If you want to start a gig just to “pay the bills” and be able to quit your day job, go for it.

I think you can do it.

If you don’t think your gig can become huge, read this post, written by James Altucher: How To Go From $0 To $1,000,000 In Two Years

That is an awesome story.

This is a really interesting post on how to get more business.

For years I’ve been asked if JibberJobber has an affiliate program (aka, a referral fee for people who refer JibberJobber to their network).  The answer is NO.  While affiliate programs were very popular five to ten years ago.

I started with an affiliate program but found it was just not appropriate for our model.  One reason is that most people who asked would refer less than 50 people a year, and the percentage that would actually signup, use it, and then upgrade (for $9.95/month) was very low.  It wasn’t worth it for anyone.

Kent is a professional service provider (executive coach).  If I refer one person to him, that could be worth hundreds and easily thousands.  There is a lot more money to share in that scenario.

But Kent’s post, Why I don’t want a referral fee, goes to another level.

Let’s say you give me a referral and I give you $100.  How was that?  Are you fulfilled?

If you are giving a referral so you can increase your income, $100 isn’t very much.  If you consistently get $100 a day that is interesting, but if you get $100 a year, it is barely fun money.

Kent’s blog post starts out “My business is built on referrals.”  Why, then, doesn’t he pay for referrals?

Another line says: “a (referral) fee would deter me from giving referrals to you.”

WHY?

Read his post to find out what’s more valuable than a referral fee.

I LOVE Tim’s blog posts like this… it’s like a formula to go from zero to “successful.”  While you  may not be positioned to write a book, or pitch it, or get an advance, you can learn a lot from this long guest post.

With that, I’ll let you go over there now.  It’s a long post, but it’s worth it. I need to print all of the posts like this on Tim’s blog and study them!

How a First-Time Author Got a 7-Figure Book Deal

I just read an interview by Liz, who I know and have interacted with a number of times.  Liz is one of those special ladies you wish you could work with in your life.  She’s awesome.

The interview is great, and it shows some of the reality of being an entrepreneur.  Here’s one of my favorite sentences:

“As an entrepreneur, one day you think you own the world and the next day you’re losing your house.”

Can you imagine building something awesome, only to have something catastrophic yank it away.

Liz is still in control, and she will always be awesome.

A buddy, Steve Duncan, has some cool blogs.  Here’s a post I came upon that I want to keep. Is there a book in your blog? Convert WordPress to Scrivener

I’ve not wanted to create a “book” out of my blogs (especially the JibberJobber blog) for a few reasons.

One blogger said that blogs make horrible books, and I think I agree.  To connect my blog posts together into something that flows, and the value grows as you read each page, would take a lot of work.  As a blogger I write what I want when I want, I don’t follow a schedule and plan throughout a year or month.  I might have a week-long series, but that’s as sophisticated as I get as far as flow.

Almost seven years later, though, I think it makes sense to pull certain posts out to create several books.  Seven years of writing is A LOT!

I could have a book on personal branding.

I could have a book on job search technology and very specific tips.

I could have a book on career management.

I could have a book on LinkedIn. Oh wait, I already have that :p

I could write a book on alternative revenue streams.  Oh yeah, already working on that.

Perhaps I could pull enough posts together (and fill in the blanks) to write a book on small business, and the ups and downs.

Interesting.  I really have put this off for a long time but when I saw Steve’s post it made me think maybe it’s time.  One reason is because I have a feeling I need some new “products” that I can either move/sell OR just get some buzz around.

I’ll have to noodle on this idea… in my “spare time.” :p

I hate that GoToWebinar saves a recording in a proprietary format. It makes it hard to do anything with the recording.

Paul Teague has a post titled “How to process GoToWebinar video” and it has been a life saver for me.

What I did was step 2 (download Windows Media Encoder) and then Step 3, on how to import the file and then convert it with WME.

This has been a lifesaver for me – it works!

– UPDATED

Realizing that I don’ thave control over Paul’s site, and I hope that post never goes away, I figured I should put the Step 2 and Step 3 here:

2) Download Windows Media Encoder onto your PC.

If you need to know whether you need 32-Bit or 64-Bit check here.

Windows Media Encoder basically allows other users to view the video file that you have made using Windows Media Player.

It does what the second option does in the integrated GoToWebinar options (see image above) but it does it at a time of your suiting, probably not immediately after the webinar.

3) Next you need to follow these instructions, and my thanks to Malc who passed these on to me:

1. Select “Start”, then “Programs”
2. Choose “Windows Media”, then click “Windows Media Encoder”
3. Select “Convert a File”, then “OK”
5. Select “Browse” next to Source file: and find your GoToWebinar video
6. Choose “File Download” and click “Next >”
7. Select “Next >”, no changes
8. Select “Next >” again, no changes
9. Uncheck “Begin converting when I click Finish”
10. Click “Finish”
11. Select the “Properties” button
12. Click the “Compression” tab
13. Click the “Edit” button
14. Highlight whatever is in the Bit Rates box
15. Click “Edit”
16. Check the box for “Same as video input”
17. Select “OK”
19. Click “Apply”
20. Click “Start Encoding”

(Info provided by Malc from livingto150.com – thanks Malc!)

Thanks again Paul!

Many years ago I did a blog carnival and it was a blast.  This is when blogging was still in vogue.  I got an email from Marc Miller, who is writing a book called Repurpose Your Career, and he asked some questions. I invited some people to jump into a blog carnival with me… but then I didn’t follow up on it.  So, it’s an open blog carnival – hopefully a few others will jump in  See links at the end of my post for others who participated.

Marc asks: Do you have any advice on launching your first self published book?

