Posts Tagged ‘book’
Expose Lies on Resumes
Purpose: Learn about the new Polygraph for management hires
His heart dropped when he saw his boss from his current company walk into the interview room with his prospective new employer. In a flash, every exaggeration on his resume was known. All of the excitement of a new and better-paying position instantly vanished.
That meeting ended quickly with an exchange of courtesies and a kind rejection. The interviewer walked back to her office frustrated at the amount of time and effort she had invested into this candidate. She had been excited about his strong resume and test results and happier yet that the exhausting search process was nearly over. At the same time, she was glad to know now about his weaknesses. They certainly would have cost her company a great deal more time, money and frustration if she had hired him.
70% of Resumes Can’t Be Trusted
Research shows that 70% of the resumes on your desk right now contain fabrications and exaggerations. And it’s not just for that sales or middle management job. An executive search firm reported that after reviewing thousands of resumes the top three lies were the number of years in a position, personal accomplishments, and the size of the organizations they’ve managed. Look at the people you’ve already hired to staff your company. I’m not suggesting that you distrust them, but that same 70% applies to the resumes you looked at last year too.
It is no wonder that the 80/20 rule is in effect at your company and on your team. Despite all of the testing, analyzing, interviewing, screening, background checks and gut feels, you would still like someone more effective in 80% of the positions of your company. That is true for your upper management also. You’d like to see 80% of them hit the road and be replaced by people with abilities and values that mirror those of the 20% that produce 80% of the results.
Avoid The Costly Hiring Mistake You’re About to Make
It’s enough to make you cry, because you simply want someone who can handle the responsibilities of the job, and you’ll gladly pay well for their services. To complicate the matter, when considering upper management and executive staff, a great deal of their responsibility is as a leader. You are no longer looking for a technical expert, whose abilities are easily graded; you are now in that horribly grey area called soft-skills. Can you truly evaluate leadership skills and a person’s ability to operate effectively under stress from a resume, interviews and personality tests?
Look around you for the evidence.
What’s worse is that despite the gross volume of different paper tests, interview techniques and evaluation tools, you are still making mistakes in your hiring decisions. Yet, these mistakes are easily identified in advance, but not by using the existing passive methods. The wrong hiring decisions cost you enormous amounts of money and frustration and resulting inefficiencies. Studies show that the cost of turnover is three times the annual salary of the replaced employee. However, if you could make more informed hiring decisions, especially when filling your higher-paid leadership positions; it will have the opposite effect. You begin to reap monetary and efficiency benefits in an upward spiral.
What is needed is an advanced evaluation tool. You verify that someone can swim by putting them into the pool. You verify that someone can lead by putting them into a real leadership scenario. Like the pool the characteristics of the leadership scenario don’t have to match the job exactly. To swim, you need enough water over a long enough distance. To lead, you need a task, a team, real stress and real consequences like the kind found in the Leading Concept’s Ranger TLC Experience.
Use This Polygraph to Identify the Real Leader
This leadership scenario is your new polygraph, and it’s legal. It’s like having the candidate’s old boss sitting at your side pointing out exaggerations and lies. Putting your top management candidates into this leadership scenario and evaluating them gives you the ability, in conjunction with the other tools, to avoid costly mistakes and have trust and confidence in the people you do hire.
To learn more about how immersion team building and leadership training can help you visit: http://www.leadingconcepts.com
Copyright 2005 Brace E. Barber
Brace E. Barber works extensively with Leading Concepts, Inc. (http://www.leadingconcepts.com) in the field of immersion soft-skill training with a focus is on how to develop leaders, who are prepared for and can succeed under stressful circumstances. He is the author of the book No Excuse Leadership. (http://www.noexcuseleadership.com)
Selecting the Right Tackle
One of the most important things to consider when fly fishing is choosing your tackle the right way. Many people overlook this important factor and start with the wrong assumptions. They first buy the rod, then the line to match the rod, then the reel and then they buy the flies they will need to fish. The fact is the flies are the most important in determining weather or not you will be catching any fish.
