But with our expanded capacity for connecting with others, we also find ourselves with an information overload. Sometimes there is just too much coming at us all at once, and we can get overwhelmed. We’ve all tried different ways to organise both our incoming and outgoing data. When it comes to organising our social media, integration and automation seemed like “the” solution, but we find ourselves yet again in an information overload situation. There are just so many different options on the market that we often find ourselves asking, “Isn’t there one RIGHT way of delivering and filtering through my social media information?”

In my work, I help business owners (primarily authors and holistic professionals) set up their social media integration and automation, and train them how to use it. But the induction process into the world of Twitter, Facebook and the like can often shake up many emotions and challenge many beliefs. Some people who are new to social media might have a pre-conceived idea that automation takes the “social” out of social media, and therefore eschew the convenience automation has to offer. These people end up working harder rather than smarter, and risk burning out on social media before they reap the rewards. Others, who don’t really like the idea of social media at all, but see it as a “necessary evil”, want to automate everything and don’t want to bother connecting with their audience. As a result, these kinds of people frequently become convinced that the lack of response they are receiving from their audience means, “Twitter (or whatever) is simply a waste of time!”

Yes, I’ve heard it all before.

Regardless of whether you recognise yourself as being similar to one of these two personality types, or you are already an enthusiastic social media devotee, let me assure you, social media can have a massive impact upon the success of your business. My own business was utterly built upon it! But in order to make it work “smart” for you, and to ensure you receive all the benefits it has to offer, you need to understand that BOTH automation AND interpersonal connection are EQUALLY important to running an efficient and effective social media platform because:

Automation is needed to deliver your content.

Interaction is needed to build relationships.

Learning the balance between these two can be a steep learning curve for many of my new clients. As demonstrated in the previous examples, those that depend upon one and fail to implement the other tend not to reap the results they seek.

But what makes the learning curve even more challenging is that to stay on top of things, you need to get used to changing your strategies all the time. This is because the social network platforms themselves (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, etc) are always in a state of evolution, and the plethora of third-party applications available to support these platforms are also always in a state of continual change.

The plain truth about social media:

Sometimes clients come to me expecting to learn the definitive system for social media. And while I tend to do things in a systematic way for myself, the truth is: there is NO magic “one size fits all” way to “do” social media. Your situation is not the same as mine. Your business is not the same. Your communication style is not the same. Your audience is not the same. Sure, there will be many similarities, but if ANYONE out their claims to be a guru, and tells you they have “the” one-stop solution for your needs, you’d be pretty safe to bet it’s a scam. Don’t spend your money on such claims (I’ve lost more than a few quid on such false promises back when I was a newbie).

But the fact that there are so many variables is not the only reason why there is no end-all magic bullet for social media. It is also because all the social media tools out there are all continuously changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. And as they change they create a butterfly effect upon each other. So you really have resign yourself to the fact that social media is a fluid system, and that there will be a continual process of learning involved. Even a Rubic Cube is easier to figure out, because the cube is a stable system that doesn’t change.

But the good news is, the more you know, the easier it is to adapt to this ever-flowing sea of change. For that reason, I thought it would be a good idea to write an eBook, going through some of the currently most popular social media tools for distributing your content:

Buy Kindle edition on Amazon US/Canada for only $2.99

Buy Kindle edition on Amazon UK for only £1.98

In Social Media on Autopilot: Nice, Necessary or Nightmare? [Kindle edition], I bring you 5 details product reviews intended for business owners on five of today’s most popular social media applications: Ping, TweetDeck, Twaitter, HootSuite and Tweet Adder. Each product is evaluated on virtually every feature it offers, and ranked in terms of its usefulness, reliability, automation capabilities, interaction capability and mobility.

Accessible reading even for the “newbie”, this report and help you find out how the pros use Twitter, Facebook and other social networks without selling their souls or spending every waking hour at their computer. At the end of this report, you will also find some useful bonus materials covering options for integrating your media, and some ideas for using social media apps on your mobile phone.

I have helped dozens of authors and online business owners reach the top of their field through social media. Nearly all my learning has come the “hard way” by spending countless hours at my desk, trying to find products and figure out what was best. For a mere $2.99, this detailed report (at 15,770 words, it would have been about 50 pages if I had printed it in paperback format) you save yourself months of research and trial and error.

