Respecting A Penny

There’s no dollar without a penny

While I walked across the bridge, I noticed it on the ground, bruised, run over, and losing it original color. It looked worthless, and I’m sure many have stepped over it, without giving it much thought. But I picked it up. I picked up the penny.
I thought of this habit of mine, and how it affects other aspects of my life. I thought of the value that little things have, and how most seem to miss it, and decided to share the summary of it, knowing that a dollar is not possible without a hundred pennies. 

Here it is:

If you don’t respect a drop of water, you can’t have the ocean. Being faithful in the little is the way to start work on great things. The next time you find a penny on the floor, pick it up. I say this for 2 reasons: One, it’s money — -it’s not worthless; two, and more important, it serves as a reminder to you, in building a better mind, to respect every little thing of value, and the mindset is more important than the amount of wealth you have. Your mind is you.
This thinking is necessary for any creator or person set on making great things. Understanding that things that seem small in value could be turned into very valuable products is at the heart of creativity.
This does not go for only pennies, but many other things in our lives: a glass of water turned into bottled water, and sold; a page of a book — many pages make a book; a sentence, many of them put together becomes a story, and a book; and many others. It all begins with the little things.

Dust is the parent of a star!-Munia Khan

Begin Building An Audience Today!

 Build An Audience For Your Business

Au-Build

 This is for small business owners: coffee shops, convenience stores, restaurants, barber shops, print shops, etc.

 

 Okay, let's keep it simple, you own a shop, and have people buy from you everyday. Your transaction with your customers is simple: they come in, buy what they want, pay you and leave. Nothing more, nothing less.  

Once the transaction is over, there's no further interaction, unless they decide to come back to you for something else. Notice I said "they decide." Otherwise, they are gone, the transaction is over.

But let's step back a bit, and take another look at the transaction. If I were to buy something from you, let's say a toothbrush, there's a chance you that might still have in stock something that will be useful to me (like a toothpaste) and being a human being, when the need arises, when I run out of toothpaste, I will look for a place to buy it from. What's the likelihood that I might come back to you? Unknown, it depends, 50-50, right?

Let's look at a different scenario. Let's say instead of the nameless store/business owner,  I have a relationship with you, one that's decent and based entirely on your courteous customer service and the value you provide me as your customer? 

What if I had a relationship with you that gives me a chance to know you more, to hear from you from time to time through email, beyond my being in the store. What if you gave me special discounts occasionally that saved me a decent chunk of change. What if you sent me information that makes a difference in my spending, and helped ease my way through life. 

What I am saying here is that if you want to build a hearing with your customers, a relationship that's more that a one-and-done experience, build an AUDIENCE. A group of people that received goods from you from time to time. 

Building an audience helps a business last, because after all, the business is nothing without the customer, right?

Hence the customer is king, and learning to build a relationship with the customer, and creating an audience through the process is critical to your business, in that sense. 

So the next obvious question is how to this, right? That's why I built this service. But let's take a look at some reasons why customers will give you access to them, give you their email to be precise.

Incentives

Why people will give you email access?

1. Save money
2. Tips and instructions
3. Freebies
4. Giveaway Contests
5. Insider Information---A behind the scenes education.
   
   I list these to highlight the essence of the exchange: Email for Value. Or something for something.

 Let's look at a quick breakdown of what it will take to build a strong customer base, or audience.

What if we wanted to gather 10,000 emails in one year?

Working Backwards:

With 52 weeks in a year, how many emails do we need in a week?

10000/52 weeks = 192 emails a week

Okay, so how many do we need in a day (this depends on how many times you are open for in a week? Let's say 5 days.

192/5 days= 38 emails a day!

Yet, how many hours is your shop open for?

5 hours? 6 hours? 9 hours?

Let's say 8 hours.

38/ 8 hours = 4.8 emails, which is roughly 5 emails an hour!

5 emails in an hour!

Benefits Of An Audience

1. Test products
2. Way to share your stories of the day, week, or month to lift spirits.
3. Very little need for advertisement expense because you have access to an audience to get your word out.
4. Better understanding of your customers, for it's only in understanding your customer's need that you can serve them well.
5. A way to give value---job announcements, information, correct opinions, apologies, announcements, etc.
6. A tool to organize meetings, webinars, surveys, seminars, etc.
7. To teach lessons about parts of your business.
   