The tackle selection process should go as follows:
First you must select the correct flies that you will be using to catch the type of fish you will be attempting to catch. The type of fly that is abundant in that particular environment. We will get into the types of flies to use in the right environment later on in the book. For now, accept that the fly should be chosen first.
Lines:
Once the fly assortment has been chosen, the next logical progression should be the line that will be used to catch the fish. The major between fly fishing, spinning and plug casting, is that with the last two types of tackle, the lure is used as a weight that drags the line from the reel to the target point of fishing. Flies are almost weightless, so you will need something to haul the line to the target area. That weight is the fly line, which can be linked to an unrolling sinker. Just before the stop of the back cast and the forward cast, the line is straight. On the stop the line begins unrolling, transporting the fly to the target area.
There are four basic types of fly lines: Level taper, double taper, weight forward and shooting taper. Now, within these four tapers there are many variations. Some companies produce several hundred of fly lines. The good thing however, is that once you decide what type of fishing you will be doing, you’ll be using only a specific type of line.
Lines are given numbers from 1-15, and the most commonly used lines are numbered 3-12 in weight. As a rule the first 30 feet of a line is weighted and this line must be matched to the rod for optimum casting. Since most anglers have a variety of different outfits, each outfit is then matched to a different line to match each rod.
As a rule, most manufacturers will have a label attached to each reel, which will usually indicate the lines’ weight or number.
About The Author
Brett Fogle is the publisher of Fly Fishing Secrets, an insiders guide to flyfishing tips and techniques of the pros. To sign up for free flyfishing tips and other articles, please visit www.fly-fishing-secrets.com.
Do you Have the Burning Desire to Lose Weight or Reach any Goal?
NOTE: This article is one of the component parts of the 9-step WTA3 program contained in the ebook titled “The Action Path -Your Key to Success!” due out in 2005 at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html.
- Do you have a Burning Desire? -
Do you have a burning desire to lose weight and reduce your body fat to 10%?
Do you have a burning desire to get a flat, well-toned midsection?
Do you have a burning desire to increase your net worth to $500,000?
Do you have a burning desire to improve your personal relationships?
Do you have a burning desire to start a business next year?
Do you have a burning desire to reduce your credit card debt?
The key phrase is “Do you have a burning desire to…”. We all have hopes, dreams, wants and wishes. Do you have a ‘Burning Desire’ to make the right choices on a daily basis and take positive action steps toward your goals?
Let’s start with a common goal of reducing body fat or losing weight. While losing weight is a more common goal, reducing body fat to your body’s optimum level is the better route to take. For this illustration, imagine you had a personal goal of losing 10 lbs in 30 days. Because you’re smart, you know that losing weight can be accomplished by taking in fewer calories than you burn. This is a law of nature and makes logical sense. Even though we are aware of this basic principle, losing weight continues to be a difficult goal for many people to accomplish. Now the question; do you really have a ‘Burning Desire’ to lose 10 lbs in 30 days? If you’re like many, your answer is “…yes, I have a desire to lose weight…” but in reality you don’t have a ‘Burning Desire’.
Another source for creating your own ‘Burning Desire’ is a program from Tony Robbins titled, Get the Edge! You can see a product review of his program at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_gettheedge.html.
To further illustrate our day-to-day choices and the difference between a desire and a ‘Burning Desire’ let’s pretend that you are two days into your diet and you’re at your favorite hamburger restaurant for your usual lunch. What are you going to choose from the menu? What choice are you going to make?
Will it be the usual double cheeseburger, large fries and a soft drink?
Will it be a double cheeseburger, small fries and a small soft drink?
Will it be a single burger, no small fries and a diet soft drink?
Will it be a burger (no bun), small salad (light dressing) and water?
Will you leave your favorite hamburger restaurant and find a different place to eat?
