Keeping the Momentum…

Anna Weber (4-Dimensional Success)

Do you ever experience undue pain because you know you have a ton of unfinished projects nagging at your subconscious? Does that pain then compel you to list all your unfinished projects, with a sudden, intense desire to prioritize them, breathe life back into them, and finish each of them by a specific date? Or do you just shake your head in wonder at why you continue to sabotage yourself?

It is human nature to get excited about something, dig in and make a bit of progress, then… move on to something else. But, why do we behave in this manner? Sometimes the initial excitement wanes and we get bored or simply lose interest. Other times we come face to face with a problem we seem not able to resolve and lose our confidence or move on to something that is easy or without issues.

And then – there are other moments when we find ourselves dealing with the fear of – - success! I have experienced this a few times in my own life. Once, in my mid twenties I was building a very successful name in my clothing design and had a gentleman from Australia make me a really exciting offer – which I promptly refused for a myriad of reasons that came streaming from my heart, mind and mouth! He looked at me like I had just declared war, or some other horrid unsavory act, and responded that it was clearly evident that I was afraid of success. I could understand being afraid of failure – but success? That just didn’t register in my head at that time. I look back in life and see a few other times when I put myself out there – expecting success and for some reason – pulled myself back.

The most recent event occurred with the submission of a chapter for a book I am co-authoring with three amazing celebrity authors. I was excited enough to say, “Yes” to the offer, complete the chapter and the required interview questions and quickly dusted off my hands, and put it to sleep – until the day of my interview! I was suddenly feeling very anxious about the whole thing and not really understanding why. After all, I had already completed the work and a bit of minor editing here and there was all that would be left. Taking myself off to a quiet place, I remembered Colin’s admonishment some twenty years prior that I was afraid of success and finally understood! I was looking at a potentially significant change in my life and my career and had not yet wrapped myself around all the emotional or actual aspects of that change.

This time, however, I will respond to the opportunity differently – because I now know that success builds success, and I can handle whatever comes from this newest opportunity. I now understand the elements of being accountable and finding pride in completion. I get excited with the primary reward of a job well-done, that being the privilege of setting a new goal and accepting a new challenge! So, what sage advice can I provide you to help you when you find yourself with too many unfinished projects dragging down your energy? What can I do to help you keep your momentum?
1. Nothing has so great an impact as action! Whether you decide to simply make a list of what has to be completed, or make an assessment of which should take priority – become engaged in the commitment to completion.

2. Touch base with your feelings and determine why you set a project aside. Once you understand that you will be armed with the resources to modify your thinking and your behavior. Ask the tough questions:

a. Did I just get bored and disinterested? If so, is there anything that can revive my original excitement? If not, am I best to just scratch this off the list and remove any sense of guilt about it being nothing more than a passing interest?

b. If I lacked confidence or skills, what must I do to modify that? Do I need additional training or just a long talk with someone who can help me see that I am capable and help rebuild my belief in my ability?

c. Am I afraid of success or failure? If so, what will it take for me to change my thinking? If I am afraid of success is it because I am not sure how I will deal with the potential changes, or am I just unsure of what those changes will be? Am I afraid of possible sacrifices I may have to make, and if so, how can I modify my thinking to gain clarity about those sacrifices to decide they are worth the desired result?

3. Choose to optimize your time so that you may be actively engaged in a positive outcome rather than just being busy for the sake of being busy!

a. Be aware of your use of time by periodically recording your activities and reviewing how you might make adjustments that will improve how you use it.

b. Look your “time wasters” full in the face and decide how you are going to eliminate them! Can you outsource tasks that are not your best use of time? Can you create a system that helps you get through a “process” more quickly? Can you add software or technology that automates tasks?

c. Become very sensitive about things that distract you and work to remove those distractions! Can you place those emails that don’t need immediate attention into a file that you can look at during a time period that is not disrupting your highest productivity, or breaking an important focus? Can you block your time so that you do nothing but that which is listed in that block, such as phone calls or product development?

d. Develop an awareness of the value of your time and learn to ask yourself, “Is what I am doing at this very moment moving me forward to the one goal I seek to achieve?”

Do you want to know more about how to keep your momentum – or address why you seem unable to do so? Check out your opportunities at 4-Dimensional Success.

When its time to take your book public

As a new author, when you are ready to “go public” with your book, it is important to understand that you have to be prepared and comfortable with what will be expected of you as a guest on radio talk shows or during television interviews.  Having the support of a publicist or coach helps prepare you for the myriad of things that will make your endeavor more successful, but short of having the ability to engage one or the other, the following tips will increase the likelihood of your being successful in your efforts.