   
   Uncertainty?
   Yes, that comes with all things, so even if you come short of your expected number of emails, you will still have a considerable number of emails with permission to be contacted. The goal is to build a core group of customers who are representative of the typical people you want to serve. 
   
   Is that a good investment for your business? Also, if that's a good investment, what's the lifetime value of a customer you have a relationship with, who buys from you over 5 years, 10 years, 15 years?
   
   
   
   
   Delivery and Fulfillment: How Do I Do This?

Delivery starts with a free demo for two or three days. After those days, you decide if you want the system installed in your business, based on the results of the demo.

If you decide to install the system, I will start the installation process by working on-site with you, in-store, for 1 or 2 weeks, for 5 hours a day after which, if you like it, I will train your staff to do it for a whole year to reach your goal.

How Much Does It Cost?

I bill by the week, so it will cost you $ 500 a week. That's only $1000.00 for 2 weeks, plus staff training, email gathering, and email system set up.

More Questions?


Or, book me below:

If you have any more questions, please contact me here: Kingston at acouplethings70@gmail.com.

Thanks.

Your By Products

A quick share today from one of my favorite books---Rework, from the founders of Basecamp, Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hannsson---on what you may not be seeing while you are working on your thing. Think calmly and well about this:

"When you make something, you always make something else. You can't just make one thing. Everything has a by-product. Observant and creative business minds spot these by-products and see opportunities.

The lumber industry industry sells what used to waste----sawdust, chips, and shredded wood---for a pretty profit. You'll find these by-products in synthetic fireplace logs, concrete, ice strengtheners, mulch, particleboard, fuel, and more.

But you're probably not making anything. That can make it tough to spot your by-products. People at a lumber company see their waste. They can't ignore sawdust. But you don't see yours. Maybe you don't even think you produce any by-products. But that's myopic."

And Not For Books Only

Another sample out of my recently released book/guide "Start With A Story: A Mini-Guide On Opening Your Book With A Tale." Hope you take something away. Enjoy!

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And Not For Books Only

I pulled the phone out of my pocket, tapped the ‘Apps’ icon, and clicked the Google Chrome App Icon. It opened up and led me to a number of website windows that I had left open up after reading them. I simply leave them open to sort of stir my thought when I get back to them. These are ideas, and in my mind, I am not done with it, I am not done with them yet.

Thoughts are like pieces of meat to me, and until I am fully done chewing them, thoroughly, having gotten the most of out of it, I always return to them to finish up.

And today, I am on my way to Walmart, riding the public bus. The trip will be about 2 hours, and since it’s morning, my mind’s well rested to take in new information. Let me make the most of the time, I decide. I knew I had read a bit of Nathan Kontny’s pieces, but I wanted to dig in a little further.

So I went through the titles on his blog, Ninjas and Robots, and landed on this one. The blog Ninja’s and robots has not been active since Nathan Kontny took over the CEO position with Basecamp’s Highrise, but the remnant of his work is still valuable.

So I got started on a piece about becoming what you are looking for. Nathan titled it “How Do I Find Someone To Help Me?”

After a brief introduction of the topic, Nathan went on to start his point with a story.

Here’s the beginning:

In the late 80s, there was a teenage actor who was doing well finding movie roles. But as quick as his career started, it stuttered.

So he fell back to Plan B, and went to college. But he couldn’t let the acting bug go away. He kept looking for and landing parts. Then in his final year of college, he landed the best role of his life — a starring role in a movie filled with A-list actors and a great director. This was an Oscar-worthy movie.

So he quit school and moved to LA to pursue a professional acting career full-time. Except the movie bombed.

Critically, it did well. But it was a box office dud. And his hope that this was his stepping stone to stardom was squashed. He was back to being a largely unknown actor, sleeping on friends floors in LA, with endless competition. He’d get an occasional minor role, but was making less than when he was a teenager.

He needed a breakout role. But no one was giving it to him. So he decided to do it himself. He dusted off a script he had started in college, and with a friend put serious time into turning the half written document into an actual screen play.

