Interview with non-fiction writer Paul Cummings

My special author guest today is Paul Cummings. We’re talking about his new business, non-fiction book, It All Matters.

Bio:

Enthusiastic. Driven. Intense. Paul Cummings has been educating business professionals for over thirty-five years and has developed revolutionary techniques in sales, customer service, and leadership development. Filled with the desire to not only teach but to also make a lasting difference, Paul is well-known for teaching his students and clients with unrivaled zeal and unmatched passion as he enthusiastically lives out his business motto, changing lives through dynamic instruction. A thirteen-time winner of the Telly Award and five-time winner of the Communicator Award, Paul’s ultimate desire is to tangibly and exponentially improve both personal and professional performance.

He has continued to revolutionize the way that people and businesses learn and improve by making it simple, affordable, fun, and efficient. In 2009, Paul developed Woople, a web-based learning system that delivers a variety of online training programs, including his very own, Paul Cummings University. PCU is an award winning, cutting-edge sales training program that is used daily by thousands of students.

Through dynamic live events and impactful eLearning videos, Paul Cummings has been instructing business professionals, leaders, managers, as well as today’s youth, for over 35 years. His desire is to teach and inspire every student and client to not only increase their personal capacity to learn and grow, but to also make a difference with their lives.

Fueled by his vision for lifelong learning and education, Paul also created TechTown in 2014 to engage the underserved youth in his hometown of Chattanooga, in science and technology summer camps and year-round after school programs. He is the proud father of five adult children, who have blessed him with eight wonderful and amazing grandkids. Paul’s personal mission is to always leave it better than he found it because he truly understands and firmly believes that It All Matters.

Please tell us about your current release.

How can you live a life of real intention and purpose instead of duty and obligation? It All Matters offers one hundred and twenty-five life-changing strategies to inspire you and help you to develop your skill sets, build more knowledge, improve your attitude, and develop work habits that truly pay off. When you read It All Matters, you join Paul Cummings, an award-winning worldwide public speaker and trainer as your personal coach. He’ll ask you questions that challenge you to find your "It"...inspire you to define your "All"... and encourage you to begin your journey towards greatness so that you can determine what truly “Matters.”

What inspired you to write this book?

My grandfather told me at a very young age that “It All Matters” and it lead me on a journey to define what was my “It” and what was my “All” and to truly be able to define what it was that “Mattered” to me. So that is where the title of the book came from. I was inspired to write the book from all the people that I met when I was traveling and speaking around the world that needed help finding their own “it” and their own “all” as well as help defining what “mattered” to them personally so that they could live the life that they were created to live.

Excerpt from It All Matters:

The key to It All Matters is the unique process that I help people discover called U.B.U. It stands for “Understand who you are”, “Be true to yourself”, and “Always Stay Unique”. The U.B.U is a proven approach that has been successfully implemented by professionals across the globe.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I continue to write every day and I am currently working on another book called Leave No Doubt. It’s about how leaders leave an evidence trail behind them that “leaves no doubt” in the people that they meet and that are around them, about who they are, what they stand for and what they believe.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write? I write a lot early in the morning, as I like the creative spark that it brings into my day. I have written all of my own training material over the last 35 years, so in that sense, I do write “full time”, but I also do a lot of speaking and training as well on the topics of the things that I am writing about.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

My most interesting quirk is that I write everything on my phone. I actually type it out in on a program called wordsmith on my phone, which I know, is kind of strange, but it is actually true.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I was really into sports when I was a child and I received so much great advice from all the amazing coaches that I had throughout my childhood, that I truly hoped to maybe do something in sports one day. However, after an injury in high school, that ended and I got into sales and eventually into sales training and then into leadership training and executive coaching. However, I see myself as a more of a “teacher” and a “coach” with my clients. I was greatly impacted by the many teachers in my childhood as well and I have so much respect for teachers in general, that I am truly humbled when I am referred to as a “teacher” or a “coach” by my clients.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

One fun fact about me, that many people don’t know, is that I also love to paint. I’ve even had a few of my paintings sold in galleries, in fact. I find that writing and painting both spark my creative juices flowing and they kind of work hand-in-hand to really get me creative side going.

Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Thanks for being here today, Paul.

Interview with non-fiction writer Wellington Manjengwa

Welcome, Readers. Today's guest is writer Wellington Manjengwa. He's chatting with me about his new non-fiction personal development book, Take a Chance and Win.

During his virtual book tour, Wellington will be awarding an autographed copy of Take a Chance and Win to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Welcome, Wellington. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I don’t know if you do this as well, but I keep old notebooks in my drawers; some of them go way back. My drawers get really cluttered sometimes because I dump all kinds of papers with notes from books, speeches, workshops, ideas that just crop up, brainstorming etc.

One Sunday in 2008, I needed to do a bit of cleaning, which included my desk and drawers. So I got started throwing stuff away and cleaning up. I was determined to leave the place sparkling clean.

And then I came to my desk, happily throwing away papers, notes, and unwanted clutter, when I came across this diary. A nice, leather-bound diary I had used the previous year, with many inspirational quotes on every page. While thumbing through the diary and reliving the appointments and meetings in it, I noticed one interesting quote; Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them. I didn’t know who John Maxwell was but his words were immensely profound.

Then I read one of John’s quotes from my old daily planner, which said: “Your thoughts will attract opportunities to you but it is your actions that will put money to that opportunity.”

This was at a time when my life was at crossroads. I was contemplating making a huge career move, which entailed me leaving my country and comfort zone. I had lost money through some speculative investments in the era of hyperinflation in my home country, Zimbabwe. I was running a small business which was my passion but it just wasn’t making enough money to make it reasonable to keep going, in fact I was sustaining it with my salary because it was just not doing well. John’s messages and quotes touched me at the very core and left me questioning every decision I had ever made about my life. I kept saying to myself, this is so painful, why isn’t there some guidance out there to help me make these decisions. I realised my limitations but I had no-one to turn to, no big brother to run to for advice. I was confused about life, I had many questions but no answers. I have always been quite ambitious and hungry for success but at this point I was really afraid. I had a family that depended on me for everything and I needed to make sure that whatever decision I made would enable me to be successful and be able to continue being the provider. There was no room for mistakes. Failure was just not an option. How was I going to make this happen?

EVERYONE IS A RISK TAKER

I have since gone through a long path of self-discovery and self-development that has led me to discover something:

One of the greatest challenges we face in life is DECISION MAKING. As you weigh the options for yourself or your company’s next step, how do you decide which way to turn? Successful outcomes can only be evaluated after the fact. But by the time the results are in, it’s normally too late to take corrective action. Often our decisions involve risk, and our big failures come from failing to manage the risk. Some people consider themselves risk-averse, while others consider themselves risk-takers. This drives their decision making and the strategies they implement to achieve what they want. The cold, hard truth is that everyone is a risk taker, what differs is the size, type, and amount of risk you take. The key element that distinguishes the successful from the unsuccessful is how we manage our risk. To take a risk is not the same as being careless. Many people confuse the two.

SO, WHO STARTED ALL THIS?

My name is Wellington, I was born and raised in one of the most populous townships in Harare, Zimbabwe. Yeah, you’ve heard of that country. Does one million percent inflation ring a bell for you?? At some point we were millionaires and billionaires but could barely afford a loaf of bread. I come from humble beginnings. No silver spoon in my mouth. I get that you don’t know me that well yet. Usually when you have a background like mine, you are not given much of a chance. But I have lived this one truth that has transformed my life forever: The battle for success is an internal battle. Great things always begin from your inside.

That is why I fell in love with learning expert, Jim Kwik’s saying the first time I saw it: “If an egg is broken from outside force, life ends, but if it is broken from inside, life begins.”

Failure to understand this is the reason one can be sitting on a treasure but be treating it like trash.

I have discovered an intensity and passion that has led me through a journey of self-discovery, adventure, conquering doubt, fear, and many limiting beliefs to establish the Well of Inspiration. My team and I work with individuals and companies providing them with information, ideas, and strategies that help to take their lives and businesses to their next level of success.

Please tell us a little bit about your current release.
This book can be taken as a success handbook which focuses on three key decisions in the areas of business, life partners and finances. If these strategies were taken on board, internalized, absorbed and put into practice, they will fundamentally improve your decision making and your chances of success.