Most will order the usual lunch or might only cut down slightly. You might even justify it by convincing yourself that later in the day you’ll eat less, you’ll exercise more at the gym or you need all this food because you are ’starving’. By choosing to order the usual lunch, you’ve made a choice to take action towards your goal of losing weight. Let me repeat in a slightly different way. By selecting the usual lunch, you have made a (wrong) choice to take (a negative) action towards your goal of losing weight. Every minute of every day you have the power, potential and intellect to make good choices that will help direct you to take positive actions towards meeting your goals. Will you succumb to a need for immediate gratification or can you delay it for a short period with your eye on the prize, of a larger, more gratifying long-term goal.
Was choosing the usual lunch the right choice for you to meet your goal of losing weight? It probably wasn’t the best choice, but only you can make the decision to make the right choice. Your decision to eat a high calorie lunch was probably based on a short-term craving and the need for immediate gratification. After the meal, you’ve met your short-term craving but you’ve moved farther away from your long-term goal of losing 10 lbs. You need to be aware that your day-to-day choices are often based on a superficial need to satisfy your immediate gratification. When short-term wins over long-term, it shows that your immediate gratification cravings have registered more votes in your brain. Your objective it to move the pendulum; make your long-term goals register more votes so you will automatically start taking more consistent and positive action steps. You need to create a ‘Burning Desire’ to make long-term win over short-term.
Don’t forget to check out the other examples, such as increasing your net worth, outlined in other chapters of this book. You can also check out a product review of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_burnthefatfeedthemuscle.html.
Stop reading and take your first positive action step to create a ‘Burning Desire’. You can apply this technique to any goal. To make this exercise easier, use the form in the appendix section of this book.
- List at least 6 reasons why you want to attain a weight loss goal (or any other goal). List both the positive reasons (I want to look good for the Caribbean vacation) and the negative reasons (I can’t fit into my pants). Positive reasons are “What will I get if I attain this goal”. Negative reasons are “What will happen if I don’t attain this goal”.
- Next to each reason you listed above, write a short, visual description of that reason. It’s important that you visualize your reasons. If one of your reasons is “…I can’t fit into these pants…”, describe this visualization as a picture with your stomach hanging over the edge of your belt or waistband. Make sure you complete this visualization description for each reason. As you go through this visualization process you may start thinking of more reasons – go ahead jot them down on your list.
- Take 10-15 minutes and read your 6 (or more) reasons along with your visualization descriptions. Which one or two reasons trigger the most emotionally energized response?
- Take the top 1,2 or 3 emotionally energized reasons, write them down on a business card size piece of paper and place them in your wallet, purse, desk and/or car. For the next 3-5 days, take out this card and read the reasons and the visualization description out loud.
- By the end of the 3-5 days, if you still get emotionally energized and excited; congratulations, you now have created your own ‘Burning Desire’.
What if this didn’t work and you’re not emotionally excited – what if you didn’t create a ‘Burning Desire’. Your current goal has reverted back to a wish, a want, a dream or a hope. At this stage you have a few options. First, you should go back to step #1 and try this exercise again. Often during the first attempts, you may not have put enough time or energy into the process. Right now is the time to change for the better – take a positive action step and give it another chance. Second, if you’ve tried this exercise or other techniques and still can’t seem to create a ‘Burning Desire’, than you may need to pick another goal, abandon the goal or change the goal. Changing the goal is not giving up; changing the goal is often one of the best ways to get yourself re-energized, motivated and excited about moving forward.
By taking these 5 steps to create a ‘Burning Desire’ for each one of your goals (large or small), you will make your goals much more attainable, you will start to consistently meet more of your goals and you will have more fun along the path to success. This technique can be used in other areas of your life such as your business (career), your personal finances and your relationships. Other chapters in this book will provide the details on how to use this technique to succeed with more of your personal goals.
Author’s Personal Note: I have successfully used this technique in the area of weight loss and have lost 10 lbs (in 45 days), reduced my body fat by 3% and dropped from a 35-inch waist to a 32-inch waist. What was my ‘Burning Desire’? I had about seven of them, but two created the most passion and drive.
First, was when my youngest son commented about how big my stomach was getting and that I looked out of shape. This comment was my negative reason that drove me to make a change. If I didn’t attain this goal, I would continue to hear these comments . Second, I had a closet full of size 32 pants and was ready to go out a buy more tight-fitting 34 size pants. Since I personally don’t like (despise) spending money on clothes, I created a visualization of all the money I would save by not having to buy another 3-4 pairs of pants. If I did attain this goal, I would have another $150 to do what I love most – invest.
