Chasing Relevance Archives

Dan was interviewed by Paul Brodie on the Get Published Podcast. They talked about what it takes to write and publish your first book. Listen to the podcast here.

Paul: What is the one piece of advice that you would give to a first-time author who is currently writing their book?

Dan: The biggest piece of advice that I could give to a first-time author is that you need to understand that writing a book is a process. Like everything else it takes time, not everything has to work into the time frame that you want to jam it into. If you actually become a slave to the process and enjoy the process, you’ll win because you will enjoy the experience of creating something and the end result much more.

Paul: What do you feel is the hardest part of getting published?

Dan: Well we self-published so it was a little bit different for us. We didn’t do any of the proposals, we published it ourselves. I think the hardest part for me was the mindset to just go for it and be able to listen to the advice from all the people that I know that have done it before and to really understand when you are a first-time author you are a nobody. You really just need to figure out how to get your baby made. It’s all about that.

Paul: Please you share a marketing strategy that you have used in your book launch that worked out?

Dan: The biggest thing about the book launch was trying to approach it from every Avenue we could. Social media can be really tough when you don’t have a lot of followers and you are kind of a nobody to start. So you really need to rely on your lists and your contacts and kind of beg borrow and steal to get people to pay attention to the book. I think we’ve had a big success. I think we have 10,000 sold or delivered so for a first-time author we were super excited being able to do that. We would watch our Amazon sales and everything else. Marketing is a very diverse thing of going after every single Avenue that you can to get your message out. Which includes blog writing, talking to other authors, being published on other blogs, interviews, podcasts, free speaking galore, whatever you can do to get your message out there.

Paul: Great. What is your favorite book and what was the number one and what was the thing that you learned from it?

Dan: You know my favorite book changes du jour or de month I’m such a hound for reading books, especially self-improvement but all kinds of books. My current two books are written by the same author Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields and the other book he wrote, How to Live a Good Life. What I really love about the book uncertainty was that you really need to lean into uncertainty and take it by the hand. The more you lean into uncertainty, the better things can happen for you. The second book was really focusing on making sure how you can structure your mindset. It is about a systematic approach to living the good life and thinking positive thoughts. So those are the two du jour but you know, I’m always loving on someone else’s book.

Paul: Well and that is always one of the hardest questions that I think I asked on the show because it changes so often so I have a lot of people on the show that bill typically just, “Well I don’t know about just one, but I’ll share a few of my most recent ones.” that seems to be the du jour so to speak.

Dan: I love The Go-Giver, I love Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends & Influence People I love Mel Robbin’s The 5 Second Rule and not necessarily the book but the things within the book, Good to Great, I mean we could go on and on and on about the amazing books that are out there and you take out of each of them what you want, what you get, and what serves you. That’s the cool thing about books.

Paul: Absolutely let’s talk about your favorite quote. What is your favorite quote and why?

Dan: My favorite quote I think is by Henry David Thoreau, my oldest son wrote about it in his college essay, and it is ” Life is not about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.” (I looked this up later, found that it is also attributed to George Bernard Shaw) I really think that is the truth. For all the young people and our book is about impacting and shaping all people’s lives but principally those that are young and high performers. It really is about creating yourself that is the process of the journey and I love that quote because it’s true. It’s all about the mindset and it’s not that we’re on this journey to go figure out one day through Define intervention something happens to us and we go “aha”. It’s about all those little lessons and all the people who happen to come into our lives and all the experiences along the way and what we do with them to create great stuff for ourselves and to impact other people. That’s why I love that quote.

Paul: Dan, thank you for coming onto our show. What is the best way for people to find you online?

Dan: The best way to find me is at DanNegroni.com and that’s all of our speaking business and we have another Consulting business launchbox365.com or they can follow us @Dan.Negroni on Instagram or DanNegroniSpeaker on Facebook

You can grab a copy of Paul’s book at getpublishedpodcast.com

Dan Negroni’s book, Chasing Relevance: 6 Steps to Understand, Engage and Maximize Next Generation Leaders in the Workplace is available for purchase on Amazon.

Let’s face it, there’s always something we could be doing better in our business. These changes may be different for everyone, but they can always be broken into two categories: minor adjustments or game changers. A minor adjustment may improve the way your business runs, but a game changer redefines it. It allows you to function on an entirely different level than you were before.

A game changer can be an action, a decision, a new system or process, or simply a new idea.

Have you found yours yet? If not, here’s how you can discover your company’s game changer.

Ask the Right Questions

In order to find your big idea, you have to know what you’re seeking. Define the industry you want to conquer in clear terms.

Who is the audience, and how do you want to impact them?
What are other industry leaders doing?

Next, take a hard look at your company.

What do you want to change about it?
Do you want more growth, a better image, more client loyalty?
What are your goals and how can you reach them?

During this step, you should also decide what you’re willing to sacrifice to achieve these goals. If your company has always been a “mom and pop” establishment, you might have to lose that title to become a truly innovative organization. You may have to abandon other ideas to change course entirely, and you may have to let go of employees who are resistant to change. If you decide what you’re willing to lose ahead of time, it will be easier to make the decision later.

Get Creative

Use inspiration from others when you need it, but don’t let it be your driving force. The best innovators are self-made, not copycats. Sometimes, however, we have to accept that perhaps we aren’t capable of ingenuity on our own. If this is the case, surround yourself with talent. Whether you’re hiring the brightest minds in your industry or cultivating talent among your existing team, you should strive for a culture of creativity to fuel your game changing potential.

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Success won’t come immediately. There will be false starts and disappointments, but with persistence you’ll find your “ah-ha” moment. The key is to take each discouragement as a learning experience, and build on your failures to achieve your ultimate goal. It takes humility to acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses, but with persistence, you can use both to reach your objective.

By asking the right questions, you can help create a blueprint of what your game changer might be. Once you tap into your creativity and perseverance, your path to this defining moment in your company’s story will become clear.

Are you ready to find your game changer?