But there are a lot of good reasons to write one.

Here are two reasons not to write a book.

1) To make money.

2) To become famous.

The publishing industry has changed so much in the past decades. The idea of being discovered and given a huge upfront payment of money to write the book and then make millions off the sales of the book are . . . unlikely. Even for authors who sell a lot of books, it’s far from the fame producing, lucrative strategy it might seem.

Realistically, for most people, it’s going to take time to become known as an author – and to make a living at it. My colleague Dan Blank has a lot of good things to say about the basics of this platform building process for authors here.

But still, there are plenty of good reasons to write a book.

Here’s my take on seven good reasons to consider.

REASON #1: You love writing. This is the most important reason. You love to write. You love the written word. You love to express yourself. You find yourself writing a lot anyway. You already do it even though no one is paying you.

REASON #2: To clarify your point of view. I think this is profoundly important and so often missed in marketing. Yes, you need to understand who you’re trying to reach, the problems they face and they results they crave most. That’s the heart of marketing. But you also need to be clear with people about your take on the process or system or series of steps that can get people from where they are to where they want to be. You need to be a map maker.

Most of us have an intuitive sense of our approach to the problems our clients face. But few of us have really taken the time to sit back and reflect on it and spell it out. People aren’t buying your product or service half as much as they’re buying into your point of view. Don’t wait to write your book until your clear – writing your book can be the process that helps you get clear.

And getting clearer about your point of you will make you far more effective in what you do. Clarity is attractive.

REASON #3: Stories are so compelling. My colleague Michael Margolis has spent years trying to advocate for the idea (point of view) that story telling is the currency of marketing. And I think he’s right. Not only will a book express your perspective, but, if done well, it will do it through stories and case studies.

REASON #4: Your book is a sales letter. An extension of the above reasons – your book is like a long, long sales letter to your clients. Do you think Eckhart Tolle would get a fraction of the people he currently does to his seminars if he’d not written those books? Your books give people a way to get to know you, safely, at a distance and decide whether or not it’s a fit to work with you.

REASON #5: Being an author makes you an authority. Culturally, we respond very differently to someone if their name is followed by ” . . . author of _____.” Simply the fact that you have written a book gives you an enormous degree of credibility that you can use to command higher speaking fees and workshop rates. People might even ask for your autograph and stuff.

REASON #6: Word of mouth. Books can help with word of mouth. Think of all the books you’ve passed onto friends that you thought they’d love or that might help them. Plus, if you decide you write your book via your blog and publish it in bits like that – you can start building your following long before the book ever comes out. And simply writing a book is a buzzworthy event. You might get local media coverage. It’s a wonderful chance to reach out to your list.

REASON #7: Deepen your connection with your tribe. Forget getting new people. Many of your existing community will read your book and that will help them ‘get you’ at a deeper level. They’ll appreciate you more.

Capitalism seems to be based on the idea that we’re selfish.

And there’s truth to this.

We do everything we do to meet our needs. But it’s so easy to forget that some of our deepest needs are for connection, community and contribution. So, what if we designed things with that in mind? What if our businesses gave people not only ways to consume more but also created spaces to contribute and connect?

Simon Sinek speaks to this so brilliantly in his book Start With Why – that marketing tricks and tactics might create sales – but they won’t create loyalty.

What creates loyalty? It’s less about what we do and how we do it and more about ‘why’ we do it. People come together around a shared ‘why’. This is what brings communities and teams most deeply together – sharing a deeper and more transcendent purpose.

As we weave this into our business – and give our communities ways to contribute we then also deepen our connection to them.

Nippun gives some wonderful examples of pay what you can pricing models in business. What most people never consider with PWYC pricing models is the word of mouth potential of them – how people will not only talk about what you do – but how you charge for it.

If you’re committed to staying true to your politics, remaining accessible to the people who need you most but also to sustaining yourself – I think you’ll really love this video.

Here’s a blurb from the Karmatube description:

What would the world look like if we designed for generosity? Instead of assuming that people want to simply maximize self-interest, what if our institutions and organizations catered to our deeper motivations? This compelling TEDx talk explores this question and introduces the concept of Giftivism: the practice of radically generous acts that change the world. The video is charged with stories of such acts, ranging from: the largest peaceful transfer of land in human history, to a pay-it-forward restaurant, to a 10-year-old’s unconventional birthday celebration, and the stunning interaction between a victim and his teenage mugger. With clarity and insight, it details the common threads that run through all these gift manifestations, and invites us to participate through everyday acts of kindness — in an uplifting global movement.

You can watch it below.

What a headline!

But it’s all true.

While I was in the UK, I went to the very lovely town of Brighton where I led a workshop and then recorded a conversation with my new pal Simon (pictured right) of www.simononthesofa.com who went to my workshop. Normally, he likes to record these things on a sofa but it was a beautiful day so we wandered down to the beach where it was beautiful and sunny and felt like Spain. In the UK. I get why people want to move to Brighton. Gorgeous.

