How Demon Bunnies and Cookie Monster Can Help You Sell Your Skills

A few weeks back, my wife clued me in to the hilarious “nailed it” meme on Pinterest.

This meme is a collection of crafts and baking attempts that went horribly off the rails.

You post a photo of something you were *trying* to make, alongside the actual results.

Like rolls that are supposed to look like adorable bunnies—but end up looking like grinning demons from your worst nightmare.

Or the Cookie Monster cupcakes that melt and run like the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

This article gives you a pretty good flavor.

I love how this meme mixes a little dash of self-deprecating humor with a slam at the arts-and-crafts mavens like Martha Stewart who earn a fortune by making difficult skills seem effortless enough for anyone to do.

It’s also a great illustration of why businesses that sell “done for you” products and services shouldn’t be afraid of giving away too much in their marketing.

There’s a huge yawning chasm between INFORMATION and actual SKILL.

Just because I “know” how to create a QuickBooks account doesn’t make me a bookkeeper.

(Until recently, my financial records would have made a pretty awesome “nailed it” meme.)

When what you sell requires a high level of skill to execute, you have nothing to lose by giving away everything you know.

Most of the time, your customers will simply see what you’re teaching, realize it’s way more complicated than they thought at first, and hire you to do it.

A few will take your info and try to do it themselves…

And when they see the mess they’ve created, they’ll be even more appreciative of your expertise.

Either way, you win.

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