Why it's good that most writers aren't interested in marketing.

Most writers aren't interested in marketing their work.  They'd just as soon spend hours upon hours on end doing nothing but writing.

And that's good.

For me.

Me and those also willing to market their work.

It's a fact that writing--the actual creative process, AKA the sitting-your-butt-in-a-chair-and-doing-the-work--is only part of your job as a writer.  The other part is under the umbrella of the M-word: marketing.

I am going to give you two quick resources to help you in this:

1) Check out Seth Godin.  Subscribe to his blog so you do not miss one single bit of nugget from him.  In fact, get all of his books and read them.  I mean, all of them.  Some may have been written several years ago, but they are as close to timeless as you can get.  If you do nothing else but read Seth, and do what he says, you'll be set.

2) Career Coach Dan Miller is a great inspiration for anyone wanting to find "work that you love."  He has daily blogs, a weekly 48-minute podcast, and has tons of resources for those who want learn more about marketing their work.  On his worksheets tab, he has a free download of 48 Marketing Tips.

Marketing can become a habit, if you recognize just how easy it is.  Learn how to use Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube effectively and you'll have the makings of building a strong marketing arm for your writing business.

Because it all starts with having the mindset of a businessperson, running your writing empire like a business.

But, if you don't want to do it, and think that publishing companies and literary agents will come clawing at your door (this works if you're a nobody - if you're Donald Trump or Snookie, you're a leg up on the rest of us), you're going to be in for a big surprise when nobody's going to be knocking.

To answer the question asked in the title of this blog, "Why it's good that most writers aren't interested in marketing," it's because that means that those who do market their work, we'll sell more books.

(For those who are planning a wedding, or know of anyone who's planning a wedding, be sure to check out my Kindle ebook 99 Ways To Have A Memorable Wedding On A Shoestring Budget).

That's how easy it is.

Well, okay, there's a bit more to it than that, but it is a small piece of it.

What I Listen To - Dan Miller

Last week, I told you that the first podcast that I listened to was Dave Ramsey.  Springboarding from that, I started listening to his friend, career coach Dan Miller.

Once a week, Dan launches another podcast.  These are around 48 minutes long, and it is centered around helping others find work that they'll love, whether it's creating a business or getting a job.  It seems odd, Dan will tell you, to think about finding a work that you just love to do.  Many think that in order for that to happen, you can't make any money.  Perish the thought.  Dan, each and every week, answers listeners' multiple questions on how to do this.  He doesn't pull any punches either.  If the business idea you have is not a very smart one, he'll tell you.  Then, he'll tell you how to turn it around and have a fresh idea.

Dan draws upon a variety of sources for his wisdom.  He's a ferocious reader, gobbling up book after book.  There is rarely a podcast that he doesn't mention a book to read or a person's blog to follow, passing upon his vast knowledge of finding your own passion.  Dan is also an author of bestselling books such as 48 Days to the Work you Love and No More Dreaded Mondays, both of which I highly recommend.

As an added bonus, Dan has put together an online community of individuals who are either seeking to find work that they love or are actually doing it.  It is called 48 Days.Net, of which I am also a member.

For the longest time, until I discovered other podcasters, Dave and Dan were the two I listened to.  From there, I discovered other voices, authors, and bloggers such as Simon Sinek, Seth Godin, Michael Hyatt, John Maxwell, and many more.

P.S. Write!

Earlier this month, Dan Miller had an interesting blog post titled: My spouse rejects my ideas - what do I do?

Dan requested audience participation on this one, along with awarding a prize for the top 2 responses.  I dutifully responded and not only received feedback from a guy named Trevor Lund (AKA RevTrev), I also got a response from Dan Miller himself--very exciting!  I didn't win one of his top prizes, but what came out of it profounded me and prompted me to write this blog.

My wife, as well as I, love our lists.  She knows if she puts a list of household chores together, I'll stick to it.  Most of the time she even sends me to the store, list in hand, because she knows I'll "just get what's on the list and that's it."

Even from the beginning of our marriage (going on almost 15 years now!), she always puts at the end of her lists:

P. S. Write!

My wife has never wavered in her support of my writing dreams.  Oddly enough, she's read very little of what I write, simply because she's not interested in thrillers or fantasy epics or horror tales--although she does love the Harry Potter stories, and I'll bet money that if she started reading mine, she'd be hooked.

In my initial response to Dan's blog, which was centered on a gentleman who asked Dan what he should do if his wife rejects all of his ideas, I said that I couldn't help but think of Proverbs 31: "Whoever can find a virtuous wife, for her worth is far above rubies."  Sure, I've had some hair-brained ideas over the years and I've listened to my wife's advice and not done them.  But when it comes to my writing, she's always been supportive.

Why?

This is a valid question, since I've only had an ebook published so far, and that was less than 2 months ago.  If you were to ask her, she knows that publishing is a long process.  But also, here's the key: she sees me working on it.  She sees me writing, either on the computer or on the hard copy pages.  Whenever she calls me on my lunch or breaks at work, she asks me what I'm doing.

"I'm writing, honey," I tell her.

And she believes me.  Because it's true.