Yes, I have years of advice  Where to start… here are some initial thoughts:

1. Write the book.  But of course, you say, but from experience I know this is very, very difficult.  I know editors who have always wanted to write a book but never do.  I know all kinds of people who want to do it, but they never do it.  Just write the freaking thing.
2. Choose your title carefully.   For my books I think the title is very important.  For some people I tell them the title will be more important than the rest of the book (and more people will finish reading the title than the book).  For non-fiction I am not sure that the title is as important (or should be as boring… er, as straightforward) as a non-fiction (like my books).
3. Involve others. I call this pre-marketing, before the book is out.  From quoting people (who might not have ever thought they would be quoted in a print book(!!)) to asking for endorsements, involve as many people who are part of your target audience as you can.  Get them some “ownership” (without them being owner, of course). I believe this will encourage them to become evangelists… that is, people who talk about your book to others.  Think about it… would you rather have ten people who buy your book (and perhaps don’t read it) or ten people who talk enthusiastically to everyone they know about your book?
4. Understand your goal from the beginning.  Do you want to sell gobs of books and make money from book sales?  Or do you not care about that, and want to get clients (consulting, speaking, etc.)?  Whatever your goals are will have a profound influence on what you do before, and of course after, the book comes out.
5. Market well, right, and often.  If you thought writing the book was hard (see #1) you are wrong.  It was a freaking cake walk.  The hard thing is to get anyone to buy your book.  Marketing is not a one-time thing.  You must use a CRM tool to keep track of the evangelists you are courting, when you talk with them, when you need to follow-up, etc.  I’ll be completely biased and tell you to use JibberJobber, which is my site, and what I use to do this.  I can talk about marketing all day long, but some of Marc’s other questions touch on it, so I’ll continue with his questions.

I will be looking for speaking engagements for Q1 2013 on the topic of “Baby Boomer Retirement Paradox”.

If you position yourself well (as an author), you shouldn’t have a problem being allowed to speak.  Again, we can talk all day long about this stuff (speaking).

Are you looking for free gigs at job clubs?  If so, why? How will you eventually monetize it?  You won’t even cover gas money by book sales at those clubs.  Maybe you will use your authorship as a way to get into clubs, and then hope that someone from the audience pays you as a coach/consultant… that could work.  That definitely could work, as long as you are a good-enough speaker.

Or, are you looking for paid gigs at other places?  Where?  Who will pay you to talk to what audience?

These are critical questions to answer when it comes to speaking.

I should be in a national print magazine in January 2013 where the book will be mentioned.

I’ve gotten many, many “PR hits,” including a full, real article in U.S. News and World Report.  There are very few exceptions to the following statement: none of them produced any business value (aka, money).

I don’t want to knock your mention.  But don’t hold your breath hoping for sales or anything else.

The only good thing from these hits is you can say “as seen in” or “as mentioned in” and then list all the hits.  That might increase your credibility. But increasing your credibility doesn’t necessarily lead to money.

I am looking for other PR possibilities.

I wouldn’t spend much time on it.  Let me give you an example.  I was on various radio shows where the host claimed they had hundreds of thousands or over one million, listeners.  Had a great, exciting interview.

And NOTHING happened.  Nothing.  Not an increase in hits on my websites, not an increase in sales or inquiries.  Nothing.

Long ago I would get overly excited about these hits, but now I take them in stride.  I can’t get too excited and then let down by what amounts to a no-show, no matter how exciting the PR thing might be.

Oh, but I wish I could have been on Oprah!  And I think being on Glenn Beck would be awesome (and lead to sales).  But I can’t think of any other traditional PR hit that would really excite me.

I am looking for one or two published authors who would be willing to read the book and give me a quote.

Again, see #3 above.  You don’t want a quote from one or two, you want input from dozens and dozens.

And, why just “published authors?”  Look for any thought leader or potential evangelist, regardless of their credentials.

So that’s it… that addresses Marc’s questions.  Here’s who also wrote for this carnival (that I’ve been keeping a secret, only because of being slammed with deadlines!):

Angela Loëb: Advice For Releasing Your First (nonfiction) Book

I get messages from Jim Stroud regularly. He’s a powerhouse of recruiting and job search information. He does a lot with video.

This has to be one of my top favorite video formats EVER.  Check out how freaking clever this is:

Isn’t that awesome?

This is a 44 minute video from David Teten with the subtitle “How to Squeeze Maximum Value from College or Graduate School.”

Talking points include:

• career acceleration,
• time optimization, and
• selective short-term learning programs and scholarships.

The questions he asked people with degrees in leading MBA programs include:

• What is the best thing you did to leverage your education?
• What would you have done differently?
• What is your advice for someone just starting your program?

Here’s his original post where he shared the webinar… and here is the webinar in full:

In most cases, most likely the case of YOUR business, or YOURSELF (if you are in transition), you can’t rely on this phrase that I think was made popular by the movie Field of Dreams.

Your stuff might be that awesome.

But no one will know about it, or care, until you invite them.

And the “invitation” will take more work than you think it should.

Awesomeness isn’t always apparent.

You must invite them, sometimes repeatedly (think:nurture and followup).

You must also think WIIFM = What’s In It For Me (them).  In other words, you have to let them know WHY they will love it, think it’s awesome, want to come, etc.

I’ve seen many startups fail at marketing, because they think the product speaks for itself.  I thought my resume spoke for itself.

What to do?

Pick up the phone.  Write the emails.  Reach out to them, invite them, and develop relationships.

Some of the relationships I started 6+ years ago, when I started my business, are finally seeing what I want them to see… six years later!