I said yes

For a species who wants so badly to feel empowered and inspired, we humans spend a lot of time telling ourselves no.

No, I’ll pass on girls’ night. I have to get up early.

No, I can’t lock myself in my office to write for an hour a day. I have too much to do.

No, I can’t have a cookie. I’m trying to lose weight.

By now, my thoughts on the excuses we contrive to deprive ourselves have likely become a tired cliché.

That’s crap.

I spend the majority of my days telling my clients it’s okay to reward yourself for fulfilling your writing goals. You earned it. It’s okay to take time to follow your dream. It’s important to pursue the thing that’s been in your head since third grade. It’s criminal NOT to go after what you want with both hands.

It got me thinking. How many times a day do we hear no? How many do we say it? And how are we often hurting ourselves by doing that?

I said NO to starting this business for two years. I said NO to writing my books for decades. I came up with oodles of excuses that all boiled down to one thing.

Fear.

But as soon as I said yes, as soon as I acknowledged the fear – of failure, not having an audience, not making enough money to survive, and plenty of others – then did the thing that scared me anyway, everything changed.

Three books, including a #1 Amazon Bestseller. A highly successful business that allows me to do what I love with people I adore. I’ve met and befriended people all over the world who also learned to say yes. Their experiences, their knowledge pushed me further, faster than I ever could have imagined.

And here I stand.

As a writing coach, my goal every day is to inspire you writers to say what you need to say, how you want to say it. I can’t think of a better way to do that than Project Yes.

It’s a new interview series about the power of YES coming to you on May 1st.

We’re talking to amazing biz and life badasses – featured in Forbes and Inc., for example – like Erika Napoletano, Christie Mims, Share Ross, Nikki Groom, Desiree Wolfe and Kimberly Bordonaro, and 20+ more, about …

What happens when you don’t let your fear stop you anymore?

Stay tuned for details, and check out the teaser video below.

Thank you, Michael Xavier for your divine expertise on all things video.

If you’re interested in being interviewed for Project Yes, head on over here and reach out.

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Stay in the loop about Project YES, and a new product I’m building that will teach you how to write like YOU. Join our subscriber list (upper right-hand corner) to be the first to hear more about both.

Don’t Pick Your Platform. Build it.

A guest post by Desiree Wolfe

As authors, it’s easy to think your book will be your platform. You’ll maybe have a website and a fancy page on Amazon and you’ll be all set. Newsflash: you’re wrong. Really fucking wrong. So much more goes into getting your book the fame it deserves.

Your author platform is the base on which your empire is built. Your platform is how you are going to reach out to your audience and engage them. This is how you are going to get your book in the hands of the readers.

Unless you’ve been in a cave for the last three years, you know you at least need to have your ass on social media. You don’t have to master it, just be present and consistent. But unless you want to continue to build Mark Z’s Facebook Empire, you better make sure you’ve got other platforms to grow on. Because social media will not be your golden ticket.

So where else do you go? A branded website is the first place to start. And if you’re any kind of writer, um – isn’t that why you’re here – you need to have some sort of blog to show off those fancy writing skills. The rest will fall under the likes, and look, of your website. You don’t need some uber-fancy and expensive designer to create an overly dramatic website. WordPress is a great budget-friendly place to start. If you’re looking for a cool theme for authors check out the Novelist for WordPress.

A few other blog sites might work too, but WordPress is my favorite and the easiest to expand once you are ready to grow your site and your empire. I won’t get into WordPress.org versus WordPress.com. That’s personal preference and you can read more about it here.

What other platform tools could you be using? Pick your passion. What do you love to do? What else, besides writing, puts a fire in your belly? Here are some other suggestions based on common natural gifts an author might have:

Evangelism aka Speaking – Do you love to shout from the rooftops when you are passionate about something? Get your ass on stage and become an evangelist for your own book and brand. Start by giving talks to local groups about your book and the topics you cover in it. Whether it be love, mystery, paranormal, the bible, whatever – I can guarantee groups of people are talking about what your book is about, write right now.

Bonus suggestion: Ask your local coffee shops about open mic nights or research networking groups looking for guest speakers.

Writing – Duh. This time, write for other blogs and publications to help spread the word about your amazing talent. Always include a short paragraph about yourself at the end of your submission so people are drawn back to your site.

Bonus suggestion: Get setup on Goodreads.com as an author.

Teaching – I’m not talking about becoming a Harvard professor. I’m talking about sharing your gift of knowledge. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to comment on the 800 billion blogs and websites already out there. Use your own brain and experiences to teach others. This does two things – gets you exposure and builds your credibility.

Bonus suggestion: Look for book fairs where you can hold small workshops.

Use the gifts and talents you already have to build your platform. Don’t spend time and money trying to do things you are not comfortable with. If technology isn’t your friend, don’t stress about trying to have elaborate websites. If speaking scares the shit out of you, then don’t do it. Your best platform is going to be a damn good book. So write your ass off. Write Now.

Desiree***

Desiree Wolfe is the CEO and Founder of Desiree Marketing, a boutique PR and Marketing Coaching and Service Company. Her mission is to help authors, speakers and solo-preneurs create kickass marketing. Her undying love for swear words makes her the foul-mouth marketer who gives you real-life, no fluff advice. For more information visit www.desireemarketing.com.

In case you haven’t heard, Desiree is also giving my clients exclusive sessions when they signup for No More Fuckery, our 3-month coaching package that teaches you how to be a marketing machine.