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I do have a github with a few apps that Ive messed around (Im a mobile and web guy). Thats very insightful, I never thought about the ROI thing. I guess I need

by kirinan 14y ago

I do have a github with a few apps that Ive messed around (Im a mobile and web guy). Thats very insightful, I never thought about the ROI thing. I guess I need to learn how to convince people Im worth the price. Tons of people in my area undercut by a huge margin just to get jobs. I do write essays too. How do you better at sales? Are there particular things that you say? I know being friendly and available seem to work, but is there something better? What would you recommend to get better at selling?

patio11 14y ago
I'm totally on your side of this and rooting for you. I mention that to soften the following: "a github with a few apps that Ive messed around" does not necessarily suggest to me that you're capable of shipping software projects. (Github is a terrible platform for showing customers you can produce things that they care about, guys. Github shows off source code. Most customers want to buy business outcomes. Source code is rarely a business outcome. If you tried to present a very very compelling business outcome caused by source code via Github, just the nature of hosting it on Github would de-emphasize the business outcome in favor of the source code... which is, by the way, totally impenetrable to many buyers of custom software.) A better way to present a business outcome is a case study: here's the business, here's the problem, here's (a brief sketch off) what we did, here's the results. (You can write a case study on any blogging platform and it will work better than just throwing the repo for that project on Github.) Are you capable of shipping software projects? Shipping a software project would persuasively demonstrate that you are. Conversely, if you've never shipped a software project... well, the customers might not be totally crazy about wondering why you'd command high prices. How do you better at sales? I wish I had a better answer for you than "Read a little, practice a lot." but I don't.
- kirinan 14y ago
  Hmm, Yeah. You have me pegged there, I don't have any apps on the app store, or any web applications I can pull up and demo to customers. I have a new goal to work towards now, even if it is something simple. I will also make documents about it, and make it a full "business" like solution. As for you solution about the sales, I had a daunting feeling you were going to suggest that. Oh well, I think life is about reading a little and doing a lot. Thanks for all your help!
adrianhoward 14y ago
What would you recommend to get better at selling? One trick that I've found useful is to try to be observant in situations where somebody is trying to sell you something. Pay attention to what works and what doesn't. Tweak and try yourself. You'll see many patterns in the stuff that works well (e.g. listening not talking, stories not feature lists, benefits not feature lists, etc.) It's got to the stage where I actually quite like wandering around the vendor/sponsor stands at conferences for the learning experience ;-)

by kirinan 14y ago

patio11 14y ago

I'm totally on your side of this and rooting for you. I mention that to soften the following: "a github with a few apps that Ive messed around" does not necessarily suggest to me that you're capable of shipping software projects. (Github is a terrible platform for showing customers you can produce things that they care about, guys. Github shows off source code. Most customers want to buy business outcomes. Source code is rarely a business outcome. If you tried to present a very very compelling business outcome caused by source code via Github, just the nature of hosting it on Github would de-emphasize the business outcome in favor of the source code... which is, by the way, totally impenetrable to many buyers of custom software.) A better way to present a business outcome is a case study: here's the business, here's the problem, here's (a brief sketch off) what we did, here's the results. (You can write a case study on any blogging platform and it will work better than just throwing the repo for that project on Github.) Are you capable of shipping software projects? Shipping a software project would persuasively demonstrate that you are. Conversely, if you've never shipped a software project... well, the customers might not be totally crazy about wondering why you'd command high prices. How do you better at sales? I wish I had a better answer for you than "Read a little, practice a lot." but I don't.

kirinan 14y ago
Hmm, Yeah. You have me pegged there, I don't have any apps on the app store, or any web applications I can pull up and demo to customers. I have a new goal to work towards now, even if it is something simple. I will also make documents about it, and make it a full "business" like solution. As for you solution about the sales, I had a daunting feeling you were going to suggest that. Oh well, I think life is about reading a little and doing a lot. Thanks for all your help!

adrianhoward 14y ago

What would you recommend to get better at selling? One trick that I've found useful is to try to be observant in situations where somebody is trying to sell you something. Pay attention to what works and what doesn't. Tweak and try yourself. You'll see many patterns in the stuff that works well (e.g. listening not talking, stories not feature lists, benefits not feature lists, etc.) It's got to the stage where I actually quite like wandering around the vendor/sponsor stands at conferences for the learning experience ;-)