Dan Pink: We’re all in sales now

Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
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Author Dan Pink is out with a new book called, “To Sell is Human.” I chatted with him yesterday, and his premise is essentially this: We are all involved in selling something these days. Not in the skeevy used car salesman sort of way, but in the sense that we are all in the business of persuasion.

This rings true to me. When I write something, I’m selling an idea. But it does’t stop there. Others have to be sold on helping me sell the idea. For something to really take off, important sites like HotAir or RealClearPolitics or The Drudge Report typically have to link to it. Other opinion leaders have to tweet or re-tweet it. And maybe I even need to go on radio or TV to generate buzz about it. Of course, that requires someone “pitching” a producer …

This, of course, is sales. And the truth is that I probably spend about half my time writing stuff — and the rest of my time trying to sell it.

But this isn’t unique to me. Whatever your job, you probably spend a lot more time “selling” than you realize.

Understanding that premise is the first step, but Pink doesn’t stop there. He teaches us how to become better at this 21st century version of selling — and who couldn’t use that?

It’s frankly the kind of book that sells itself. Learn more about it here.

Matt K. Lewis