Be Prepared

New authors must realize that television interviews and radio shows are pre-arranged, and journalists will have regular deadlines they must meet, which in turn necessitates that you are always in a state of being prepared at a moment’s notice.  The general process is that several experts are contacted for an event, and the one who responds most quickly is likely to be selected over one who may be the better interview!  The more reliable you are in responding when you are called on to fill in a spot, the more frequently you will be asked to share your expertise.

Be Interesting

A sometimes difficult, but critical task is to leave your ego in a drawer somewhere when it comes to establishing relationships with media contacts.  Understand their job is to inform, educate and entertain their audience; hence, you are not the area of interest – the expert commentary you can provide is your ultimate appeal.  Learn to remove the “I” and ‘my” words from your dialog; it will diminish your being used as a source.  If you come to the interview with the type of conversation that centers around what the audience cares about, you will be quoted – - frequently.

Be Well-Read

 

Be prepared, be interesting, be well-read

This might appear to be a strange comment, but successful interviews with new authors require being acutely aware of the talk show host’s personality and the general tone of their interviews.  Take a few minutes to read previous stories, or listen to a few prior interviews… looking for a tone and approach that you can then mirror somewhat.  See what other articles have been written on your topic, or others previously discussed on earlier shows – ensure your material is fresh and clean and does not duplicate a recent conversation.  The more you know about your television or radio host, the better prepared you are to respond in accordance to what you know to be his or her focus and philosophies.  Not only will there be a common ground around which you can have a stimulating conversation, the reporter will respect you for having made the effort to prepare for your interview.

Be Succinct

Be prepared for the fact that the person who interviews you may well be somewhat of an expert, having covered a particular topic for many years, and welcome powerful quotes or solid opinions that will round out the things they tend to share.  Be prepared to answer the questions quickly and succinctly.  When you are passionate about a topic it is natural to share too much of your knowledge, or to go too much into the depth of your total philosophy – you may well run the risk of being seen as a competitor rather than a guest!

Be Well Practiced

 

New authors experience radio and television interviews

The window of opportunity you have when being interviewed will be much smaller than you imagine.  You don’t have the luxury to bond and build a relationship by talking about the weather, etc.

There simply isn’t time for friendly conversation or engaging in “schmoozing” for future opportunities.  Deadlines are tight and time is valuable, leaving you very little time to show your expertise and get your message across.  Respect this time and your host and maximize the value of the privilege before you.

These five tips are just a few of the more salient points you should consider as you discover the ways interviewers respond more favorably and utilize more of the interview time to find that complimentary mix of supporting the expert status of the show host and expressing the unique elements of your own mastery.  At the end of the day, your ultimate goal is to share just enough through this media opportunity that listeners will know they have access to advice from an articulate, seasoned professional.

Anna Weber… Making your dream of being a published author a reality.

Understanding Customer Buying Patterns

My target market is SOLOpreneurs and professionals who seek to strategically share their “legacy message” by putting their Voices in Print. The primary marketing vehicle of this market is the Internet, so my focus is relative to selling online. However, as a primary best business practice, the information provided can be successfully applied even when there is no web presence.

Increase Revenue: Manage Buying Behavior

Especially when selling online, spend your marketing dollars on the buying behavior you can predict; the method used to acquire any buyer greatly impacts the potential lifetime value of that customer. Knowing that 50-60 percent of all online purchases are one-time transactions, and accepting that fact, will help prevent you from wasting marketing dollars trying to change a buying pattern that is probably not going to change! However, to modify a buying pattern to your benefit, it is crucial you have a continuity program in place to contact all customers shortly after the first purchase… creating a strategic connection for future sales. 

There is a philosophy in the coaching and personal development industries that calls for building a sales funnel of increasingly expensive products and services, stemming from the belief that a low priced entry product will give your audience a taste of what you have to offer. Then, by teaching customers to trust the perceived added value you bring, you can easily encourage them to purchase additional products and services – at increasing price points.

Although there is merit to this philosophy, there is also a prevailing human behavior that average customers actually buy down over their lifecycle. If you look at this pragmatically, you can determine whether you want to take specific action to influence this behavior, or to identify early on those who take the “cheapest” route with their first purchase, and possibly have no significant future value to you as a customer. There are a few key actions necessary to making this decision:

• Mine your database and identify your VIP customers.
• Study your database to strategically create powerfully responsive marketing campaigns.
• Swim with the tide by responding to specifically identified customer needs and buying behaviors.
• Recognize when a customer ceases to be a customer.
• Know your customers – intimately.

