PRIOR MISSIONS COMPLETED WITHIN THE PAST 12 MONTHS

• Self-published book of previous blog’s essays
• Started new, mixed-purpose (social activism and platform for book sales) blog

MISSION 1: LEVERAGE INFORMATION PRODUCTS INTO A LOCATION-INDEPENDENT INCOME STREAM

CURRENT PHASE OF THE MISSION

• Roughly six months away from launching a separate, mainstream blog/platform to support sales of business-related information products

KEY ACTIVITIES CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS

Researching various traffic-generating and search engine optimization techniques, including but not limited to:

• Automated back-links by using article marketing
• Article marketing for immediate traffic
• Designing a resource box for articles that will generate increased clicks and visitors
• Have completed first draft of 3 articles

Planning various strategies for organically building a mailing list of blog subscribers:

• Creating freemium ebooks to offer additional value to blog subscribers (still in the research stage, and reading many, many books on my subject area)
• Planning regular “freemium” special reports and other content that will only be available to blog subscribers

Personal branding:

• Designing a personal brand
• Designing a unifying underlying theme for all content
• Visualizing my one, perfect customer

Information product creation

• Have completed 80% of the first draft of the first paid product

Creating a stockpile of future, evergreen blog posts

NEXT MAJOR MILESTONES

• Completion of first draft of (paid) product
• Completion of first draft of one freemium ebook

MISSION 2: TAKE AND PASS THE B2/HIGH-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL OF THE DELE EXAM (DIPLOMAS OF SPANISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DELE (Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language) is the official accreditation of the degree of fluency in the Spanish language. It’s issued and recognised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain. The CEFRL and DELE certificates provide evidence of skills acquired in various European languages for personal, academic or professional purposes. I want to return to Spain on a regular basis in the future. Maybe start spending summers there.

CURRENT PHASE OF THE MISSION

• Roughly 1.5 years away from sitting for the DELE exam

KEY ACTIVITIES CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS

• Reading the Language Hacking Guide and listening to the related mp3 interviews
• Studying Spanish grammar and vocabulary
• Creating opportunities for passive exposure to Spanish by listening to local Spanish-language news-talk radio
• Creating more opportunities for passive exposure to Spanish by changing my iTunes store location from the US to Spain, and downloading podcasts from Spain (I want to learn the European dialect of Spanish)
• Speaking Spanish with 2 native speakers at work. Even though it’s recommended to begin speaking immediately, I had planned on starting in September (to give myself a chance to brush up). However, my secretary started speaking to me in Spanish today {chuckling}

NEXT MAJOR MILESTONE

• Learn the vocabulary needed so I can start conducting all of my normal work-related transactions with my secretary in Spanish

TALK IS CHEAP; WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO COMPLETE YOUR MISSIONS?

Welcome to the third episode of Author Platform Construction 101. In an earlier post I mentioned the modern author’s need to find ways to create an audience for their work. Preferably, before publishing their books. In the writing context, creating connections with potential readers is called building an author’s “platform.”

Blogging can be an effective way of creating these connections. However, there’s more than one kind of blogging. Some blogging styles are more effective at building an audience than others. There’s the casual, pure hobby style of blogging that is done without any forethought. And then there’s strategic blogging that is designed to encourage specific responses from readers. The hoped for responses can be any number of things, such as: consider a new idea, rethink an old idea, buy a particular product, engage in social activism, spread the word about something, or any combination of the above.

Nathan Hangen’s blog is an excellent resource for writers looking to blog with a winning strategy.

AN OUTSTANDING POST ABOUT PERSONAL BRANDING

I learned some important tips about a key strategy called personal branding while reading the 3 Steps to Being Remarkable post at his blog. Mr. Hangen also offers several free resources.

A HELPFUL TOOL FROM THE FIELD OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Thankfully, several eminent psychologists have seen the error of having a field that is solely focused on mental disease and dysfunction. One of them, former American Psychological Association president Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., has done a significant amount of work in the emerging field of positive psychology. He’s the author of the book Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. In his book, Dr. Seligman talks about what he calls the individual mix of “signature” strengths that everybody has.

