Success Books Transcription
Wait, What? Really ? OK with your host Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say wait, what? Really? This is the brand messaging podcast. I’m a brand messaging strategist named Loren Weisman and this is my take on success. Books, books, success books over the last hundred years and it has been a hundred years from what started off as these simple pamphlets to you know, the father, if you will, the Napoleon Hill. I almost said Napoleon Dynamite with these claims that never were backed up about his involvement with the Carnegie’s and these stories that now going backwards, being vetted and double checked, they apparently don’t show up to be true. It’s not that I’m against every success book out there, there are some good ones. I’m just not crazy about stating, read this book and here is your success. Now that might come off ironic for some of the people that know me because I wrote a book called the Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business. However, in defending my title I was calling it a guide and I was asking people that read that book to define what success was for them. It was a guide for them to apply, for them to decide what success was and then from there for them to choose the path, the information and create that given success that was specifically for them and no one else. So you run into a lot of problems and you have these people and it has become an addiction. It’s like sugar. I was speaking at a conference virtually a few weeks ago and one of the guys leads was I’ve read 300 books on success. So I dug into him a little bit and not going to name him out or call him out, but he’s not really that successful. So none of these books have worked. And yet in this front above the fold thing stating I read all these books so I know success, he wasn’t able to prove that for himself and off of other people’s authority and to a certain extent where that authority just didn’t work for him, he now knows how to build success for you. More interesting, he had a book and this is going to be one of the core points and I’d like you to consider looking into this before you buy that success book, that coaching book or whatever else. His book was the same outline and the same format and the same information and the same quotes as thousands of other books out there. And it’s not a coincidence and technically it’s not stealing, but it is plagiarism. He was somebody that it clearly showcased. He Bought one of those formatted I will sell you a coaching book. I will sell you a success book. I will sell you a business guru book. Now 90% of this is done. All you have to do is insert some stories, change this around, put a cover, put your name on it, and put it out to the people. Where is the authenticity and the truth in that? And in that, how are you teaching someone else authoritative success when you’ve basically taken this other stuff from other people? And I love the ads where the guy’s like, it’s not plagiarism and you’re not stealing it. You’re half right. You’re not stealing it because you license the information. But it is plagiarism in the definition of the word that you are taking copy, content, written word, passing it off as your own. And still by putting a little bit, 10%, now you’re claiming that’s yours. Some of the things to look out for inside of these dime a dozen licensed out white label success books. Notice throughout, flip through if you’re in the library or if you’re on Amazon, do you see the same quotes from the same people? And coincidentally, it’s not from the authority. It might be one of those. There was a guy I talked to back in LA a number of years ago, he made the joke about this has got to be the easiest thing to do is write the success book. And he was right. You take a little bit here, you take a little bit there, you flip it around, you pop a story, boom, you got another one. And it’s all saying the same thing. Here’s the thing that to me, though, it goes wrong. And here’s the thing that if you’re looking for books, if you want to be motivated or you want to be inspired, understand that buying somebody success book, and hopefully they have not made the claims or the promises like many do, but you may learn something about their story, you may learn something about their experiences, something you can learn from, something you can add or embellish to your plan or for that matter, something you can avoid. Now in all of that though, it’s your responsibility as the reader. This market and there are a lot of snake oil salesmen and snake oil saleswomen out there with this, but it is your responsibility. If this is the type of thing you want to read and you want to study, take it with a vetted grain of salt. Look into this person, look into the story. Also realize many of these people, even the ones that have written the full book or had the ghostwriter had somebody Else write it for them. They may not know all the elements and aspects of the success that came from about. What I mean by that is. And this ties to the music industry and it ties to women’s wear. I’m not going to name her name right now. It ties to businesses across the board where people state, this is what I did to get successful. And then I came in and there was this