I “shocked” someone on Facebook yesterday.

Not that they realised they were shocked. They just couldn't quite comprehend what I'd said.

I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that they'd made some comment about how someone's public statements were foolish because they'd lose sales because of it. To which I replied that “perhaps they think there's something more important than sales”.

It took 3 or 4 repeats of my reply in different forms before they actually got what I was trying to say. They essentially couldn't comprehend that there might be something more important for a business owner than maximising your sales or profits.

Sometimes it's easy to fall into that trap. Pretty much every piece of advice we read about marketing is all about how to use this technique or that to get more sales. 

And I know people who use advertising they feel uncomfortable with (messages that push the edges of hype and truthfulness for example) but justify it because they get more sales or more subscribers that way. 

Or they've been told it's their “duty” to sell as hard as possible so that people will benefit from what they have to offer. 

It's not.

Possibly now more than ever it's important to recognise that the end doesn't justify the means. Selling more is never justified if you have to sell your soul to do it. 

And here's the thing: we don't need to “maximise” our sales. We just need enough. 

I know that I could get more sales if I marketed in different ways. My emails and my webinars give too much information for free according to many “experts”. But I'm comfortable with that. I'd rather give more value to more people and lose some sales than maximise sales and give less value. I sell enough to keep me very comfortable :)

My friend Charlie Green once said something that I think is so important in business and life. He was commenting on our tendency to say things like “if you do the right thing it'll pay back in the end”.

He made the point that you should do the right thing because it's the right thing, not because it's going to pay back.

That's stuck with me ever since.

So if you ever feel uncomfortable about advice you've been given on how to market or sell, listen to your heart.

You might be wrong. You might be being over-sensitive. It might simply be fear of rejection kicking in.

But if you challenge yourself and think it through and it still doesn't feel right, don't do it, no matter how effective you're told it will be.

Do the right thing.