ACTION STEP:

1. Use an existing Customer Database or create one.
2. Create a log of the various activities in which you engage your customers: purchases, blog comments, downloads of complimentary items, testimonials…
3. Rank each customer by how long ago they engaged in each particular activity in 30-60-90-180 intervals, or as is otherwise standard for your product or service.
4. Assess your “activity pyramid.” Keep in mind it is not uncommon to see the ratio of 1:10 of recent to not so recent transactions.  

Shift the Frequency of Transactions

The real concern here is that you know what is going on, and what you are going to do to make a shift in that ratio. What strategic action can you take to modify buying behaviors, and how can you maximize your revenue in the process?

Q&A
Do you know what prompted completed transactions? Do you know whether they were stimulated by the most recent marketing campaign when a compelling message was fresh – or was it stimulated by something that you sent out months ago, and the buyer is just now “ready” to respond?

Knowing this one simple defining factor allows you to strategically predict future purchase behavior. You would take one of two actions, the first being to provide your “best customers” with VIP discounts to stimulate new transactions. The other action, working with “slow responders” requires you would, instead, send out an opportunity to download a new complimentary report, hoping to shift their loyalty and increase their potential lifetime value.

WHAT CAN I DO TO SUPPORT YOU?
My mantra is… always, encouraging you to engage in specific, life-altering activities that will provide you with long-term sustainable benefit.

Easy Data Management

With that in mind, I think perhaps the best way to support you today is to offer a data form, either in Word or Excel that will help you assess your customers… a “plug n play” if you will, that will help you take a definitive action in getting to know your customers. If you would like that, please email me at VoicesInPrint@yahoo.com and put Customer Activity Log in the subject/header.

I am also suggesting that you sign up for the RSS feed on this blog so that you don’t miss any of the upcoming posts. It is easy to delete them should you not consider them valuable; it is more difficult to build the habit that keeps you coming back for information that can significantly transform how you build your business.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO SUPPORT ME?
You can share this blog post with other business owners or aspiring authors who you feel might benefit from knowing what next action steps to take!

Anna Weber
4-Dimensional Success

Desire… Learning to Reach the River’s End

Patchwork of green and brown, from a distance

Have you ever been deliberate in choosing the window side of the airplane just so you could rest your head against that cool oval glass?  It always reminds me of that Bette Midler song, From a Distance as I gaze upon the perfection of colorful patchwork squares stitched together by nature.  From some 30,000 feet you get to see the many pathways below; roads and highways that connect towns, and farms, and cities.  Did you know that planes frequently follow rivers… running wide and winding – carving out the landscape and easily discernable with the wide patches of green ribbon on each side?

Rush to the river's end...

Those rivers, by design, rush headlong to the sea; cutting their way through any obstruction to reach that river’s end.  From that 30,000 feet viewpoint you get to see where rivers have changed their course, determined to choose their own path, tearing away at boundaries and carving out the exact road they want to travel.   You can even see the ghost canyons, no longer filled with raging waters, but supporting homes and communities.

We are like that – choosing our life by design, being strong, courageous and determined, but willing to change course when necessary.  And, leaving behind us, if we so choose, a new path for others to follow, and a peaceful haven for those who need it.

Have you ever looked down and followed the switchbacks that circle to the top of a mountain?  If you look back, you can see this amazing ribbon of asphalt, curling behind you.  The mountains came before us, but just like the rivers, even the earliest people threaded their way up the mountain, taking an easier course, leading the way and building a pathway for others to follow.  Trappers, traders and miners made their trek, and later, tourists used the same paths to experience another type of pilgrimage – often the kind of journey that is filled with nothing more than a desire to connect with nature and experience the power and passion that those raging rivers must represent, as they cut their way through roadblocks and barriers.  

We can learn from nature.  We can rest assured, that even if we do not have that bird’s eye view from 30,000 feet, there are roads and rivers, and navigational paths in the sky that carry us where others have been, but… when we least expect it, we might also find the courage and freedom to seek out our own path of desire – and reach our own river’s end.

If you have trouble connecting with your desire, a breakthrough strategy session might be exactly what you need to stay on course to your own river’s end. 

Anna Weber

4-Dimensional Success

The First Labor Day

Labor Day 2010

 

Seeking to bring to communities a strength and esprit de corp, the first Labor Day celebration included a street parade to unify trade and labor organizations and  was culminated by festivities designed for the recreation of workers and their family members.  Thus was created the “pattern” for celebrating Labor Day. 