I’m sure you are still reading and are engaged. Yes, you should. The story is interesting and on many levels you can learn something from it, whether it ends poorly or not. If it ends poorly, it’s a cautionary tale; and inspiration, if it ends well.

But this one ends well. The story is about how the movie Goodwill Hunting came into being. The guy in the story is Matt Damon, and the friend who helped out was Ben Affleck, and their story is now well documented. From Nathan’s account of it, the movie premiered on Christmas day, 1997, made 227 million dollars and was nominated for nine Academy Awards. It won Best Original screenplay for Matt and his good friend, Ben Affleck. Personally, I have seen it and consider it a great movie. Also, I have heard tennis superstar Roger Federer also name it one of his favorite movies. But what could have not been!

Yet after sharing this story, Nathan goes on start a new section of the same article that he subtitles ‘Become that which you seek.’ It’s at this point that he starts to tell his own story and starts making his real point to his reader. Here’s the lead up:

Every day I bump into someone struggling to find someone to help them with their project or career. They are business people looking for technical co-founders or people like me at Inkling looking for someone like me to write about me.

Now, from all these years in business, I realize that Matt Damon had it right. Instead of looking for some executive producer to give him a starring role, he was going to become the executive producer.

And to hit home the article’s other point, that becoming what you are looking for also brings you closer to people who could help you, Nathan pointed out how Matt Damon also met Steven Spielberg on the same movie set. And Spielberg later cast him for another movie, Saving Private Ryan.

I’m sure you know by now where Nathan is taking this article, or what he is trying to say.

Now, imagine Nathan takes out the story and goes on straight to talk about how the reader should simply become what he is seeking. That will be flat and uninteresting, right?

This again is the power of the story, and in this case not only to engage but to teach. Lists may do well, but nothing drives home a point like a story. Like a kind of burr, it has the ability to stick in your head. And in this case, it works as well even in starting an article. And for some, you may not write a book, but when you sit to write a blog post or an essay, consider the power of a story to drive your point home.

Also, remember, reading is an experience and it should be time well spent. So, making your writing interesting by weaving stories into them makes it a great trade of time and attention with your reader. This is, in a sense, a kind of reading UX (user experience), and you know it’s all the rave now in tech circles all over with software. In that same way, delight your reader, and let them know their time is well spent with your work.

The Place Of A Preamble

At this point let me point out a little difference with Nathan’s article. The article, is a bit of a variant, though, because though you should start with a story, there are situations where a preamble could lead the way first, and that’s what Nathan did with this article — he used a preamble before getting into the story.

As an article, the reader comes to it with little or no background information, and this is what a preamble helps with. It gives the reader a good idea of what the article is about. This is not the case with a book since you often know what the book is about from the title and subtitle. And if there’s no subtitle, the book’s description on the site, or on Amazon will clue you into what the book contains. And that’s when you already have a fair idea of the book’s content, and a story makes a great start without the need for a preamble.

What If I Started Differently?

Notice I start this section with a story, my story of how I found this article. Surely, I could have chosen a different start, maybe a mundane telling of the story. For the purpose of degrees of creativity, let’s take a look at an alternative start.

Like this:

This past Saturday, on my way to Walmart, I read an article about how to become what you are looking for. The article was written by Nathan Kontny, the CEO of Highrise, a software company in Chicago.

In the article, Nathan makes his point by telling a story first before going into his….and on, and on… (you get the point).

Do you notice how the facts are the same, but the telling could be different? This is the same thing with life itself. We all have our cards, our facts, but it’s all based on how we play them. How we use them is what makes the difference. Some of us use it all, some use little, and some use none. But in the end, let’s use it creatively, let’s tell it creatively, with interest.

And that’s another reason I doubt anyone who says they don't have an interesting story to start a book or an article with. It’s there!

If you enjoyed this piece, you'll enjoy the whole book/guide. 

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Check it out here: Start With A Story: A Mini Guide On Opening Your Book With A Tale

A Free Sample

A free sample out of my guide. This is directly out of Gumroad's small product lab. Enjoy, and click the link below to get the whole book.

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Whose Hat Is This?

