obsessed with adult TV channels, and you don’t want to watch news about horsemeat scandal either then there’s only one option remaining for you. Teleshopping.

If you watch Channel 5 and its siblings for example, you might come across the steam cleaner called X5 advertised by a British born; now American salesman Anthony Sullivan dressed in black polo shirt and black trousers.

The guy is brilliant, and as he goes through cleaning what he call; The Dirty, The Grime and The  (can’t remember what)…you start to like him. I used to switch the channels…but not anymore. I, these days, watch the whole pitch…especially Anthony’s.

But why am writing about this?

Well, the former journalist, and the bestselling author Mr. Philip Delves Broughton interviewed many successful sales people in this book – Life’s a Pitch. And one of them is, yes, you guessed right, Anthony Sullivan.

Reading about sales people’s stories – as vast as they are in this book, it’s fascinating.

Anyway…

…in 2004, after working for The Daily Telegraph of London, Mr. Broughton decided to enroll to Harvard Business School for an MBA. And when he completed that in 2006 he decided to tell the world what he saw, heard and felt by writing a book. The book ‘What They Teach You at Harvard Business School’, definitely gave him a place in the world of business writing.

So in the likes of Harry Porters or the Fifty Shades of Grey and everything, Mr. Broughton, in 2012, decided to write another book. This time, away from the business school and all academic formalities but straight into sales and sales people.

But why sales?

Well, it appears – both from the book and life – that to master the ability to sell (anything) is the most important skill every human being should learn. The author writes:

“I cannot think of a better practical education than selling for forcing anyone to think about who one is and how one might balance one’s highest self with one’s most practical, human needs.”

Like most of the greatest sales men and women throughout the history in the likes of Zig Ziglar and Napoleon Hill, the book too agrees that in life it’s all about selling. You want to be a politician? Sell yourself. You wanna have a good job? Create your CV and stand tall and confidently on an interview day and, yeah, you got it. So, you want to marry her? Well, now you know what to do…

But did your papa teach you how to sell yourself?

If he did, then you have an advantage and it’s easier for you to stand out and grab opportunities faster than most people. But if he didn’t, like mine…there is a price to pay.

You see one day, I uploaded my rather simplified CV online. I needed a second job. My pockets were running low so I had to top them up. Fast.

So after uploading my blunt CV that had only a few sentences of what skills and experience I have I went to bed. Then the following morning I had a phone call.

It was from an agency located in a different town. They wanted me to go attend a sales job interview. I thought…’me, a salesman?’ They assured me that I will be able to earn good cash as the role had no upper limit of how much one should earn. The only limit was your own ability to sell. Aha!

So I agreed. After some formalities, I got into my old BMW and drove to the interview venue with the energy of a salesman who just made a good sale and is about to meet the next client to make the next sale. But what happened next changed my life and view about selling forever. It gave me an instant interest in sales and salesmanship.

But what was it that happened in that interview room – the room filled with tense questions and think on your feet sort of mood if you like?

Well, I will have to get back to that in a moment…but for now, let me finish reviewing Life’s a Pitch by Philip Delves Broughton.

Business schools can’t teach sales

Of course you will realize, when you read his book – Life’s a Pitch, that Mr. Broughton was somewhat disappointed with how little the business school taught sales. And to understand why, he decided to take it to himself.

The mission was to collect all the greatest lessons about selling from the best sales people in any industry. And to do that he had to travel large, to interview intelligently and to sit back so as to listen with an open mind.

Along the way he meets sales people who have little formal education but cracks the best out of selling process.

He also meets educated ladies and gentlemen who even though their education is far from sales, but when they add it into sales knowledge the magic happens. Of that the book suggests that if you…

‘mix a fine education with the desire and talent for selling and the fruits of such hybrid vigor can change the world.’

If all else fails try sales – and not management

There used to be a saying that if all else fails try management but I think it’s better to try sales. Sales, according to this book, gives opportunity to all.

It doesn’t matter what your race, background, education level, social class or whatever…if you want to sell you can always sell. It’s a leveled ground for any one with the soul to be a sales person.