I also don't spend nights away from home, at the bars or at my buddies' homes.  I'm at home, when the kids are in bed, and I'm writing.  Now, I'm really writing stories.  I'm not writing mindless BS, which brings to mind this frightening scene from Stephen King's movie The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick:

If you have a spouse who doesn't support your dreams, ask them why.  Don't get defensive.  Listen.  It's possible you're spending too much time working "on your dream" and your family is suffering.  I admit, there is a fair amount of time that needs to be devoted to writing, but don't forget about the beneficiaries of your dreams when they become a reality.

There's more I want to write on this topic, it seems.  I'll have to wait for future posts to continue this discussion.

Dream Team

In Napoleon Hill's classic book Think And Grow Rich one of his chapters is devoted to what is called the Mastermind Group.

A Mastermind Group is synonymous with a Dream Team.

These are a group of people, that although they may individually exhibit great talent, together they can form an unstoppable force.  Napoleon Hill said to create, in your own mind, a Mastermind Group and use that group when making decisions.  For example, one of his members was Abraham Lincoln.  Pretty hard for him to attend in person, since he's been dead a little while (even in Napoleon Hill's time), but if you've read enough about a person, it's almost like channeling their creativity or talent.

Dan Miller and Dave Ramsey have been part of group of thirteen men they call the Eagles Club, which is the same concept of the Mastermind Group with other members of the business community that they trust and are great friends with.  You can have more than one Mastermind Group--possibly one in person and the other in your mind.  One could be your writers' group and the other be a group of famous authors you wish to "channel."

Who would be on your own dream team?  Mine would possibly be:

Stephen King

George Lucas

Steven Spielberg

J. R. R. Tolkien

J. K. Rowling

John Grisham

Brandon Sanderson

J. D. Salinger

John Gardner



Am I dreaming?  Yeah, I probably am.

New Year's Resolutions - why I don't believe in them

"I'm going to eat right."

"I'm going to write that book."

"I'm going to start that business."

"I'm going to take some college classes."

"I'm going to get out of debt."

"I'm going to lose ten pounds." (or twenty or thirty or fifty or . . .)

"For my New Year's Resolution, I'm going to ________________ "

Do any of these sound familiar?

If you answered yes to any of these or were able to fill in the blank, then you're like most people.  But, also, most people don't fullfill their resolutions.  Why?  Because they have a habit of not keeping with their resolutions and procrastinating.

That's why I say when I came to something I want to do--write in a blog, Monday through Friday, as a way to both promote my writing and give back the lessons I've learned to help other people achieve their dreams--I didn't start on January first.  I started in the middle of October, the moment I thought of it.

I listen to a lot of podcasts, as I've said before, and one that I had been listening to at the time was by career coach Dan Miller.  In the particular podcast, he said that he's been blogging for the past few years, Monday through Friday, and hasn't missed a day yet.  When I heard that, I said to myself, "That's what I'll do.  And I'll do it right now."

And I've committed myself to doing it every weekday.  I've even committed myself to posting a special blog on certain major holidays (New Year's, Valentine's Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, at least, with some of the others thrown in the mix at times)

I have also committed myself to simply writing everyday--not just on weekdays but every single day.  This would be for my novels and short stories.  That resolution I've had for the past several years--with the exception of a few days here and there, I've pretty much kept to that resolution.

What's your resolution?

Better yet, what is it that you want to do?  Know what that is.  Start it.  Today.  Any day.  You don't need a holiday to give yourself permission to start (even though I'm posting this on a holiday).  I'm giving you permission.

This blog - it's not just for writers

It doesn't take long to figure out that this blog is mostly intended for writers . . . although the advice can spill over into other arenas of thought.

I recently listened to a podcast (www.48days.com) where Dan Miller talks about why he attends various seminars, even if it's not in his area of interest--for those of you who don't know who Dan is, he's a successful career coach and author.  He gave the example of attending a real estate seminar.  He doesn't even sell real estate, but the principles he learned only increased his knowledge of what he's doing.  He took out what he could work with.

The same could be said about this blog.  I'm not sure the demographics of who reads this, and although there may be a majority as writers, let me speak to some of the others right now.  Finding out what one truly loves to do--something Dan Miller speaks about a lot, so I strongly encourage you to read his blog as well and listen to his podcasts--and doing what you love to do is a journey I believe everyone should take.  As Simon Sinek calls it, find out your "why."

If you love to work on Harley Davidson motorcycles, woodworking, creating quilts, restoring classic Mustangs, painting portraits, coaching people through the difficult parts of their life, photography . . . and the list goes on . . . whatever that may look like, envision it.

To help you, let me ask you a question I've been asking people for quite some time now: if you were able to be paid $500,00 (or even a million) dollars a year to do what you love to do, what would that look like?  Be honest with yourself.  The answer could surprise you.

Speaking of woodworking, one of my cousins has found his passion in woodworking.  But not just any woodworking.  Woodworking by hand, without any need for power tools.  I've been following his blog for quite some time, and I can honestly say it's very impressive. His blog is http://insidetheworkshop.blogspot.com/   I don't love working with wood as much as my cousin, but it still inspires me to do what I love: writing.