Dancer Em, in her youth, learned to SELL her looks, promote her resumé, make brochures, flyers, write ad copy, and SELL exciting, varied, choreography.
You SELL -- you have to keep SELLING if you want to get a career going.
You are a secretary writing letters. You are a phone operator making and answering calls. You are a file clerk, typist, bookkeeper.
And errand girl, messenger service, cleaning girl, shopper, chief cook, bottle-washer -- PLUS the do-everything-gal-Friday, every day of the week. "Success" becomes SELLING more so, SELLING harder.
As you mature, you become a CEO, boss, leader, personnel manager in charge of hiring helpers and professionals to create fancier ads and brochures, while you are SELLING tickets to performances, SELLING agents on selling you and your ever larger organization, -- all this while you are mothering high and low level employees such as dancers, actors, musicians, or seamstress, tailor. chauffeur, floor mopper.
You SELL-SELL promoting your various doings -- projects that are a big hit or not a big hit -- turning them into smash hits in ads, at interviews, lunches, cocktail parties with critics and your peers, SELLING yourself gracefully, humbly, honestly, eloquently as you are transforming yourself into a successful, sophisticated "somebody."Everything Em created --- "Cyrano" (made money), "People in Show Biz" (lost money); "Shattering Panes," Off-Broadway and "Kings" On Broadway.(lost money); all the other plays, projects, readings, showcases, (even the book about Em that a sports writer wrote), required publicists, PR agents, producers, fund-raising, and SELLING.
Even giving away tickets, padding the house requires SELLING. That's reality.
Like a salesclerk behind the counter, like the poor flower girl,
you continue to SELL YOU -- your ideas, your stuff, your talents, in order to acquire the very best manager, top notch lawyer -- yes, even a maid.Then, only then, confidently, knowledgeably, humbly, honestly, you write your first novel, and while you're selling it, write another and another, and another.
'Tis reality. more or less the end of Em's story
of how to attain and maintain, without fear, an everlasting career, plus some fun, and a modicum of glory.
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7 comments:
Great read and oh, so true Em. It's all about the "sell", no matter what your profession. Interesting too, how YOU define yourself in printed word is exactly as I "read" and envision you in real life -..without fear..plus some fun, and a modicum of glory". But, maybe "heavy" on the fun? -pawpawdude
A friend of mine, Grant Cardone, very successful man, tells a story about having to sell himself in order to get his wife to agree to marry him. I had to do the same thing :-)
Life is selling. I sale people on the idea of reading my articles.
Good article :-)
Ain't that the truth. Wise words.
Indeed I agree with you Dear!Selling things as well self to make ends meet in life is become a way of life! In the olden days the concept of selling was BARTER!But the invention of coins & paper money & now the e-Banking, as well the e-trading has made selling a global phenomenon, selling the final TRUTH!
Lots of truth here; love the graphics too. Regards, Alan
So very true, Em.
Once I realized selling is just one of the parts to writing, it became less frustrating. Would love to have an agent to sell for me, but until then I take my soapbox with me, everywhere I go.
Best of luck
Interesting Em. You are so right. No matter what you do in life, or more specifically, to earn a living, the concept occurred to me years ago. We are all selling something. Of course we are all buying as well and I don't necessarily mean material goods.
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