The hat dropped, and he looked at the name on it, wondering if he had an idea who it was for. The hat previously sat atop someone’s head, surely, and now it had collected dust, a sign of its tale — -it’s been unused for a long time. It’s had a long journey as someone’s head gear, and now as no one’s.

But where he found it is a good place to start if he is to find who last owned it. It was nestled in a corner of the street near a coffee shop. The coffee shop itself had long been in that location, and is a local favorite. And for tales, the coffee shop had it’s share of many, some documented, some told, some swept under the carpet, some not to be uttered.

Well, the hat’s interesting and it’s not too far from the coffee shop. What can be had by finding a connection between the two. What can be known about the last owner from going through the shop’s many tales?

Engaged with that thought, Jack, stayed a while and took in the moment, and thought some more. He has to know who this man is, and how the hat ended up where he found it…

Are you reading still? Are you wondering what’s going on? Or what’s going to happen?
Well, there’s the power of a story, and the title of the guide tells why I wrote this. The power of stories have been long documented by many other people throughout history. But for this short guide, let’s focus on it’s power to open your book, to act as a door to your book, to usher in your reader, to be your first few words, your opening lines, your first paragraph, essay, or chapter.

That’s what I want to delve into with this guide. We will be looking at many examples from other books, how effective they were, and how to create yours.

My hope is that if you are new to writing or still learning ( which we all are, at different levels) you will like to take a shot at writing a small, decent length book to get your thoughts out. If so, I think you will like come away with a good idea of how to open your book with a good story and set the stage for your conversation with your reader.

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Why The Doors Matter?

Since this is about writing a book, let’s take a quick look at a reader’s first encounter with a book.

As is more often the case, you walk into a bookstore, Barnes & Noble, let’s say, and you start browsing the aisles. You take a look here, and there, and here again, checking out the titles.

And then one book calls out to you. Maybe the title caught your eye. Maybe it was the binding. Or, maybe it was something you can’t put a finger on yet, but you are still drawn to it. In any case you pick it up and open it up. You already know the title, and the subtitle may give you a better idea of what’s in the book. What do you do next? Dig in, right? Let’s try a sample of it, you will think to yourself.

You definitely had a few things on your mind before you read the first words of the book. Yet, having picked it up, at this point, in this moment, for a brief moment, you are open to what the book has to offer.

You start reading, and then you see a mundane start, a familiar, ordinary opening to the book. The beginning may be like a lecture. “Hohum,” you maybe thinking. You give it a few more minutes, giving it the benefit of the doubt. “Maybe he has something good coming up,” you choose tell yourself, choosing patience.
You read on, some more, and your will begins to wilt. The book maybe good, but the opening is not. And there are many other things that could compete for your attention. If the book does not hold you for a good brief moment, you’ll move on to something else.

This is where good stories triumph, good stories that are used to open books. Stories that take in a reader. Stories that make the reader decide to sit down and read some more.

If they are used well to open books, stories, will take you kindly into a story, get you out of where you are, and usher you into the message in a way you may not know.
Don’t get me wrong. Books are not to be judged by their opening lines, nor their covers, just as people should not be judged by their first acts, or what we feel when we first meet them. We all have had our poor starts at many things, and yet recovered to do well later on. Books can be that way.

Yet the first impression makes a lot of difference, just as starting things on the right foot bodes well for the rest of it.

And for stories, though the same story could be told by two different people, the impact they have on the hearers ( or readers) may not be the same. The facts may be the same, but the presentation could be entirely different. This is where your ability to take a story and present it well to start your book is critical.

You have the facts, and now it’s time to figure out how to weave a story out of it. A story that’s compelling, and is a good opener. And if you are not sure how to do this, that’s the purpose of this guide. Let’s go on. 

End Of Sample

Buy It

Learning For Skill Sake

I am currently working on a challenge that was presented by one of my favorite online apps, Gumroad. 

It's called the Small Product Lab: A challenge to build a small product, share it online, and publish it to a paying audience in 10 days!

Though I'm working on the launch of my book, I will take out about a week or so to get this done. I like challenges like this.

They get you fired up a bit, and it also involves other people, which makes it also fun, and you get to learn from a lot of other people working on different products, too.

Speaking of that, I just saw an article by Nathan Kontny Of Highrise that I want to share. Here it is below.

