Tag Archive for what to write about

Writing Lessons from Scrambled Eggs

April 16, 2014 Uncategorized No comments
how to write

What’s Your Secret?

 “I like scrambled eggs and I eat them a lot. But I don’t like them green, or too runny, or too hot. I eat them with sausage, or a bagel, or toast. Served with hot sauce or herb’s how I like them the most.”

by Bob Schwarztrauber

 Yesterday I was fixing some scrambled eggs for breakfast after writing my blog post. I tend to write first because I find the early morning always has fresh ideas waiting in my head. Ideas are slippery things, if you let go of them even for an instant, you could lose them.

I like scrambled eggs. But fixing them the same way, day after day can get boring. After a while, I grow tired of the same thing. But here’s what I’ve found…if you add some tarragon to the eggs they taste great. Actually, I got that tip from Tim Ferriss in his book,  The 4-Hour Chef.

Sometimes, I slather them with Frank’s Hot Sauce. I just heard on the radio that putting hot sauce on your food helps you eat less. You could lose weight. Different way of fixing, different results. Pretty cool right?

And then I thought, I love many things in life, but with over-exposure to the same thing I get bored. How many times can I read one photography magazine, or one photography book. Or any book for that matter. I crave variety and I’ll bet you do too.

As long as we’re on the subject of photography, a subject I like very much, let’s stay with that and I’ll show you why you need to write your book.

I have TONS of books on photography. Do you know why?

It’s because I hope to learn something new from each book. No, wait, that’s not quite true.

What I want is for each new book to give me that ONE TIP, that ONE SECRET that will make my photography so good that people come from all over the world to view (and BUY) my work.

People buy golf books and magazines for the same reason. And cookbooks. And business books. And books of all kinds. A romance novel might even turn us into an ubber-desireable prince or princess, if only for a little while.

Even if we’ve read books by all the experts in our field, if a new book comes out, even by someone we’ve never heard of, often ESPECIALLY if it’s by someone we’ve never heard of, we often feel a compelling need to buy that book.

Why? Because this new book just might contain “THE SECRET” that will finally give us the edge or the means to be as good as we’ve always imagined we could be.

And it just might.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote about just such things in his best-selling book, “The Tipping Point, How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”.

Often, all we need is that ONE detail we’ve been missing. Or that ONE way of doing things that we never tried before. Or that ONE way of explaining things that makes us finally “get it’.

You might just be harboring such a detail yourself. Or a way of explaining things that makes people finally get it.

We crave variety. We seek the secret.

The scariest thing in the world, and possibly the hardest road you’ll ever travel is to write a book on a subject for which you can find no other book.

Don’t be a pioneer. Search Amazon.com for other books on your topic. Search subjects and titles. Write your book FOR and sell it TO people who are already buying books on your topic. They’ll buy more books. They crave variety. They are already there on Amazon.com searching for “The Secret”.

One of the safest lessons in marketing, and I first heard it from the famous copywriter Gary Halbert, is you want to be selling to a starving crowd.

Your book should be written to feed the starving crowd.

Just like recipes, we get tired of eating the same old thing day after day. We crave something new. (Recipe books are some of the best-selling books on the planet for a reason).

How many ways can you fix an egg?

We crave new in our food. We crave new in our hobbies. We crave new in our business.

Guess what? We haven’t read YOUR BOOK yet.

Will you sit idly by and let us starve? Or finally write that book?

Let me know how I can help.

How To Grow Your Writing Business

March 18, 2014 Uncategorized No comments

pear tree -62854_640

by Bob Schwarztrauber

The winter seemed incredibly long that year. Time always does that when you’re waiting for something good; as if teasing you will make reaching the ultimate goal that much more enjoyable.

And I had big plans for this spring. BIG plans!

As soon as the ground was warm enough I planted my seeds ever so carefully, as though they were gold. Not too deep, in a spot with just the right sun, and where I could water them easily.

They sprouted up quickly enough in the summer sun and I was sure I would be tasting that ripe, delicious fruit very soon. But soon never came.

We got cooler temperatures and autumn leaves instead. The winter cold and snow quickly moved in. Luckily, the dreams of children are not so easily put aside. I knew that next spring my tree would have a head start and was sure to bear the fruit I had so carefully planted.

But as the snow cleared and the warming rays of sun prevailed, my tender plant was no where to be found.

Turns out, this naive child of 10 had made a critical mistake. Lemon trees don’t grow in Buffalo, NY.. They need a warm tropical climate, they need the proper environment.

And so it is with your book.

Your book is your seed which you hope will grow into a mighty business that bears perpetual fruit, mucho dinero, greenbacks.

But you can’t just throw your seed out there anywhere and hope.

The best way to write a book that grows into something big is to consider where the roots will spread.

Think of your best prospect, the people you write the book for, as your soil. They will provide the nutrients you need to succeed, ie. the money.

You should take time to learn all about the people you are writing for. What are their problems, their hopes, their dreams? What do they want?

Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker and sales trainer always said, “You can have anything you want in this world if you will only give enough other people what they want.” In other words, if you give the people what they WANT they will reward you. Note that he did not say give them what they need, or what YOU think they need. People will always find a way to buy what they want.

Learn what your audience, your readers want, before you ever begin to write.

How do we know what they want? We look at what they are already buying. Then we give them more of that. A better version. One that’s faster, more thorough, easier, produces higher returns. That’s the part you have to figure out. Ask, “How can I use my knowledge and unique experience, or a twist to give the reader a better product?”

Immerse yourself in the prospective reader’s world for a time. Learn all about the soil. Be part of their communities. Get to know them and let them get to know you. Ask questions. Offer surveys and rewards. Find out what’s keeping them up at night. What problem are they desperate to solve? Then solve it for them and tell them you have the solution.

Since you have already been part of their community for a while, and your book is written to finally solve their most pressing problem, you will have eager buyers just waiting for your book to be available. Instant cash flow.

This is so much better than writing your book and then going out to look for buyers. Your seed won’t grow if you just plant it wherever. No matter how carefully you craft it.

Like the lemon tree, your book needs the right environment to grow.

But if you get it right, your seed might just become like the mighty oak tree that bears fruit and drops seed for future growth like clockwork, for decades to come.

Your book can grow into a perpetual money machine.

But what do “your people” want?

Think about this. And If you’re a member and get “stumped” -go ahead and ask me for help.