guess what I want to really drill home is I just don’t understand how in 2017 people don’t realize that if they’re not producing written content, audio, or video for these 15 platforms, SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Medium, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. I just don’t understand how they think they’re still relevant.

Here are 5 simple steps to improve your sales in 2017.

#1 Marketing in the Moment We Live

The number one piece of advice I have for salespeople is you have to market in the moment we live. You have to reverse engineer consumer attention and deploy all of your time, energy and resources into producing content for that specific behavior.

It’s just binary. No one in the world reads billboards anymore when they are driving down the freeway. Most people check facebook during a commercial. The statistics are in…. People spend 5 hours a day USING their mobile devices.

You have to create content where the attention actually is ;)

It’s the #1 secret to success.

#2 Automation is Not the Answer

A stunning amount of people reading this article are not going to be successful in sales, because they’re not willing to work hard enough. They love the automation. They love all these tools, and bots, and auto-replies and apps and services and startups and CRM’s that they think are going to solve the problem. But the truth is, sales is about people. You have to build relationships first. You have to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and empathize with their position. No app is going to teach you that.

#3 Use The Right Tool for The Job

The problem is, if you have the greatest hammer, and the greatest screwdriver, and the greatest wrench, but you don’t use them properly, you will lose.

It’s all about context. You never use a hammer when you could have used a wrench. You need to know when to deploy the right methodology for the opportunity at hand. Where is your audience and what do they actually do? Is Snapchat the right tool for the problem? Is email the best way to reach your audience? Is event marketing and in-person interaction the best solution to create an experience for your brand?

These are the things you need to figure out. You need to know what you are trying to accomplish and reverse engineer your outcome. When is it the right time to use a geo-filter, when is the right time to use facebook, or influencers, or instagram?

You have all of these tools but your context is wrong. You have to treat each platform as it’s own unique experience and you have to understand how to market and sell* on each.

Let’s use Pinterest as an example.

Why do people use Pinterest over Instagram?

Because they are either planning something or have a strong intent to buy. It’s a very different behavior that requires a different strategy and unique set of tools. Understand this and you will win.

#4 Create more content. There doesn’t need to be sales objective for every piece of creative.

In 2017, there is zero excuse not to be creating content around your product, service, company or brand.

Because of the iPhone and the internet, and social media, anyone can produce and distribute. Just 15 years ago, if you wanted to create a commercial to promote your brand, you would need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on media and marketing. Today, you can literally use your smartphone, record a 2 minute clip and run ads on Facebook. The cost of entry has dropped 100 fold.

Instead of trying to sell, you now have the luxury of creating entertaining or utilitarian content as the gateway to the long term relationship. The content you produce doesn’t even need to be related to your product. You can post your favorite articles saying “these are the articles you need to read” You can post about the weather, the news, your users, yourself! As long as you are focused on bringing value to the end consumer, you are going to build reputation and relationship.

This is the key. No sale required.

#5 Adapt — Don’t Complain!

Guys! The Market is The Market is The Market.

The fact of the matter is, you don’t get to dictate where the market places it’s attention. You don’t get to decide whatever 13 to 25 year olds want to do with their hair, their clothes, their bodies, their cell phones, their friends, their time, their money. You just have to observe and react.

If every 14 year old in America spends 8 hours a day on Snapchat or Musical.ly or Instagram, you don’t get to decide. You just have to accept the facts. You have to accept that truth.

And if you are intelligent, and you understand that you have no control over THE MARKET, then you begin thinking about where the potential upside is. There’s nothing I can do about the fact that people like taking selfies. Now, as I contemplate that, what would be a good business idea to arbitrage that opportunity? That is exactly how Snapchat was born. It’s the truth and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.