Look to the Eagle in the East
April 4, 2023
My Non-conformist Future
June 4, 2023
Enough with all the noise. I seek quality content like most, but I am losing faith in my ability to find information that inspires me to take action.
A few weeks ago, I watched a free webinar from a notable book marketing executive who was fortunate to have over 500 interested authors like me tune in to learn his best practices. His presentation was clear and comprehensive, and throughout his remarks he kept hinting that the secret to successfully marketing a book was a well-executed book launch.
I took notes and wondered how long it would take for him to get to the arc of his message about a rockin’ book launch before he left me hanging. When the time came, he announced he would not be giving away the most valuable content for free, which became his sales pitch. I was not upset by his understandable desire to be compensated for his most valuable information. Rather, I was offended that he thought so little of my time and intelligence that he wasted an hour building up to an ask for hundreds of dollars for his month-long course.
Which made me wonder . . . why are dated sales tactics making their way back to mainstream? Perhaps because they apparently still work? Maybe they never left? No, I didn’t sign up for the course.
One of the least memorable books I ever read was Who Moved My Cheese? The book has sold over 28 million copies to date and was all the rage in the mid-1990s. Although I managed a marketing department at the time, my company bought copies for the entire sales staff and bought extra copies for all of us in marketing. I knocked out my required reading assignment on a flight to Washington, DC from Dallas in an American Airlines 757, which I remember because I got upgraded to first class using points. I drank three glasses of their complimentary wine while I read about two mice, two humans, shoe choices, and cheese hidden inside a giant maze.
In reflection, I was too self-absorbed as a 30-year-old at the time to appreciate the timeless wisdom of the book’s theme about embracing and adapting to change.
What a revelationary gift to relearn old lessons.
The hour of free webinar advice prompted me to rewrite this self-promotional tagline:
“I deserve to be heard.”
No, first I’ve got to earn the right to be heard. Therefore:
“I aspire to deserve to be heard.”
Cheers,
