How to Write a Book to Attract Clients and Benefit Your Business
How many times have you said to yourself that you have to write a book to help you promote your business and speaking, but you keep putting it off? It seems overwhelming. Where do I start? Do I even know if this book will help my business? Today we are going to discuss specifically how to plan and write a book that will help your business with my guest, Sophfronia Scott.
Featured Guest
Sophfronia Scott helps entrepreneurs and speakers to write and publish books to market their businesses. She is the author of the bestselling award-winning book, Doing Business By the Book: How to Craft a Crowd-Pleasing Book and Attract More Clients and Speaking Engagements Than You Ever Thought Possible. Her latest book is How the Fierce Handle Fear: Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times. Sophronia’s website: http://www.doneforyouwriting.com
Listen to the January 23rd, 2012 show.
The Importance of Determination and Resilience for Success
Today’s show is all about the importance of determination and resilience for success; how we have the power within to overcome most obstacles we face in our lives and careers. You will hear an incredible story from my guest, Maureen Manley, that will forever change the way you look at your own life challenges and empower you to find your strength to achieve whatever you want. Maureen’s championship cycling career came to an abrupt halt with the sudden onset of Multiple Sclerosis during the Tour De France. She turned her determination and focus to a new journey, exploring ways to integrate her Mind, Body and Spirit in order to create optimal health and peace of mind. As Maureen shares her story of recovery, there are many life lessons for all of us about how to deal with life’s uncertainties and our own fears and limiting beliefs. And, in fact, we can all create a path of championship for ourselves by setting our goals, understanding and working through our limiting beliefs and keeping our focus and direction.
Featured Guest
Determination and resilience have served Maureen Manley in her many accomplishments. As a member of the US Cycling Team she won a National Championship, set a national record, earned a silver and 2 bronze medals at National Championships, competed in 3 World Championships and won a silver medal in the 1990 World Championships. Maureen’s cycling career came to an abrupt halt at the sudden onset of Multiple Sclerosis.She turned her determination and focus to a new journey, exploring ways to integrate her Mind, Body and Spirit in order to create optimal health and peace of mind. This inquiry led her to gain knowledge and understanding from a variety of fields, including: mind-body sciences, behavior sciences, faith based traditions, psychology, meditation, life coaching, and system’s theory. The application of her learning’s led her to a deeper understanding that true change and transformation originates from the inside. After completion of a Master’s Degree in Integrated Wellness, Maureen established her private practice and return to her much-loved sport of cycling. Maureen is a well respected speaker, counselor, educator and consultant. She currently delivers motivational presentations around the country, leads workshops, teaches classes, designs wellness programs and consults with organizations who wish to empower both their workforce and clients.
Listen to the December 19th, 2011 show.
Do You Dare to Dream?
Here’s the question: “If you had all the resources and freedom to do whatever you wanted, what would you do? How would you live your life?
My coach asked me this question as we started our initial work together this week and quite honestly, I was overwhelmed. I realized then that it has been a long time since I have allowed myself the personal freedom to dream of my future.
I seem to be stuck in practicality these days, focused on making a living and replenishing my savings and investments. In fact, I am chasing my financial goals with such intensity, that I have lost sight of where I’m headed.
The instability of our country’s financial status and the volatile swings on Wall Street all contribute to my sense of urgency to focus on my financial viability above all else. But the personal cost to me has been to lose that necessary time to dream and let my imagination carry me to perhaps new approaches and innovations in my business and life.
Because answering the above question was so difficult for me, I was wondering if I’m the only one who has lost touch with their dreams. Can you relate?
Last year I did some dreaming. My goal was to be a “Woman of Influence”; to do more public speaking and workshops to help women reach their career and leadership goals; to do more writing as well. I generated some fabulous ideas on how to reach this goal. Somewhere along the way, I got lost and lost my focus. I now realize how important it is to allow yourself to dream and dream big every so often.
Take some time this week and ask yourself the above question. Let yourself dream and brainstorm and have fun with your freedom of thought.
Let me know how it goes. What are your dreams?
Is Your Self-Esteem Based on the Products You Buy?
Did you know that if you use an Apple computer, you may actually be more creative because the Apple brand stands for creativity?
Did you know that using a generic cell phone battery can make you feel less attractive than a name brand?
Honestly, I had no idea any of this was true. So I was very surprised when I read this article by Heidi Grant Halvorsan in Huffington Post this week about how our use of certain brands can have an impact on our behavior and self-esteem.
I have always thought that when we have a strong foundation of core values, our self-esteem is less influenced by external factors. A strong sense of self is like our rudder in a storm; always keeping us on track and focused. The studies cited in this article, however, demonstrate that we can be easily distracted and set off course by simply using generic versus well-known trusted brands.
