Part 1 in a 5-Part Series:

Multiple Income Streams—The Usual Way

Is a wealthy author an oxymoron? I don't think so!

Wealth experts tell us that all wealthy individuals have multiple streams of income. Wealthy authors are no exception. But how does an author make any money when publishers pay low royalties and bookstore returns nibble away at them? Diversify.

Authors today have so many wonderful options available. Gone are the days when you have to go to a traditional publisher that takes eighteen months to get your book on the market only to control your revenues. Now authors can generate more money than ever through a variety of avenues.

The Old Reliable

Despite all of the buzz in the market about the certain demise of printed books, they still exist and still provide a viable income stream for authors. The amount of revenue generated by print books depends largely on the publishing avenue you choose and the distribution channels you employ.

Let’s assume you recognize the latest statistics that only 50% of books are sold in bookstores. Does that mean you can’t sell the other 50% of your hard copy or paperback? No! You can just sell them through diverse channels. Instead of putting all your faith in bookstore chains, you can take control and sell your printed books yourself.

Do you speak to audiences about your book subject? Great, then sell your book to the organizer of the event for distribution or to the audience directly.

Do you have an author website that tells your readers about the book? Then why not create a “buy now” button so your web visitors can buy your book directly from you?

You can also contact industry associations in which you are a member and ask them to buy your book in bulk for their membership.

If you teach classes at a local college or university on your book topic, you can have the school include the book in the registration fee for the class.

If you have a car with a trunk, you can sell your book anywhere at any time! (Wink.)

For more ideas on how you can get your books into your reader’s hands, feel free to contact Hallagen Ink, an editorial services firm. Ask them about their new Authorpreneur Coaching Program. They can help you to generate ideas that fit your lifestyle or the one you want to have as a wealthy author.

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Use the form below to tell us what you do to make money with your printed book. Also, let us know if we can help you to prosper on purpose in a bigger way.

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Gratitude and Appreciation as a Secret for Success

As I began my journey into greater awareness, I heard others speak of gratitude and being grateful for the things you have in your life. Well, when life wasn’t being very nice, I sure didn’t feel like expressing gratitude for it! What I learned is that I don’t always have to say “Wow, look how life sucks, thanks.” But rather, dig for that silver lining in the cloud and say thanks for that.

So, for example, let’s say you lose your job. That sure doesn’t sound like something to be grateful for. But, if you look for the silver lining, you might discover that because you have more time on your hands, you can explore the line of work that you have truly been wanting to engage in for the past several years. Now you can take that class or read that book to start developing your action plan.

Or, it could be that you haven’t had time to do the repairs on your home and now you can. Whatever the small pleasure is, be grateful for that. Then, the more you LOOK for those small pleasures, the more treasures you begin to unearth, and the better you feel, the more treasures come to you, and you’re then on an UPWARD spiral towards feeling good and acknowledging your blessings that continues to grow.

Jack Canfield’s article that follows is a good reminder for us all to be grateful, everyday. Enjoy it. And when you have a moment, after you have written in your own gratitude journal, share with me what you are grateful for.

by Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach

The best attitude you can possibly aspire to express year-round is one of gratitude and appreciation.

Being truly grateful for what is already present in your life will automatically and effortlessly attract more good into your life.

Make a conscious decision to appreciate and acknowledge all that you have already been blessed with. These emotions are of the highest vibrational frequency, and through the Law of Attraction they will attract even more to be thankful for.

Try to be grateful for even the difficult and challenging situations that arise in your life.

It is often through these situations, that we experience the most profound spiritual and emotional growth. You can learn to view each apparent obstacle as an opportunity to develop a new quality, strength, skill, insight or wisdom and be grateful for the lessons. Each challenge is an opportunity for growth and expansion.

Rise to these occasions, and appreciate all that you are learning in the process. Keeping your attitude positive and appreciative through these times will not only help to avoid attracting more of these difficult situations into your life – it will also create a field of positive energy that will attract more of what you do want.

“Of all the attitudes we can acquire, surely 
the attitude of gratitude is the most important,
 and by far the most life-changing.” – Zig Ziglar

A Token of Gratitude

Try carrying a small token, stone, crystal, or some other meaningful object with you each day in your pocket. Throughout the day, each time you reach into your pocket for your money or keys it will serve as a tangible reminder to stop and think of something you have to be grateful for. This is a great way to increase your awareness of all that you have to be appreciative of.

Take a moment to breathe, and really feel the emotion of gratitude. This simple mindfulness technique helps to raise your vibrational frequency and keep you in a state of constant gratitude.