Nothing is a waste of time if done to learn a new skill. If you read any of the books on learning, like Talent Code, the trick is to practice deliberately and in small feedback loops that don’t kill you. Do you know much about paid ads and conversion optimization? Then that’s a great way to learn about them. Just time box it. Don’t spend many resources on this step

---Nathan Kontny, CEO Highrise, A Contact Management Software Company.

Thanks a lot, guys, and I will share a few of the updates here as we go along. Peace.

Got To Keep Going!

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running.”---Anonymous

Striking A Conversation

Coffee Shop Meeting

Just sitting there typing away as they walked in, ordered their iced chocolate or something, and came to sit in the small section next to where I was.

I looked over to see a yellow legal pad on the table in front of the lady. I read a bit of it, and saw ‘God’ in one of the sentences. That got me interested, and I said ‘hello.’
The place was the It’s A Grind Coffee House on West Parmer Lane, and on a Monday, this past one, after the Fourth.

We got into a conversation. I asked if they were both writers, to which Bernice said yes, and said David was too.

As I learned in conversation with them, they have published a number of books, mostly on Amazon, and they were in Austin to visit their son who lives in Austin. 

David went on to share with me how he does most of the writing and Bernice often edits, though she does some of the writing too. A good partnership, that is.

“That’s good,” I said. “That’s perfect,” David corrected. Yes, that’s perfect. I think I didn’t clearly grasp how perfect that is to have a husband who is a writer and an editor for a wife.

David seemed the more willing to chat with me after I shared with them the book I was working on. I showed them the cover image.

David suggested I look into createspace.com if I ever wanted to sell physical copies of the book. This intrigued me since my book was only in ebook format, but I have also thought about seeing the physical version of it, just to hold it in my hand.

He shared another online resource for book marketing with me. I even ended up learning about their son who lives in my neighborhood. All in all, this was a good conversation, and taught me a few useful things.

This is why I believe there are no strangers here, only friends we haven’t met yet.

So sitting next to me was a world of goodness, that was simply waiting for me to say hello and open it up. Soon it was time for me to leave. Before that, I shared with them two more tools they could use as writers: Scrivener and Thunderclap.

David already knew about Scrivener and took a note to check out thunderclap.

Looking back, these things do not happen by accident. When you are out to do good, forces step in to help you along the way. Things conspire to light the way, in ways little and big. Some call this serendipity, or coincidence, but I call it God’s favor.

Our doubts are traitors, and oft make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt--- William Shakespeare.

Another Sample Out Of The Book

What Do You Have?

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are — Theodore Roosevelt

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Before I get started on this topic, let me first share a quick story. It’s the story of a man and his wife, Mel and Patricia. In 1978, Mel and Patricia both found themselves unemployed after leaving their jobs, funnily on the same day. They needed to make ends meet. They worked a number of freelance gigs but that didn’t help much.

They decided to start a clothing store, but had little money. Seeking out a loan, they were turned down. Undaunted, they got a business going by selling at flea markets and later moved to a makeshift storefront. Through creative means, they made progress.

At this point, let me share the next bit through quote:

“They wanted to create a catalog. But they couldn’t afford the glossy, thick, bound ones their competition had. So, Mel wrote his own. They couldn’t afford photos. So, Patricia drew pictures of their clothes. They stapled, addressed, and mailed them all themselves.

They couldn’t even afford shelves for their store, so they used wooden fruit crates Mel found in the garbage outside a market.”

They went on and on, making do with what they had, which was not that much.

These two went on to start Banana Republic, a clothing and accessories retailer, which they later sold to the Gap in 1983. You probably know the company and it’s size, but their genesis is worth paying attention to.

“How did they do it? They used what they had, and applied the old classic proverb: “Go with what you’ve got.” — Nathan Kontny.

Note: This story was written on the blog Signal vs Noise by Nathan Kontny, CEO of Highrise, a contact management software company. The full story is in the book Wild Company, written by Mel and Patricia Ziegler.

Why do I share this? We all have more than we know. So, starting a local interview project, what do you have? Not much, some might say. The project is definitely to interact with others, and collect stories, and document them. Yet to document them, you must have a form of publication. A place where you can collect your experiences and point people to follow your journey.

