Selling cookies helped me to realize that you needed to have a certain way to communicate with people. You also needed business skills. You knew you needed to sell a certain amount of boxes, so that gave me some business sense.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
A good basic selling idea, involvement and relevancy, of course, are as important as ever, but in the advertising din of today, unless you make yourself noticed and believed, you ain't got nothin'.
When I found something I believed in and I cared about and thought I could market and sell and could be thought of creatively - the most important thing to me - I did it.
I was a very good cook, and I knew I could build a business.
I had just turned 28 and sold my first book, a travel guide for vegetarians, but I'd tell people about the day job that I didn't care about instead - I placed banner advertisements on the web for a search engine company.
I did all kinds of things as a young person to try to make money. I had a chicken operation - I sold chickens. I can remember going to high school football games as a ten-year-old and gathering Coca-Cola bottles, 'cause you'd turn them in and get a nickel. I wanted not to remain idle.
EBay gave me the framework to discover I was an e-commerce entrepreneur. I touched everything, from shipping to logistics.
I have a definite talent for convincing people to try something new. I am a good salesman. When I'm on form, I can sell anything.
Every single thing I learned about marketing and building my business, I learned from my mom, and she had never been in the workforce. She just had great practical sense.
I've never felt like I was in the cookie business. I've always been in a feel good feeling business. My job is to sell joy. My job is to sell happiness. My job is to sell an experience.
Selling is a natural skill. It's developed as a child. You may know it as persuasion.