The Invisible Mentor

Archive for May, 2010

You may be thinking what an odd question, “Do you know you,” but please humor me. On  Saturday while waiting for my student at the  Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library, I bumped into a librarian whom I hadn’t seen in months. She wanted to know what I’d been doing because she hadn’t seen me. For those who may not know, I love libraries and bookstores. I told her that I’d been very busy with work and that I had also been taking stock of my life to see where I was at, and where I wanted to go. I was shocked when she told me that she had never evaluated her life that way. This is something that I do regularly, have check-ins with myself. What about you?

This made me wonder if most people go through life without taking the time to see if they are on track. But if they have no life plan then any destination would do. So, I have a few questions for you:

1. Are you living your passion?
2. Are you doing work that feeds your soul? If not why not?
3. Are you making a difference in anybody’s world, especially yours?

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Thank you for being you, and thank you for reading my blog. In life we take too many things for granted, and get caught up in the busyness of our lives. I am trying to be more intentional about saying thanks, and letting others know that I care about them. Is there someone who you have been thinking of giving a call to? Why not take a few minutes and make the call now.

For my undergraduate degree, I attended the University of Calgary, and they had an alumni event this evening in Toronto at the National Club. The guest speaker was Johann Olav Koss, President of Right to Play a non-profit organization that uses “use sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace among children and communities.”

If you cannot view the YouTube video of I Believe in You click here

It was an inspirational and very uplifting evening. Johann shared an experience he had at 11 years old when he told his grandmother that he was going to become a doctor like his parents and win medals for speed skating. His grandmother told him that he could accomplish anything that he wanted, and that if he intended to do so many things he should eat his food. He wasn’t particularly good in school, though he was good in science, and he wasn’t good at speed skating. Despite that, he accomplished those goals because someone important to him believed in him. He became a doctor, and he has won five Olympic medals in speed skating. Do you support the important people in your life? Imagine what a difference it would make in your world if someone believed in you. I BELIEVE IN YOU, so go climb your Mt. Everest because I know that you can do it.

If you cannot view the YouTube video of I Believe in You (Lion King) click here

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

YouTube videos via Apture

As with all the interviews that I have conducted, there are parts of John Kremer’s that resonated with me. Are you happy with the life you’re living? John  structured his life so that he could do the things that matter to him? Do you ever stop to smell the roses as he does, or are you always rushing from here to there? Are you fearless? One of the five life lessons that John Kremer has learned so far is that you have to be open, “You have to be so open that you’re willing to bleed and be cut. There is a saying that the best writers sort of open a wound and let it bleed. You have to be open and not be afraid of anything.” It this a good way to be? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being too open? Enough said, read his interview.

Tell me a little bit about yourself

I am 61 years old and I live in Taos, New Mexico. My passion is publishing, marketing, walking my dog and spending time with my wife.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

There are a lot of ways to answer this question, but I go back to not knowing my place in the universe and I think when I was younger I should have spent a year or two focusing on that and not doing things that distracted me from that.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

1. Always give. You have to give if you expect to receive. This is important not just in marketing but in life as a whole and you have to be open to giving and sharing.
2. You have to be so open that you’re willing to bleed and be cut. There is a saying that the best writers sort of open a wound and let it bleed. You have to be open and not be afraid of anything.
3. The best things come when people are free to do what they can do without being regulated by government, religion or even friends and family that can point them in the wrong direction.
4. Relationships are the basis for success in business and in marketing and I think that’s a really important life lesson.
5. Have fun!

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

Reading, walking my dog and spending time with my wife.

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

I don’t really have to use a process because I have ideas coming to me all the time. My problem is figuring out which ideas to act on. I have 200 books that I want to write but I will never get them all done, so I always have these ideas coming to me. I don’t think I use a process but if you if you had a process it would be to let yourself be open to what is coming your way.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

My favourite quote is “All that is real and true is simple, natural and life supporting,” by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This quote has stuck with me.

How do you define success?

Being able to do what you want to do, and whatever that means in terms of what you are doing. But it can’t be just selfish because then you are not doing what you want to do.  I think people who follow what they want to do are among the most generous in the world. And, that’s when success really falls into place.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success?