There are even a few free gifts for you at the back of the eBook.

I hope you find this booklet useful. If you do, please do come back and leave a comment below (or better yet, post it on Amazon!). Also, if you have any suggestions for eBooks you would like me to write, please let me know that too in the comments below. That would be REALLY helpful to me!

And do please subscribe to the Spirit Authors blog for more info and insight into the world of writing, publishing and book promotions.

Enjoy going on autopilot!

Lynn’s other books:

International #1 Bestseller in Business Ethics, Marketing and Communication (Dec 2011)

• The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell (PAPERBACK)
• The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell (KINDLE)

Spirituality Bestseller (2009):

The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self (2009)

To contact Lynn for coaching, campaign management or media appearances, please fill in the form at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

At the exact same time I was launching Spirit Authors, I began writing a new book, which originally was intended to be a book for all those sensitive souls who didn’t like marketing, but needed to do it. I thought if I could help create a new paradigm for these kinds of people, it might be useful. But after I started diving deeply into the subject of marketing, I discovered so many revealing (and sometimes shocking) things about its history, intention and practice, and so many serious issues arising from consumer culture, that I knew this book was going to be something altogether different from what I had originally intended.

And now, after 2 years of daily writing, researching and pulling it all together, TODAY–Tuesday December 13th, 2011–is the big Amazon launch for my new book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell. (Click the title to find buy the book and receive some great gifts).

The 7 Graces of Marketing is a bold, holistic and often spiritual examination not merely of the world of advertising, but also of our entire world view. It reveals how our relationships with Self, others, our businesses, our economy and the Earth impact our health, our economy and the delicate ecological balance of our natural world. As much for the conscious consumer as the business owner, this book shows why traditional ways of selling are ultimately doomed to fail, and how both business owners and consumers can begin to heal the world by embracing a new paradigm I call ‘The 7 Graces of Marketing.’

When you buy the book TODAY you can receive the complete set of 7 MP3s (over 10 hours of audio) from last week’s 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit, with 24 internationally renowned speakers, such as Joe Vitale, Eric Pearl and 22 others, speaking about the ‘7 Deadly Sins’ of marketing and the ‘7 Graces’ of marketing. You’ll also receive dozens of other gifts offered by my friends and colleagues, to express our appreciation for your support. To buy the book, and claim your MP3s from the 7 Graces Telesummit, and receive a fabulous selection of gifts from my friends and colleauges, here’s all you need to do:

1. Sometime TODAY, go to http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/launch.html. This is the “launch” page.
2. On that page, you will see links to buy the book on Amazon US, Canada or UK (yes, you may purchase the book from another Amazon site; we just didn’t have room for all the links)
3. Click a link to buy the book on the Amazon of your choice. You may buy the book in either paperback or Kindle version
4. After you have purchased the book, Amazon will give you a purchase code. The purchase code is a 17-digit number, and it looks like this: 123-1234567-1234567. Copy this number to your computer clipboard.
5. Return to the “launch page” and enter your name, email AND your Amazon purchase code in the form.
6. When you hit the button that says “Yes, Please!” you will be taken immediately to the “bonus” page. This page has all the links to take you to the bonus gifts.
7. Just click the links of the gifts you would like to download.

That’s all there is to it! I am extremely passionate about this subject (as you will have heard if you listened to last week’s telesummit), and I am dedicated to getting the dialogue started in the business sector so we can change the way we do marketing, and make a brighter, healthier, happier world for our children and children’s children. I do hope you’ll check out The 7 Graces of Marketing.

Click HERE to get the book, the MP3s and free gifts now

Please PAY NO ATTENTION if Amazon says, “Only 3 left in stock” or “Ships in 1-4 weeks”. We have test ordered the book, and it takes about a 7-10 days to ship, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to “be out of stock” because this is a “print on demand” book, which means the book will be printed and shipped to you whenever you place an order.

If you have any questions or experience any problems, please do not hesitate to contact me via http://spiritauthors.com/contact

AND, I’d love to hear what you have to say about the book after you have read it, so be sure to subscribe to The 7 Graces of Marketing blog . I’m also starting a 7 Graces of Marketing Community for everyone who has bought the book, and who would like to meet others of like mind who want to bring ethics and values back into our business and marketing. So please do stay in touch.