Bringing in prominent men and women speakers was later introduced in an effort to place more emphasis on the holiday having both economic and civic significance.  An even later resolution, adopted in 1909, mandated that the Sunday preceding Labor Day was to be dedcated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the continuing changes in the labor movement. 

Today we see mass displays in large industrial centers, a continuity of celebratory parades and an increasing number of addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials shifting to greater coverage in newspapers, radio, and television. 

Our labor force should be given the credit for having postively changed our nation, adding materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known.  Workers have brought us closer to the the American Dream… living  the traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. 

It is appropriate that we, as a nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the real creator of  the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker. 

As promised, another new book is being offered to celebrate our hard working Americans.  This one is specifically designed for those who seek to manage their campaign dollars effectively and efficiently with follow-up marketing.  The book is an easy read, intended to shake up your thinking about how well you manage the leads, prospects, and clients that come to you to do business. 

Take advantage of the Labor Day Discounts on today’s book and 52Weeks to a More Empowered you… then stop back tomorrow and check out another Labor Day post, and see what new book I’ve got cookin’ up for you then.

MUCH happiness in your day… celebrate your place as a serious American worker!

Anna Weber

4-Dimensional Success – Voices in Print

Anna.Weber@4-DSuccess.com

Labor Day 2010

Labor Day - Celebration of jobs well done

Everyone looks forward to that first Monday in September – that celebration of Labor Day that has been dedicated as an annual tribute to American workers and the contributions made to strengthen the prosperity of America.

My curious mind, of course, wanted to know who the amazingly astute Founder was… but my research showed that even after more than 100 years of celebrating Labor Day, doubt still exists as to who actually proposed this “holiday for workers!”

I found references to Peter J. McGuire, who was the general secretary of a Brotherhood of Carpenters, and a co-founder of  the American Federation of Labor… noting he should get the credit… 

Other documentation gives that favor to Matthew Maguire, who was a simple machinist who later became the secretary of a local group of the International Association of Machinists…

More important than who the Founder was, is that  the Central Labor Union did actually adopt the proposal and promptly appointed a committee who was made responsible for planning both a demonstration and a picnic!  And the rest is, as we say… history.

I am honoring this holiday for the first week in September… please feel free to sign for the RSS feed and get each subsequent post.

In the midst of doing my research for these posts, I had a discussion with a client a few days ago who noted that she found it curious that Starbucks and other similar java ports – who by the way have amazing customer service oriented workers – didn’t seem to be feeling the economic crunch.  Needing to “feed” themselves in some way, Americans are saving that last one personal treat even in the face of a tightening budget.

With that in mind, and in honor of this celebration time, and all of us who work so diligently to keep our economy afloat and seek to THRIVE when surviving is sometimes difficult,  I am offering a different one of my ebooks throughout the week… all for the price of a latte!  

Today’s edition is 52-weeks to a More Empowered You.  This book has been one of the most “appreciated” of all my publications.   I have been asked frequently for permission to share it with friends and groups, and have been told it is a magnificant gift.  To me, it is simply my way of sharing of a wonderful collection of quotes that have touched my life, structured as a weekly journal.  Not only is the reader kept motivated, and provided thought-provoking statements from some of our country’s greatest and best… it is designed, through the process of journaling, to empower personal thinking and discovery.   This is a book that actively engages you in the process of personal empowerment; you can review the table of contents and place your order here.

Much happiness in your day… and we will discover more about Labor Day – tomorrow!

Anna Weber

4-Dimensional Success/Voices in Print

http://www.4-DSuccess.com 

VoicesinPrint@yahoo.com

Life’s Little Instruction Book – Do you wish you had one?

When Life kicks you in the ...

Sometimes… life has a way of kicking you in the patute in such a manner that you react, almost simultaneously, in two different ways. The first is that you are really proud of your tenacity and the other is this not so subtle silent query of, “Why in the hey does life have to be so hard?”  Well, the truth is that you arrived at that tenacity because life sometimes is difficult!

Have you ever had one of those weeks – not just one day – but a series of days where things seemed so upside down you didn’t know quite what to do, other than persevere in order to survive?  When you were done, what exactly did you feel?  My daughter recently experienced some rather trying events, and asked, “Mom, why does all this have to happen to me, back to back, stacking one thing on top of another, and why now?”  I am afraid she may have found not quite as much sympathy in my response as she was seeking, when I replied, “Honey, everyone has these things occur, in varying degrees, perhaps, but they happen, nonetheless and you, too, will get through them.”  I wasn’t lacking in empathy, I was trying to show her that she was not alone in the world of “What the hey just happened here!” 

