Is it Time to Write Your Book?
This is a guest post by Lisa Tener, author and book coach.
Have you noticed how many people are writing books lately? Maybe some colleagues and competitors in your field have recently become published authors. Do you wonder if becoming a published author is for you?
A book can help you start a new business or take an existing business to the next level. It can help you position yourself as an expert in your field and open up new (or bigger) opportunities in public speaking, media attention, joint ventures and more.
Evana Maggiore, Author of Fashion Feng Shui: The Power of Dressing with Intention, has told me that she often hears from new person who found her on the internet, read her book in a day and immediately signed up for her training program with a several thousand dollar price tag. Even those who don’t sign up for training often look for a fashion feng shui consultant who can help them dress their mind, body and spirit for powerful results. Evana’s book is out there attracting a following for her own business and businesses of FFS Consultants she trains 24/7—even when Evana is on vacation.
Aspiring authors tend to to talk about their book to anyone and everyone—friends, family, people at cocktail parties. Mum’s the word. I’m not going to tell you they’ll steal your idea. That is extremely unlikely. The fact is, though, that the less energy you project outward about your book, the more you focus your energy inward into the writing. Talking about your book can take the place of writing it. Keep it quiet and write, write, write.
But wait. Before you just start writing mounds and mounds of stuff that someday you’ll have to wade through and organize and figure out how to put it all together into something coherent, take a deep breath and begin to plan.
Without a plan, how do you know what to do and how to get there? Everyone needs a plan. Plan your time; plan what you need to do; plan how to research your market before you begin; plan what you’ll do when you run into snags. Plan how you’ll get support, as well as any expertise you need. Support can come from a friend, colleague, writing cohort, coach or writing class. Expertise can come from people in your market (potential readers), editors, a writing coach, agents, publishers, colleagues and experts in your field.
Above all, have fun and stay connected to your passion for your subject. Writing a book, getting published and hearing from readers about how the book made a difference in their lives can be a peak experience. The more connect with what excites you about the subject, the more fun you’ll have.
Lisa Tener is a published author and book coach. She teaches on the faculty of Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course. Lisa has been interviewed on ABC World News with Peter Jennings, NiteBeat and PBS-TV and quoted in USA Weekend, Glamour, Family Circle, Body and Soul, Fitness, the Boston Globe and dozens of other publications. Her clients have been interviewed on Oprah, Montel and much more.
To sign up for her FREE teleseminar, Write Your Book: The First 5 Steps (next offered September 9 at 8:30 pm ET) e-mail Lisa at Lisa@LisaTener.com with the subject: “Sept. 9 seminar, new.” You can visit her website at www.LisaTener.com. And sign up for her blog at www.LisaTener.com/blog.
How to Stay Marketable in a Down Economy
How do you stay marketable in a down economy? Promote your personal brand.
When it comes to selling yourself, you should follow the same guidelines that you use when selling any product or service. Take an objective point of view, do an assessment of the product (you), create an effective pitch, and develop a sales plan.
1. Know Your Product.
Do an assessment of yourself and get to know yourself as the “product”.
What are your strengths?
List 3-5 personality pluses and how these traits have helped you in your current and past positions.
List 3-5 recent accomplishments. What do these accomplishments say about you?
2. What is your sales pitch for your product?
Create your own personal pitch.
Answer these questions:
What is my story? my history?
What differentiates me? What special qualities do I have and why are they marketable?
How have these qualities helped me be successful in the past?
What are my features and benefits?
i.e. I am tenacious and what that means to my employer is that they can count on me to stay focused and complete my assigned projects.
3. Create Your Sales Plan
What is your career goal for the next 6-12 months?
Create action items to help you reach your goal.
Identify people you need to be in front of consistently. How will you accomplish that? Set timeframes and identify resources needed if any.
What organizations should you join/attend? What committee should you volunteer for?
What special projects should you take on?
4. Go out there and sell yourself.
Always be prepared 24/7 to talk about your accomplishments.
Consistently work your sales plan and stay in front of your “web of influence”, your important contacts.