With gratitude and appreciation,

Lynn Serafinn Author, coach, author promotions

http://spiritauthors.com

http://spiritauthorscoach.com

http://the7gracesofmarketing.com

TODAY Tuesday March 15th is the big launch day of the new English translation of the bestselling book Emotional Balance: the path to inner peace and harmony by Dr Roy Martina.

I am delighted to have been the campaign manager for this book launch. The energy has been wonderful. Our networking partners have all be so helpful and we had 3000 register for our wonderful “Emotional Balance Telesummit” last week, which I had the pleasure of hosting.

As I am writing this (at 12.30pm UK time March 15, 2011), the official launch started only 4 hours ago, and already it has hit #1 in the UK in Mental and Spiritual Healing, and #5 in New Age.

Here are the latest screenshots I took:

I fully expect to see it go higher as the day progresses, and trust we will see similar rankings in the US and Canada.

Roy Martina is a holistic medical doctor with over 30 years experience helping people tap into their true selves and “cure the incurable” by understanding the connection between emotional balance and dis-ease. He is the author of over 40 books in Dutch and other languages. He has spent the last 25 years studying acupuncture and numerous holistic techniques in order to offer people a profound level of healing, and he has been tireless in his pursuit of methods that work swiftly and effectively to aid the healing process. This work has put him at the leading edge of the holistic and self-help world.

A long-time bestseller in Dutch and other languages, this new English translation of the book has just been released through Hay House Publishers, and arrived on Amazon US, UK and Canada TODAY (March15th).

You can buy the book and receive a complete library of free gifts at

http://emotionalbalance.com/book.html

Emotional Balance is the result of years of empirical research Dr Martina conducted to discover why some people heal from illness and chronic conditions while others do not, in spite of having received the best holistic medical treatments he could offer them. As he embarked on a journey to unravel the secrets of the subconscious mind and how we sabotage ourselves, he says he discovered that our unresolved emotions and conflicts in the first seven years of our lives create deeply-rooted behavioral patterns and negative beliefs that cause us to sabotage ourselves, and that these can lead to long-term patterns of rocky relationships, financial hardship and, of course, ill health.

The end product of those years of experience and research is a method Roy developed called “Emotional Balance.” Roy explains, “Emotional Balance is a technique that allows us to return to what I call the ‘Still Point’. The Still Point is that place within us where we are in our power and are no longer governed by our egos or our past.”

Roy’s work is crystallized in his book Emotional Balance: the path to inner peace and harmony. It represents a culmination of his years of research, holistic practice and teaching, and is a substantial, comprehensive manual that teaches us how to deal with our self sabotaging mechanisms and return to our still point rapidly and easily when life knocks us off balance.

You can receive over 40 free personal development gifts when you buy the book during the launch this week, including one from me: 4 audio meditations from my “Garden of the Soul” workshop.

Also, as a special gift to everyone who buys the book during the launch celebration, Dr Martina will be delivering a fr*ee 2-Day course on how to use the book (to be delivered in April over the Internet), which will include time for people to ask questions directly from Roy himself. Roy says he is doing this because he doesn’t want his book to be just another self-help book that ends up sitting on your bookshelf. He wishes everyone who buys Emotional Balance to understand how to use the tools in the book, and feel supported as they start to apply these techniques in their lives.

You can buy the book and get these gifts including
the free classes from Dr Roy Martina
TODAY Tuesday March 15th at

http://emotionalbalance.com/book.html

As Roy always says, “Be the best you can be.”

Back in September 2008, I wrote an article called “How a Broken TV Made Me a Wealthy Woman.” Perhaps some of you might remember it. In that article, I reflected upon all the wonderful things that had opened up for me since my television blew up in February 2008, and I made a decision not to replace it.

I explained how I utilised my new-found free time to start a community project, build a network of wonderful friends and business contacts, learn new online skills and finish writing my book—The Garden of the Soul.

But most of all, I discussed how my anxieties over money had not only shifted, but disappeared, as I was no longer being ‘fed’ a daily diet of fear and scarcity messages via the media and marketing companies. This inner freedom opened up so much space within me, I was able to invent new, innovative ways to grow my business and create a more fulfilling way of life.

