Happy weekend!

Here are a few links to get you thinking:

• Enjoyed this post from my Brazen colleague Whitney Parker, who shares her fashion consulting experience with CakeStyle. I, too, am not a shopper — Might have to give this a try!

• Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn has re-released her Author 2.0 blueprint, a guide about how to write, publish and market your book. It’s free, so can’t hurt to take a look!

• Us writers are always complaining about how many horrible books have managed to get published. Now GalleyCat feeds into that with a list of 10 bestselling books with more than 80 one-star reviews.

• This is so cool: Audiobooks.com has launched a Spotify for books. Pay a monthly fee and receive access to its library of 11,000 audio books.

• If you’re going to stop sitting around and start doing, you’ve got to surround yourself with doers, Joel Runyon says. So true!

• Check out how traveler Katie Aune reduced her spending and saved enough cash for her career break.

• Incorrect use of the apostrophe is this editor’s pet peeve. Thankfully, author Terry Odell reminds us how to use the “humble apostrophe” correctly.

See you Monday!

Planning to take a Leap in 2012? Subscribe to The Traveling Writer newsletter for practical tips on making it happen.

Every college kid and recent grad should go out and buy (or borrow) Michael Ellsberg’s new book, The Education of Millionaires.

Really. I feel so strongly about this that I’m sitting here thinking about who I should buy it for.

I heard about Michael and his book via Mixergy, an educate-yourself website full of interviews with entrepreneurs, and through an interview my colleague Jaclyn Schiff did for Brazen Life — both worth listening to.

(Before I continue raving about this book, a quick book-marketing lesson from Michael for all you aspiring authors: When I tweeted about how much I enjoyed that Mixergy interview and how I’d just bought the book, Michael responded to my tweet, thanking me for the positive feedback and offering to send me a free copy to give to a friend. He never sent the free copy, but I jotted this down as an excellent marketing and interaction strategy for when my own book comes out.)

Back to the book! The Education of Millionaires is up my alley for two reasons:

1. It’s chock-full (yes, writers, that’s chock-full, not chalk-full) of practical, actionable tips, which is my bread ‘n butter on this blog and in my products. He offers advice we can all follow right now.

2. It’s all about the importance of educating yourself. Because you can gain nearly all the skills that are important to your career on your own, if you’re smart about how to learn them.

The only thing I didn’t care for was the title. Yes, this book is about millionaires who didn’t finish college. But more than that, it’s about having a go-getter attitude and learning the skills you need to succeed by getting out there and doing the work.

This is SUCH an important point, because too many job seekers whine about not having the right experience for the job. The truth is, nowadays you can get nearly any type of experience you need simply by going out there and doing whatever you want to do. Start out by doing it for free, then transition to paid clients. Or write a blog about the topic to show what you know and what you’re learning. Or go beyond your job description at work and learn valuable skills through a side project. Stop waiting for a company to hire you or ask you to work on what you want to work on, and just start doing what you want to do.

Most of the millionaires in Michael’s book did just that, which I found motivating and inspiring.

Other takeaways from this fabulous book:

1. Learn how to sell. Everyone needs this skill! Because if you’re not selling something for your job, you’ll still have to sell yourself, especially in this increasingly digital and gig-based economy.

I’ve known for a while that selling is my weak spot, but now I’m even more convinced that this is the next skill I need to learn. After all, how am I going to sell more guides and courses if I can’t write a persuasive yet not in-your-face sales page or newsletter? Spin Selling, a book Michael recommends, is already on my night stand.

To really sell, Michael says, you have to get at your buyers’ biggest fears and dreams. They don’t want to lose weight just to lose weight — they want to feel better about themselves, maybe find a spouse, maybe have a family. Likewise, people don’t want to buy my social media consulting guide just to start taking on clients — they want to build a financial cushion so they can pursue the career and life they really want. Right?

2. Experiment — and even fail — if you really want to learn. I figured this out early in the entrepreneurship game, which is why I’m always trying new things. I can afford to experiment with ebooks and courses and newsletters because my client work pays the bills. But Michael’s right when he says most of us are super risk-averse and determined not to fail — which often leaves us stuck in a rut, not moving forward.

Of course, that’s largely because that’s how our education system teaches us to operate. “[We are] conditioning kids to be averse to making mistakes, rather than teaching kids that going out, trying lots of ambitious stuff, making a ton of mistakes in the process, and learning from those mistakes is the essence of how you become good at something,” Michael writes.

3. A shift in mentality might help you succeed. Stop cramming yourself into the box society offers, and instead create your own path. Transition from the employee mentality to the entrepreneurial mentality, Michael says.

This does not mean you need to work for yourself. It means that even if you work for a company, you should push the envelope, create great things, go beyond your job description and learn new skills.

One of my favorite parts of this book is when Michael says that people with both mindsets can work incredibly hard. Yet guess who goes farther? That’s because in this new world of work, working hard isn’t enough. You’ll only really succeed if you get outside of that box.

Check out this quote from Seth Godin that’s included in the book: “Most people don’t see that they have options beyond what society tells them to do… They honestly believe that compliance is the shortcut to success.” In truth, creating your own path is a far more effective route to get where you want to be.

4. Make sure there’s a Google trail for whatever you’ve accomplished. We should all know this by now, but the way Michael phrases it drives the point home. More and more, it doesn’t matter what you do if there’s no Google trail.

