The magical transformational power of art (even silly pulp stories)

Vision drives decision.

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That pithy quote comes from the world-renowned negotiator, the late Jim Camp.

Camp's core idea is that you don't win a negotiation by giving your opponents what they want with the aim to reach a "win win" agreement.

When you aim to please, you get fleeced.

Simple as that.

There's giving people what they need, and then there's being a chump.

You don't want to be a chump.

This goes for any negotiation. Small minds will say "but I'm not a negotiator" and go back to consuming Facebook chow.

Bigger brains will look beyond the words and catch a glimpse of the bigger picture.

Any interaction with another person where you want them to do something they may not want to do is a negotiation.

Want the kids to go to eat their dinner and go to bed?

Want to ask the boss for a raise?

Want to land that client?

You're negotiating.

And if you try that "Win-Win" method at the table with a shark, you're throwing chum in the water. Not going to end well.

What do you do instead?

You show up with a powerful, compelling vision set in the other guy's world.

You take a stand with a point of view and you dig in your heels. It's this way or no way.

If you've told the right kind of story... a story that really is convincing and compelling... and really is set in the other guy's world so that he can relate to it intellectually and emotionally...

Then you can't lose.

I've often said that fiction authors ought to excel in marketing and sales.

Fiction-writing skills translate to good copy and powerful ads... and a well-told story can sell far better than any of that flash-and-dash hype-driven used-car-salesman sleaze that most people think is selling.

Let's run that a step further. What is selling?

Here's the cynical take: Alex gets Bob to give him ten bucks for a widget. Alex doesn't care about Bob, Bob only wants a widget, and the widget's available in 100 places.

If you think of your business as I suggest -- as a culture that builds relationships with customers who know, like, and trust you -- then selling is much more than getting the "click".

Your artistic vision can be the foundation of your whole enterprise.