And we grab a seat on this big cement thing (which is apparently called a ‘groin’) and recorded a little conversation. So, there I was on the groin with Simon on the Sofa.

We talked about:

• the common dynamic of collapsing and posturing (and the possibility of composure)
• transparency in marketing
• the nature of figuring out ‘is it a fit?‘ in marketing
• the importance of building resonance through having a clear platform and point of view and having a bigger why
• why I do what I do.

You can watch the video at the link below:

 http://simononthesofa.com/04/2012/transparent-marketing/

What do you think?

This might be the most useful app ever created for email overwhelm.

Seriously.

This little app (which is 100% free I might add) just let me cut my gmail inbox in half by scheduling emails to vanish and then reappear on the date I want to deal with them. So good!

I’m almost weeping it’s so beautiful. Go to this link and watch the little video. See if you don’t cry too.

http://www.boomeranggmail.com/

I know this isn’t about marketing but I just had to share it.

After my workshop in Chertsey (which the video above was taken from), I sat down with my host – the wonderful Julie of Naked Dragon events and we had a conversation about it. We ended up talking about . . .

• Slow Marketing a bit
• a new idea I’ve never shared before around niche theory called – Niche Projects.
• why I do what I do
• some ‘real talk’ about money, financial sustainability and quality of life
• a bit of the inside scoop on my ‘pay what you can‘ model

You can watch it below.

I haven’t posted a blog in a while because I’ve been traveling and I won’t be able to post much for the next month so I thought I’d give you something extra special.

It’s the entire video from my evening, introductory, ‘Marketing for Hippies’ workshop that I led in Chertsey, England which hosted incredibly graciously by Julie Bryant of Naked Dragon events. This is a workshop that cost $40 at the door. And I’d like you to have it on the house.

I’m doing this because I haven’t yet motivated myself to offer this online for a price (but I will) and because so many of you live in cities where I will likely never end up going to lead one of these workshops. And just because I felt like it.

It was filmed beautifully by my new friend Anadi who runs SoundsOrange.com (which is worth checking out as an incredible online resource of all things personal growth).

You can watch the whole thing – no charge (for now) – when you click here. This genuinely may not be free forever.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections. You can write them below.

After all, imagine having your clients not only rave about what you do but also how you charge for it.

What if you never had to feel even a little bit uncomfortable about your pricing ever again?

What if you could balance your desire to stay accessible (helping those who need you most), stay true to your politics and your need to be financially sustainable (making sure your needs are met to).

We’d love to get your help with two things . . .

THING #1 - Examples of businesses and projects that work on a pay what you can, gift economy, sliding scale and barter basis (in part or entirely). If you’ve tried to work with these models, what have you found? What have you learned?

THING #2 - What are your biggest questions or wonderings around these kinds of alternative pricing models?

I just finished my weekend workshop in Vancouver (and Victoria the weekend before that). You can see photos here.

And something clicked for me this weekend. I’m calling it ‘Slow Marketing’. You’ve likely heard about the Slow Food movement (from which I borrow this colourful snail) and Carol Honore’s book In Praise of Slow.

And, for some reason, I’d never considered how that might apply to marketing.

But, over the weekend, I was sharing how marketing is like baseball and that we can’t ‘skip bases’ in building our relationships with people. First there needs to be clarity, then trust, then some excitement . . . and then a commitment. It can take time to build relationships with our clients. Some things can’t be rushed.

And one woman expressed her thanks, ‘I’d never considered that before.’  Something about knowing that it was okay to go slow felt confirming of her best instincts and affirming that she hadn’t failed just because she’d not gotten immediate results.

Most marketing we see is so fast.

Lynn Serafinn wrote a beautiful book called The Seven Graces of Marketing where she contrasts the common place sins of marketing with the potential graces of marketing. One of the sins she talks about is scarcity. And so much marketing is based on creating a sense of scarcity, ‘act now while supplies last’. We see seminars full of people rushing to the back of the room to sign up for a next level workshop they don’t fully understand and can’t entirely afford (and that may or may not be a fit).

So much rushing.

And it seems to work. But what you don’t end up seeing is the huge numbers of people who get ‘buyers remorse’ and cancel their participation in the programs. Or go to it and then ask for a refund because it wasn’t a fit (and then become extremely bitter when they can’t get a refund). What we sometimes fail to notice is the cynicism these tactics create in the marketplace. And the low level panic we all live in.

I remember when I first started in sales, it certainly wasn’t something I knew. I was cold calling people and trying to pressure them into making decisions. It was all I knew how to do. I thought you had to do that. Of course, it was all under the auspices of empowering them. But pressure is pressure. And it was all so fast moving. It wasn’t until years later that I began to learn that by slowing my marketing down it worked better.

It’s like irrigating a field, the slower you drip in the water the deeper it goes.

But so much marketing is so fast. It’s ‘buy now’ and ‘closing people’ and ‘converting prospects’ and creating ‘irresistible offers’. It’s ‘double your income in 30 days’ and ‘lose 50 pounds overnight!’

