Don’t tell anyone but I used to hate selling.
Not because I didn’t believe in my work – I just thought selling meant being pushy. Like you had to talk someone into buying something they didn’t really want.
So I played it safe. I made good stuff, put it out there and hoped people would find it.
They didn’t.
What finally clicked for me wasn’t some fancy funnel strategy. It was way simpler…I realised that:
You’re already selling. Every day.
When you pitch a restaurant to friends. When you defend a choice you made. When you talk yourself into finishing something hard – that’s all selling. We just don’t think of it that way because there’s no price attached.
Once I realized that, selling stopped feeling like this weird separate thing and started feeling like just communicating with a point.
Here are some ideas for you if you, too, feel like this (and even if you don’t).
Start with a quiz (the non- sleazy kind)
One of the easiest, least pushy ways to start is with a simple quiz or assessment.
Not the clickbait “Which Disney princess are you?” nonsense. I mean something actually useful.
People love learning about themselves. They want to see their situation spelled out clearly. And they appreciate being able to think it through without someone breathing down their neck.
A good quiz doesn’t shove something down someone’s throat. It reflects back to them in a useful way.
Easy tools to start:
Google Forms – Free and way more capable than you’d think
https://forms.google.com
Tally – Cleaner interface if you want to level up
https://tally.so
Typeform – Beautiful, intuitive forms people actually enjoy filling out
https://www.typeform.com
Canva – Now has interactive quiz features built in
https://www.canva.com
Interact – If you want dedicated quiz software later
https://www.tryinteract.com
MailerLite – Super beginner- friendly for collecting emails
https://www.mailerlite.com
With a quiz, someone answers questions, sees themselves in the result and suddenly the next step (see below) feels natural instead of forced.
The real money is in what comes after
Think about how gyms work. The membership gets you in the door. But the real value is in the personal training sessions, the nutrition coaching, the accountability check- ins…all the stuff that actually helps you stick with it.
Online businesses work the same way.
You don’t need a hundred products. You need ways to make people’s lives easier.
That could be:
A quick walkthrough video
A done- for- you template
A review my work session
A private feedback call
Tools that make this easy:
Loom – Record quick video walkthroughs without overthinking it
https://www.loom.com
Notion – Create simple guides and dashboards
https://www.notion.so
Gumroad – Sell digital products in about 10 minutes
https://gumroad.com
Lemonsqueezy – Like Gumroad but handles EU VAT and other tax headaches
https://www.lemonsqueezy.com
Not right now doesn’t mean never…
If someone isn’t buying, it’s usually not about you. It’s timing.
The danger lies in dropping your price on the same thing and hoping that fixes it. That just makes everyone uncomfortable.
If something costs less, it should do less with things like fewer features, less hand- holding and less access.
That’s not being a jerk or difficult. That’s being honest.
For tiered pricing:
Stripe – Clean payment processing with subscription options
https://stripe.com
Patreon – Built for membership/subscription content
https://www.patreon.com
Problems evolve – you should too.
Your customers’ problems don’t disappear – they change.
You help someone with X and suddenly they need help with Y. Not because you failed but because solving X created new opportunities.
The strongest businesses aren’t constantly launching new stuff. They just stay useful as people grow.
For ongoing communities and memberships:
Circle – Community platform that actually feels modern
https://circle.so
Memberstack – Add memberships to any website
https://www.memberstack.com
Slack – Free community space (if you keep it organized)
https://slack.com
Discord – Great for more casual communities
https://discord.com
You probably don’t need a new product.
You need the right version of what you already have, offered at the right time, to the right person.
Water doesn’t change. The container does.
If selling has always felt gross to you, that’s actually a good sign. It means you care about doing it right without pressure and without pretending to be someone you’re not.
And honestly…that’s the kind of selling that actually works.
Quick wins to try this week:
- Create a simple 5- question quiz using Google Forms about your audience’s biggest challenge
- Record one Loom video showing how to do something your audience struggles with
- Write down 3 ways you could make your current offer more useful (not bigger – just more helpful)
Your TED talk this week is all about how to sell without selling your sould:
