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Show Topics:

• Stefan Swanepoel, author of Surviving Your Serengeti
• How figuring out what animal you are can change your life

Stefan Swanepoel is author of the new book, Surviving Your Serengeti. The book is a fable about business and life and I posted a video review a few days ago.

Current stats during the first week:

• Business and investing
• Self-help
• Sprituality
• Business Life
• Personal Transformation
• Survival Skills

(more…)

I was noticing the trees get a do-over every year; they drop their leaves and start fresh in the spring. They don’t have to start from scratch though – they already have a foundation to build on.

What do you need a do-over on?

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Show Topics:

• Chad Jeffers – making it as a rock star
• Touring with Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, and Kenny Loggins
• Writing a book and teaching others about the music business

Chad Jeffers is a guitarist for Carrie Underwood.  In 2010 he played 108 shows and now has most of 2011 off to work on some of his own projects.  He released a book last year called 25 Notes as a behind-the-scenes on the music business.

Chad was in a band for the first time with his family when he was 8 years old.  His first show was in front of 1,500 girls and they chased him and his brother into their dressing room after the show.  He was hooked.

“If you want to do music for a living, don’t ever work a job with benefits.” – Chad’s dad (Doc Jeffers)

Chad moved to Nashville (from Kingsport, TN) to attend college and to be near music.  He attended Bellmont university with a degree in music business and marketing.

Through college and after he was working with Reba McEntire.  Through networking he landed some jobs as opening acts for the likes of Alan Jackson.

“It’s all about networking.” – Chad Jeffers

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I was hiking with Trent Thomas and asked him about success. He told me to find someone to emulate and then follow. Check out his reasoning in the video.  (Be very careful about who you follow with this technique.)

What are you doing to be successful this year?

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I was wondering around in the woods behind my house. It’s the day after Christmas, we just got 8″ of snow, and I’m thinking about next year, New Year’s resolutions, goals, getting things done, and starting over.

What are you going to blow up?

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Covered in today’s show:

• The process of traditional book publishing
• Finding an agent (or do you need one?)
• Creating a book proposal
• Selling your idea
• Advances and royalties

David Siteman Garland has been a guest on Coach Radio and is a friend of the show (here’s his story).  David built a his brand, seemingly overnight, and creatively turned it into a book which hits the shelves in December, 2010.

David’s book is Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-boring fluff-free strategies for marketing and promoting your business.

David takes me through his process of starting from scratch and follows through with his book hitting the shelves.  He’s never written a book before this one so now you don’t have an excuse for doing it too.

David’s story is interesting because a publisher sought him out to write a book.  When they entered negotiations it only took seven days to complete and now his book will be released in less than one year from when he started.  The timeline for a book is usually about two years.

You must have a platform for a publisher to find you interesting.  They won’t market your book for you so you have to lead or be involved in a community.

A lot goes behind the scenes when with the first draft is complete.  David went through about ten edits to get to the finished product.

David defines advances and royalties and royalties to me.  His advance was in the five-figure range and was something he was very happy with, given his experience.

“Very few authors make a lot of money from royalties.” - David Garland

Follow David on twitter @therisetothetop.

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I’d love to help you turn your ideas into a business that changes the world (and your bank account).  Here’s how I help.

Right-click to download the show | Leave a review on iTunes | Submit a question or call (919) 355-8275.

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Try not to be distracted as Christine sees a body of water with ice on it for the first time.  Just because I’m on vacation doesn’t mean I stop working.  Or better said, just because I’m working doesn’t mean I stop being on vacation.

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Where do you want to do your next working vacation?

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is leave it. Don’t try that with your spouse, by the way. Set your business up so it will run itself in your absence, and then get away so you can think. I guarantee you’ll be rockin’ it with ideas when you come back.

Are you unplugging over the holidays?