At the end of the day, it is never really so much about what happened to you as how you managed to deal with it.  And for those events, I imagine every one of us wishes there were some kind of little life instruction book where we could find the perfect answer for things that just don’t quite make sense in our lives.

Life’s Little Instruction Book…

How much would you benefit from having access to suggestions, observations, and reminders that would make getting through those somewhat “snarky” days a little less difficult?  I certainly think I could, and perhaps that is why I read so incessantly – seeking to find peace within turmoil, enlightment outside the dark moments, and assurance when in a place of unrest.  I can recall way back in the early 90′s when H. Jackson Brown published such a book for his son who was going away from college.   It was filled with little “quotables” he felt his son might rely upon in his absence.    They included things that I remember impacted me as I was struggling with a new marriage and returning to college…

Be brave. Even if you’re not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.

Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.

Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks softly.

Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.

Although these can be powerful, when I think of the “Instruction Book” I would turn to, I would find a complete Life Operations Manual!  I could look up, “Why did my week have to be turned upside down by something totally outside the realm of my control; something I didn’t really do wrong?” and I would find a response that would set my heart at peace, lift me up and send me back out to brave the world with renewed vigor.

Fast Pitch: 100 MPH

I have a good friend who jokingly prompts me, when life comes zinging past me like a baseball (hit by Johnathan Broxton at Citizen’s Bank Park, May 14, 2009 at 100 mph!) that I would have no luck at all if Ididn’t have bad luck!  Fortunately, I can play into that – not buy into it.  I tend to do two things when I get zingers whipping past me: 

1. I assess what I may have done to have prompted the event.  Sometimes I am the culprit, and if that is the case, I want to know that and figure out how not to have a repeat!  Creating a page of my own for a Little Instruction Book.
2. I acknowledge that there was no culpability on my part at all, but that by some magical, even if not enjoyable, turn of life, that I learned something very valuable; something that can be included in my Little Instruction Book.

I just spent the better part of this week, working on converting all my data and programs to a new computer and completing upgrades to an accounting program.   Now, in my estimation this should all have been accomplished in just a few hours.  Not!  First one problem and then another.  In the end, I recognized them not as problems, per se, but lessons for me to learn that could be included in my Little Instruction Book!  For example:

1. Don’t try to get around paying a fair and equitable price for any software – you might just wind up with a bootlegged copy that gets you nothing more than wasted time, frustration, lost money, humiliation and a half dozen other unsavory things!
2. Don’t budget time around something that you are not extremely experienced in!  Now, I am not a novice to cleaning up laptops, reinstalling all the essentials, etc., but what I was not aware of in this process was how much the previous owner had on it that had to be removed, nor was I aware of the fact that it would take over six hours to download a particular program, and another two to install it.
3. Don’t assume a program upgrade will be a seamless, piece of cake!  I spent the better part of two days “managing” this mistaken perception. I learned a lot, I stayed the course, and I learned to REALLY appreciate the patience those “techie” types must have.

I am sure you would have your own little antidotes to share from time to time that would make my “adventures” pale in comparision.  The really important message I want to convey here is that each time that fast ball comes flying your way – don’t duck, don’t be afraid it will hit you… just strike out and hit it with all the passion and power you have!  Not only will you come away with a renewed sense of pride in your tenacity, you will have a few more stories to include in your own Life’s Little Instruction Book.

You see… you may benefit from the coaching or mentoring of other people, and this is a good thing to be able to tap into the rich experiences of others who can accelerate your success in certain areas.  But… it is all of your responses to the less than pleasant events in your life that shake up your thinking and test your abilities; it is these events that help you write your own Life’s Little Instruction Book (or complete Life Operations Manual) and that is the power that ultimately comes to you.  You gain from each experience, you grow, you adapt, you adjust your thinking and if you take the time to make note of these things – not just survive them, you will be able to go back to them as a point of reference the next time you face “one of those days!”

Action Point:

Take a few minutes and think about something recently that really kicked your backside.  Ask yourself if you should accept responsibility, and if so – what you will do differently next time.  Also ask yourself if you were not the catalyst, and if so, what really valuable lesson you learned that will have given you more power over life’s events.

Think about journaling those acts of courage and create your own Life’s Little Instruction Book that you might pass on to your children or grandchildren… put your Voice in Print!