Your Gratitude Journal

Start keeping a daily Gratitude and Acknowledgement journal. This is a necessary and valuable tool in the development of your growth and awareness. This book is not intended to be a long, drawn out “diary” sort of thing, just a short, simple list of things you are grateful for on that particular day. This is a place to honor and appreciate the good in your life.

Gratitude:

Each evening, before going to bed, take a few minutes to review your day. Think about the day’s events. Become aware of how many good things actually happened on that day, and remember to appreciate even the challenges that you encountered. Select the five things, or people, or events that you are most grateful for. There is no right or wrong here, just whatever, or whoever you are sincerely grateful for on that particular day. It may be the warm sun on your face, a cool breeze, a kind word, a friend, or just feeling good about what you got accomplished that day. It may be the way you handled a particular situation that would have thrown you into a tailspin in the past.

Anything you are grateful for. As you write them in your journal, feel the gratitude and appreciation. Give thanks.

Acknowledgement:

Take a moment to acknowledge the changes that are occurring for you personally. Write them down. Acknowledge just how well the Law of Attraction is working in your life. Write down any specific event where the Law of Attraction was at work- the parking space you envisioned, the meeting you wanted to schedule, the bonus check you received, the grade you wanted, the person who said yes when you asked them out.

Miracles can and do occur on a daily basis. They are happening all around you. Honor them, and notice them. Through acknowledgement, you will become more and more aware of the amazing synchronicity that is already at work in your life.

Make the time you spend in contemplation and writing in your Gratitude and Acknowledgement journal a sacred part of your daily routine.

Your continued expressions of joy and gratitude will draw even greater joy, love and abundance into your life.

You will begin to notice a change in your perception of each day‘s events. You will become more aware of the positive things that happen all around you every single day. Your focus will shift, your energy will shift, and you will begin to appreciate how blessed you already are. And … the Law of Attraction will respond to the higher vibration you are creating.

Enjoy the journey. 
Live each day in joy and gratitude.

Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Becoming a business owner is more than just starting from scratch. Read the following article to learn more.

Buying into Business: Seven Questions to Ask

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Networking is so much more than just going to a meeting and blindly handing out business cards. Read how you can truly learn to network so that you can grow your business.

New networking group to launch in Waynesboro

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The US Small Business Administration’s Community Express (CX) loan program still offers loans along with management and technical assistance to the borrower. It provides access to capital for businesses in historically underutilized business zones. Borrowers must be small businesses and loan amounts must be under $250,000. If you want money for your business, read on . . .

Getting a small business loan through Community Express

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Over the past two days, I have experienced something quite new: the Pain of a Pig. Mind you, it can only be perceived pain because the pig can’t really tell me it is in pain, but perception is often more powerful than reality.

The pig in question is one of my daughters’ two guinea pigs: Mocha. Mocha is colored as her name implies, and it is usually a quite pleasant pig indeed. She can stand up when asked (and prompted with a carrot or some other yummy veggie) and is generally a pleasure to hold. She can boogie across a cage pretty quickly when she wants to and boy can she holler when you are passing by the cage without giving her breakfast!

But after coming home from a retreat, I learned that Mocha had had a big fall. It seems that my six-year-old daughter was holding Mocha in her arms outdoors and Mocha decided to take a flying leap. After she hit the pavement (apparently on three of her four legs) she crawled under a parked car and sat there for a while. Since I was not there to witness this incident, all I can do is picture this in my mind. And, much like happens when we fear something that may never occur; the picture in my mind was horrible. I imagined her landing on her front two paws, breaking a fingernail, banging her nose on the pavement, wrenching and overextending her back because her heavy hips flew over her head on her way down. I now looked at Mocha, who was very still, only moving when absolutely necessary, and I imagined seeing an X-Ray of her hips all out of joint. It caused me physical discomfort, actual pain, to think about it. I wanted to pick her up and love her but I was afraid to hurt her.

So, this morning, first thing, I located a Vet that handles guinea pigs and I fretted over how I would transport poor little Mocha to the doctor. A shoe box? No, too confining and coffin like. (As if she would know that.) A recyclable cloth grocery bag? No, too flexible and unstable. You see we usually carry both guinea pigs with us on vacations in their big cage—together. Home away from home. We don’t usually take one and not the other.

