David C. Baker is an author, speaker, and advisor who speaks to and supports entrepreneurial experts – people like you and me.

Read on to understand what you can gain from reading his book.

Why This Book is For You

The Business of Expertise is a book for “entrepreneurial experts.” Entrepreneurs who also happen to be experts.

That’s you.

How do I know?

You’re here on my website. Which means #1 – you have entrepreneurial spirit. You’re one of those courageous people who takes the risk to try something new: a new business, blog, product, art, music, etc.

And #2 – you’re an expert at whatever it is you do. Even if you’d say to me “No Sarah, not really, I’m not an expert” – I know that you are. Because you would not be here on my website, reading this article and others, if you were not.

So. You are an entrepreneurial expert and this book is specifically for you.

As this photo from the book points out … entrepreneurial experts are a rare bunch. Which is why we sometimes feel alone, and why we need advice that is specially tailored to our unique position.

What You’ll Gain From This Book

The subtitle of the book is “How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact and Wealth”. He helps you better understand what it is about your entrepreneurial spirit combined with your expertise that can lead you to success. He helps you define that success too.

Get a Copy of Your Very Own

I am a big fan of borrowing books from the library. But there are a few books that need to be on my shelf. Because I need to have my very own copy. To read and re-read. To mark pages and underline text.

This is one of those books.

Go buy yourself your very own copy. Read it slowly and thoroughly. Really take in what he has to tell you and how you can implement it in your work.

I worked through this book a few pages every few days. I read and re-read the pages. I discussed my reading over morning coffee with my hubby. And I read the book again and again. Until I really understood what he was telling me. And until I could thoroughly apply it.

This is a book that will equip, educate, and empower you. There are A LOT of “how to be successful in business” books out there. And this is the only one I currently recommend to my course students and followers.

Where to Buy the Book?

Your favorite book store is probably the best place. Support a small book store if at all possible. They will order the book in for you if it’s not on their shelves.

You can order a copy from the book’s website: https://www.expertise.is/. In addition to purchasing the book, you can also download a PDF Sample free.

Naturally you can get a copy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Books a Million.

Where ever you get your copy, I strongly encourage you to get a hard copy. You’ll get much more from the book if you do. Your vision system is designed to read text that is printed on a page, the kind you hold in your hand, with light coming down onto the page. In fact you will read 30% faster this way, and you’ll retain more information. You’re busy so go with the hard copy approach since it’s the most efficient :).

More About David C. Baker

Learn more about the author, David C. Baker, at his website … davidcbaker.com.

He’s a neat person with an interesting life story which culminated in him doing the work he does now. The website is packed with helpful information

While You’re At It

Be sure to read every part of the book. There are some fun tidbits you’ll discover by doing so. What I mean is read the parts of the book that you often skip over. Like:

• the dedication
• the introduction
• the foreward (definitely the foreward!)
• the acknowledgements, the credits, the about the author
• even the copyright page

There’s little bits of info you’ll discover along the way that I want you to be thinking about as you create your own content (even though written content may not be your thing).

Plus … some of it is funny. Some of it will tug at your heartstrings. Some of it breaks the rules. All of which make it stand out in the crowd. It’s a good model to take encouragement from for your own content.

Bonus points to those of you who find the duplicate page. I want you to contact me if you do … and tell me which page it was :).

One for the Road

This is the dedication page. See – I’m already getting you going on reading the book ?.

Because, as the author says, this book is “for everyone who wants to know.”

The post “The Business of Expertise” – A Book To Support Your Mindset appeared first on Sarah Galbraith Laucks.

Finding your “voice” is an important part of content marketing. This book can help!

Say Something! is a children’s book, written and illustrated by Peter Reynolds. It was published in 2019 by Orchard Books – an imprint of Scholastic Inc. “An imprint” is essentially a division of a publishing company. The larger publishing companies, like Scholastic, use these divisions to market certain types of books to specific demographics. Basically it means this book was published by Scholastic.

Scholastic is worth mentioning in this context … because if you have children in your life it’s very possible they have seen this book. And also possible that you’ve seen this title too. Either in it’s original hard copy format or in the paperback version made available to the school market.

Whether you remember seeing this book at a school … or are discovering it here for the first time:

It may just look like a cute book to you. Perhaps you gave it a passing glance. And while it is used often in schools as an SEL title (social and emotional learning) – it’s likely you dismissed this book as something for kids and not anything of real value to adults.

Read on to find out why it’s good to read this book and refer to it often.

Why A Book Like This One (aka a Children’s Book) Can Help You

It’s true that Say Something! is a children’s book. Most of us are usually reading books for grownups. Books that consist only of text.