My personal visualization for the first reason was a flat stomach instead of the love handles and no ‘fat’ comments from my son. My visualization for the second reason was seeing $150 invested in 3 shares of a blue chip stock on my portfolio statement, instead of pants hanging in my closet. While my personal visualizations might not get you motivated, these visualizations created enough push, motivation and drive for me to change my dietary habits and eat right (not necessarily less) and exercise more often. Remember, each of you will have your own personal visualizations that will get you to take action.
It was the first time in my 40+ years that I’ve ever wanted to lose weight and while it was difficult to make these dietary and exercise changes; I sacrificed my short-term immediate gratification needs for the benefit and success of my long-term weight loss goal. Not only did I receive gratification from meeting my weight loss goal, but I received even more gratification by knowing that I could make the appropriate day-to-day choices to minimize my short-term immediate gratification needs to meet a long-term, more gratifying goal. It was worth the efforts. Other personal success stories can be found throughout this book.
It’s time for You to take Action!
What are you going to do right now to take one positive action step towards meeting one of your personal goals? To get the momentum moving in your favor, you need to take immediate action. After reading this article, take the next 30 minutes to complete this 5-step process for one of your goals? You don’t have 30 minutes, take 5 minutes to start the process. The key is to take Action. You owe it to yourself to be successful and one key component for making your personal goals attainable, is to create your own personal ‘Burning Desire’. Start it now!
About The Author
For more information about this ebook, “The Action Path – Your Key to Success!”, by Mike Matthews, please visit http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html. Your-Key-to-Success.com provides a resource for articles, products and services to help you get motivated to take action and succeed with your goals in the areas of your personal finance, your business and your physical fitness. Remember – Dreams will determine what you want in life, Actions will determine what you get in life. Sign-up for our free newsletter at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_newsletter.html.
The Southwest Airlines Way – AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review
Over the years, several books and countless magazine and newspaper articles have been written about Southwest Airlines. Numerous MBA programs highlight the Southwest structure, its culture, its CEO, its low fares and other reasons as to why it is the bright spot in an otherwise dismally performing industry. Fortune magazine calls Southwest Airlines “the most successful airline in history.” With a market value greater than the rest of the U.S. airline industry combined, Southwest Airlines is an amazing company with amazing management practices. No one, however, has completely captured the real explanation of why Southwest succeeds.
In a previous review, I highly recommended NUTS! (Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success). This laugh-a-page, inspirational book captured all the delicious myth, disarming magic, original insights, and upbeat stories of a high-energy, caring, playful culture that’s sometimes hard to believe. I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommended it to anyone and everyone striving to create and maintain a successful and productive culture.
Now comes The Southwest Airlines Way … an in-depth profile, based on eight years of field research on the airline industry. In this book, the author, Dr. Jody Gittell, has managed to identify and even quantify the powerful formula of Southwest’s success. This effortless read is filled with actual examples of business processes at Southwest as compared to other airlines. You can easily see how basic practices based on internal values at Southwest, such as investing in leadership development and people, have made such a big difference. In fact, the findings reveal that Southwest’s success is due to building high performance relationships with its people, customers, unions, vendors and suppliers, and the public in general.
Full of frontline tales of Southwest’s innovative management style, this compelling book unveils the secret ingredient, high performance relationships, that has enabled Southwest to sustain a steady 10% to 15% rate of growth throughout its 32 year history while also turning a profit when few others can manage to break even. This great read reveals 10 practices that Southwest Airlines uses to build high performance relationships, and how they can be implemented in any organization-with dramatic results. The good news is that Dr. Gittell clearly identifies and explains each of these practices in a highly readable way that is also backed with data. The hard part is that these are not quick fixes and that the evidence indicates that most, if not all, of the practices must be adapted/adopted if another organization is to duplicate the success of Southwest.