And that soul got to be empathy, perseverance, determination, drive, hunger for money, the need to serve and give your customer a grand solution, ability to rise no matter how deep was the fall or rejection.

In fact, the book urges that, if we ever understand selling as a life skill we are forever relieved from the burden of poverty and dependency. But what’s more important is the fact that if we ever manage to learn from each failed sale, each rejection, each closed door…to learn that it doesn’t matter as there’s a sale just around the corner, a close in the morning, then we have learned one of the most important lessons.

Augie Turak, one of the enthusiastic interviewee said;

“Failure is very, very powerful. If I was having a bad sales slump, I’d take a breath and say to myself, This is a numbers game. This is all good. Two hundred rejections mean I’m due a hot steak. I’m burning up my bad luck.”

But is it just a bad luck or the fact that the society takes sales as some sort of organized rip-offs?

It’s the shame, I must admit, that in our society today there are plenty of squints out there about sales people. They are not entirely perceived as genuine. And of course they aren’t perceived as corrupt either. Somewhere in the middle but somehow leaning towards corruptness.

But it’s this well written book that insists;

“without selling, there’s no business….”

And that;

“Anyone in business who belittles selling should not be in business.”

From experience I know that these lines hold water when it comes to the importance of selling in the business world.

Think of the expensive products out there…the £100,000 plus cars for example. In practice, we don’t need them but guess what? Sales people sell them even in the current tough economic climate.

But when you look closer into all professions you will realize that it’s the presence of sales force that keep the world moving. It’s the presence of these influential people with brilliance in their methods of communication that keep the history of human kind fascinating.

Think of Ghandi, the book points out, think of Mandela, think of the school teacher who influenced you to do history, for example, instead of accountancy. Think of the best customer service you have had from local bakery that every time you think about bread you think about that particular baker.

That’s what great selling is all about. It’s about standing out. It’s about selling today and tomorrow. It’s about making friendships. It’s not about rip-offs or that sort of thing. It’s not about the commission…it’s about the big cash that continues to flow time and again.

It’s this reason that the book points out that;

“Make a sale and make a commission, or make a friend and make a million.”

In the end…

…the author, after interviewing so many sales people from selling rugs in Morocco to selling life insurance in Japan and art in New York, he has beyond doubt achieved his aim – to help his reader to learn great lessons from the best sales people of our world today.

Yes, the book is not written in an appealing format and a bit strains the reading process but it has the content that count. And that’s important.

Yes, the book has at times have spelling mistakes and one paragraph in a whole page but still it’s hard to put it down once you have started reading it. Even though it has no sub-headings to encourage the readers, especially those with little time to read 291 pages it still has a strong personality and quotable lines popping out every now and then.

Of course the book would have been better if it included European, African and Latin American sales people, but that is to review the book that is other than this…so I would hold that let down, if at all I count it to be so, to myself.

However, if there was one lesson I have learned from this book, the lesson that takes an immediate practice is this:

“Let a child work until he craves the help of books, instead of studying until he forgets the need of work.”

Yeah, I know…it’s not straight sales, or is it?

OK. Here is a sales-related lesson:

“Sales… turns out to be the greatest laboratory in the world for studying human nature.”

And that brings me to an important part of the review. The verdict. But before that I will finish my story about sales job interview in a sentence or two.

Well, while at old fashioned rectangular room…

… a gentleman – probably a mix of Japanese and European genes – was smiling and talking in a disciplined high tone of voice but rather rushy. I was expected to sell something, anything, to another person. So I picked up my imaginary phone to ring the person and since it was a cold call…well, the person said; “Ring me later please, I’m very busy right now….” I said; “That’s fine, I will ring you later.”  And that was that…the short man long-listed me. And for that reason I didn’t get the job. I was expected to be pushy…and naturally I’m but I as well like to respect the people’s boundaries. But as far as sales is concerned…I failed.

Anyway, I have re-read this book about three times already. And that’s a sign of a good book. This is why I award it a ★★★★ review.

If you have a book that you would like it reviewed, say in 100 words or 200 words or even a 1000 words…and that the book is non-fiction then please get in touch. I would be happy to review it.

Thank you.

© 2013, josh paul lugembe. All rights reserved.