What inspired you to write this book?

I simply made more mistakes, said stupid things, and acted before thinking than I care to recall. I took risks in many cases rather carelessly and have had to deal with the consequences of poor decision making and poor risk management in the making of key decisions in my life.

I woke up to the folly of my poor decisions only in my late 20's and realized I could have been so much closer to my life goals had I known how to manage the processes that lead to making important decisions and putting risk management strategies into action to assist in improving my chances of success

Tony Robins once said, “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”

This book takes that philosophy and expands upon it. Grounded in the idea that how you approach decision making and risk management determines success or failure, Take A Chance And Win aims to teach you the tenets of success in all aspects of your life and shows you how to capitalize upon effective risk management for regular decision making.

--> Excerpt from Take a Chance and Win:

It is said that before success in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and perhaps some failure. Temporary defeat is part of the learning curve because you cannot foresee every obstacle and sometimes circumstances may blindside you. As long one keeps the main thing and stays focused, they always come out wiser and more strategic. They will be able to rise again, reassert themselves and go at their dreams again—this time a little bit wise.

However, there are some sad scenarios of failure. Sadly, such moments of failure can spell the end of many people’s dreams. They bring them to the end of the road.

You see, the world is full of people who are staging a comeback because they have made serious mistakes, met obstacles, and succumbed to them or got beaten down by fear. Most importantly, a lot of the comeback stories in today’s world are the stories of those who have made bad decisions along the way or have taken risks without the proper strategies to manage the risk and maximise the upside of their decisions.

Sometimes all it takes is the ability to seek expert counsel when you hit a snag, or when you are not sure about something. Speaking to an expert like a lawyer, a religious leader, a business advisor, a life coach can be the difference between making a catastrophic mistake and rising to the top and realising your dreams.

What exciting story are you working on next?I’m currently working on a blog post titled. From Bachelor to Master.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I never really thought of myself as a writer but I realized in 2014 that I could express myself better in writing that in word.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I don’t write full time. I work in the financial services sector in Risk Management. I just wake up early everyday and write for an hour consistently and it works for me.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m kind of a stumbler when it comes to writing. I stumbled into it

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an accountant

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?Each one of us is a decision maker. We make decisions every day, about what to wear, where to go, what to do, what to listen to, the list goes on. Simplistic as it may seem, it is true that each of us is a decision maker in all facets of our lives. I would like to introduce you to something that you also are...even though it may not be so obvious. YOU ARE A RISK TAKER. Ok, so someone has told you before that you are not a risk taker and so on, but the reality is that you take risks every day; in fact, in every decision that you make at any given time, you are doing any of these four things: ACCEPTING A RISK, AVOIDING A RISK, TRANSFERRING A RISK, MITIGATING A RISK. My contention in this book is that as the world continues to change and innovations keep transforming lives and ushering in new opportunities, it is imperative that champions in the making, millionaires, and billionaires in the making also adapt to the changes and accept that in making decisions, it is smarter to avoid pitfalls while pursuing success, and that this is an important part of every success story together with the ability to rise after falling on your face.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

-->

Special feature for Rock Your Business by Boni Wagner-Stafford

This is a special excerpt for the business book, Rock Your Business, by Boni Wagner-Stafford.

During her virtual book tour, Boni will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.

A little bit about the author:

Boni Wagner-Stafford is a full-time writer, ghostwriter, editor, and author. Boni's writing has helped other authors, business leaders and coaches thrive.

For more than 10 years, Boni was with the Ontario government. She held a number of senior communications and management roles. She worked on 5 consecutive Ontario budget documents. Most noteworthy is the 2008 Ontario Budget for which Boni was managing editor. She also played key editorial management roles in government reports such as Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors. While in senior management Boni led teams that managed strategic communications for files such as securities regulation, auto insurance, tax reform, credit union and real estate legislative reform and tourism industry modernization.

Boni also worked for 15 years as a television reporter. She was also a news anchor and a producer. As a journalist, she worked under the names Boni Fox and Boni Fox Gray. Boni’s stories spanned politics, government, crime, health, environmental, and social issues. Her work won several awards.