This is where a blog comes in. A place where you can begin to take small steps in writing and sharing the stories you are collecting. It may not be perfect at first, but that’s what you’ve got. Let’s go with that.

How do I start a blog, you may ask? In a section below, I share a few quick tips on how to set up a blog, but you can also get on YouTube and type in that question, and countless videos will come up to show you the way. Also, starting a blog is free.

Let me list some of the things at your disposal right now.

1. Your humanity — The fact of being alive means more than you know. To the living, there’s hope.
   
   
2. Desire — Your will to give this a shot
   
   
3. Time — A couple hours a day is all
   
   
4. A local community — The neighborhood is not apart from you. You are an integral part of it, and that means you can contribute
   
   
5. Gifts and talents — You special abilities need space and pressure ( a challenge) to grow
   
   
6. Online tools — A free blog, a free facebook account, a free twitter account, and more. This was not the case 15–20 years ago. Established media controlled all of this. This could be your soapbox.
   
   
7. Freedom to create — no one on the face of the earth will stand in your way to create a personal project that makes a meaningful contribution to your local community while making you a better person.

So there you have it. Let’s go with that.

How To Turn Your Project Into A Book

A Mini Guide

Hi everyone, 

In addition to the main book, I have added a short guide to help folks who will later try to turn their project into a book. These pointers from my experience of how to do that.

Yet speaking of turning experiences into actionable reading material, I believe the challenge of doing that, packaging it all for someone else, is a great experience everyone should try at least once.

Here's a sample out of that guide.  

 

Introduction

Okay, let’s get straight to the point. You are done with your project, or are thinking of starting one. Projects abound and for different purposes. Every project is with a defined goal and time frame. Whatever the purpose, save for a few classified exceptions, the lessons of every project should not stay with the individual or group who undertook the gig. Out there are folks who will find the lessons useful, and the story should get to them. Someone’s whole life could be turned around with a single line of counsel from a project. So share the juice.


Personally, I love projects for their ‘seasonal’ nature — you start them, create something out of it (value), and then sit back and consider what the next one will be. That opportunity it provides to finish and take a breather is crucial, and I value it greatly. 

Why? Even God himself rested a bit after His work, and also designed days to have nights when we all turn in for a rest and wake to a new day. Projects are like days — we finish them, rest up, and wake up to a new or related one, with a renewed energy and with time taken to collect the lessons of the past one and apply them to the upcoming one. I am not one for the forever project — without an end, draining you of all creativity, and leaving no room for reflection.

My Story

So in this guide, I share the lesson I came away with as I sat to package the contents of my personal project, a 21-day local interview project of small business owners in my local community of Austin, Texas.

Towards the end of last year, I was in the middle of a difficult time, working a job I didn’t like. It took a toll on me, and made me think long and hard about how to create a change. I sat down and collected my thoughts on what I liked, loved, and could do, and put it all together. Out of this gathering, I created a 21-Day project of venturing out there to see how I could be useful to small business owners in my community.

After a few considerations, I decided to simply have conversations with them. Initially, I was hoping it could turn into some sort of side gig where I will be able to solve a few problems for small business owners for a fee, and possibly grow from there. But after a few considerations, I decided to hear their stories instead, sort of a long term thinking approach to create relationships instead of a one and done deal, or a touch and go thing.

This led a to a number of interviews with some of the finest small businesses in the city of Austin, Texas. Also, I came away with and gained greater insight into some essential skills in blogging, writing, communication skills, and dealing with people in general.

After the project, I realized what a useful project it is to challenge myself and step into the unknown, while using my skills. In that spirit, I decided to share it. Why? This happened in my local community, and realizing there are local communities everywhere, and so the opportunity for others to do something similar is all over, I decided to package it all into an actionable guide/book that shares my story and teaches at the same time.

Recognizing Value

This is when I started packaging my project into a book, or turned it into a book. And having gone through the process, I know projects and abound with their unique lessons. But for lack of packaging or an inability to turn them into a single source product, their lessons vanish or end up staying with only those who were involved in the project or the single individual who did it. There’s a way to overcome that.

