It’s been almost a year since I published my book Retirement Transition. I’ve posted about the struggle to do the promotional activities “suggested” to make it a best seller. That level of activity requires more than I am willing to give. Yet, I still take advantage of the promotional opportunities as they appear and surprisingly, this month I had 3!
A colleague from years ago recommended me as a speaker to our Corporate Alumni Group. Yes, my career-company has an alumni group – many people have started their career at this mega-corp and moved on, but still retain a loyalty to the “mother ship”. I gave a 45-minute webinar to a global audience of over 75 individuals.
One of the best aspects of this event was a colleague that reconnected after to compliment me – he gave me the best phrase for my voice! He told me I was, “as always, candid with a touch of humor.” That really is my authentic voice – the one I try for in both speaking and writing.
The second activity was an interview as part of a panel that will go live in March. Marianne Oehser from retireandbehappy.com (https://retireandbehappyworkshop.com/) is sponsoring a symposium entitled: Transitioning Into Retirement. I am excited to be one of her “12 top retirement experts”!
Here is the link to the symposium website: http://www.profcs.com/app/?af=1692593
And Marianne’s cut and paste promo: “If you are retired or plan to retire in the near future, don’t miss this great opportunity to hear from 12 top retirement experts including me who will share their insights and advice about a wide array of lifestyle topics.
Transitioning Into Retirement is a free virtual symposium about overcoming the challenges of this new phase of your life so you can make it the best part of your life. This free event airs March 10 – 12. My interview will be talking about Surviving the Transition.”
This interview was a video one, which is a huge “out of my comfort zone” undertaking. I avoided this approach to documenting my work during my career, even as I was highly encouraged to do it before I left work to capture my knowledge base. So, yes, this interview was very scary for me to do. I wanted to have the full hair & make-up that I did for my professional photo shoot to help boost my confidence. I didn’t but, yes, I paid attention to both – not the normal approach in my more casual Florida lifestyle. I enjoyed the conversational interview and will myself be looking at some of the other panelists in the event. No, I won’t look at mine – I can’t bring myself that far out of my comfort zone, but I did it.
Please do check out the full panel yourself. Link to register for the free March 10-12 symposium; here’s the link again: http://www.profcs.com/app/?af=1692593
Promotional activity number three was back to my no-video comfort zone area. This one was for a Canadian podcast called Moolala by Bruce Sellery and it aired just this past weekend. It was a quick 15 minutes of talk about my book and has a true podcast interview tone, including quick questions and answers. It was a fun experience to be part of a podcast!
If interested, have a listen at: http://podcasts.moolala.ca/category/podcasts/. It should be loaded in a few days.
Will I get more book sales or more blog followers from all of this promotion work? Not sure. Book sales numbers take awhile to show up and I’ve never followed my # of followers that closely! But I feel a sense of accomplishment with engaging in an out-of-comfort-zone book promotion, getting a phrase for my voice, and doing a podcast.
If you have not yet checked out my book, it is available on Amazon (hard copy & ebook – link here), Barnes & Noble (hard copy & ebook) as well as other “random” ebook sites (Baker & Taylor, Overdrive, Kobo, etc.). And yes, this is a blatant self-promotion!
retirementtransition 
“Candid with a touch of humour,” I completely agree. Congratulations on the symposium and podcast, Pat. These are fantastic opportunities. Well done on pushing past your comfort zone and putting yourself out there!
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Thanks for supporting my thinking that describes my voice! I had hoped it was… but nobody else commented on it. 🙂
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That is totally you. I would recognize you from the description right away!
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Well, haven’t you been busy, Pat! Congratulations on all the requests. I am especially interested in the symposium, but we’ll be on vacation. I’ll check out the link and see if there is an option to watch on video later. I have also been reading your book. Hopefully, I’ll be the most prepared retiree ever! 🙂 I am impressed by your willingness to step out of your comfort zone and try new things and promote the book you worked so hard on. Again congratulations!
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Christie,
I’m not sure the links are open very long. And I ended up just listening to 2 other talks… after reading the preview info. I really enjoyed one, the other was OK. Everyone would be different I am sure! If you do listen in to any, let me know if you find one of interest!
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Hi Pat, your book has opened many doors and opportunities which is great. I must find the podcast and take a listen. Thanks for linking up at #MLSTL especially now that you are a ‘star’ 🙂
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Sue, Far from being a star… but the events were fun to engage in!
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Hi Pat – wow you’re becoming famous!! Lovely to see you getting the recognition you deserve and I hope you put up the links to the video interview because I’d love to see you in action. It’s always good to have your peers acknowledge your wisdom and so congrats again and here’s to lots of sales!
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 😊
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Leanne, LOL. I doubt I’m famous… but it was fun to participate in all three things. It was just so weird they all happened the same month.
The video link is in the blog (website: http://www.profcs.com/app/?af=1692593) – it’s free during the seminar March 10-12 and then after, you need to “buy the set” of talks.
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I shall have a go at listening to the Canadian podcast. That’s about my attention span length and I like podcasts as I can still be active while listening.
Good on your for pushing outside your comfort zone.
Bernie
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Bernie – I’m not sure I will listen… I think it would be too weird to hear my voice that way! Ah well, it was an experience to tape it!
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Absolutely nothing wrong with “blatant self promotion” I know I don’t do enough of it. I tend to say that I have enough time to write and to hold down a full-time job but I don’t have time to market, write and hold down a job. Of course, though, I need to find the time. The truth is that I’m not comfortable with it but as an indie publisher I had better get comfortable with it quickly! Good on you for taking these opportunities.
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Jo, any promotion is a challenge for me. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one not comfortable with it.
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I was one of your 75 listeners to the P&G Alumni webinar. I loved your presentation. Thanks for the inspiration and clear outline about how to explore our next chapter.
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Debbie – So lovely to “hear” your voice here. and thanks for letting me know I’m inspiring folks. That is always nice to know.
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