A little bit about the book:

Rock Your Business is a book for those just starting out with a small business... or those considering starting a business. Told from those that have been there.

Excerpt from Rock Your Business:

Let’s talk about the differences – and the similarities – between the iPro, the freelancer, the self-employed, and the small business entrepreneur. Which one(s) are you?

IPro

These independent professionals are individuals who are highly skilled, work for themselves, and do not employ others. They typically function in the rapid-paced knowledge economy and are a distinct group: they are classified neither as small business nor as entrepreneurs.

Freelancer

Today’s freelancers may or may not be highly educated or highly skilled, but will provide their services to others independent of an employer. They may also contract pieces of work outside their skill set such as web design, bookkeeping, etcetera, to other freelancers or iPros. A freelancer likely won't have a business name registered with the relevant government body, and will likely file taxes as an individual while claiming some business expenses.

Self-employed

Those who are self-employed likely have a sole proprietorship or simple partnership business registered in order to add credibility and assist marketing efforts. Rarely will the self- employed hire others to work in the business, except for the service providers mentioned above.

Small Business Entrepreneur

These go-getters are tuned into market trends and gaps and work to capitalize on being first-to-market with a new idea, product, service, or technology. We would argue that some small business ventures are run by the self-employed and some self-employed people run small businesses. A small business that is incorporated becomes its own legal entity. And the entrepreneurs who run these incorporated small businesses are technically not self-employed; they are employed by the corporations they created.

The Small Business Numbers

In Canada, a small business is technically defined as having fewer than 100 employees. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a small business as having fewer than 20 employees. In the U.K. it’s considered a small or medium- sized business if it has 250 or fewer employees. Depending on how you look at things in the U.S., 99.7 per cent of all firms classify as small business. But that’s because the U.S. has an overly complicated classification system that changes the definition of small business industry by industry. It could have 500, 1000 or 1500 employees and still be considered a small business. Yeesh.

What these independent activists – freelancer, iPro, small business owner or entrepreneur – have in common is that they are running businesses. Size doesn’t matter for that definition.

Entrepreneurs start businesses hoping they’ll grow into the next Facebook. Small business owners work to provide a decent living and lifestyle for themselves and their families. Freelancers and iPros want the freedom to do the work they love for clients who appreciate their talents.

All of them are running businesses. They are all relatively solo endeavours, where there often isn't much time to connect with others who are working out the same kinks and learning the same tricks.

Regardless which category yours falls into, you bill clients directly, manage your own startup and sales and marketing and productivity and hiring and taxes and technology and... well, everything.

In addition to being awesome at what you do for clients, you must also become a quick study in the details of your business. It can be helpful to hear and read the stories of others... perhaps just before bed, where the ideas can percolate into your subconscious while you sleep, readying you to reach greater heights tomorrow.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview with advertising writing Don Spector

Writer Don Spector is helping me wrap up the week by chatting with me about his debut book, Memories of a Mad Man: Stories from the Golden-and-Sometimes Tin-Plated-Age of Advertising.

If you'd like 50% off the book through Smashwords, use coupon code SP97U. Don is making this offer for readers of this blog.

Bio:

Starting as a junior copywriter in a Madison Avenue ad agency in the ‘60s, Don Spector qualifies as a genuine Mad Man. Creating advertising for the agency’s high-profile accounts like Smirnoff Vodka and Tareyton cigarettes, he began his ascent up the creative ladder in several New York agencies. His commercials and print ads for advertisers like Xerox, the Yellow Pages and Jaguar ultimately led to an offer of a key position in Los Angeles-based BBDO/West where he was soon named Creative Director. After moving to a similar position at Foote Cone Belding/Los Angeles, he eventually started his own agency where he served until his retirement. The advertising he created for dozens of companies like ARCO, Absolut Vodka, Bristol-Myers and S.C. Johnson won numerous awards. But, more importantly, it generated millions of dollars in sales for them.

Welcome, Don. Please tell us about your current release.

Memories of a Mad Man is just that—stories told by a genuine Mad Man.

I started my advertising career on Madison Avenue at just about the time the television show’s plot line began. Rather than an autobiography, the book is a collection of true tales that capture the most fascinating facets of a fascinating profession.

