Just as deal making is a vital skill, so is selling – and they aren’t always the same thing. You sell stuff outside of deals. Indeed one of the most important things you have to be able to sell in life to increase your prosperity is yourself.

Selling is the bedrock upon which every fortune is built. Whatever you do to make yourself prosperous will involve selling: selling your skills, selling things, selling ideas. You can’t make money without selling. Selling is where it’s at. Every rich person knows this simple fact. Every poor person doesn’t.

In an ideal world you should aim to sell:

• yourself and your abilities, skills and attributes (every minute of every day)
• something while you’re asleep
• in countries you’ve not only never been to but have never heard of
• via other people, so someone else is selling for you
• things that are incredibly cheap to produce and give you a really healthy return
• things other people make and finance for you
• things that have a 99 per cent penetration into every household
• things that store, transport and stack easily.

The list is probably endless. But where people go wrong is when they try to sell things that no one really wants. Unless of course you are Damien Hirst and you make pickled sharks. Now there’s a market I never thought of.

And don’t go thinking selling is for sales reps in shiny suits with a nice line in patter. Every time Richard Branson appears on television busy with a hot air balloon he is selling; selling his entire brand. Clever man. Clever selling.

I like the young chap Alex Tew who started at university in 2005. He wanted to become a millionaire and realized that if he had a million things he could sell them all for $1 and achieve his goal. And he realized a web page has 1 million pixels. He then set about selling each one for $1 to advertisers. You need a block of around 400 (thus costing $400) to be seen, but he sold half by Christmas and the rest within his first year at uni. Head down? I don’t think so. You can see the result at www.milliondollarhomepage.com – and yes, I supported his venture and paid him $400 for advertising my business as I figured such an enterprising young man needed a monetary round of applause for ingenuity, cleverness and innovation.