This no-nonsense analysis takes a more serious look at the airline that continues to fascinate friend and foe alike. Learn why Southwest Airlines is valued higher than all other major U.S. Passenger air carriers combined. Learn how, in the wake of 9-11, Southwest could keep all of its employees working and continue its unblemished record of growth and profitability as other airlines laid off thousands, begged Congress for money, and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Learn how American, Continental, United and other airlines have tried to imitate Southwest-and why they have failed.
You may not find yourself laughing as often as you did while reading NUTS!, but you’ll certainly walk away with a greater respect and much deeper insight into the unique culture that will undoubtedly continue to fascinate everyone for decades to come.
More than 100 business book reviews written by Harry K. Jones are available at http://www.AchieveMax.com/books/.
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Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has made presentations ranging from leadership to employee retention and time management to stress management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. He can be reached at 800-886-2MAX or by visiting http://www.AchieveMax.com.
On the Brink of Risk – A Book You Wont Put Down
On the Brink of Risk is a fiction novel inspired in true events; it has a love story turned evil, hate and vengeance, intents to kill, negligence and malpractice at more than one hospital that almost lead to death, harassment and persecution by the political organizations and government officials as well as comments on everything the average citizen has to go through to endure everyday life in that Caribbean country.
It was written under the pseudonym of Nancy Cruz and writing was at first an intent to make a catharsis and finally put to rest everything that had been a load in the author’s mind and life for too many years, she thought that was the only way to really start anew.
But after writing it she realized that it also carries a message. Many people around the world face an illness such as cancer and think that it is the end of the world for them, she survived it three times but that was the result of having faith, of being perseverant , of not sitting back at home when so many doctors told her she had nothing at all, of going from one doctor to another until finally one made the right diagnosis.Cancer is a menace, that’s true, but anyone can make it if the right thing is done at the right time. In another aspect too many women go silently through what she went and accept it all, her story should tell them that they have to stand up for themselves, fight for themselves and their children because they deserve a quiet and happy life.
In the story Monika’s husband talks the psychiatrist he had convinced her to see into giving her electroshocks so that she would forget the man who was her soul mate and had left behind to move back with him to protect her son’s health. She forgot complete chapters of her life, forgot skills she had…but not that man! And anyway, standing up for herself and her children, knowing that she had the right to be herself and not a puppet, finally divorced him as soon as her son’s health allowed it!
So you see how many healthy messages the book has! Don’t forget them….you too deserve to be happy!
I’m an Accountant and a Bilingual Commercial Secretary graduated from an American College and University; a writer, songwriter, actress and singer. I am also a Translator/Interpreter.
I started to write short stories when I was 9 years old, my mother took charge of having them published in magazines. I sang opperettas and pop music on radio and TV when I was a teenager. I got married when I was 20 years old, have a son and a daughter and got divorced when I was 34 years old. I spent two years acting, performing main characters on theatres when I separated from my husband although I’ve been writing songs for 5 years by then. I went back on stage to sing when I was over 50 and did it with a high level of acceptance in three of the most prestigious night clubs of my country. I survived cancer 3 times, suffered harassment and persecution from political and government organizations and was on the brink of going to jail. That’s why I live in Canada now. After the political changes in my country I was never able to publish anything but I was a member of the songwriters association.
Skills Make Labor More Valuable
As you know by now, if you have been a long time subscriber to our weekly E-zine, I’m a very big proponent of activity, labor and discipline. In fact I devoted one of the five major pieces to the life puzzle (in my book under the same name) to the subject of activity and labor. But now let me add another key word to the labor equation – skillful. Yes, skillful labor.
We need the skills to help build our family’s dreams, the skills to stir up an enterprise and make it successful. We need skills to build equities for the future. We need skills of all kinds.
How about this – skillful language. If you just talk to your family you can hold them all together, but if you skillfully talk to your children you can help them build dreams for the future. That is why I spend so much time at the Weekend Seminar on communication – how to affect others with words. You can’t be lazy in language – it costs too much.
What if you meant to say “what’s troubling you?” and instead you said “what’s wrong with you?”. Wow, that’s too big a mistake. And sure you could have made that mistake 10 years ago, but not now. You should have gotten much better by now in language and communication.
