Donovan M. Neal's Blog, page 9
September 8, 2014
You are important
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As I get older I find that one of the most compelling drives is the drive for significance. This drive is evident as a child when as children we vie for the attention and approval of our parents and adults. It is easily seen in the adolescent need for peer approval. We strive to set ourselves apart in some way. All to satisfy this innate drive to be and or achieve significance.
Well I want to encourage someone on this Monday that you are sign...
September 3, 2014
When you give your daughter away in marriage
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It’s been an interesting two weeks. I’ve not posted anything and was taking a bit of a break but I’m back. I want to congratulate my daughter Candace, and her new husband Devin Pankey on their beautiful wedding over the labor day weekend.
To say that it was not an affair that brought tears to my eyes would be a wrong. I think it’s something when you give your daughter away to another man. You realize that a new stage of life is beginning, tha...
August 18, 2014
How to develop an author platform: Part 1
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Many authors myself included would love to focus their attention on just writing their book. In our ideal world, we would write the best work we could. Give it to the publishing powers that be, and in our perfect world; people would gravitate to our book and we would acquire acclaim and wealth as people are entertained and or informed about our writing.
The reality is that every self-published author, and increasingly traditionally published...
August 13, 2014
Book recommendation: Platform by Michael Hyatt
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In my journey to become a successful authorprenuer there are various readings that I have come upon that are simply staples. Books that need to be in an authors reference library because they are that impactful. Platform by Michael Hyatt is one of those books.
In Platform, Mr. Hyatt does a good job of explaining why you need a platform and what it can do for you. More importantly he walks you through various steps to develop your own.
Everythi...
August 10, 2014
Why you want to quit, and why you wont!
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In the Biblethere is a story about a man named Terah. Terah is known for several things.
Being the father to three boys Abram, Nahor and Haran
He was a man who had to bury his own son who preceded him in death
That he was a man that took in his grandson (Lot) to care for him after the death of Haran
Terah left his home and took with him his son Abram, and his grandson with the intent to go into Canaan.
Terah having gone ½ ways to Canaan stopped i...
August 7, 2014
The Lazy Authors Way to Acquire Book Reviews
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Reviews for an author provide social proof that your book is effectively engaging with your audience. Many authors struggle to get just a smattering of reviews and when you look through Amazon some of the numbers are tepid at best.
While there are many ways to obtain reviews, most of them require direct and active efforts on an authors part to search for and acquire. What I am going to show you is one passive way that you can find qualified r...
August 4, 2014
Writing the next book: can lightning strike twice?
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I always had the plan to write more than one book. In fact, I knew when I started the Third Heaven series that it needed to be at least three books to tell the story. It was just too epic to do the story justice with less.
Now after seven years, the book is finished and is out and I’ve received some wonderful praise form readers who have enjoyed the work.
That first book was so fun to write yet also so hard, and yet If you asked me at the time...
July 28, 2014
How to get more done with less. Part 3
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In last weeks, post I talked about how leaders are always looking to be more effective. To increase our effectiveness it helps to look for principles that can help us do that. I mentioned that the Pareto principle. Commonly referred to, as the 80/20 principle is a powerful tool to assess not just what we do but how we do it.
As mentioned in last weeks post the 80/20 principles main take away is that there is a natural imbalance between my eff...
July 25, 2014
How I did it series: Building networks Prt 1
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Authors today are bombarded with a number of choices when it comes to publishing. Traditional publishing options, indie publishing, hybrid publishing etc.
However, one thing remains clear. Your platform consists of people that you have connected to.
Common advice is not to spam people with “buy my book.” on social media and to make actual connections with friends. Sometimes for us introverted authors that can be a challenging as trying to self...
July 21, 2014
10 mistakes leaders make
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Below are 10 mistakes that leaders must be careful not to make. See if you can find yourself or your organization in this list.
1. Top down attitudes
2. Putting paperwork before peoplework
3. Failing to affirm people
4. Not making room for mavericks
5. Using dictatorship in decision making
6. Dirty delegation: Refusing to let go.
7. Communication chaos
8. Missing the clues of corporate culture
9. Success without successors
10. Failure to focus on the...
