October ‘21 Newsletter

October 21 is Conflict Resolution Day – not likely to appear on most people’s calendar.  In my non-publishing life, I serve as a mediator and arbitrator, and enjoy helping people resolve their disputes.  Many people shy away from conflict, preferring to try to avoid dealing with disputes.  Unfortunately, that isn’t a very effective strategy, as more often a dispute grows when ignored, rather than going away.

So in light of the upcoming Conflict Resolution Day, I thought I would share some tips on managing conflict more effectively.

1. Raise issues early, so that they don’t fester and become more intractable.
2. Take several deep breaths to calm down, as you are more likely to view things more rationally when you are calm.
3. Listen to the other side’s point of view.  If you listen with respect, they are more likely to listen to your perspective.
4. Keep an open mind – maybe they have a good reason for taking the actions that you viewed as a problem.
5. Think about what your interests and needs are, and what the other side’s interests and needs are.  If you aren’t sure of their needs, ask them.
6. Approach the conflict as a problem to be solved, where you both try to come up with a solution that will meet everyone’s needs.  That gets you working collaboratively.
7. If you aren’t able to reach a resolution, get someone else involved who is acceptable to everyone involved and neutral to help you.

1.  Upcoming Events

This month I am hosting a Gift Giveaway called “Catapult Your Book:  Strategies for Success”.  This event will run until October 24.  It includes over twelve valuable resources to help business owners leverage their books, such as by getting speaking engagements, running virtual summits, generating hot leads and converting more prospects into customers.  Best of all, you can get any or all of the resources for FREE!  To gain access to these free gifts, CLICK HERE.

Next month I will be hosting an event called Publishing Profits! 5 day Journey to Create a Path to your Book’s Success.  That starts on November 8 and runs until November 12.  Spend just 30 minutes per day for the 5 days so you will know what you need to do for your book to be successful.  The registration for that will be available around October 20.  One of the gifts in the Giveaway (after October 19) will be an upgraded registration to the Publishing Profits event, which will gain you that registration level for free.

2. In the News

This past month I was a guest on the Overcoming Mediocrity podcast, hosted by Christie Ruffino.  On that podcast, I shared my story of how I overcame obstacles when I started my business.  You can listen to the episode and other episodes of powerful stories and wisdom by clicking here.

3.  The SkillBites Show

Each month, we bring you an expert to help you get your book done, leverage your book, grow your business or improve your life.  The shows are recorded, so if you can’t listen to one live, you can listen to the recording by clicking here.

On our next SkillBites Show our guest will be Kim Speed, founder and CEO of Purple Moon Creative, Brand and Marketing Boutique, where she shares her brand expertise and business knowledge with budding and building entrepreneurs. She is the recipient of the 2019 Most Influential Business Woman in Brand Development, and is the Amazon best-selling author of Branding on a Shoestring. How to recreate your small business identity and increase sales results in 83 days or less.

Kim has worked as a graphic designer, art director, and creative director during her years in the corporate world and has had the pleasure to work with fortune 500 clients including Coca-Cola, TD Bank, Ford and Molson Coors. Kim’s design skills drew her to the world of advertising, and once she began her journey, she gained experience and expertise in brand strategy, writing and marketing.

Kim will discuss the importance of creating a personal brand and how to create that.

Last month, my guest was Sue Allen Clayton, who has been a self-employed one-person business owner for more than 25 years. Sue reviewed her 7 steps to thrive as a solopreneur.

If you missed this presentation, you can listen to it by clicking here, or you can read a summary of the show on the SkillBites blog by clicking here.

SAVE THE DATE: Next month, my guest will be Deb Coviello, trusted authority on guiding CEOs through Operational Transformation.  Deb is the author of CEO’s Compass – Your Guide to Getting Back on Track and host of The Drop In CEO podcast. In this episode, she will talk about her book writing journey and her 7 key indicators for CEOs to stay or get back on track and gain peace of mind.

Do you have expertise that you believe would benefit the SkillBites community of entrepreneurs and authors?  If you would like to be the guest on the monthly SkillBites Show, contact me at judy@skillbites.net or 610-783-4519.

4.  Tip of the Month:  Digital Book Launches

While in person events are coming back, many people are still concerned about attending in door events that may involve a crowd.  Fortunately, digital events can be even more effective for a book launch because people from all over can attend, not just those local to the area.

To hold a virtual book launch, give yourself at least 6 weeks to plan it and promote it.  Send out information to your friends, family and network.  Share content weekly, highlighting the event details.  Post on social media as well as sending out emails.  Seek promotion partners who will promote the event to their audience and contribute a gift to give away to the attendees.

In preparation for the event itself, choose someone to be your MC.  Create swipe copy for those promoters to make it easy for them to share the information.  Create a website landing page with all the information about your event, with a registration button.  Also, in your presentation, create a slide with the logos of your promoters.

At the event itself, have the MC welcome everyone and introduce you and your book.  If you have a prize drawing for the attendees, the host can announce this as well.  When it is your turn to take the stage, welcome the attendees, and perhaps read a short excerpt from your book.  Answer some pre-drafted questions and take questions from the attendees.  Finally, do the prize giveaway.  Conclude by thanking the attendees, and ask the attendees to purchase a copy of your book and share an honest review.

If you’ve come across any innovative ideas for book marketing, please share them with me so I can help more authors be successful.

5. Earn Commissions For Referrals

Do you know anyone who has been wanting to write a book but has been stalling?  Let them know that SkillBites offers a variety of services to make book writing and publishing easy, quick and convenient.  When you sign up to be a SkillBites affiliate, you can get a commission for each person who signs up to purchase SkillBites services through your unique referral link.  To obtain more information and to sign up for our referral program, click here.

Thanks for supporting SkillBites.  If there is anything you think we ought to be doing better or anything we should be doing that we’re not, please let us know.  We value your input.

Cordially,