#167 · 75 Looms. No Results. What Gives?
I would suggest getting a sales gig as soon as possible. Put yourself in situations where you constantly have to articulate problems. The more you practice selling and communicating, the faster you’ll develop the necessary skills.
I'd focus on profit right now, then allocate some hours to earning decent money. If I were you, I'd get a job doing something marginally related to what we discuss—like a sales-based role. When I was 16, I worked at the Hammer game at the Pacific National Exhibition carnival, sitting with a microphone, yelling at passersby to play my game, and making fun of them until they played. I learned sales skills there that now directly make me money. If I'd started a business at 16, I wouldn't have had nearly as much sales exposure. Doing this for 8 hours a day over three months gave me about 420 hours of directed sales experience, which you wouldn't get if you had to generate your own opportunities as a young business owner. So I'd take the job to earn while learn; earning is less important than the learning.
You just start. The only way out is through. You do not need to know a specific platform, tool, or piece of technology, although obviously that helps. The reality is when you sell, you're only ever selling in the space of ideas anyway, so you can sell an idea the same as anybody else with any level of technical skill. What it really is, is putting the words in the right order and understanding, at least to a foundational level, why people make purchasing decisions. Some good books if you want to learn more: Influence by Cialdini, Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, and Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff — probably my three best sales books out there. If you want a wild card, try When I Say No, I Feel Guilty — written 50-something years ago, it's about how to get over routine social inadequacies around asking for what you want and being assertive. So no, you do not need to know a specific tool stack or piece of technology in order to sell. All you need to do is go out there and sell. Learn the skill of selling and it'll work for whatever product you end up selling.
Read Influence by Cialdini (or Chelini) for quick, high-ROI insights. The biggest gain comes from habit—pitch often. Use Loom videos as a hack: record 10 Looms a day, show each for 4 minutes (≈40 minutes total) to practice articulating value and learn to sell, even without live feedback.
I used to read a lot of self-help and self-development books, but I’ve found that nothing is as valuable as just getting in the arena—acting and talking about a product or service you’re selling for an extended period. That practice teaches you how to articulate and naturally picks up many of the communication skills those books try to teach through rote memorization. My number one recommendation for most people wanting to improve communication is to get a door‑to‑door sales job or incorporate door‑to‑door sales into your business. While it may not be the best for pure monetary results, it’s excellent for skill building; a month or two is enough. Going door‑to‑door daily, you’ll hit 50 to 80 doors each day, which translates to thousands of high‑stakes conversations about your offer each month—enough to resolve most communication issues.