Archive for May 2009
As seen on 20/20, CNN and the New York Times – Website Traffic has 10-FOLD!
May 19, 2009 | Author Alicia
My client, SeekingArrangement.com, was featured on the cover of the New York Times magazine. After the article came out, their website traffic increased 10-fold.
AT FIRST GLANCE, the Web site SeekingArrangement.com seems like any other dating site. Most of the men are looking for fit, sexy women, and most of the women want nice guys who can make them smile and laugh.
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Karaoke for 7-Figure Entrepreneurs
May 19, 2009 | Author Alicia
I don’t now about you, but for the last few months I have been rubbing shoulders with 7-figure entrepreneurs.
Why?
To get to the next level in my business. I mean, why do it alone when I can just be mentored by someone who has already done it! I have to admit, over the last year I have been thinking a bit (dare I say it) SMALL, even though I have built a six-figure coaching business. Maybe because it feels more like I have owned a job rather than a business. So March of this year, I decided to step it UP, THINK BIG and surround myself with the SUCCESS I want to replicate. So it all started when I hired Victor – an extreme revenue coach. (I didn’t add his last name because I want him all to myself, he’s mine…mine… all mine. <<insert evil laugh here>>!)
Anyway, I digress, why did I do that?
To be challenged.
Okay now for the karaoke.
This past week, I was at Ken McArthur’s IMPACT event at Walt Disney World. On Saturday night, a group of us went to sushi, and after dinner and a few lychee mojitos, I decided to get on the Karaoke stage and cause some damage. I pretty much slaughtered Bare Naked Ladies’ “Brian Wilson,” but made up for it with my rendition of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” (bootie shaking and all, which was all caught on video!)
My karaoke experience + hanging at with the 7-figure crowd has taught me the following (and I’m eager to share):
1) My mentor, Victor taught me: “Don’t throw cash at a problem creativity can solve.” To that point, karaoke is a perfect example – FREE entertainment that is often more FUN and SATISFYING than paid-for entertainment. In your business, use your imagination, talent and creativity to increase cash flow. For example, rather that hire a bookkeeper or assistant, trade for this or hire an intern, respectively.
2) Adam Urbanski, mega mentor who spoke at IMPACT, taught me “How do you eat an elephant?? Answer: One small bite at a time. Setting high goals, like building a seven-figure business, can be daunting task when you don’t break your process into small steps. Karaoke can be daunting also, especially if singing in front of a raucous crowd of drunk convention-goers, until you look at it like this: 1) Fill out karaoke form. 2) Walk over to the stage. 2) Hand form in. 4) When your name is called, get on the stage. 5) Sing 6) Get off stage. So, business is the same – one step at a time.
3) Joyce Jackson, another mentor I met at IMPACT, said one of the biggest problems of my business is that I was leaving money on the table. (Gulp (!) – got to change that). Karaoke speak= If I don’t get off my ASSet and sing, I won’t find out about the opportunities I am missing.
4) Eric (I forgot his last name) who was a cute 20-something Internet marketer (who is just killing it!) said something like: success has a formula, just replicate/follow what someone else has already done. Ummm… that’s what karaoke is all about… replicating success by singing international top 20 hits. You don’t have to write your own song or come up with a riff, all you have to do is just sing with own unique spin…
5) And, finally, I heard this concept from a few speakers this weekend: Just rinse and repeat. This means automate and systematize your business, so it is repetitive in nature, allowing you to delegate. Get that formula down. And plain and simple, the perfect karaoke formula is drink and sing, drink and sing and with practice you get better!
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One more publishing myth… revealed
May 19, 2009 | Author Alicia
# I’ve done my part, I wrote the book, I don’t have to do anything else.
Your work has just begun. Gone are the days of the solitary hermetic writer who pounds out words on a typewriter and sends it off to be dealt with by a vast army of editors, publishers, and publicity agents. Nowadays an author is lucky if his book gets diligently edited without him having to hire an independent editor on his own. If you want to sell your book, and, incidentally, drum up business, you’ll have to create your own publicity campaign.
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17 Common Myths About Book Publishing and How To Avoid Their Traps
May 19, 2009 | Author Alicia
Most wanna-be authors hold false beliefs about the publishing business that are either outdated or were purely mythical to begin with. Here’s how to avoid making mistakes by believing these 17 myths.
Here are myths 1-5
1. Once I write my book the money will start rolling in.
I’m sorry to break the news, but the idea that you’ll make a fortune on your book is not realistic. I tell my clients to think of their book as a calling card or marketing tool, not as a money-making venture. Only a small percentage of published books actually bring in the bucks, and usually only to big-name writers. Your book is a tool meant to support your core business, or your role as an expert in some area. That’s where the money comes from, particularly when you tap into the seven revenue streams that every entrepreneur should memorize. These include coaching, speaking, corporate sponsorship, one-on-one training, educational workshops, and corporate consultation.
2. My book will get me on television.
Wrong! Your expertise will get you on television. If you want to get on television, you must first show producers that you have valuable ideas and information for their audience. Your book can get your foot in the door, but it won’t seal the deal – in fact, many TV producers want to see a video before they’ll even talk to you, to determine if you’re personable in front of a camera. TV producers don’t exist to promote your book or your needs, and they’ll resent any obvious attempts to use them that way.
3. I’ll travel the country doing book signings and go on local radio and TV stations.
Book signings don’t sell that many books: the locals who attend them don’t come to shop, but for free entertainment. And any touring you do will be on your own dime – publishers rarely pay expenses. You can sell more books in front of your computer, creating online demand through your own or your friends’ blogs, article dashboards, viral video, and social networking on venues like Twitter and Facebook.
4. Respectable, successful books are only sold in bookstores.
Believe it or not, a bookstore is actually the worst place to sell your book these days – in fact, I’ve heard them called “publishing graveyards.” In recent years there’s been a paradigm shift in the publishing world due to increased volume – over 400,000 books get published each year, far too many for Ye Olde Booke Shoppe to accommodate, so unless you’re John Grisham, or your publisher pays for front-store placement, one or two copies of your book will end up shelved in the back, spine out. And for unsold copies, you get stuck paying for refunds and shipping fees.
5. Self-publishing is for losers.
Really? Did you mean losers like Mark Twain? Edgar Allan Poe? Deepak Chopra? Wanna-be writers look down on self-publishing, but this snobbery is unwarranted. It might have been true fifty years ago that the best and most popular literary works came out of Random House or Simon & Schuster, but with the advent of new techniques such as desk publishing, print on demand (POD), and e-publishers like iUniverse and Lulu, there’s been a revolution in the world of self-publishing. Many best-sellers were originally self-published and later picked up by big houses. A few self-published books: The Celestine Prophecy. The Joy of Cooking. What Color is Your Parachute? Chicken Soup for the Soul. Spartacus. Losers, huh?
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How Writing a Book (in 17 days!) will Establish You as an Expert, Boost Your Brand and Double your Profits!
May 16, 2009 | Author Alicia
Are you a small business owner, entrepreneur, or professional who wants to publish a book, market your message, and make more money than you ever thought possible?
Hi, my name is Alicia Dunams, and I coach my clients on how to expedite the book writing process and make their “book a business.” My clients are bestsellers, have appeared on national media outlets like 20/20, CNN, and The New York Times, and are adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to their bottom line – all by leveraging their published book.
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