Skills multiply labors by two, by five, by ten, by fifty, by one hundred times. Hey, you can chop a tree down with a hammer but it takes about 30 days, called labor. But if you trade the hammer in for an ax, you can chop the tree down in about 30 minutes. What’s the difference in 30 days and 30 minutes? Skills. Skills made the difference.
So do what you can – labor. But also do the best that you can do ? improved skills. And you will find that the labor combined with skills will start producing miracles. Miracles with your money, miracles with your family and miracles in every part of your life.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Reproduced with permission from Jim Rohn’s Weekly E-zine. Copyright 2005 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide. To subscribe to Jim Rohn’s Weekly E-zine, go to http://Jim-Rohn.InspiresYOU.com
Book Marketing 101- Book Publicity for Authors — Creating a Book Publicity Campaign
Publicity is that elusive thing that can make or break your book – in all sorts of ways! Learning to promote you and your book is something that can take a bit of “re-training” for most new authors (and many old-timers too). Publicity is really all about selling your idea (and you), but all too often the word “selling” brings up images of polyester clad used-car salesmen, telemarketers, and strong-arm sales strategies that do nothing but alienate your intended customer.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
True “salesmanship” is all about creating a deep connection with your intended reader or reviewer by providing unique, useful and rewarding information about your book. It’s all about creating a relationship that you will both benefit from and to which you can return time and again. It’s about creating the awareness that you are an EXPERT about the topic of your book.
Good publicity is also regular and consistent publicity – there really is no such thing as an overnight success. Remember that you never know who is reading or listening — it just might have been someone who could lead you to bigger and better things.
Here’s some ways to create a great relationship with the editors and reporters that can provide your book the long term exposure it needs to succeed:
1) It’s ALL about your intended audience – and very little about you. You might be brilliant, but the editor only cares about their audience. As a matter of fact, more often than not if you come across as thinking you are too wonderful, you’ll most likely turn out to be a turn off to the editor or reporter. This is where “blanket” press releases that go to thousands of outlets fail – they typically focus on you the author, and unless you are already a household name, guess what? No one cares.
You MUST tailor your release to the intended audience – and it must be unique. Focus on the benefits you will provide their audience. Think about the publication or program you are trying to approach – what do they provide to their audience and does your book contribute to their goals? Don’t under any circumstances make your pitch sound like an ad for your book – if you have a good fit, and have good information inside your book, then it will generate interest in the book. The goal here is to make the editors, reporters, and audience understand that you are an expert on your topic, and that your book contains lots of good information – by PRESENTING some of the information… not by TELLING them you are an expert.
2) Target your pitch. Be confident knowing that reporters and editors have lots of need for information. But also understand the one of the quickest ways to get rejected is to pitch the wrong person – you’ll waste both of your time (and probably annoy the editor or reporter) – do you homework and find out who is the correct contact for your book. Once you’ve found the right person – ask them what they want. Only pitch your idea if it’s a fit. Be sure to respect his or her time – everyone in the media industry works on unbelievably tight deadlines. Ask if they are under a deadline and if so, could you call back at a better time.
Be short, sweet, and to the point – which means get to the point quickly. The audience will eventually want more detail than the reporter or editor – but for your reviewer, be able to sum up your book in 30 seconds or less. “Talk less, listen more” – let the editor or reporter drive the conversation after you have them interested. They will have specific needs and questions – so stop talking and answer them explicitly.
3) Approach ALL types and sizes of publications and media. Don’t be afraid to contact the “big guys” and don’t neglect the smaller ones. Any one in the media has to aggressively pursue getting new and fresh content for their shows, magazines, and newspapers. This is especially true of anyone who needs to fill space on a daily basis. They are almost always on the search for people who can present information on exciting and interesting topics and trends. The biggest outlets are always on the search for an unknown that they can highlight.
The smaller journals and outlets often have a very focused and influential audience – and you never know who might be reading them or listening to their show . The smaller publications can also be “gateways” into the larger ones . Almost every single size of publication has value in your publicity campaign. Your chances of getting into smaller publications is probably higher than the larger ones, so set your time and effort accordingly.
