The conversation between husband and wife at the beginning of the “barter system”, probably around 6000 BC. C., it could have been like this:
Wife: There is nothing at home, neither rice, nor oil, nor salt, nor sugar, nor any other food! Fix something quickly.
Husband: Honey, I don’t know how to buy, like I don’t know what to sell!
To the same question, after several years, the husband’s response would have been: “Honey, I don’t know where to sell!”
Still many years later, the answer changed to: “I don’t know who to sell to! I don’t know who needs it.”
Thus, at first, a man’s problem was “he didn’t know what to sell” and now the problem is “who to sell to and where to sell.”
What to sell is no longer a serious concern these days. Everything that can be sold in this world can be sold, and most of the things around you can be sold. Don’t be fooled into perceiving ‘things’ to imply only those physical items that we can touch. Today, these ‘things’ have defied the five senses. People who are associated with business or business studios may be familiar with these things, but those who are not, let me keep things simple for you. History tells us that when man began to transact or sell things, he started with those that he could touch like rice, wheat, sugar, iron, etc., and even after the creation of the monetary system, he remained equal. Although there were exceptions, as if one checks the stories of the previous Kings, one can find that there were hundreds of servants working for the King in his castle. These people were selling their services to the King, of course for a small fee. Thus, even though people were selling non-tangible things, it never occurred to thinkers that there was a potential domain of such salable services. However, the 19th century really turned out to be the mother of inventions, discoveries, and almost every subject took a leap forward. Marketing and sales concepts also evolved gradually and then exponentially. Today the time has come when the concept of selling has challenged the concept of time and space. One can shop for the future (eg insurance products) and can shop from anywhere (even from the moon).
More than anything, sales and marketing as topics and as practices have been affected by technological advances. It is because of this changing technology that there has been a revolution in the ways of selling and the things that are sold. As I said before, things that can be sold have challenged the sensory organs and human abstraction. Who would have thought that the weather can be sold or traded? Who would have thought that a football player’s worn socks or illegible signature from him would cost millions? Who would have thought that personal experience can be sold? Who would have thought that the craziest and most life-threatening things like rafting and rock climbing would become a business to make millions? Who would have thought that even giving advice or suggestions would become a consulting business? In today’s world everything, yes almost everything, can be sold. Even old and used things can be sold. Old rocks, and of course if something is printed on them, can make you a fortune. I was about to forget that one’s hobbies may later turn out to be money minting machines (eg stamp and coin collecting). Never before has personal comfort been valued so highly. Take a look at the prices of five-star luxury hotels and high-end cars. These hotels and cars command premium prices not only for providing food, lodging, or just driving, but also for the experience and comfort they provide. Therefore, abstract things are sold and also at a higher price than physical ones.
Everyone knew that personal experience or the service one provides could be sold, or that places and property could be sold, but no one in medieval times would have thought that even ideas could be sold. Yes, there are takers if one has brilliant innovative ideas. Accidents are sold, events are sold and even happenings are sold in today’s world. The list is not complete yet my dear friends, even diseases have been sold. Yes, many multinational pharmaceutical companies have bought viruses and spread them to sell their anti-virus drugs for millions of dollars. Death is also traded; the simplest example is life insurance. Fortune tellers sell the invisible future and historians sell yesterday’s past. Singers sell their melodious voices, dancers their incredible dancing talents, and engineers their skills. The list never ends; it goes on and on.
Thus, my dear friends, we come to the conclusion that everything around you can be sold, as long as you have the art of selling and know what, where, to whom and when to sell.