At so many levels, my broken TV made me a wealthy woman.

It is now coming up to the 3-year anniversary of when my television blew up. I have still not replaced my old set. In fact, a few months ago I finally rearranged my living room in such a way that there is not even any space for a television. My home feels cosier, homier and more inviting. The chairs face each other, intended for interpersonal conversation, rather than having them all facing the same direction, waiting to be programmed by the incandescent god in the corner of the room.

Since learning how to live without a television, I have achieved many things:

I self-published a bestselling book and got signed by an A-list literary agent.

I built my extended network to nearly 30,000 strong and created several #1-selling book launch campaigns reaching millions of people.

I helped my own daughter achieve her dream of launching her first book. It went to the top of the charts in its category.

I became Chair of our local Transition Town movement, where I work towards helping others shift their lifestyle from petroleum dependency to a healthier, more natural and sustainable model. I’ve organised a garden share with a neighbour, who now grows vegetables in my backyard.

I worked with dozens of private clients and delivered hundreds of radio shows, webinars, telesummits, workshops, lectures and online classes.

I won a couple of awards.

I made lots of videos.

I wrote two online courses for authors.

I remodelled my home.

I travelled to Italy, Spain and all over the UK.

I took uncountable walks along the river.

I taught my grandson how to tell ‘knock knock jokes’.

But most of all, the more time I spent without a television, the more I saw all of my anxieties and insecurities about money, self-image, relationships, health, and other things dissolve into thin air.

Not only do I no longer stress about money, but I have also created a steady flow of income.

Not only have I created a steady flow of income, but I am also no longer in debt.

Not only am I out of debt, but I have also learned how to live without credit.

Not only have I learned to live without credit, but I am also positively convinced the whole notion of credit is second only to television as being the ‘drug of the nation(s)’!

Never again will I own another credit card.

My consciousness has grown. I look around me and I see things I never saw before. I see people who are feeling trapped, and they don’t know why. I see good, decent and sensitive people unable to fend for themselves economically without a clue as to what to do. I see CEOs of big corporations feeling disconnected and fearful, but they dare not allow anyone see them with their defences down.

My heart aches for humanity. It aches for our planet. I want to shout from the rooftops.

Why? Because I know what is making us ill—

Marketing!

I don’t just mean advertising of products and services. I mean the whole industry of selling beliefs and ideas. I mean the subtle mind wars in which we are led to believe we need things we cannot get, and the emptiness we feel when we try in vain to acquire that which is impossible to attain.

And this is why I became a ‘marketer’—to help others clean up the mess we’ve all made over the past century. This is also why my next book, which is coming out on June 21, 2011, is called The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell.

If this topic gets your juices going, and you happen to be in northern California this month, I’d love to invite you to my talk ‘The 7 Graces of Marketing’ at the Insight Lecture Salon in Nevada City, on January 18th. Doors open at 6.30pm. Tickets are $20. To find out more, or to book your ticket, go to http://www.insightlecture.com/speakers/the-7-graces-of-marketing-by-lynn-serafinn-maed-cpcc/

And in the mean time, turn off the telly and see what opens up for you today.

Warm wishes,
Lynn

About Lynn Serafinn, Creator of Spirit Authors

Lynn Serafinn is a transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host and bestselling author of the book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. She also works as a campaign manager for mind-body-spirit authors and has produced several top-10 book campaigns, including four #1-sellers, in 2010 alone. She created Spirit Authors to offer training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. Contact Lynn about YOUR book project at at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

Sign up for Lynn’s bi-monthly newsletter Creative Spirit (fill in form BELOW) packed with inspirational articles, online networking tips, broadcast guide to her radio show, and news about upcoming spiritual author book releases.

Throughout the year, Lynn also hosts large-scale telesummits with world-class speakers on a range of mind-body-spirit topics. Your subscription to Creative Spirit will ensure you’ll be the first to know how to attend these free events.

Illustration from the book 'Check Mates'

OCD – Understanding, Not Just Awareness

It might sound like a surprising thing to say, but Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder affects pretty much everyone. Maybe you have it yourself. Or perhaps your partner has it, or your sibling, or an old childhood friend, or maybe your next-door neighbour. You might not even be aware of it, but the chances are high that you know someone who is obsessive-compulsive.