I finally found a clear plastic tub that could easily sit on the front seat, allow us to see each other, and not be too confining for the trip to the doctor. Mocha’s sister pig, Pippi, was very upset that I would remove Mocha from the cage. “She’s hurt you know,” Pippi seemed to squeak. Pippi seemed to be exhibiting signs of sympathy pains (not eating well, not running around, staying calm) since Mocha’s great fall. “Leave her alone!” she squealed.

So we go to the doctor’s office and he and a nurse are holding Mocha, feeling her hip joints and moving her legs to make sure nothing felt broken. Just watching them and seeing Mocha’s eyes made me ache with both pain and guilt. “How can you let this happen to me?” her eyes pleaded. “Make them unhand me now!”

They felt and prodded and picked, making her squeak more than she apparently had in the past several days. After clipping her toe nails and trying to clip her teeth (ow), they sent her on with me noting that if she walks funny or has pulled her hip out of joint, she’ll get over it or learn to adjust to it. So, all that squinting in pain while thinking of her or watching my little piggy get manipulated was more agonizing for me than it was for her. She’ll be fine. Now if I can just get over it and move on, we’ll all be okay.

Once in awhile, green is a beautiful thing. And I don’t mean the environment here; I’m referring to this wonderful new resource from Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen. I am constantly loaning out my library of success and prosperity books and audios. But I haven’t let this one out of my sight. Why? Because I still have so much to learn from it that I don’t want to part with it just yet.

I have heard that Mark & Robert are multi-millionaires who truly understand the meaning of giving, and this DVD proves it. They have assembled an excellent cast of players to provide immediately valuable content and have done so for the cost of shipping. I applaud them for really getting in there to help during this perceived time of economic need.

Whether you could use additional passive income or need to jumpstart your bank accounts, this DVD can help. If you just want to stimulate your creativity or want to gain a few “aha’s” to keep you on top, this DVD can help. I encourage you to explore what is within; I truly believe it will change your current reality, no matter where you are now.

To your success!

Listen to a message from Tanya Brockett about her appearance at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Legislative Conference this week (September 25, 2009)!

September, 2009, Crozet, VA—Tanya Brockett has an audio message for you. Listen here:

CBC Welcome Message 

Come join Tanya at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 39th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC), September 23-26, 2009 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. She’ll be there at the Authors Pavilion (Exhibit Hall E) from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M. on Friday the 25^th, promoting and signing her book THE LOAN SOLUTION: NINE STEPS TO COMMUNITY EXPRESS. This book is a must read for any small business owner that is contemplating using other peoples’ money to start or grow their business. It provides loan program descriptions, cost of money calculations, checklists, and tips for successfully acquiring a small business loan. While you’re there, stop in on any of the 80+ issue forums as CBC Members share the progress of their work on legislative initiatives and exchange ideas correlated to policy issues that are of critical concern to their constituents. Don’t miss this opportunity to interact with National leaders, experts, and activists. Don’t miss ALC ’09. Reinvest…Rebuild…Renew! We’ll see you there.

Setting and achieving goals has never been so fun! Visit www.mindmovies.com/?14116 to learn about using interactive visualization to determine what you want and set your mind on achieving/acquiring it. I’ll include a link to mine here: http://www.viddler.com/explore/TBrockett/videos/1/

The act of developing the mind movie is so fun, that you will enjoy the feelings of having your goals met right from the start, and will likely bring it to fruition much sooner than you can imagine. Watch. Enjoy. Then go make your own! I’ll write more about this again soon.

I am a dinosaur. I have been avoiding the social networking scene for quite some time because I believed that I barely had enough time to run a business and a household, how on earth could I start blabbing online with people? Who has time to keep up with a Facebook or MySpace or Black Business Space profile? Who has time to make more friends–especially those that aren’t the parents of my children’s friends? 

One of my colleagues, Renee Bobb (www.reneebobb.com), shared some of the benefits of social networking with me. She explained that it is a good way to network: to add value to someone as they add value to you. It is also a way to learn of training events and to post your own events as well. It is a way to learn of new opportunities. It provides an additional audience for any marketing platform (new book, perhaps?). And, believe it or not, it might just be fun.

“Ha! More fun than SPAM?” I asked.

“Try it, you’ll like it,” she encouraged.

I did. And I did. I have only joined one site so far, but I will likely look into others once these dinosaur bones stop rattling. Renee suggested that I limit my social networking time to one hour per day; so that I remain in touch, but I also remain productive. Very good advice. It is easy to get sucked into the cyber-chatting thing. And I have enough e-mail to manage already; I do not want to waste any more time online than I have to.

So, for any others out there that can’t imagine that social networking can be a good thing: Try it, you’ll like it.