With my future projects, I want to make sure to play to my strengths. To help me decide which personal traits to amplify for my personal brand (as suggested by the 3 Steps to Being Remarkable post), I took the VIA Survey of Character Strengths. Dr. Seligman developed this survey with another researcher. The VIA Survey of Character Strengths is used to assess and rank positive characteristics. This is in contrast to the traditional measures such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which measures mental illness and deficits. You can find out more here.

All of this has helped me with my future mainstream projects. Check it out.

Welcome to the second episode of Author Platform Construction 101. In an earlier post I mentioned the modern author’s need to find ways to create an audience for their work. Preferably, before publishing their books. In the writing context, creating connections with potential readers is called building an author’s “platform.”

Blogging can be an effective way of creating these connections. However, there’s more than one kind of blogging. Some blogging styles are more effective at building an audience than others. There’s the casual, pure hobby style of blogging that is done without any forethought. And then there’s strategic blogging that is designed to encourage specific responses from readers. The hoped for responses can be any number of things, such as: consider a new idea, rethink an old idea, buy a particular product, engage in social activism, spread the word about something, or any combination of the above.

Even though the site is geared toward helping online entrepreneurs, Erica.Biz is an excellent resource for writers looking to blog with a winning strategy. Ms. Douglass’ free ebook, Blog Success Manifesto, gives great tips for quickly growing your blog to thousands of subscribers. By reading her ebook, I learned several key blogging strategies that will help me with my future projects. Check it out.

One of my favorite bloggers, Marelisa of The Abundance Blog, has done a recent post linking to 50—count ‘em, FIFTY—free ebooks covering a wide range of classic personal development works from the early 20th century.

There’s some good stuff over there. I would suggest that readers begin with Wallace D. Waddles’ books (nos. 10-12 on her list). During an earlier post (Is Opportunity Monopolized?), we discussed one of the many profound and important questions he asked in his books. I’m impressed by the points that Mr. Waddles raised, and I plan to discuss more of them in future posts.

**Writing Biz Angle For Aspiring Information Marketers** One popular technique is to use free, public domain works to supplement one’s own info products. They can be given away as a free bonus when customers buy other products, used to encourage up-sells (“would you like fries with that?”), or sold as separate products themselves. For more about this technique, see this and the New York Times news story, On Ebay, Some Profit By Selling What’s Free.

This is the video clip that I referred to in the post 5 Elements of Money-Making Nonfiction Books. The post discussed the details of why nonfiction writers who want to earn a good living for themselves and their families don’t need to have their books on the bestsellers lists. Being on a bestseller list is a very good thing, but it’s not necessary to make significant amounts of money with a nonfiction book. As I mentioned during the post:

3. They serve as brochures for other, often more expensive products from the author.Entrepreneurial nonfiction authors know the real money does not come from book sales. Instead, the real money comes from “back-end” sales of other products (audio programs, newsletters, videos, special reports, teleseminars, boot camps, speaking engagements, personal coaching) mentioned in the books. It’s easier to sell additional products to existing customers than to get new customers.

Let’s use the Rich Dad, Poor Dad books as an example of this. The Rich Dad, Poor Dad franchise started when Robert Kiyosaki self-published the first Rich Dad book in 1997. The Rich Dad, Poor Dadbooks sprinkle references to other products in the product line throughout the books. I’ve seen a video clip where Mr. Kiyosaki mentions that he wasn’t focused on selling the first book as his ultimate goal. He was focused on getting some of the readers who bought the first Rich Dad book to also buy his more expensive CashFlow educational board game. The original Rich Dad, Poor Dad book costs $16. The CashFlow 101 board game costs $195. He eventually sold enough books to get the attention of a major publisher (Warner Books).

Mr. Kiyosaki also offers audio programs (ranging from $10 to $79); two seminar DVDs ($299 and $1,199); and live, three-day seminars (from $2,750 to $5,000). He also offers Rich Dad personal coaching. I guess it’s one of those “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” things. The Rich Dad website doesn’t disclose the price tag for this service. You have to call or email the company to find out that information.

During his remarks, Mr. Kiyosaki makes several important points. Specifically about how he views his writing. He said that he’s not an author. He’s “an entrepreneur who builds businesses behind books.” He’s “an entrepreneur who builds businesses behind games.”

I believe that’s a perspective that all aspiring entrepreneurial artists should keep in mind. Are you building a business behind your art?