He tells the truth about things like Alcohol (was there really a 3-martini lunch?), Casting (did a casting couch really help actresses get parts in commercials?), and Truth in Advertising (did ad people hew to the truth or did they occasionally bend it? Guess.)

In my decades of creating commercials and ads for clients like the Yellow Pages, Xerox, Absolut Vodka, Jaguar and Bristol Myers, I had unique adventures and met equally unique people — some famous and some infamous. This book offers a one-of-a-kind look at a one-of-a-kind profession.

What inspired you to write this book?

It all started over thirty years ago when, as creative director of a major ad agency, I was the guest on a radio talk show. We talked about advertising and when the host opened the show to phone calls, all the lines lit up instantly. During a commercial break the host told me it was the biggest response he ever had. People apparently loved to find out what the real behind-the-scenes advertising world was like. Years later, the success of the show Mad Men proved that. As a real-life Mad Man, I had worked for decades living and observing all sorts of interesting advertising stories that I was often asked to tell---and even retell—to family, friends and associates. Then one day it struck me — I had all these stories in me that people liked to hear and I was a writer. Why not write a book? And Memories of a Mad Man was born.

An excerpt from Memories of a Mad Man:

I don’t know if it was like that before I entered advertising but by the time I did, the days of the fabled three-martini lunch were beginning to fade. And that was just as well because, frankly, I wasn't very good at handling my liquor. Even one glass of wine at lunch made me sleepy and, besides being unable to write much, I didn't relish the idea of someone coming into my office at three in the afternoon to see me snoozing at my desk. But I did occasionally make an exception. And once when I did, I learned a valuable lesson.

I went to lunch in a Madison Avenue restaurant with an agency producer I did a lot of work with. I don't remember what the occasion was but Ed suggested we have a drink and I agreed. I ordered a Bloody Mary while Ed ordered a scotch and soda. I was surprised.

“Ed,” I exclaimed. “When we get back to the office they’ll smell that booze on your breath. That's why I'm having a vodka drink.”

“Yes,” Ed said, “but you know that we're not going to stop at just one drink. And when we get back to the office, at least they'll know I'm drunk. They’ll just think you're stupid.”

I thought about his wisdom for a moment and called the waiter over. “Make that a scotch and soda.”

  And from that day on when I did have a drink at lunch I made sure it wasn't vodka. I’d rather be thought of as drunk, not stupid.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I have no idea but at the suggestion of a friend, a successful author, I might try my hand at writing fiction. Maybe writing advertising trained me to write fiction……just kidding!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Even after writing for newspapers at my high school, college and graduate school (interestingly, all of the papers were named The Spectator) I didn’t think of myself as a writer. It was only when advertising caught my interest as a career that my writing experience kicked in and I wanted to become a copywriter. But I had to pay my dues first and I got a job in the mailroom of a Madison Avenue agency. I took a night school class in copywriting and one day while delivering mail to the agency creative director I got the courage to leave a sample of my homework in his inbox. Not long after, he called me in the mailroom and asked me to come to his office. I knew I was going to be fired. Instead, he said he thought I had some promise as a writer and the following week I sat in my own office facing a blank piece of paper in an electric typewriter with an assignment to write a radio commercial. I was officially a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I’m retired so finding time to write isn’t a problem. Deciding what to write is. Memories of a Mad Man is my first and only book. As mentioned above, I’m considering writing a novel.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I dictate about a quarter of my writing. In writing my book I had hit a creative wall, the dreaded writer’s block. I mentioned it to a fellow author who suggested I try dictating the portion I was stuck in. I got a dictation program for my Mac, held up a microphone and started talking. I was amazed…he was right. The words flowed. Dictating works especially well for me because my writing style has always been conversational. Several people have told me that when they’re reading my book they have the feeling that I’m in the room talking to them. That’s a great compliment to me and I owe some of it to my dictation-creation.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

As a tot, I wanted to be a doctor like my daddy. But as I grew older and heard him answer a phone call at 3 in the morning and then dress and rush out to make a house call, the doctor business didn’t seem as appealing to me as it had been.

Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | iTunes

If you'd like 50% off the book through Smashwords, use coupon code SP97U. Don is making this offer for readers of this blog.