Just do what you want to do because that’s the definition of success and that’s exactly what you have to do to have success. You really have to enjoy what you are doing, you do it with your whole heart and at all times keep the generous spirit of sharing.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

The main thing that I did was study and learn and keep observing what other people were doing that was working and follow what I noted when I watched people. I have a lot of people that I learned from and not just the gurus but my customers who tell me what works and doesn’t work for them. Much of what I know about book marketing comes from people sharing with me what works for them, and all I do is essentially pass on that information.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

The key thing is that you have to do some amount of study. Study the successful people in your field by reading their books, and if you can, spend time with them. One of the other things that I do in terms of being mentored is spending time with people at conferences and conventions where you can actually sit down with them and talk. With me I’m not afraid to ask any questions, no matter how personal it might be. I mean it’s amazing, I sometimes scare my wife when I ask people some personal questions even if we are in the grocery line. I’m curious and I always want to know things. I am not afraid to ask personal questions because it’s the person’s right not to answer any question that I ask.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

1. Dalai Lama
2. Pope Benedict XVI
3. President Barack Obama
4. Carl Rogers
5. Abraham Maslow

I would just want to sit with them and not necessarily say anything to them. I would just want to spend time with them and be in their atmosphere and figure out what makes them tick and how they think. You can just sit with someone and talk about anything and it doesn’t matter what it is and you’ll learn from them.

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I love that book and it’s probably the one that I have read more than any other book. I’ve read it about a dozen times. It really speaks to me in terms of living your true life and stepping to your own drum. It’s very emotional and if reincarnation is true I feel like Henry David Thoreau was one of my past lives.

Have you read any books that inspired you to start a business, service or invent “something”? If yes, which book?

Oh yeah, I always get that with any book. That’s one of the reasons why I don’t have to generate ideas because every book I read stimulates me to think of something new or something that I could be doing. I am always being thrown into all kinds of directions and my biggest challenge would be maintaining one direction very strongly.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

1. Walden
2. I’d take the Bible. It would take a while to read it. I have never read it all the way through so that would be a great time to do it
3. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita
4. I’d take a couple of really good mystery novels that were worth reading over and over again

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

The music CD would be one that I put together with some of my favourite songs. My favourite song is Brown Eyed Girl and I don’t know why, but every time I hear it I get happy. I would take that along with other songs from the late sixties and early seventies. I was at that age where music really impacts your life, and those songs still have a great calling to me.

If you cannot view the YouTube Video, please click here to view Brown Eyed Girl.

For a movie I might take Amadeus. Amadeus is such a well directed and acted movie and the passion for music came through in such a strong way. The guy that sort of killed Mozart or drove him to death loved his music so much that he was probably the only one who truly appreciated what Mozart was doing.

If you cannot view the YouTube Video, please click here.

What excites you about life?

Every day

How do you nurture your soul?

I really try to take time every day to pray, meditate, read things that help me, journal and think about the deep questions of life. I have structured my life and I have been doing independent business for over 25 years. I did this so that whenever I wanted to take time out to walk or just smell the roses I could do it.

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

I would wish that all people have true freedom.

Complete the following, I am happy when…..

I’m writing, when I’m with my wife, walking and playing with my dog.

What are five takeaways from John Kremer’s interview? Review the first part of this interview and think about how you can apply the information to you situation. What nuggets of wisdom can you glean?

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

The book and CD links are Amazon Affiliate links.

Have a book you’d like to market? John Kremer is the guy to turn to. In fact, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen the masterminds behind the “Chicken Book” series used several of Kremer’s ideas from his hugely popular book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. When I interviewed John Kremer he indicated that Canfield and Hansen gave him his big break. Who gave you your big break, or are you still waiting for your big break?

Tell me a little bit about yourself

I am 61 years old and I live in Taos, New Mexico. My passion is publishing, marketing, walking my dog and spending time with my wife.

What’s a typical day like for you?

When I get up, one of the first things that I try to do is to check my email. I spend most of my workday on the computer, but I take time out of the day to walk with my wife and dog. I also work at nights because it’s very quiet.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

I have to pay the bills so that’s a motivating factor and that keeps me motivated. But I enjoy what I do so it’s very easy to stay motivated.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

If I had to start over from scratch back in 1980, I would try to sell my books to some of the bigger publishers more aggressively. I would learn how to do that right. But nowadays, I wouldn’t do that because the big publishers are dying. In today’s world it’s very practical to self-publish or publish through a Print on Demand company like Lulu or Infinity Publishing. In today’s world I would focus a lot on ebooks, and especially with the iPad, the ways it has been showcasing books you can do a lot more with it than with a Kindle book reader, which is only in black and white and fairly static. You cannot include audio or video, and I believe with the iPad you can include audio and video.

