Latest Posts - Page 67 of 197

August 17, 2021August 13, 2021 The Interviews Season

Publish Wide – Dale Roberts Advice for Building Your Platforms

An interview of a self-publishing expert is not complete without a discussion of “publish wide.” That refers to the many platforms available to publish your book. It includes traditional print books, audiobooks, and e-books. Therefore, the conversation with Dale L. Roberts continues to look at how we can grow to reach people. We learn it does not matter how they prefer to consume their content. Publish Wide = Many Platforms Dale lays out several platforms, including the elephant in the room (Amazon KDP). In comparison, each of these has its strengths and weaknesses. It is worthwhile to pursue them all. The key is to start with one and get comfortable with it. Do not try to be everything to everyone... Read more

August 12, 2021August 10, 2021 The Interviews Season

Define Your Audience For Publishing Success

We continue our discussion with Dale L. Roberts with a discussion around how to define your audience. That is an important step in any product. Books and written content are no different. We continue the discussion with getting that book written and your first steps in self-publishing. Define Your Audience There are some guides that refer to your ideal audience as your avatar. This vehicle should be a well-defined image of who you are speaking to. That is a key factor in success whether you are selling or communicating. Therefore, the avatar must be defined early and preferably before the writing process begins. Dale provides a perfect example. He wrote exercise books and it seems only logical that an exercise... Read more

August 10, 2021August 9, 2021 The Interviews Season

Dale L. Roberts Interview – Getting Started With Self-Publishing

.This episode starts a new multi-part set of interviews with Dale L. Roberts. He is a guru of self-publishing with dozens of books to his name. The focus is how to get started, platforms you can use, and how to find success in this far-ranging discussion. Our first episode provides background on Dale and getting started. A Self-Publishing Firehose Start with a focus. There is a lot to learn about self-publishing. Many pieces go into being successful. Dale refers to it as being a firehose of activity. There are two ways a firehose works. One is uncontrolled and sprays water everywhere. The other is focused and puts out fires. Next, we talk about how to take reasoned steps. That lays... Read more

August 5, 2021August 2, 2021 The Interviews Season

Finding A Mentor – Creating a Solid Foundation

This bonus episode for our Tim Stratton interview digs deeper into finding a mentor. First, we look at what makes a good mentor relationship. This is a situation where all parties need to contribute to the goals and receive benefits. Thus, the focus is on the relationship itself and what to look for when you desire a mentor. Finding A Mentor Organically There is an industry out there of people that advertise being a mentor. They even have processes and cookie-cutter approaches in some cases. This may help, but I do not see it as a true mentorship. Finding a mentor is not like finding a plumber. You do want someone you can trust. However, many other factors go into... Read more

August 3, 2021August 1, 2021 The Interviews Season

Mentor Relationships – Timothy Stratton Interview Part 5

The last part of the series in the Tim Stratton interview goes into how he got here and touches on mentor relationships. While we stick to the specifics, there are some valuable generalizations to take away from it. We saved the best for last as we wrap up our time with Tim. Mentor Relationships Change We briefly dropped the idea that Timothy has had multiple mentors throughout his life. It is important to note that these have to do with the stage of life we are in. I think most of us know that a childhood mentor is not going to necessarily help us as an adult. However, it is important to remember that as we move through our careers. ... Read more

July 29, 2021July 28, 2021 The Interviews Season

A Better Manager – Tim Stratton Interview

This episode of our interview with Timothy Stratton delves into experiences and how to be a better manager. We compare notes on what has worked for us and traits of those we seek to emulate. While the focus is on developer managers, there are many general suggestions as well. The Better Manager Summary There are many traits of a good manager. We hit on the more generalized of these in our discussion. These come from our experience as a manager and being managed. We started our careers as developers and think we have some good insights into managing developers because of that foundation. It is easy to do the things that you found to be positives when the roles were... Read more