4) Treat your contacts with unfailing respect and politeness. Yes, you are very busy – you might even be far busier than the publicist or producer that you are trying to approach. But you need them to help you out – and being constantly aware that they are very busy themselves will keep you focused on getting your materials to them in a timely manner. Never ever be late in submitting materials for a review or interview.
5) Understand that publicity isn’t a “one shot success” effort. It is all about sustained and consistent awareness of your product. Marketing research indicates that a consumer will need to see your name about 7 times before they will remember it. Try to keep your interviews and reviews spaced out a little bit – frequency and consistency are critical. Don’t ever let up on your publicity campaigns – even the most successful product lines in the world (think Nike and McDonalds) continue to consistently spend millions on awareness campaigns for their products. Very rarely is anyone an “overnight success” – even the best-selling authors spent years building their reputations.
Follow these 5 steps while conducting your publicity campaigns, and your level of success will be far greater than those who have either ignored or never learned these basic steps.
If you like this information (and found it helpful) please feel free to post it on your site, put it in a blog, toss it in your newsletter, or in general spread it around. Please just give us credit here at www.dogearpublishing.net
May you have success in your creative efforts!
Ray Robinson is a partner in Dog Ear Publishing http://www.dogearpublishing.net a self publishing services company specializing in delivering “high touch” services to the author community. His company provides a full range of services to authors, from editorial to page layout to marketing and fulfillment.
Hustle While You Wait
Everything comes to those who hustle while they wait -Thomas Edison
Thomas A. Edison was one of the most prolific inventors of all time. His inventions continue to shape our daily lives decades after his death in 1931. He fundamentally changed our lives by giving us indoor lighting, records, movies, batteries, and hundreds of other objects we have come to believe we can’t live without. He patented over 1,000 objects during his life. His advice to “hustle” while you wait gives us some insight into how he became a legend.
Many people who dream of changing their lives are in a “waiting” time in their lives. For financial or personal reasons they are not yet able to leave their current jobs, move to their preferred geographical area, or start that business they dream of. During these waiting times you can do much to lay the foundation for your dreams. Here are some ideas that can get you started as you begin to move towards a life you compose rather than one you fell into:
*Research your dream job or business. Learn all that you can about it. You can easily become an expert about any topic in 3-6 months. Read, search the web, interview people who already work in the field, and do all that you can to learn about the history, trends and topics that are important in your field. When the time comes to move forward, you will have a solid knowledge base.
*Develop your network. Meet others who are in your chosen field. Nothing leads to success faster than having a solid support network in place. Don’t fear competition, just meet as many people as you can in that field. This networking will help you understand what it takes to succeed and give you the support you need to make those first steps. Nothing increases learning faster than having a mentor who can show you the way. You will increase your confidence and your learning pace, and you may even get “lucky” and find a job or your first client.
*Lay the groundwork. Write your business plan. Draft a press release. Outline your book. Learn how to design web pages. Any progress is movement forward and that momentum can help propel you towards the life of your dreams. As you develop skills and create the platform for your new life, new ideas and opportunities will come your way.
No matter where you are in developing the life of your dreams, you can “hustle” while you wait. Even if you have no idea what you want yet, you can create a foundation that will support your new life. No effort is wasted. The skills and knowledge you gain will fit into your new life in some way.
As I searched for my dream and mission I researched dozens of topics. I am consistently amazed at how many of those “dead ends” have helped me to develop my current business. Learning how to edit, write copy, design web pages, research, and even cook have all helped me to build a stronger foundation for my roles as a life coach and infertility coach. Don’t wait for the perfect time to arrive, begin today to move forward and the universe will meet you with more opportunities than you can now imagine.
Julie Renee Callaway is a life coach and motivational speaker specializing in helping professional women overcome obstacles in their lives to discover their divine mission and create lives of meaning, beauty and fulfillment. You can get a free report “Seven Ways to Tell You Are Climbing the Wrong Ladder” at http://www.composeyourlife.com
How to Improve Your Life Every Day
Growing Towards Excellence
Would you like to become a better person? If I did a survey asking people this question, I’m sure I would receive 100% response YES!
