I have a friend who told me a long time ago it seems that everyone is a born salesman and none of us can escape making sales without dying young, alone, and without many of the necessities of life. 

That's because sales is a matter of having a product and finding a buyer which sounds scary, but look at all the things you do where this can apply:

• We see the store clerk who shows the customer where to find the clothing they are looking for and the right size and fit, and may even help them carry their purchases to the front checkout. 
• We see a car salesman showing off countless cars all day to make a few sales a week...
• we see that Kirby Vacuum Cleaner salesperson setting up, and tearing down after cleaning entire rooms for a chance to sell a system.

These are what we think of in terms of salesmen and it's not wrong because that is what we are taught in school, on TV, and what we see in life.

What is a product?

A product is anything of real or perceived value to a number of people. A product doesn't necessarily have to have an up front price tag but in the end the goal is to have some form of exchange that changes the placement of the product and the life of the buyer. Products we often think of as objects like cars, TVs, soap, peanut butter, etc...

However even human beings have be considered "products" and I am not talking slavery or prostitution.

Think about it this way. You have a set of unique selling points. These are features people like employers want in the people they meet and hire, befriend, and invite into their inner circle or network. You can be honest, you can be smart, you can be experienced, you can be polite, you can have great hair, a great smile, and charisma, but there are things an employer needs for their business to grow.

When you are hired your employer gains something of real or perceived value in having you work for them. Your placement changes from sitting at home wishing you had a job to sitting at your job and wishing you were home. Ironic, I know. In return you are paid a living wage and possibly benefits which set's your retail price. This is the money you and an employer have decided your time is worth.

What it takes to get that job is sales, you have to show off your unique selling points. In the end you must provide value and service and maintain your product or you will be looking for work again and that is called after the sale marketing.

Sales actually begin for us at birth.

A baby can't talk but the man or woman they will be is a Unique Selling Point. A baby like the worker looking for a job has needs and will have a demand of compensation and since they can't talk they use cries, squeals, and coos to get what they want or need out of life. These include diaper changes, being fed, being loved. There value grows in the love they give back, the things they learn, the people they bring into your life, and eventually the people they become.

They in turn become salespeople again when they want an allowance, want a drivers license, want a car, want a job, to have a 1st date, want to marry Susie down the block. They will point out their unique selling points to everyone they know. This is the person you get as an employee, this is why I am worth a raise, this is the woman you will marry, this is the type of friend I'll be, this is why I should be accepted to college, this is why you should vote for me.

So don't be afraid of sales, you have always been a salesperson and always will be. You cannot avoid selling and you are already pretty good at it. 

Look at all you have and remember it is because you have been marketing the hardest product to sell ever known: A living, breathing, sometimes broken, sometimes tarnished, always flawed human being - "you". 

If you can sell people on "you" then selling products and services is well within your grasp. And the good news is that today, with the best Internet tools and training selling has never been easier!