investor or there was this opportunity or all of a sudden this. And that happened and boom, this is how it worked. Except that’s only partially true because. Because some of these people writing the story don’t know the full story. So they can lead you on through a path that’s not a lie. They’re not trying to lie to you. They’re telling it from what they understand. But the lacking pieces that were happening behind the scenes could be devastating if you followed and copied it exactly. Another thing about success books, think about this. There is no common metric. The statistics are all off. From where the product is to when it came out, to what was happening around to the team that was available, to the financing. There are aspects and themes that can draw and help towards success. But there is no one solid model. And anytime that you take that assumption, you can find the contradiction. Everywhere else you see it. Go back to music. This is how you write a hit song. And notice that when somebody uses formula A, B, C and these chords and this tempo and this and blah blah, blah, it’s a hit song. And here are a whole bunch of examples. What you don’t see is the complete contradiction of a whole bunch of examples where that’s not true. So it’s not saying it’s not right, but it’s not the end all be all. So maybe the number one takeaway. If you want to read and you’re a reader and you enjoy this stuff, then take it in, but take it with that grain of salt and realize there might be more to the story than what’s just just there. There might be more of the story that they don’t want to share. There are a lot of people behind the scenes doing certain things to help businesses. They’re not hiding, they’re not trying to make it a secret, but certain people just don’t want it known. I’ve done a lot of work from messaging strategy to brand discovery to certain development where it was a confidentiality agreement. So you didn’t know I was there. And these people. And I’ve watched people say, well, we did this. And then we came up with. And they have every Right to do that. Is it completely ethical that they didn’t state we had some help? It’s the same thing with bands. Goes back to the days when I was doing the ghost drumming. I remember turning on the TV and watching a guy explain how he came up with the part. Okay, I was paid a great amount of money to shut my mouth, and technically it was him on that track. But as he begins to share things that are not true, or all of a sudden they’re shifted into a story or a narrative that don’t line up now, somebody else might be inspired and take a direction that isn’t true. They’ll try to follow that and it won’t work for them. Maybe for a couple other people it does. You have the situation that when you’re looking at a success book, when you’re looking at one of these, to take again, step one, vet it, is it just something out there and inside of it? Does it feel like it’s a constant sell? These educational books should be, to me, my opinion, stewarding, sharing about that and in the information, in the authenticity and inside of that authority and love that might draw someone to go, you know what? I might. I want to see what that author has to offer. If they can, I can work with them if they’ll come and speak or something like that. Over the constant call to action that shows up at the end of every chapter. Like you see with a lot of these authors, there are life coaching programs, certifications for business guru courses, and they specifically say, as you begin to get to this point, buy this, buy that, create this thing so that you can have your book and your book will sell you. There was a woman last week that was quoted as saying all content should convert to sales. I don’t agree with that opinion. I think content should convert to connection. Should a body of content eventually convert to sales? Yes. But if all you’re doing and all you have in mind in your writing, go to videos, go to audios. If it’s all about the sell, then how do people really learn? If you’re just sitting there tidbiting things, how are they going to learn? I try in my podcasts, in the stuff I do with FSG and the stuff in the videos is if you never talk to me, if you never hire me, you still walked away with something that might be helpful or might apply. That to me is solid stewarding. And in that, for me and my experiences, that has helped me engage the right people. Let’s get away from this 10x concept that continually comes up Many businesses that are saying, okay, we just need to 10x it and take it to the next level, if all of a sudden it went to 10 times, I don’t know if many of those businesses, if not the majority, could handle it or maintain the quality and the authority and the authenticity of what they’ve created. But that’s a different story. So coming back here, looking to see what is that book about? Is that something inside of that book where you feel like you can grab some tools and put them in your toolbox? Can you grab something and put it onto the palette for the journey, the path, the education you need, and the, and the elements and colors to create where you’re going to go with your business or vision. If you’re seeing some of that, then grab that book. Grab it right away. Great. If