Anna Weber

4-Dimensional Success/Voices in Print

Always… shaking up your thinking, and encouraging you to engage in positive, life-altering actions that will provide you long-term, sustainable benefit! 

 

Take the Self-Publishing Challenge

Being an accomplished, published author is no longer reserved for the few – or the elite.  If you are serious about getting your voice in print, and you are willing to do that which others are not willing, you can achieve what others will not.

With a few tips, tools and techniques you have the prime opportunity to bypass the traditional publishing process where you and your words have to “wow” the publisher, in an ocean of competition and publish your own work.  Making the election to do this, however, requires your willingness to stay within the parameters of five primary requirements, which include planning, creation, design and layout, publishing and marketing.

Planning

All project planning is most successful when you start with the end in mind, and that is true for writing and publishing a book.  You have a number of major decisions to make about that end result before you begin the first sentence of writing.

Some of the considerations you may have before you include:

• the primary message you want to deliver,
• who your audience will be,  and
• the price point at which you want to deliver your book.

Issues that drive the pricing include whether you want to include color, or create magic with black and white, whether your book will be best presented as a traditional hard bound book, a perfect bound paperback, a spiral bound or even an eBook.

Creation

One of the most empowering aspects of self-publishing is that you are not held hostage to the wishes of a publisher; you get to stay in your most creative, authentic position throughout every aspect of bringing your book to market.  As a part of the planning process, you will have decided what your legacy message will be and with whom you want to share.

The next step is to decide whether you are going to just sit down and start from scratch, or… to determine whether there are materials you already have on hand that can be re-purposed and brought to market more quickly.  Do you have:

• Notes from previous speeches you have given?
• Presentations that you have created in programs such as Powerpoint?
• Workshop materials you have prepared as handouts?
• Audios and transcripts from tele-classes?

The list could be quite lengthy since we have become a culture where “content is king.”  The important thing for you to keep in mind is that many of those first blush creative energies will serve you well in taking a short-cut through the creative process.

After you have gathered your content, the planning process will include how you are going to modify those materials as you convert them to a polished, highly-marketable publication.  Your creative force will expand as you decide what other unique elements you would add to a book that you  weren’t allowed to include in a speech or presentation.

Design and Layout

Until you become familiar with the design and layout standards in the publishing industry, the easiest way to get from start to finish is to leave your ego at the door, at least on the first project, and utilize the plethora of templates and tools provided by the self-publishing services.  Some of them provide you information about the benefits and drawbacks of self-publishing; heed them well.   Others provide self-publishing software and templates that allow you to quickly and easily create a wide array of book styles.

If you are on a seriously restricted budget, I would seriously suggest you allocate the best of that resource to making sure you have a beautifully designed cover!  Your reader will never venture inside the pages of your book, unless it has a magnetic appeal from the outside.  There is a plethora of information available relative to book cover design, but rather than taking your time away from filling those inside pages, read enough to know what you need to be able to discuss and negotiate with a designer.

Publishing

The actual publishing process can be a nightmare if you choose the wrong service; complete your due diligence and ask for referrals.  Although you would think it is a cookie cutter process and that modifications should be easy to make, that is not the case.  A word to the wise, make the selection for your publishing/print service before you put the first bit of work into your project.  They will guide you in the right way, up front, to what their standards and expectations are, and you won’t wind up being frustrated by fixing the things of which you were not aware.

On the surface it would seem the process is as simple as writing the book, adding the creative elements, and shipping it off to someone to do the rest of the work.  Not so!  Cover templates, book block files, pdf conversions, high-quality print presets, and font and logo formats can all pop to the surface as huge problems.  If you know about them in advance, however, they can be a quick trip to the park, so to speak!

Marketing!

There has long been a huge misunderstanding about the perception that the Publisher managed all the publicity and PR for writers, and many who might otherwise have been very successful were not, because of that misconception.  As a self-published author two things have to happen… you have to be marketable, and you have to be willing to market yourself and your book in every manner possible.  Sales are where you will experience success.   Give adequate attention and energy to this part of your being self-published.

There you have it – the primary elements of becoming self-published:  Planning, creation, design and layout, publishing and marketing.  Go ahead, test the waters – get your voice in print!  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Oh, and subscribe to the feed here so you don’t miss out on future posts that will guide you in each of these key areas.

Anna Weber

4-Dimensional Success

Social Media: It’s all About Relationships

NOTE:  A gift is available to you through this post.   You just have to read the post… at least to where you can click through to retrieve it!   MUCH happiness in your day.

