I recently received an email telling me that ‘selling is the new marketing’. How ridiculous is that! Sending out a mass-marketing message – which by its very nature was neither well-targeted nor especially engaging, nor particularly well-informed – proclaiming the death of marketing, defied all logic.

Of course marketing is not dead – nor, indeed, is selling. Yet, neither discipline can continue to prosper in the way that we have become used to: a combination of factors means customers are becoming increasingly empowered.

Carole Railton has an enviable track-record in sales. She argues that we need to establish our own personal brand to be successful at selling.

Lets take a step back.... Question: why do people go into business. Answer: to make the world a better place for us all. People like Richard Branson have a dream of opening up space flight to all, Steve Jobs at Apple is passionate about making the use of technology simple with style.