If we have kids in our lives, we probably read children’s books to them. Various picture books appropriate to their interests and reading level.

Chances are we may enjoy these “kid lit” books. But you might not realize how helpful children’s books can be to us – as adults – when we want to learn things.

Years ago my mother, who has been teaching for 40+ years, told me something very valuable.

Take that to heart because she’s right, and for many reasons. Some of the ones that apply to us when we create content marketing are:

1. Pictures. All those pictures help solidify the information into our brains.
2. Pictures are a big bonus for highly visual learners. And a lot of people are visual learners. If you love film and magazines and photos … that’s you!
3. Children’s books distill a concept into extremely succinct and easy-to-read words. Which makes these books very easy to read and understand. An excellent way to learn the basics on a topic. The truth is that big fancy words are great and they have their place. But when we’re learning something it’s better to have simple, easy-to-understand language. Because the goal is learning, not increasing your college-level vocabulary.
4. Children’s books are short. Which means you can read them again and again. Rereading is important. It helps us retain and master information.

Why This Book in Particular?

Say Something! goes a long way to empowering every one to celebrate the unique voice they bring to the world.

That unique voice is what helps you define your niche in the business world.

In my course The Art of Content Marketing we spend a complete module on finding your unique voice. Finding your voice helps you stand out from all the others when marketing your business. It represents and communicates everything that is unique about your product or service.

It can be tricky for people to find and embrace their unique voice. Partly because we are surrounded by so much comparison.

As a result I work with women during my full course to help them uncover the type of content marketing that they are comfortable with creating.

When people come to me for help they almost always say “I know I should be blogging.” And they are pretty surprised when I say “Well, probably not.” It sounds like heresy in the content marketing space … but if your personal style is to take photos then we’re going to look at ways for you to follow that natural tendency and create images for your content marketing. Finding the type of marketing you like to create is a key part of the process of finding your voice … and I want you to keep it in mind as you consider this marketing method.

Once we find the ideal type of content for you … then we can work on finding your voice and letting it shine.

If you are working on your own to learn and looking to use more content marketing for your business, I highly recommend you get a copy of this book. Keep it at your work desk. Schedule a time every month to read through the book.

If you’re considering my course, The Art of Content Marketing, schedule an Intro Call so we can talk more about you, your business and your goals.

Before you go, enjoy a few snapshots from the inside of the book. They’re just the tip of the iceberg. Go grab a copy for your book shelf!

The post “Say Something!” – A Book To Help You Find Your Unique Voice appeared first on Sarah Galbraith Laucks.

Ursula K. Le Guin.

I found out about this author from a movie – The Jane Austen Book Club. One of the characters talks about Le Guin’s science fiction stories.

Then one day whilst at the library I discovered a picture book she wrote for children (Tom Mouse). That’s one remarkable book. Whether you have kids or not. But that’s a story for another time.

Next I came upon Catwings, one of her small chapter books for children. This story was dear and unusual and inventive. And really not like any of the other children’s books I’d read (kid lit is one of my hobbies). Plus a non-so-subtle feminist message which I found unusual.

At this point, I was getting really interested. The sheer variety of her writing had piqued my interest.

From SciFi to Children’s Lit to a Business Book

I started following the hashtag #ursulakleguin on Instagram.

And that is when I found the book I recommend to all creators of text content: Steering the Craft, a 21st Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story. Someone posted about the book on Instagram. I ordered it the same day. I didn’t even check it out from the library first. 

I believe this book is a MUST for any creator of written content. Whether you are an author writing books, an expert in your field writing articles, a marketer, communicator, a blogger or writing for social media.

This is a book for anyone who writes.

• It will help you hone your craft. 
• It will help you become a master of the most fundamental components of narrative. 
• It will help you fine-tune your writing skills and your ability to tell a story.

I have a lot of books about writing on my book shelf. If I could only have one it would be this book.

It is a workbook and contains exercises you can complete alone or in a group. 

I promise it will help your writing. 

And my recommendation is completely objective … I’ve got no affiliate relationship tied to this post and I won’t make a dime from whoever you decide to buy it from. Just go get a copy of the book today. The best place is to visit the book’s page on Ursula K. Le Guin’s website. There you will find the places she recommends you purchase your copy.

And, like everything she ever wrote, this book is utterly unique among books that help you become a better writer. 

There really is nothing else like an Ursula K. Le Guin book.

If you are a reader and have not yet read her books, then I hope I’ve given you a treasure trove of enjoyment. Because she was prolific and wrote in so many different genres.

If you are a creator of written content … include this book in your study as you develop your craft. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it … drop me a line and let me know.

The post A Must-Read Book for Every Creator of Written Content appeared first on Sarah Galbraith Laucks.