Saturday, July 4, 2009

Lessons Learned From Billy Mays

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the notorious TV pitchman Billy Mays passed away this past week. It seems appropriate to take a moment to reflect on the man who has "probably persuaded you, or nearly persuaded you, to buy something you don't need" (as ragan.com so eloquently put it). In fact, as CNBC's Darren Rovell pointed out, "Mays did the impossible. He got us to buy something we sometimes never heard of in 30 seconds time."

We can all learn from the example Billy Mays set as a pitchman: dedication and enthusiasm are critical to a successful pitch. Combine these characteristics with knowledge of your product inside and out, up and down and backwards and forwards, and you can successfully sell just about anything - including things no one ever knew they wanted or needed.

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