Most of us assume that this sort of thing stops in childhood — when being given the less expensive version of the toy, sneakers or designer jeans you really wanted is a source of embarrassment as well as disappointment. These studies suggest that as adults we continue to unconsciously see our own worth to some extent as a function of whether or not we buy, or are given, the “good version” of the products we use.
What do you think? Do you feel more attractive wearing designer clothes? I know this was definitely true for me at one point in time. My wardrobe contributed to my sense of accomplishment and I admit I probably felt more attractive. Now I feel better if I find a bargain and save money. The savings makes me feel better about myself.
What’s the message here? Should I now coach all my clients to buy only the best recognized brands if they want to increase their self-esteem? If they want to be creative, do they need to buy an Apple computer? Are we really that easily influenced or is it because we don’t have a strong sense of self and self-worth that we can be swayed by such seemingly shallow actions? Or is it that these products have done such an amazing job convincing us that their brand will change our lives for the better?
I’m really not sure that we need to buy the most expensive and the “best version” of every products to feel better about ourselves. Maybe just being aware of the impact that advertising has on us is enough.
What are your thoughts? How strong is your sense of self-worth connected to the products you purchase?
Is it possible to discover and connect with your own values regardless of the brands you use?
Thinking Outside the Box
I remember how wonderful I felt at first when I was hired to run a national company. I was thrilled with my new title and excited to take on the challenge of resurrecting a company that was doing poorly. I was up for the challenge.
The position meant a move to Chicago from the east coast and a departure from my comfort zone of colleagues, family, and friends. My management skills were on the line since the company had 210 on site employees and another couple of hundred employees working around the country. I needed to constantly assure them all that they could trust my leadership ability to move the company forward. Creating that credibility and trust was almost a full time job in itself. I needed to be visible at all times.
My office had glass walls and I felt like I was in a fish bowl most of the time. Of course, the glass walls were meant to enhance the “open door” policy and open management style, but what I remember most is never having that private time to reflect and be creative. I always needed to be “on” and for myself, at least, it’s critical to turn “off” the outside world for private time to reflect and think creatively to solve problems.
Now I have my own company and I can tap into my creative zone as often as I need to. I can block out periods of time that I don’t take calls or emails, even leave my office for a break from the routine of business to spark my creative juices. The major challenge is blocking out the time when your to do list is a mile long.
I believe that taking this break from your routine and nurturing your creativity is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your business. It is easy to completely fill your days with tasks. There is no end to the work load. There is always one more thing that needs to get done. When you are frantically doing, however, it’s almost impossible to look at your business objectively and brainstorm about new ideas, projects, or perhaps a new direction for your business. It’s so easy to get lost in the abyss of busy work.
In his book, Linchpin, Seth Godin challenges us all to think outside the box and differentiate ourselves; to break from business as usual. This is how we truly become indispensable at work. I am now outside that glass box and in my own creative zone to move my business and career forward.
My advice is to schedule this “free” time. I find, for example, that if I am driving a long distance, if I turn off the radio and my blackberry, I can find that creative zone. I suggest you add some free time as often as necessary to your ongoing to do list. As a result, your business and your career will benefit tremendously.
What about you? How do you make time to be creative and brainstorm so that you can move your career and business forward?
The Creative Process
I am fascinated by the creative process. Do you find that sometimes you are really in sync and great ideas come to you very easily and other times you struggle to even focus for a few seconds on a concept? Have you ever thought about what is happening when you are trying so hard to be creative?
Recent research shows that when you are distracted from a creative challenge for a few minutes, you are more likely to come up with a creative solution than if you focused your attention on it. In the study done at the University of Amsterdam, students were given a creative problem to solve. One group was told they had three minutes to think it through before giving their answers. Another group was given an unrelated task to do for three minutes to distract them. This task was a non-creative one that was designed to use their conscious thoughts. The third group was asked to come up with ideas immediately.
What was the result? Well, you might think the group that was given time to focus on a solution would have better results and more creative ideas, but the opposite occurred. It was the distracted group that generated more creative solutions. Here’s the reason given: the distracted group had a task that occupied their conscious thoughts, thereby freeing up their unconscious mind to do some creative work.
Don’t you find this is true yourself? How often have you tried consciously to focus on a creative solution and come up empty?
I remember trying to rename my radio show last January. I spent hours trying to think of a new catchy name. It wasn’t until I let it go and focused on other activities that the answer came to me, Head over Heels!
It’s an incredible “ah-hah” moment when the conscious part of your brain receives the answer from your unconscious.
There is a great lesson here for all of us. When we are attempting to find a creative solution, we need to distract ourselves and do something totally different for a while in order to free our subconscious brain to come up with the answer.
Let yourself be distracted and amazing things will happen.
Have you experienced this?
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