First thing to think about is this: The earth is full of value, or things that are useful. Whatever good thing that you set out to do, it always leads you to take on challenges, and in taking on challenges, you figure out how to do something that probably has never been done, been done by a few people, or has never been done the way you did it, or intend to do it. That’s value.
So how you see something, and how you do it, how it helps you solve a problem, and how well you solve it are all unique forms of value. Value in the end is perspective.

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

I know, I know, the value conversion process is not always easy. Questions like “where do I start?”, “What do I say?”, “How do I know I have lessons?”, “How do I arrange it all?”, “How I do I know it’s even useful to someone else?”, and others can be stop you entirely from even attempting. But take heart, even an elephant can be eaten, entirely, and that’s what book-writing can be sometimes, a giant amorphous task.

But like all things, they are never as bad as they first seem. With thought, planning, and with a one thing at a time approach, you’ll see it coming together. Do the first thing, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, and then the sixth, and you’ll see your courage growing to match the task. And with a rise in courage, an elephant could soon become a fly. But you have to start first.

For example, let’s say you are done with your project, and want to package it all, and you sit down to start. You could start with the end in mind: The book. Okay with that, let’s start with the first thing you did to work on your project, write that down. How did you end it, or what did you achieve? Write it down. What happened and what did you learn? Write those down, too.

With those 3 you have the basic pieces of any journey: A beginning, what happened along the journey, and how you got to your destination. Same way with a book — An introduction, a body, and conclusion. This is the same 3 things in life itself — birth, life’s work, and value created. The great 3.

Now, with this start, the elephant is now laid on a table, the butchers table, and ready to be sliced into various pieces. These very pieces are what we are going to eat one bite at a time to finish this elephant and give birth to the book. Now, we have perspective, right? Good.

As the saying goes, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” — Marie Curie.

Now, what’s a book, really? Okay, a book is a written material that contains chapters that express thoughts on different things or recounts an experience, fiction or non-fiction. Now, what are chapters? You probably know chapters are most simply one, two, or three short essays that breakdown an idea. So they are short essays, right? Okay, what, then, are essays if not short 3, 4, 5, or 6 paragraphs that make a point or flesh out an idea? And on and on, till you realize that it all starts with a single letter, an a, b, c…

This is what writing is, at heart. A few letters become a word; words are strung together to make single statement. A group of words become a paragraph expressing more on an idea. Like this one you are reading. And then paragraphs become essays, and then put together into chapters. The book is on the way.

How do you build a skyscraper, if not a brick at a time? Got it, right?

(Note: This is not to belittle the art of writing, but I write it with the understanding that anyone who has finished a worthwhile project or thinking of starting one has a decent writing ability, or a fair understanding of what makes up a book.)

Nothing To The Grave

Yet, some may to me, “Nah, Kingston, I can’t write. I don’t even like it. It’s too difficult.” Or, “I don’t think I have the patience nor the time.” Or, “I cant sit and comb my mind to bring up value or lessons, nor document my journey while my project is ongoing, if I were to start one.” Still, “I am just a verbal guy, I am good with saying it, or just speaking.” Okay, okay. What I say to you is this: Does that mean the value of your project dies with you, or your lessons go to the grave?

No. Have you seen those books that are written by the author and someone else? No, not the one that both authors wrote together, like co-writers. But the one that says, By Mary Beth with John Grisham — meaning Mary Beth worked with or hired John Grisham to put the whole thing into written words. Yeah, that one. There you go: There’s almost a way around the mountain, and the value of your project should live on.)

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What Do I Get?

Okay, now let’s put the carrot ahead of us. Let’s flesh out why it’s even beneficial to turn your project into a book. What’s the benefit of a book?

For The Store

One, a book is your own personal way of storing your story. You did something worthwhile, that you enjoyed, and challenged you. That must be saved. If for nothing at all, for review and a way to measure your progress. Review? Yeah, how can you build on something that’s not clear? It’s difficult if the only place it is stored is in your mind. A book makes things clear and puts it in a ‘safe’ for later.

Also, for personal reasons, it’s good for that nostalgic feeling we all have when we look through our personal journal or diaries after a few years and realize how far we have come or have grown. That look-back often leaves most people with tears, and surely that good smile and head-shake that says how thankful we are for what we did, went through, what we overcame, or what we learned. Whatever is not recorded is almost surely lost.

