Page 26 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

N LOGGING camps the cook shouts, “Come and get it.” In the army the
bugler sounds mess call. In either case a horde of hungry men come running
for their meals.

In business it would be simple if a manufacturer or a merchant could bring all
his customers within earshot, shout, “Come and get it” and be rushed by a
crowd of customers eager to buy his product. However, as we all know,
people are not that anxious to buy. They must be educated, persuaded and
shown how and what to buy. That is the job of salesmen and saleswomen.

There is always a demand for people who can sell. Salesmanship draws its
manpower from every other profession and trade. Lawyers have closed their
law books and turned to selling; some have grown rich. Surgeons have put
aside their white coats and become salesmen. Bankers, grown tired of sitting
on tall stools, or behind fancy desks have thrown up their jobs and turned to
the more satisfying job of selling. Farmers have walked away from their
plows to take up salesmanship; men from machine shops, from schools,
churches, stores and offices have sought the greater freedom and wider
opportunities for profit offered by a career in salesmanship.

There are many reasons why so many men desert other types of work to take
up salesmanship. One of the first reasons is that you can write your own
ticket when you become a salesman. You do not have to wait until the boss
gets ready to grant you a raise; a good salesman can give himself a raise in
pay almost any time. You do not have to work long, dreary hours, Sundays
and holidays as the druggist, the restaurant owner or the garage employee
must.

In selling you are almost entirely your own boss. You set your own rate of
pay and, like the captain of a ship at sea, you rely on your own judgment and
ability. There are many other things that go to make selling real fun. You
meet the community’s most successful, most interesting and influential
people. You are in constant touch with what’s going on in the world, and you
are laying the foundation for success and increasingly bigger pay checks.

There is almost no other man who is so thoroughly independent and secure as