it feels like a sell, it’s most likely a sell. And if it feels like inside of somebody that’s continually bragging about their authority and, and yet inside of that, it’s quotes from everybody else, it’s stories from everybody else. It’s a compound template that was purchased from somebody else. Where is their authority in that? And really how could they help you then redirecting you to all these other people? Take that time to vet and look into that. And as you read the success, as you read about steps, as you read about a progress, a process, dig further, does that make sense? Does that apply to you, certain people? And it’s some of the upper echelon authors, they explain a model of this is how you do, and this is how you communicate with people, and this is how you sell. I know in my experiences and experiences of a lot of people that if you take that approach and maybe you don’t have that large a circle of friends or group of people that have that kind of money, you’re going to offend and close doors. Some of these people said you got to get on the phone call and make these five to ten cold calls a day. And you call them and you tell them and you push. Are you sure it’s the right time? It’s not saying to stall it out, but again, it’s looking into these books and seeing what, yes, you’re going to have to go into a zone that’s not so comfortable, but are you going to go into a zone that could be chaotic, dangerous and hurt, where you’re going to go look it up? There are many people, and you can even see it in the Amazon reviews of some of these books, and you can see it in some of Some of these websites where they said, you know what, I tried this and it didn’t work. And then they flipped it around and they put the blame back on the reader. You didn’t try this the right way. You didn’t try hard enough. Now it’s true, objectively true. You’re responsible. You take something to heart there. You have now believed that it’s objective. You haven’t proved it. And you worked off of somebody that took, took and subjective opinion, put it into their book and wrote it as a fact. You, you subscribe to it as a fact. That is your fault. But at the same time, it’s a fault that we have that out there. And that’s the other part that I want to get to. Many that are writing right now, there isn’t this standard referent. There isn’t that while they might have an editor or proofreader, many of them don’t have the technical editors. My third book was through Wiley and Sons, and so I had the editor, I had the proofreader, and then I had the tech editor. Anything that I stated outside of opinion had to be technically edited, checked and referenced as a fact. I love that. I think that’s great. I wish that was a standard. I wish there was a certain level inside of books that it could be listed that, hey, this book has been checked. And even if it had been checked, it was checked across a series of different angles, a series of different attributes. So it wasn’t just, okay, we found this to be true in one place, but it was found to be true and proven in a series of places. And even in that, though there are expired truths we see inside of the books, the Napoleon Hill books, these concepts that date back to the, to the 30s, to the 40s, to the 50s, there were elements inside there that were absolutely true. Here’s the problem. You update it, they’re regurgitated. They put it out in a book in 2020, it was true, but it’s not true today. So the next part there beyond vetting and at the same time beyond individualizing, now it’s sitting there and going, is this an authentic modern truth? Does it apply right now? Or is it something that’s going to come into the future? Or is it something that’s expired with the past? Reading that and reading with that set of eyes can help you avoid mistakes. And also looking for themes, looking for things that have happened that may come back again. It really is a lot more. When you’re looking for the tools, when you’re educating yourself that that it’s not all going to come from one place. We see these books and people are just, I can write a 90,000 word book in 30 days. Okay, can you, are you now sitting here under this goal to state this is what I did and this is how I did it and now buy this. Can you really put out that many words in a given amount of time and make it solid information? It’s become a challenge for some people and there, I mean so many are out there right now. It’s create that book so you can get more clients. There was a website I was at, it was publish to market and then there was another one, book publishers to get, publish a book to get more clients right in the middle of it. And I’m not going to name the exact website, I’m not going to get myself in that old defamation area here. But right in the middle of it, it’s doesn’t matter what you do. All you have to do is just format this and showcase this and it’s going to show that much more authority for whatever you’re teaching, training, consulting or coaching on. And this will bring people, and this is how you bring it across to Amazon and how you sell it and how you give your special discount and how you bring up all these elements which many of them showcase as lies. It goes to the last part, the bestseller element. Everybody’s