In recent years, OCD has become more publicly discussed, with celebrities coming forward and admitting they are afflicted by the condition. Yet when David Beckham went public with his diagnosis, much of the world made jokes and laughed. There was little consideration for his lifelong struggle with his own mind, or the difficulties it might pose for his family. There was even less acknowledgment that most people are at least a little obsessive-compulsive themselves.

Despite the growing awareness of such conditions, stereotypes persist…and an inspiring (and inspired) group of writers have boldly decided to do something about that. Together, they have compiled a groundbreaking new book Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD.

Check Mates, edited by Vrinda Pendred, is the first ever collection of fiction, poetry and artwork about OCD, by people with OCD – the real experts on the subject. It also marks the launch of Conditional Publications, the only dedicated publishing house for writers with any kind of neurological condition.

Divided between ‘Realism’ and the ‘Beyond’, this book drives the absurdity and horror of OCD straight home. It has been put together by writers and artists from around the world, and showcases a wide range of emotions, from love to hate, joy to rage, fear and sorrow to hope and optimism. There’s even a little bit of humour! I think everyone will find something to relate to.

What it doesn’t do is shy away from the truth. Every angle is covered, no matter how painful, which makes for a startling and moving read.

If you have OCD, you’re going to find yourself in this book and realise you’re definitely not alone. If you don’t have OCD…you’re probably going to find a little of yourself anyway, because that’s what this book does: it forces us to look at our own neuroses. I think this book is set to crack wide open a few stereotypes that have been flying around for far too long.

And what makes this book even more special, is that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every single copy of Check Mates will be donated to OCD charities.

Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD is coming to Amazon on 11 May 2010. To show my support of this inspirational new book,  to everyone who buys Check Mates on the day of the launch, I am giving away a FREE copy the “Making Friends With the Monsters Under Your Bed” mini-course to help anyone overcome anxieties, fears, insecurities and negative self-talk, whether OR not you have OCD.

AND… In addition to my gift, there are over 30 other wonderful gifts being offered by mind-body-spirit teachers, authors, coaches and healers from around the planet when you purchase Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD on May 11^th.

AND … Vrinda Pendred, editor and co-author of Check Mates, and a genuine artist of surreal fiction, is giving away an EXTRA special gift of her own: ‘The Passenger’, an unpublished short story about Tourette Syndrome. And yes, Vrinda herself has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and other neurological conditions.

AND… would it be just TOO unprofessional of me to mention that the lovely and talented Vrinda happens to be my very own daughter? I am more than just a little bit proud of what she is doing, and I have to say this book is absolutely gripping. Very impactful, it touches me on just so many levels.

To find out how you can buy this book on May 11^th, claim your free copy of ‘The Passenger’, and receive over 30 other gifts, just click HERE

Or copy and paste this link in your browser:

http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html

I hope you will join me in celebrating the launch of this unique book, Check Mates, the first ever collection of fiction, poetry and artwork about OCD.

Be sure to sign up for a “launch reminder”, and then mark your diary for May 11^th!

The grand prize is a book contract from Hampton Roads Publishing, one of the top Body-Mind-Spirit publishers in the world, along with a promotional package worth over $50,000.

There are 3 rounds of voting. The first round starts MONDAY March 29, 2010, and ends May 3, 2010. I could REALLY use your vote to help me advance to Round 2.

Here’s the video I made for my contest entry. I poured my heart and soul into it! If you cannot see it on your screen, view it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8P92UVYwCQ.

If you think The Garden of the Soul deserves to go to a wider audience, please help me by:

1) Watching this video to help you decide whether you think I deserve the prize AND THEN
2) Voting for me at http://tinyurl.com/TopAuthorLynn between March 29 – May 3rd.
3) Help yourself to a THANK YOU GIFT on that page (it’s a collection of audio excerpts from my book)
4) SHARE the page via Twitter or Facebook (you’ll see the buttons right there on the page).

And there is NO pressure to choose only one author to win this contest! There are hundreds of great authors for you to consider, and you can vote for as many authors as you like (but you can only vote ONCE for each author per round).

I you can help me advance to Round 2 of this exciting competition, I will be EXTREMELY grateful!