A

It does not matter who you follow or how many you decide to connect with… unless you follow-up, communicate and build relationships it is just a numbers game… being widespread doesn’t necessarily help you really connect at a deeper level.

It is more important that you connect with the right people

• with people who need what you have to offer
• with people who have to offer something of benefit to you

It is more important that the people you connect with get to know….

• what you have to offer and how it can positively impact their lives
• how you show up in the world
• what your interests are outside the realm of your business world

With that in mind, I want to thank you for choosing to connect with me and I would like to offer a fun little gift that you can download by clicking through here.  I trust it will give you a glimmer of who I am.  If you want to know more about how I can add value to your life and business, you are welcome to visit my website.

MUCH happiness in your day.   And remember to always… engage in thought-provoking, positive, life-altering activities that will provide you with long-term, sustainable benefits!

Anna

Publicity for Writers – The Rest of the Story is in the Lede

The Lede Gets You the “Rest of the Story”

One of the areas I see most aspiring authors struggling with is how to promote their book, and how to structure their publicity so that it converts to … books sold!  Being writers, most of them are creative and have some great ideas – but don’t know quite how to implement them.  My purpose is to help you walk away with real-world ideas and feedback on your publicity and marketing experiences.

Your gain may be recognized in one of many ways:

1. building your list quickly
2. getting more people to stand up and take notice about you
3. creating marketing systems, rather than reinventing the wheel
4. developing newsworthy stories that will grab the media
5. learning how to sell without feeling like the local used car salesman

Life is crazy and as an author – you would rather be, well, writing!  You just feel so pressed for time and set aside the activities that would connect you to your target audience and the media contacts who could help you with that task.

Guess what?  They are all equally busy and consumed with activities as well.  Did you know that most reporters and editors rarely read through an entire press release?  Statistics support that you have about three and a half seconds to get their attention!  How do you do that?  With what in the industry is known as a lede.

Side Note:

At its simplest, lede can be seen as an odd spelling of “lead”- what is the lead/lede of your story? What is the main (first) paragraph? This is your “lede.” The quirky spelling comes from early printers, who needed to distinguish it from other, similar words such as lead (the metal). This word is most common in newspaper publishing, but is also used in the magazine industry.

In 25 words or less, your mission is to include the most important information you want the reader to know – this is not intended to be a summary of the release.  The following are important considerations for writing your lede.

1. Provide succinct details.
2. Do not include any advertising, propaganda or exaggerations.
3. Limit it to who, what, where, when and how – these will help you later develop the release story itself.
4. Make the lede a bold, attention getter – this is your one chance to make them want to read more.
5. Make sure it is written in language your target market will understand; don’t use jargon or complicated technology.
6. When you read what you have written, ask yourself if it makes the reader “care” about reading the rest of the story.
7. Get to the point!  Don’t use a lot of rhetoric; use action words to keep it moving.

Action Step:

The best way to learn a process is to study those who have been successful at their endeavors.  We are unbelievably fortunate to have easy access to knowledge of every type through the Internet.   Take advantage of that and look through a few press releases and see how that audience “capture” is achieved.  I found the following example by completing a Google search for “current press releases”.  Click here for the rest of the story.

DIABETES RAISES RISK OF DEATH IN CANCER SURGERY PATIENTS

—People with digestive tract cancers at particular risk

March 29, 2010-People with diabetes who undergo cancer surgery are more likely to die in the month following their operations than those who have cancer but not diabetes, an analysis by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests.

The study, to be published in the April issue of the journal Diabetes Care, finds that newly diagnosed cancer patients — particularly those with colorectal or esophageal tumors — who also have Type 2 diabetes have a 50 percent greater risk of death following surgery. Roughly 20 million Americans — about 7 percent of the population — are believed to have diabetes and the numbers continue to grow.

Anna Weber

4-Dimensional Success/Voices in Print

AnnaWeber@4-DSuccess.com

Calling all Authors – The Perfect Book Cover

The Perfect Book Cover

Important Design Considerations

If you have any intention of writing more than one book, take the time to be very selective about a number of elements that will impact what you want your buyers to recognize as being a “series”.   This can easily be affected by the repetitive use of design in color, fonts and background.  The following is a quick overview of each of these elements.

Color

Color carries powerful messages – consider your choices with caution, and take into account the underlying message you might send with its use.  For example:

I was recently at the library and saw a cover on a book that was about horse training.  The design color was light blue and was disconcerting to my subconscious, not only was it a “soft” color, but it wasn’t tied to the earth-tones I would normally associate with horses and a sport of “strength.”  Unavoidably, that cover could not/would not draw me in; draw me to a point of purchase.