a bestseller. You can become a bestseller on Amazon very easily. It’s about 350 bucks. And you will move, you can move a book up, give it away for a short amount of time, set it on a schedule so that a whole bunch of people will download it and then whoever’s helping you set this up will get you the screenshot to show at that moment you were what they view as, as a bestseller again. It’s a lie though, because if you look into the program, that’s a giveaway period. So you are the most highly downloaded by a series of bots and people for your book. And then these people thrust that onto the COVID of a book. So right off of where you’re trying to gain the authority or they’re trying to get a, make it look like you know they have authority to you, they’re lying again in the middle of all of this. Not that it’s an all out rant about success books. There are some people that are writing inside of humility when they write inside of opinions, when, when they’re transparent, when they showcase the honor, look to see where the story can resonate with you, not necessarily to make it Your story or your path, but to be organically, authentically inspired to look at. Oh, well, he did 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I really like the order of that. My 1, 2, 3, 4,. Five might be different because I have a different type of product. It’s a different time. I know different people. I have a different level of financing opportunities. It’s this, it’s that. It’s not these people that want to come out and just state immediately. They know everything. I was listening to Aziz Ansari’s latest Netflix special. He did this thing in the middle of it, and he talks about this potentially controversial thing and goes to the audiences, oh, how many did you hear that? You know, a small amount of people clap. He goes, did you think it was this or was it that? Little clap here, little clap there. Then he zeros in on one guy in the audience, and he’s like, so did you get it from the Washington Times? Or. I think it was like the New York. I’m sorry, New York Times or the Washington Post. He goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, it was the Post. It was definitely the Post. He goes, no, it wasn’t, because that story didn’t exist and none of that happened, and I just made that up. Now. He didn’t go. And he even said afterwards, he’s like, I’m not trying to make a fool out of you, but we’ve come to this place as a people. We’re so tied into opinions that we’re creating commentary and siding with things that aren’t even necessarily real. And that’s what happens inside of these business books, from the people that have had success to the people that feel that writing a success book on business will make them a success. The lead thing here is look into the validity. Vet it. Look into the authority. Look into the originality. I’m not saying if somebody has a quote or two from somebody else, that’s not bad. That’s not. That is bad. But why are they adding it in there in an area that is so filled to the brim with snake oil salesmen and women and book publishers that just want to punch something out and just sell you so that you’ll be a client, so that then they can sell you on hype, Dig in a little deeper. Look to see what resonates with you. And even as you might pick up the latest, greatest, or this really exciting book, or I heard this or I heard that, take it with that grain of salt. Take that time to grab the pieces that may go to your foundation, that may go onto your palette that may apply directly to you and add that as an embellishment, as a supplement. Don’t follow any of these to the letter, because the letter of many of these success books out there was written in a different language, in a sense. And if you take these pieces and take the best pieces, the pieces that inspire you or make you think, wow, I need to look into that. When it comes to financing, I never thought about that from a marketing angle. I definitely need to check that out. When it comes to compliance, oh, I never knew this. Bring it in. And the pieces that you want to apply the most or you feel the strongest about, do the most research on and see if they’re valid, see if they’re true. See if there are a series of sources that can back that up. And with that responsibility, that approach of love to information, intelligence, and words, as opposed to the fear pressure of many words where they’re just trying to push and force and dominate. When you begin to look at it, and it’s not being a doubter and it’s not being pessimistic, you’re taking the opportunity to look deeper so that you’re caring for your success, whatever that looks like to you, your path, whatever that looks like to you, and the directions that you’re going to take and the directions that you’re going to accept and apply to your direction. And with the culmination of that, from what you hear online to what you read in a book, to what you study from this class or this certification or what you read over here in this newspaper or this experience or the culmination of it all, you’ll make better choices for you. This is Loren Weisman. This was. Wait, what? Really? OK. My rant, if you will, and my take on success books. I hope you have a good day. Wait, What, Really OK.