Make Adjustments Don’t Quit

Make Adjustments Don’t Quit

by | Brand Building, Leadership

To quit or not to quit.

That is the question.

But is it really? Are those the only two options we have? I think most of the time we just pose the wrong question. 

I spent more than two years writing my first book “Leader by Choice” and had plans of it being a great success and making wads of cash while going on paid international book tours.  Once I finished writing, I focused on the marketing and that’s when things went downhill. 

My plan didn’t work out so well.

Okay, I bombed it!

Actually, I didn’t have a firm marketing plan! And I didn’t come anywhere near to reaching my sales goals. In fact, I sell between 1 to 10 copies per month. While I’m grateful to sell a few copies per month this isn’t what I was expecting.

And worst of all, I’m still waiting for Oprah to invite me for an interview! 🙂 

Here’s a fun fact:

There are approximately six million books in Amazon’s Kindle store! Thousands are probably added EVERY SECOND (my calculation). I also learned the average indie publisher sells less than 100 books! That’s insane, but I now understand why.

Am I happy to have written my first book? Absolutely!

Did I learn a lot in the process? Tons.

I learned about writing, marketing, goal-setting, myself, and what doesn’t work. I also learned YOU CAN’T SELL WITHOUT A PLAN.

Most importantly, I learned how to use my writing to take control of my life’s story instead of running from it! Now I truly own my story instead of being ashamed of my past.  Writing my first book also gave me the chance to collect my thoughts, stories, and lots of material to use for public speaking. 

But this wasn’t a publishing success despite the fact that some of the people who read the book left awesome reviews. 

Where did I mess up?

Okay let’s rephrase that. So what can I do differently going forward? 

  • I didn’t reach enough people because I kept changing my marketing plan and never fully committed to any of them. SOLUTION: It would help to come with one plan and stick with you for a specific amount of time.
  • I have tiny email list, which I didn’t know (and still don’t) how to use. SOLUTION: Learn how to communicate with your subscribers before you have anything to sell. 
  • I was acting like superman by doing too much on my own . (The first few versions of the book had tons of typos and after making the changes I then uploaded the wrong version which had even more typos in it!)  Solution: GET A TEAM.

It’s so discouraging when you put so much energy, effort, and love into a project and then it flops. And that’s why I seriously considered quitting all of this online stuff/brand building stuff. I thought about giving up on my dreams of going into entrepreneurism and pursuing my goal of building a business from doing those things I enjoy most: making a positive impact in the lives of others through personal development, inspiration, and sharing leadership lessons.

Fortunately, I snapped out of it. 

It’s not first time I’ve thought about quitting and it probably won’t be the last, but I’m focused on doing things differently.  It’s like my virtual mentor Eric Thomas says,

“No quitting; just adjustments.”

Sometimes all we need to do is make minor adjustments and not huge changes. 

The biggest Mistake I Made

I’m going back to the basics and focusing on building a solid foundation first. 

Brick by brick.

The biggest mistake I made during this process was going straight to the dessert (self-publishing/writing a book) instead of starting with the main course (building a platform). 

While it’s tempting to focus on writing a book or whatever big product/idea you have the problem is that without a group of people ready to buy it it’s really hard to sell informational products online.

Can it happen? Sure. But will it happen? It’s unlikely. 

So why make it so difficult on yourself?

In life when you do the hard stuff first things are easier later on (not easy, but easier). It’s the same thing with selling online. If you do the hard work of building your platform and earning people’s trust first this will make things easier later on. 

Find Your Advantage

Most people have advantages they don’t recognize because they take it granted.

For example, my biggest advantage is that I have a good career. I earn good income, work with great people and have enough mental stimulation to avoid wanting to bang my head against my computer monitor.

This means I’m not desperately looking to replace my career with side-hustle income immediately so this gives me time to build my platform gradually without wondering if my family will eat. This give me the time to focus on doing the not-so-sexy stuff like:

  1. Building a platform.
  2. Producing content consistently.
  3. Learning how to use google analytics.
  4. Improve my writing which is not my strength.
  5. Learn how to communicate with my email list when I don’t have something to sell.

Nothing on this list is fun for me, but it’s necessary for the long-term. What about you? Are there any adjustments you can make in your life or business instead of just quitting?

 

My 20 Favorite Leadership Quotes From Martin Luther King, Jr

My 20 Favorite Leadership Quotes From Martin Luther King, Jr

by | Leadership

Once I heard the Rev. Jesse Jackson speak when he visited our office.  At the end of his short speech, there was a Q&A so I asked, ‘What’s one thing about leadership that you learned from Dr. King that we can apply in our lives?’

Without wasting a second, he said,

“Dr. King led from the front.”

On Martin Luther King, Jr day, it’s common to see his image and quotes all over the web and TV.  But as I see his image I’m reminded of what leading from the front means.

One of the common themes in the photos I see of him and in his speeches is that in nearly all of them, he’s leading a protest, he inspiring an audience, or he’s the first to get arrested.  Dr. King was a servant leader who never asked his followers do something he was unwilling to go through first.

Below are my favorite quotes from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Initially, my goal was to make a top ten, but it was impossible to leave out so many great quotes.

  1.   I have a dream.
  2.  There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.
  3.  Almost always the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. 
  4. A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. 
  5. Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
  6. Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.
     
  7. Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others. 
  8. Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
  9. We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.
  10. People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.
  11. No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.
  12. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.
  13. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
  14. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?
  15. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
  16. All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
  17. Lightning makes no sound until it strikes.
  18. Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.
  19. Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.
  20. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

One of the things that I love about leadership is that regardless of how much times passes by or the latest advances in technology these principles will always apply.  I wonder what the world would be like if more of our world leaders lived by these principles.

Do you have a favorite quote that wasn’t on my list?