What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

I don’t know about the last year, but the most important discovery that I’ve made in the past 15 years is understanding that ultimately all marketing is creating relationships, and I think it is the most important discovery that I’ve made and continue to make. You have to create relationships and that’s how you market successfully: you create relationships with booksellers, distributors, media, and bloggers. Also, the ultimate reader and customer do a lot of word of mouth marketing for you, so I think the key is creating those relationships.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Probably the ebook revolution. The Kindle and the iPad are going to be the biggest things, and of course the iPhone apps that are being translated to the iPad, those are really crucial I think in terms of delivering content to people. So I would say that’s the biggest revolution. There were ebook before that time but they weren’t a mass market item as they are now.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

I’m the best book marketing consultant that you can find. I know more about marketing books than any three people combined.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I drill down to the five best things that people have to do to market their books, so I focus on that and I don’t get distracted. I really want people to be focused and not be driven by the winds of “oh here is a new hot thing”. Sometimes I do tell people that here is a new thing you need to do and it’s hot now, but I really want to focus on the key thing which is building relationships. For example, in internet marketing there are new things coming up over and over again, but the most fundamental and important thing you can do marketing online is to create relationships with the top websites that have the audience that you are trying to reach, and people still keep hoping that there is a magic button that you can push and everything will be taken care of for you and the reality is that magic button is simple, you create relationships.

Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.

I don’t know what that would be. I just go day-by-day and do the work so I don’t think in terms of challenges, or things like that, that I have to resolve. Every day is a minor challenge. There are things that you have to do, probably my main challenge is time management because there are things that I like to do and there are things that I don’t like to do and I tend not to manage well the things that I don’t like to do. I think that this describes most people.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

This means that there are days when I have to sit down and do the things that I don’t want to do, and I know that I have to do that so I set aside a certain amount of time every week.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Probably the thing that had the biggest impact for me is that Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen loved my book and recommended it to everybody. I was successful before but I sold a ton of books based on their recommendation. They took my book 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and basically put it up on a wall and did the things that they wanted to do. The Rule of Five is one of the strategies that they took from my book, which says that you should do at least five things every day to market your book, any book that you still love and want to have sold and that helps you to be successful marketing your book.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Again you want me to focus on things that I do not want to focus on. The biggest failure is probably a trivia book that I wrote when trivia books were going out of style and I printed 10,000 copies and shouldn’t have printed that many, even though everyone was telling me that I should. I eventually end up burying 5,000 copies and that hurts when you have to do that.

I learned that you have to be conservative with your print runs and do not listen to people because you can always go back to press.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

The biggest disappointment in my life is that I still haven’t learned every thing in terms of who I am in the context of the universe, and that is an ongoing disappointment so I haven’t prevented its reoccurrence. I would still like to know where my place is in the universe and how I fit and know it not just on the level of intellect but know it on the level of visceral experiences.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

The reality is that every day you are making little decisions about a lot of what goes on in your life, and the little decisions are as important as the big decisions in my experience because one decision after another can lead you into an entirely new direction you wouldn’t have gone had you not made those little decisions.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

One was something that happened when I was in 10^th Grade High School English class. It’s when I learned to love to write and it certainly impacted my life because before then I didn’t like to write. After that class I learned that I liked to write and wanted to write and that was going to be my life.

The second thing is something that I learned in college, and it was discovering a man named Carl Rogers who talked about how people can change their lives, and the most important thing that you can do to support someone is simply to give them unconditional love, and I think that’s really important because it’s not only about how you treat others but how you treat yourself.

The third thing that shaped my life the most is starting to meditate.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

1001 Ways to Market Your Books.

How did mentors influence your life?

I haven’t had any real mentors who sat with me that much, but I’ve had many mentors through books. I have been mentored by people who I have read like Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and people like Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen through their books, and also by marketing people like Jay Conrad Levinson.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Have fun! The most important thing is that you need to enjoy what you are doing, and if you are doing something that you don’t really enjoy, figure out (1) do you need to do it, (2) if you need to do it can you find someone to do it for you, (3) if you can’t find someone to do it, is there some way to minimize how much you have to do it, so that most of your life you can be happy and have fun.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

I don’t bring my personal into my professional life because my wife does not want be bringing business into our relationship. On the other had I do bring my personal life into my business life because I don’t think of business as just business. What I am doing I enjoy doing so it’s fun and it’s part of what I am and who I am and it’s always going to be that way. I won’t do something for very long that I do not enjoy, except for accounting and taxes which I have to do. And even though I hire people to perform those functions, I still have to do a certain amount to help them do their job.

What are five takeaways from John Kremer’s interview? If you have a book that you’d like to market, would you be willing to give the Rule of Five a try?

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Go as far as you can see, and you’ll be able to see further, is the essence of a quote that was mentioned in an interview I recently conducted. How profound, and a great rule to live by. Too often we get overwhelmed by a project, or a task because we simply cannot see the big picture. Or we cannot see what the end looks like. Instead of being paralyzed by fear, and not getting started, how about we do as much as we can envision, and when we get to the end of that point, we take another look and see how far we can now see.

By doing that, in no time we’ll come to the end point of the task and the project. It’s great to be able to see the end point, but if we cannot, there is no reason for us to stress ourselves out.

Which task or project is waiting for you to take it as far as you can see?

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Google via Apture