Why Selling 2 Books Was One of My Biggest Career Victories

On Saturday night, I sold two copies of my new book, Quiet Power Strategy.

And it was one of the single best experiences of my life.

Before starting my company, I managed a Borders Books & Music store. Though that company is now defunct, at the time, they were the 2nd largest bookstore chain in the United States. I managed a store with a $5 million volume and a team of 30-40 employees.

My role as Sales Manager had me overseeing merchandising, human resources, our coffee shop, and the local books & events category. It was my job to purchase books from local authors and plan book signings. While I was working 50-60 hour weeks for $28,000 per year, I dreamed of the day I could be the author instead of the bookseller.

Filling out purchase orders and accounts payable records, I daydreamed about when it would be my book on invoice instead of my signature on the purchaser line.

Saturday, those day dreams came true.

My friend Lisa Reid, who owns Lucy’s Books here in Astoria, Oregon, asked me if I would be the March Author Spotlight when she heard about the impending release of Quiet Power Strategy. When 4:45pm rolled around on Saturday, I gathered up some books and headed downtown.

After about 6 weeks of warm weather and brilliant sunshine, the Pacific Northwest got some “normal weather” for March. It was about 52 degrees and ranging from drizzle to downpour all day. Even though ArtWalk is generally a well-attended event here, noone was overly optimistic.

I sat down at the author’s table and watched about 5 or 6 people walk through the door in the 3 hours I was there. Lisa apologized. It was wholly unnecessary. My dream had come true. I was an author, at an event, at a bookstore. The two books we sold Saturday night represented one of the greatest victories of my career so far.

Well over 1300 books are out there in the world since the books was released last month (thank you!). And those 2 sales still represent something new and incredibly fulfilling to me.

As the above photo wracked up more & more likes on Facebook and Instagram, I couldn’t help but reflect on how much clear vision, purposeful action, and focused direction helps a business stand out.

It’s not about how loud you shout or what promotional tactics you master. Your voice will get hoarse. The algorithms will change.

Knowing where you’re headed, what you want to create, and how you want to connect with other people leads you to take action that helps your business stand out.

 

Perhaps more so, each step you take on the path toward those things earns you and your business more respect, visibility, and attention.

If your business is struggling to earn that respect, visibility, or attention… if you’re feeling pulled in a million directions and far from focused or purposeful with your actions… my next CreativeLive workshop can help.

We’ll spend a whole week identifying your vision, declaring your Chief Initiative, and defining the metrics by which you can track your progress.

 

 

• The 8 questions you need to answers as a foundation for standing out naturally.
• The 2 languages you use to communicate naturally and how you can use them to create more compelling messages.
• The specific conditions you need to successfully connect with others and what marketing channels to try based on those conditions.
• How to create a business bio you can be proud of and use to differentiate what you do from everyone else in the market
• And much, much more…