Sure, a book is not a diary, but it’s a way not only to share with others, but the day may come when you may sit and pick up your own book a few years later and see what you wrote. Also, if your book is published and distributed, there’s no way it will be lost — even if a storm comes through your town, pulls up trees, washes away homes, takes people’s belongings with it, and damages your one and only personal manuscript or laptop that has your book file.

Give To Others

It’s usually $3.97, $5.99, or $12.00, the price of a book. But when you pick up a good book, more often than not, the value you get out of the book far outweighs what you pay for it. That’s if your see the value and can apply it someway in your own life. Critically looking at the tradeoff, you are actually giving to readers. What may have taken you more time and money to make, go through, and learn, you give away at a fraction of the cost, if you strive to load with value in your writing so it’s a blessing to your reader. And Giving far outweighs receiving.

Your Book Will Go Where You Cannot

Okay, let’s talk a little bit about who we are as human beings and our situation. We all have have limited resources and ability. We cannot be everywhere at the same time, and do not have unlimited ability.

Yes, we all have something to say, but have limited hours in a day, and can only speak for so long.

This is where a book comes in — It can speak and go where you cannot, it takes over and carries your message when your limits come into play. This is exactly what I talk about in the book itself, when I talk about Warren Buffett’s recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

Connect

Warren Buffet once picked up a book written by Benjamin Graham. Warren loved the ideas in the book so much that when he wanted to go to graduate school he chose Columbia University after learning that Benjamin Graham was a professor there.

This ultimately led to a mentor-ship and friendship that Warren Buffet credits much of his understanding of value investing. What does all of this mean, the principles of value investing in a book is what has contributed to the making of one of the smartest investors on earth.

I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen to you, but there’s a chance a book you write will connect you to some important people that could help you and you them.

Opens Doors

Yes, you are writing your book to share your knowledge and discoveries with the world. But you know what? The book being out there is actually a living and breathing resume, or portfolio. And since one of the constants in life are problems, there is never a lack of people looking for problem solvers. But to find a problem solver, there’s a “get to know” process, a time to find the right person. This is what we all know as an interview.

What’s fear, doubt, and uncertainty’s great nemesis? Knowledge. While an interview may be a good way to present your abilities, it’s too strict and formal a process that may not reveal much about who you really are. Neither can a written resume, which has space for only a few things, and often is only one page.

Folks looking to hire are above all interested in your thinking process, how you approach problems, how you present things, and your communication skills. And writing a book on your project shows all that without you having to say a word. It’s all in there in the book.

A diligent recruiter will take a few days, and quietly go through your book and find out what you really know about the topic, how you approach problem solving, and how you communicate in teaching through words.
So in that case, while you are asleep, your book is talking.

How?

Yet how do you turn yours into a book or guide that others can pick up and learn from? Books are containers, and are a great single location source of information.
Also, projects have stories in them, besides just technical how-tos. How? Every project that involves people definitely has a story. We are all walking stories, and whatever we set out to accomplish automatically sets a story in motion.
A book is simply a gathering of that content into a single manuscript.

Two Ways To Gather Project Content

1. During the project: Take daily notes/blog posts while the project is ongoing.
2. After the project: Write all about it in after the project. This can be done through a writing project of 14 days, 21 days, or 30 days after the project is done. This is what I call the pour down.
   
   

Okay, below are somethings I have found useful in turning my project into a book. Though they are my personal approach, I’m sure a couple or more do apply to many others. Please take what works for you.

Start With The Pour

Whether you took notes/documented your project during the project or when the project is over,I go through a time when I ‘pour’ everything out on the paper. Sometimes I physically use a pen and paper, and other times I type.

So in the same way, at this stage, just pour your thoughts on to a page. Don’t even think about editing, just pour out. Don’t let perfectionism get in the way. There’s a a reason we say “ I will improve upon it,” but you can’t improve upon nothing. So get something onto the paper. Write with your pen, pencil, or simply punch the keys.

Afterwards you can correct it all, but now just unload. Don’t even think about the final reader. You have a vague idea in your head, and just work with that. All things evolve, and so are books, they evolve, and as you work on it, you’ll come up with ways to add to it.

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