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people express shock that I’ve not written a book yet or developed more ‘advanced level’ seminars. But I knew I wasn’t ready yet – I was still cooking. I knew I was still figuring out what I wanted to say. And I knew that, eventually, something would click and I’d be ready and that things would flow fast.

I remember being told about the Chinese bamboo tree. You plant it and you don’t see anything grow for five years. Even though you’re doing everything right. And then, in the 5th year, it grows ninety feet in ninety days. Some of us are like that.

It’s the hare, not the tortoise.

Martin Luther (the founder of Lutheranism) used to meet with important people and had an aide who would help him organize these things. One day, his aide looked in awe at the number of important meetings and things he had to do and said to Martin Luther, “Tomorrow is so busy that I suppose you will only be able to spend half an hour in meditation instead of your usual hour.” And Luther responded, “No. Tomorrow is so important I will spend two hours in meditation.”

The higher the stakes feel, the more tempting it is to move fast . . . and the more important it is to slow things down.

Panic is not a business strategy.

What would happen if we all. slowed. down. our marketing?

Here’s what Slow Marketing means for me . . .

To me this means that even figuring out our core platform and finding our voice takes time. It’s like making tea and sometimes we just need to steep for a while in figuring out what we’re all about.

It means that we can accept that sometimes it will take a while to build trust with people we’ve just met.

It means that instead of pressuring people to buy right now, we encourage them to sleep on it and sit with it to make sure it’s really a fit (so that any clients we get are solid and long term).

It means that when we sit with a client to explore going to the next level with us – we really sit with them. We take them in. We receive what they have to say. We pause before responding.

And that means that we really take time to sit with what kinds of clients are actually a perfect fit for us.

It means we remember that, in terms of relationships with clients, forever matters more than today.

It means that we’re okay being an apprentice for a time. We’re okay learning the ropes and not needing to be ‘discovered’ and famous tomorrow.

It means that we don’t rush to write our book, create our products but slow down a bit so we can focus on crafting what we do to make it even better so that it really helps people more. We work on building our boat instead of trying to swim people from one island to another on our back. We build up the systems and checklists in our business that help us relax and know that we’ll be prepared for things as they come.

It means we don’t just accept that we sometimes need to slow down, but that we enjoy it. We relish in it.

It means it might be okay (even wonderful!) for us to have a day job while we build our business up.

It means that we acknowledge and honour each potential client’s unique right timing to work with us (or not).

It means we slow ourselves down, get still inside and let go of the panic that comes from posturing or collapsing. That we create space in our lives where we can and listen to our intuition.

It means we let emails to our list sit overnight instead of sending them out immediately.

It means we run our marketing ideas by friends and colleagues before trotting them out to the market place. We let things sit.

It means we plan further ahead to give ourselves time.

It means that we get really good at finding ways to make our business safe to approach for people and easy to buy from us. We give them lots of ways to sample what we do for free, from a distance. We do what we can to reduce the risk for people.

It means we slow down our conversations with potential clients and really listen. Instead of pushing, we lean back. Instead of starting to give advice, we get more curious about their situation. Instead of skipping over a challenge, we go deeply into exploring it.

It means that we focus on building and deepening our relationship to key hubs and community leaders instead of trying to reach our clients cold.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what ‘Slow Marketing’ means for you. You can write them in the comments below. But no rush.

http://www.mainstreetmediasavvy.com/tad-hargrave-1-25-12-webinar/

But, as things go, I’m leaving to Victoria today to lead a workshop this weekend. And then a weekend workshop in Vancouver next weekend. I suspect I’ll be back to this cafe a few times before I leave.

If you know anyone in either Vancouver or Victoria who could use some help with their marketing – feel free to send them my way.

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VICTORIA (Evening Workshop)

WHEN: February 17th, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
WHERE: 737 Humboldt St – the Aria Condo

COST: $30 in advance. $40 at the door.

FOR MORE INFO OR TO RSVP: CLICK HERE

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VICTORIA (Weekend Intensive)

WHEN: February 17th – 19th, Friday (6:30 – 9:30pm), Saturday and Sunday, (10:00am – 6:30pm)
WHERE: Friday night (737 Humboldt St. – the Aria Condo) Sat and Sunday – Pacific Rim College
COST: Pay what you want at the end of the weekend.

TO SPREAD THE WORD ON FACEBOOK

FOR MORE INFO OR TO RSVP: CLICK HERE

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VANCOUVER (Evening Workshop)

WHEN: February 24th (6:30 – 9:30pm)
WHERE: TIDES Canada, 400 – 163 West Hastings St
COST: $30 in advance. $40 at the door.

FOR MORE INFO OR TO RSVP: CLICK HERE

*

VANCOUVER (Weekend Intensive)

WHEN: February 24th – 26th, Friday (6:30 – 9:30pm), Saturday and Sunday, (10:00am – 6:30pm)
WHERE: TIDES Canada, 400 – 163 West Hastings St
COST: Pay what you want at the end of the weekend.

TO SPREAD THE WORD ON FACEBOOK

FOR MORE INFO OR TO RSVP: CLICK HERE