Stay visible. Stay positive. Stay focused.
Approach selling yourself and your own personal brand with the enthusiasm and confidence your “product” deserves. You are the best possible “product”. Go out there and let everyone know what you’ve got!
Want to practice your positive self-talk?
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Friday morning Breakfast Brag Club (TGIF)
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Setting Your Goals for 2009: Step Three
In our goal setting process so far:
- We listed our accomplishments over the past year.
- We reviewed this list and noted what strengths and values these accomplishments represent. What lessons did we learn about ourselves and what success patterns did we identify that will carry us forward to continued success?
Now we are going to look forward and set our sights on where we want to be in the future. In Breaking the Rules, Kurt Wright describes a “New Paradigm in Goal Setting”. He recommends that we start with the END in mind. This approach to goal setting with the focus on the long range goals frees you from thinking about limitations and obstacles. (As an example, sometimes when you think about a specific goal you would like to accomplish in the short term, it is easy to start thinking about HOW you are going to do that and then reject it because you don’t know the HOW. This hinders the visioning process.)
Wright recommends that you begin your visioning with ten year goals in these areas:
- Spiritual Goals
- Family Goals
- Career Goals
- Self-Improvement Goals
- Health Goals
- Social Goals
- Financial Goals: how much money is required to support the above goals?
Start thinking about how you want your life to look in ten years within each of these categories. Jot down some notes in each category. You will have more information in some areas than others. Take your time and write down your thoughts over time. What is your vision for yourself, your business, your relationships? Prioritize the categories. Which ones are most important to you? Where do you have the most information right now? This is the starting point.
Now, knowing what you do about yourself and your values, what do you think you can accomplish this year toward these goals? Take one category at a time.This becomes your short term action plan for 2009.
- When do you begin?
- What results do you expect to see?
- How do you track my progress?
- What obstacles might pop up and how do you overcome these?
- What resources do you need, if any, to accomplish these action items?
- When do you expect to complete this action item?
Once you have completed your long range goals and short term action plan, Wright recommends that you begin to track your “success factors”.
What three action items can I take on a regular basis that will have the most impact on my success in reaching my goals?
What specific results should I look for to measure my progress?
What can I do to measure specific results? How do I monitor my success?
Tap into the empowering energy of your proven success and know that you have the ability to reach your long term goals when you use your strengths to make it happen.
De-Clutter Your Brain and Jump Start Your Creativity
A few months ago a long time friend of mine recommended that I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. In this book, Julia describes a program she created for artists to connect with their creativity through a series of exercises. This process has been so successful that people from all different professions have adopted the practice.
One of my favorite exercises is called The Morning Pages. Similar to writing in a journal, Julia asks you to write three longhand pages first thing every morning. These three pages of writing are strictly stream-of consciousness and they are not supposed to sound intelligent or meaningful. You are directed to just write what ever comes to mind and fill three pages. Often my morning pages are filled with a variety of emotions and “stuff”. Perhaps I am feeling negative about something that could be as simple as not wanting to do the laundry or clean the house. Some days, I write down my personal and professional concerns. I address my feelings of self-doubt. I purge them through this process. Sometimes, my thoughts are more profound and as I write, I find solutions to issues I have tossed around in my brain for days.
This writing exercise is a great cleansing. There is no right or wrong way to write. It is not supposed to be a creative exercise. You are directed never to read your pages to anyone else. In fact, the author recommends that you not read your own pages for at least eight weeks. The point here is that this exercise and all the petty, whiny stuff you write down helps you to de-clutter your brain and in doing so, you open the door to your creativity. As you rid yourself of the “stuff” that occupies your attention, it is amazing what happens.
I have a love-hate relationship to the morning pages and yet I still force myself even when I’m not in the mood to write. I stopped writing for a while and this past week I started again. I no sooner finished writing my pages one morning than the flood gates opened with new ideas for my business for next year.
Try it for a while. Make this practice a part of your morning routine and see what happens. De-clutter your brain and unleash your creativity. You will breathe new life into your personal and professional life.