Another factor to consider relative to color is that all color components be compatible or complimentary.  If you add a photo, it is important that the colors in it will not conflict with the background color, the fonts, or any logo that you may want to utilize.  The planning process in your book design is never more critical than when considering how you will “put all the color pieces together.”   They simply cannot be added, one new element at a time without serious consideration for how they support each of the other features that make up your cover design.

Before you decide to design your own cover, or even to have discussions with a professional designer, take some time at the library and look at book covers that catch your attention.  Notice what the color does to you and how it causes you to react.  You might find you will resonate more with a cover that has distinct color variants – perhaps a bold, dark title stands out against a stark white background or the same idea of contrast is affected by imprinting large white letters against a dark background.  Check to see if there is something discordant in your feelings if you see that the author’s clothing clashes with the background, or if you feel more easily attached to that cover if you see some warm harmony that happens in the color selections across the cover.

This was a quick primer on the importance of the appropriate use of color in designing your book’s cover.  Next, let’s talk about your choice of fonts.  Unfortunately, there are so many choices it makes it difficult to select just the right one, but once that is accomplished – your next consideration is how you will use color to enhance their effect on the marketability of your cover design.

Fonts

Font choice is critical, first from the standpoint of the impact is has on the eye’s ability to read, and secondly – the color choice that makes it stand out and draw the reader in.  The color of your cover font simply cannot fight with everything else that is there.  A good example of this is represented by the cover of a gardening book I just reviewed:

The background was a beautiful green that emotionally led me to the life of gardening, but when I looked at the lettering, which was a ghastly blue that clashed with the green, I experienced an immediate need to drop the book on the table, rather than to allow myself to be drawn to the contents inside.  I will never know what the author wanted to give me; I couldn’t get past the visual shock of the clashing colors of the font against the background.

I picked up the next book and it was about an equestrian adventure that revealed a nice warm brown background, a photo of the author and her beautiful horse against a background of softly-shaded trees that didn’t conflict with the other earthy colors… and a beautifully designed title that was a large, uncomplicated, white bold font set against that warm brown wood grain.  It was beautiful – and engaging!

These were just a couple of tips about how the color of your fonts can impact the successful design of your book cover.  We can now move on to something that every author and designer struggles with… the impact that color has when deciding the background.

Background

The background is a serious choice, especially if you are thinking about a series of books that you will want your readers to recognize. You will have to decide on the color, possibly texture and how your logo plays into your overall scheme. You have two primary first choices… whether to have a white background that supports other color features, or a color one that predominates the remaining elements you want to add.  You will want to plan carefully so that future components will not have to do battle with that background.  For example:

I had a client a few years ago who wanted to do a NASCAR Tailgating Cookbook – she had to be very careful that the checkered flag elements she selected did not predominate the other pictures, title and logo she wanted to add.  Fortunately, the designer she selected had a keen eye and the project turned out beautifully.

The background is the area where you have to constantly remind yourself that “more is less.”  You have just a matter of seconds to draw your reader into deciding whether your book is a must read, and if there is too much information to sort through – you know exactly what will happen.  The book will remain on the shelf.  If you feel a certain message is absolutely essential for your book cover, consider moving some of what is normally smaller text to the back cover and leave room on the front for a larger size font to deliver a short, more descriptive message; a message that is less messy and more legible.  Again, color is used to ensure the proper emotional connection and set up the subliminal dynamics that will leave your reader with a decision to purchase.

Logos are the last component that impact your background.  You probably started your design and branding with that logo and are most likely pretty attached to its significance… to you!  Keep in mind that it is the customer’s perspective that matters, and if that requires that you make slight modifications to your logo in order to make it flow naturally into your book cover design – agree to make it happen!  Although the focus of this article is primarily about color, there’re is another thing to keep in mind about logos – aside from being designed in a compatible color, make sure that they are simple, always placed in the same location on your book cover, and do not overpower your title.

I trust that you have enjoyed learning a bit more about the importance of the book cover design considerations relative to color, fonts and your book’s background.  As an author, you have the power to make all these choices yourself; alternatively, you will at least want to have enough knowledge to communicate your needs to a professional so you can guide them to the choices that represent your personal best.

MUCH happiness in your day.

Anna Weber

4-Dimensional Success/Voices in Print

http://www.4-dsuccess.com/index.cfm/VOICES_IN_PRINT

http://voicesinprint.wordpress.com/