Imagine Your Reality

Hospitality is a lot like marketing. Depending on the quality, it can leave a lasting good or bad impression. I just had a guest over for a couple days. He needed to pick his parents up from the PDX airport and had to drive up from Eugene to do so. I offered to let him stay the night and he was happy to take me up on the offer. Getting the opportunity to see him in person was a precious gift to me. I got to enjoy his conversation, a nice gift of wine and also a bit of gaming. In return I wanted to give him the gift of my hospitality: A comfortable place to sleep, good food to eat, and most importantly time to spend together. And all of those aspects of hospitality add up to something else, namely a relationship created on the establishment of trust, of looking out for each other.

Marketing that works is also based on creating a relationship between yourself and your client or audience. You aren’t just trying to convince them to buy a product from you or even a service. You’re also asking them to create a relationship with you, and of course the strength of any relationship is based on how each party treat’s each other.

So what makes a relationship in marketing:

1. Respect: Respect for yourself and your services and respect for the people you interact with. Whether it’s someone coming up to you to have a book signed, or someone trying your services out for the 50th time, you want those people to come back and respect definitely factors into it.
2. Communication: Communication is a two way street. The quality of communication however depends on how careful people are when they drive on that street. Taking time to be clear and coherent can save you time down the line.
3. Trust: Following through on what you promise to do is how you show someone that you’re willing to look out for him or her.
4. Consistency: Be consistent in your actions and words

Following these simple guidelines will show people that you’re willing to create a relationship with them. They will realize that they aren’t just numbers to you, that in fact you care about them and their welfare.

Much like hospitality, and a friendship, a marketing relationship is based on taking care of the people you work for.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

the opportunity to see good friends

The opportunity to have good conversation

My clients and their faith in me.

I consciously commit to:

Being the best coach I can be

Honoring my commitments

Believing in my clients.

What are you thankful for? What are you willing to commit to?

Last Chance to Register for How to Market and Publish your Book!

This is your last chance to register for the how to publish and market your book series of teleclasses I’m offering.

In this class we’ll be focusing on:

The differences between small press, big publishers, and DIY publishing
How to get in touch with three potentials audiences for your book: The Agent, the publisher, and the readers
How to successfully market your book on a small budget
and much more

All for the low cost of $250 AND if you don’t learn anything knew about marketing or publishing your book in the first class, I’ll refund you your tuition minus the 50 dollar classroom fee!

To register please go to http://www.imagineyourreality.com/schedule.html

Instead of doing Thankful Thursday and Conscious Commitment this week, I thought I would focus on how to recognize when you’re sabotaging yourself. Before I do that, I want to announce that I am now offering freelance editing services on Imagine Your Reality. If you have a book you are working on or a similar project, contact me about editing it.

Also the latest radio show is now available to listen to. Next week I’ll be focusing on the concept of identity and how it is created initially and how we can change our identity.

The reason I’m focusing on how to recognize when you’re sabotaging yourself is because earlier this week I had two people point something out to me that helped me recognize I was sabotaging myself. I’d written an article for this newsletter earlier this week about keeping your spirit up during rough economic times and mentioned I’d been job hunting…I also passed off my current activities as not being very productive. One of my readers pointed this out. The next day I was again describing some of my current activities and one of the people listening also noticed how I phrased my activities and also brought up the same point as my reader had.

Hearing two different people offer the same perspective quickly told me I was sabotaging myself. I wasn’t aware I was sabotaging myself, but they were and their perspectives helped me realize that I needed to tell myself and others a different story than the one I was currently telling. It also helped me realize just how valuable it is to have people who can offer their own awareness on what I’m saying. Of course, it’s not always easy to listen to the perspectives other people have, especially if the perspective offered is one you would rather not listen to. The temptation to ignore the person can be quite high, but that’s another sabotage as well.

Don’t get me wrong…not everyone’s insight is correct and ultimately you, me, and everyone else has to make their own decisions, but learning to listen to people sometimes involves listening to what we’d rather ignore about ourselves. And at that moment a choice has to be made…Will I really listen to this person and consider what has been said, or will I ignore it and potentially continue to sabotage myself. Believe it or not, it is much easier to make the second choice…but we also have to deal with the consequences.

The next time you’re in a situation and someone offers a perspective on what you said or did, take some time to consider what was said. If you find yourself resistant to it, ask yourself: What it is about what I heard that I don’t like and be honest with yourself. By doing this you can sometimes identify something you do that sabotages you, and then make changes. Remember as well that in the end it’s your choice as to whether to change yourself and stay the same.

How to Market and Publish Your Book

When: Monday October 13 to Monday December 1 from 5:30 PM to 6:30PM

How: Via Teleconference

Tuition: $250.00

REGISTRATION: Sign up at http://www.imagineyourreality.com/schedule.html

Do you have a book that you’re just dying to write? Or maybe you’ve written your book, but you’re not sure what the next step is. In this series of classes, I can help you get your book published as well as plan the steps you need to take to market it to your audience. If you’ve never submitted a book to a publisher or always found that your manuscript is getting rejected, I can help you take steps to change that.

So WHO is this class for?

A writer who’s writing a book or written one, a published author who’s not sure how to market his or her book, or anyone who wants to know more about how the publishing industry works.

Why can I help you? Because I’m a published author, as well as a managing non-fiction Editor for a small press. I know the publishing industry inside and out and have helped people like you achieve their dreams of getting their book published and in the hands of people wanting to read their books.

WHAT will you learn if you show up?

* Insider knowledge about how the publishing industry works
* The importance of word to mouth marketing and promotion.
* The reason most authors struggle with making their book a success-and how
to avoid it completely!
* And more!

Is this class a good use of your precious time? You’ve got Taylor’s guarantee that if you haven’t learned anything after the first class, I’ll refund you all of your tuition minus the 50 dollar class fee.

Register at http://imagineyourreality.com/schedule.html