“Create stuff,” Michael writes. “Sell stuff. Market stuff. Lead stuff. [Lexi's note: You can do this while working for a company or for yourself.] Make sure it’s good stuff, then make sure there’s a good Google trail about it, so when potential employers or clients Google you (as they all will), the brand impression they come away with (the thoughts that come to mind when they hear your name again) are, ‘This person gets shit done.’”

And we all know that employers, clients and, well, EVERYONE wants to hire or work with people who get shit done.

Planning to take a Leap in 2012? Subscribe to The Traveling Writer newsletter for practical tips on making it happen.

I write often about the importance of using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn — not to mention blogging — to make your own luck.

But how, exactly, should you do that?

Now, for the first time, I’m offering an online course with practical tips and ideas, so you can accumulate the “luck” you crave — whether you’re looking to publish a book, start your own business, land new clients or make a career change. Through this course, I will teach you how to make connections strategically over social media, so opportunities come to you.

#MYOL is the course you’ve been asking me for. Whenever I write on my blog about making your own luck, readers ask, but HOW? I got that same question when Problogger featured me as one of their 20 Bloggers to Watch in 2012. Y’all asked, how did you get on that list?

If you enroll in this course, you’ll not only learn how to Make Your Own Luck, you’ll also be doing it.

This course is for you if:

• You know you should be using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to reach your goals, but you’re not sure how
• You’re not be getting as much as you want out of your social media networks
• You’re looking to make more connections with influential people (aka literary agents, editors, recruiters or thought-leaders in your community)
• You’re eager to grow your blog readership
• You want to become one of those people who boosts your success by using social media in a smart way

This is a high-level beginner course. It’s NOT for total social media newbies; I’m not going to go over what RT means or how to provide value on your networks, because you can learn that elsewhere. (It’s also not for advanced users who eat and breathe social media.) I expect you to already be on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and to be using those networks — but maybe not as well as you could.

You’ll learn practical tips for all three of those networks, but the course is Twitter-heavy, since that’s the best way to connect with people you don’t already know.

Course dates: March 5-30

How it works: Every weekday for a month, you’ll receive an email with one action item, a tip you should follow that day to grow your network. Yup, that’s 20 emails full of awesomeness! Little by little, you’ll learn to catch the eye of the people you need to know to reach your goals.

Plus: I’ll be available via email to answer any questions about those tips as they arise. You’ll have a personal social media coach – without the high price tag.

Price: $99

Why you should sign up NOW

I’m only making this course available for 30 participants because I want to be able to give you quality one-on-one help when necessary. And my newsletter subscribers — who get a heads up and discount on all of my ebooks and courses — have already filled a handful of those spots.

That means if you want a spot, you should sign up NOW, before it’s full.

Interested?

~ Click over to Make Your Own Luck for more details and to sign up. ~

See you in the land of lucky!

Planning to take a Leap in 2012? Subscribe to The Traveling Writer newsletter for practical tips on making it happen.

Friday has arrived!

Smart reads for your weekend:

• Must-read article for writers in Forbes: author Michael Ellsberg shares tips for book promotion based on his personal experience.

• If you’re considering working for yourself, entrepreneur Thursday Bram suggests taking time to establish your title — Should you call yourself a freelancer? Independent contractor? Consultant? Great glossary.

• When writing a sales page, be persuasive but natural, says copywriter Amy Harrison. She offers a 10-point outline for writing a sales page that sounds like you.

• What happens if your book is good but not hot? Here’s how long it could take it to sell it to publishers, says literary agent Rachelle Gardner.

• Hoping to become location independent and work from wherever you’d like? Location rebel Sean Ogle suggests seven unconventional ways to make it happen.

• Are you better off playing the lottery — or working hard to make your life what you want it to be? The Skool of Life’s Srinivas Rao has a word of advice about choosing the path with the best odds.

• Lastly, writer Jen Gresham on the difference between being unemployed and self-employed.

On Monday, I’m opening my social media course, Make Your Own Luck, for sign-ups! There are only 30 spots, so make sure to check back that day if you’re interested.

Have a great weekend!

Planning to take a Leap in 2012? Subscribe to The Traveling Writer newsletter for practical tips on making it happen.

It is NOT a pipe dream, the idea of making a living as a writer.

Lots of people do it successfully.

But here’s the secret: you have to be more than a writer.

You have to be an expert on a topic or a creator or an entrepreneur or a salesman — or maybe a combination of several of those. Writing may be your core skill, but how you use it is what will make your living.

Take, for example, how I pay my rent. My income comes from three main sources: helping small businesses and startups with social media, creating and selling digital guides and courses, and writing the occasional freelance journalism assignment.

That first category, social media consulting, might not seem like it qualifies as making a living as a writer, but writing is the core skill for the job. I’m good at turning information into status updates or tweets that people want to read. And a large part of why that works is because I’m a quality writer.

Except. If I was only a writer, I’d never make a living that way. On top of my writing skills, I have to be knowledgeable about social media and understand how to communicate ideas in an interesting way. (Thank you, journalism.)

And selling my eguides? Sure, the bulk of the work is in writing them, but I also have to sell the product. Which means I need to be a salesman, and I need to know how to create a community — this blog — so people will actually buy what I’m creating. Even if I only wanted to write (which I don’t), being a writer simply isn’t enough.

One more example: becoming an author. Too many could-be authors shun the idea of self-promotion, saying they just want to write. Which is fine — if you’re not hoping to make any money off your books (in which case no publisher would buy them). If you want this to be your job, if you want writing to support you, you have to be more than a writer.

How are YOU more than a writer?

Planning to take a Leap in 2012? Subscribe to The Traveling Writer newsletter for practical tips on making it happen.