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by Marie Williams

I used to believe that seller's block was a mere fantasy, constructed by those who liked to make excuses for their failing marketing efforts. But, since I've been online, I've witnessed enough people suffering with this plague to realize that it really does exist.

Your main defense against seller's block is to think yourself out of it. If you "think" you're blocked, you will be. But there are always solutions to getting past seemingly impenetrable walls.

Today, competition is stiffer than ever, and the entire Internet marketing world has gone through an almighty Big Bang as "everyone" (even the kids next door) want to take a byte out of selling online. To learn to sell, you need to constantly refuel with every ounce of creativeness you have. It's hardly surprising, then, that Seller's Block is spreading fast over the 'net.

Seller's block often occurs when your creative well has run dry. Take a look at your sales reports. Have you noticed a recent downward slide, or did you never really get past the starting block? Unless your sales figures actually show regular improvements, you've reached a plateau - and, congratulations, you're suffering from seller's block!

You've got a disease and, like any disease, there's always a cure to be found. Here are my suggested prescriptions:

1) Take time out to replenish your creative well. Spend at least a week indulging in the things that you never seem to have time to do while you're working online. Set up an "I'm unavailable" autoresponder for your email and ignore it. Everyone needs time off. How do you expect to constantly draw from a well that's completely run dry?

2) Devise a clear sales strategy. Blockage can arise when you have no clear picture of where you're going or what your business goals are. If you don't know what it is that you want to achieve, you will waste a whole lot of time treading down the wrong paths.

Avoid this by setting a goal sheet. At the top of your goal sheet, write what you want to achieve from your business in 12 months time. Be specific - and be a little realistic too! Write "I want to earn $40,000 (substitute for your figure) by [insert your date]." Then write "This means I need to earn an average of $3,333 per month." By breaking your yearly goal into monthly (or even weekly) chunks, you have something that's far easier to work towards.

3) Get to know your customers. Perhaps not on an individual basis, but generally. If you don't know what makes your target group tick, how can you expect them to purchase from you? Without a clear idea, your sales strategy will be hit and miss. Do you know what products your customers will benefit from? Have you even bothered to ask them?

Devise a feedback form that's built around getting to know your customers and send it to your opt-in list. You do have an opt-in list don't you? Make it easy for people to answer, and offer a real incentive (a free item, or a virtual money-off voucher) for those that bother to fill it in.

4) Examine the products that you're selling. How do you feel about them? Are they products that you've personally enjoyed using? Don't tell me that you're trying to sell products that you haven't even tried? Do you think a door-to-door salesperson could make sales if they'd never even used the product before?

Choose to sell products that you know - and products that you can get passionate about. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for a seriously long bout of seller's block.

5) Be honest with yourself. Ask yourself why you're running an online business and what benefits you get from it. If the word "pleasure" doesn't even figure in that brain of yours, do yourself a favor and bow out quietly. Why waste your life on something that really gives you no enthusiasm? There are easier career moves you can make if this is how you feel.

Seller's block does exist, but you do have the ability to beat it. It's just a case of never stopping to refuel your creative well, having no clear direction, a lack of customer understanding, and products that don't get your internal fires burning. Learn how to beat seller's block before it beats you!