Let me ask you a question:
“Who started today deciding on one thing they were going to be aware of and work on today to make them a better person?”
I asked this question recently to a room full of people and only one person said YES!
Many of us have desires and aspirations that we would like to see fulfilled in our lives, but are not actively taking action to make those things happen. It can be difficult to relate what happens in the present to the results we would like to see in the future. However the future is prepared for today, by the choices we make and the way we invest our time and energy.
Most people want to be the best they can be, but get discouraged because it seems such a huge mountain to get there. We live close to Burnaby Mountain, and often take the dogs for a walk there. There’s a really pleasant trail near the bottom, shaded by trees, along the bank of a stream However when it is time to walk home up the steep hill the prospect seems daunting. I can never walk up it without pausing for a break somewhere. At the steepest part of the hill every step seems a huge effort, and I eventually stop to get my breath. When I look back however, it is amazing to realize how far I’ve come. My whole perspective changes! The process of walking is automatic normally. When we walk, our mind focuses on other things unless the going gets tough. We make progress but it is not a conscious process. That is because walking has become a natural habit for us. This is also true of life and the skills we learn. The mechanics of driving a vehicle become second nature, as the skills become so well practiced and familiar that we do not conscious think through each action. It becomes almost instinctive, as natural to us as breathing.
To consistently grow towards becoming better in our lives we need to create new habits that will move us there. At first implementing a new behaviour, thought pattern, or action into our lifestyle is a very conscious act. It’s like walking up the steepest part of the mountain. However that is only in the beginning stages. It only takes thirty days to form a new habit. Then, that positive habit in our life becomes more a natural part of us. It moves to the more subconscious part of our life.
Pat Riley said “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”
To move towards more excellence in your life, the journey starts and will continue to be one small step at a time. One small step a day is far more effective than to make a resolution to take a huge jump forward, and then not make any progress for a while.
Gradual – it is a process, and not seeing the results immediately can be discouraging. One helpful thing to do is to set small landmarks with some motivating reward when they are achieved. It is good to have the attitude and habit of always striving to do better in every area of life all the time. However I would also suggest a focus on one main thing at a time, and as that becomes habitual in your life, select another area of focus. Always -it needs to be every day; a small discipline at first that becomes a positive habit. I would suggest developing as part of your morning routine a time and place when you deliberately pause and reflect on the new lifestyle habit you are presently working on. During that time consider your specific goals for that day. What arte you specifically going to do or how will you change a thinking pattern to reinforce your growth in that area. Set a goal for the day. It is helpful to read or carry with you a short sentence or quote that will motivate and remind you of your goal during the day. Perhaps a Post it note in the car, or kitchen as a way of re-focusing during the day, it needs to be a daily conscious act, otherwise days missed turn into weeks, discouragement sets in and it becomes easy to give up. When a new habit is formed and is part of your lifestyle when you look back you will be amazed at the changes you see.
To take even just a couple of minutes set aside at the beginning of your day is a very powerful key and works well. We all need frequent encouragement and motivation. It also is an excellent way to start your day positively, and will set the tone for the day. Knowing how important daily motivation is, I have compiled a collection of quotes taken from people who have taken these principles and applied them successfully to their lives. If you need an inspirational tool to aid you in this process of growing towards better in your life this e book is for you. You can have a quote to help you to set your goal for the day every day for a year. The book can easily be printed, so you can take your quote with you. To find more information, or to get this book within minutes go to http://www.livingbeyondbetter.com/daily-quotes.html
Barbara White, a former Principal and teacher, is now president of Beyond Better Development. As a speaker and author, Barbara brings her passion and expertise to work with people to help them grow towards excellence and their unique potential in their personal and professional life.
This article was written for her complimentary newsletter Growing Beyond Better.
This article may be used with the authors name and website http://www.livingbeyondbetter.com included. Please email a link or forward a copy of the publication if published.