My motivation is fuelled by your encouragement and comments. I’d love to hear what you have to say about the video, my book and whatever else, in the comments box below (if you are reading this in your email inbox, click HERE to leave a comment).

Thank you everyone!

[mlb c="creativespirit"]

Twitter changed my life. Let me tell you how.

AND I am going to attempt to tell this story in lines of 140 characters or less.

It all started when I launched my book “The Garden of the Soul” in April 2009.

After a year of mastering this “thing” called social networking, I created an Amazon book campaign.

I found many JVPs (joint venture partners), mainly from Twitter.

Some who helped were @InspiredSheila @SuzieCheel @KSchulweis @BrendaAdelman @RuthHegarty @JoeRumbolo @LolaFayemi (see next)

AND @HeidiRichards @AwakenedWisdom @LindaClariPuig @jenngivler @audaciouseditor @GailSussMill @Gloreebe @jessicamcgj @SpiritCoach #ff

Also ran a Virtual Blog Tour with peeps like @MoonPoppy @DuncanBrodie and many others.

Also ran a Twitter contest. @JulieAnnTurner won a signed copy of my book.

Anyway…

Long story short, my self-published book became an Amazon bestseller in #spirituality #mind-body-spirit and #self-help.

When “The Garden of the Soul” made bestseller, Tweets and RTs went viral. #gots

I think it was June when @SouthsideBroadc contacted me to be on their radio show. I soon became a regular guest.

Thru @SouthsideBroadc I met @SpiritusShelagh who has since become one of my closest friends.

July 2009: blogger/editor @BookEditorLM wrote me on Twitter wanting to do a blog piece on me: http://bit.ly/c8hbCa

Aug 2009: @BookEditorLM asked @tonyeldridge if he would repost that article. He asked me to write a new one.

Oct 2009: @tonyeldridge published my new article “Pre-Natal Care for Your Book” http://bit.ly/bWCmQA

Same month @AllisonMaslan (whom I didn’t know) read that article. Sent me DM asking me to coach her 4 Amazon launch.

I put together Amazon campaign for @AllisonMaslan ‘s new #book #BlastOff!

Nov 2009: I asked @writersinthesky (whom I had met on Ning) to come and help us put the campaign together.

We put together another great team of JVPs.

If I named all the Tweeple who helped us on #BlastOff! I think I’d need another day to write this.

Meanwhile lots of people were asking me for book advice. I decided to start a new site called Spirit Authors. http://spiritauthors.com

Dec 20 2009: I set up Twitter profile @SpiritAuthors and Facebook fan page. http://facebook.com/SpiritAuthors

Started Twitter/FB campaign to drive people to fan page. By Christmas day there were 100 fans.

Jan 2010: Did another campaign to get 500 fans by my 55th birthday end of Jan. I got 600+

Jan 19, 2010: Allison’s book launched. Twitter & FB went viral. “Blast Off” reached #1 in US/Canada. http://bit.ly/RXpQu

RT @AllisonMaslan’s “Blast Off” reached #1 in US/Canada. http://bit.ly/RXpQu

Jan 21, 2010: Success of launch attracted attention of @AllisonMaslan ’s literary agent @wgtwelve. He’s also @EckhartTolle ‘s agent

As an author, I am now represented by @wgtwelve.

More and more #mind-body-spirit #authors come to me to create campaigns for them.

New Amazon campaigns: @AwakenedWisdom (April 20), @NeuroBooks (May 11) and @wgtwelve (Nov).

From Twitter contacts, I quickly assembled team of 18 VIP experts for Spirit Authors Grand Opening http://bit.ly/9pfpJV

VIPS: @wordywoman @BookMarketer @CaronGoode @DayaDeviDoolin @inspiredwriter @docmarion @AlanSeale plus many already mentioned.

Nearly 500 people registered 4 the #Spirit #Authors Grand Opening http://bit.ly/9pfpJV

My good friend @SpiritusShelagh was my co-host for the event. What a source of strength she is.

Oz Tweep @charlyjl was a wellspring of technical support in getting the site ready. Couldn’t have done it without her.

March 2010: Spirit Authors is now open and I have long waiting list of book campaign clients.

On #Spirit #Authors I teach new authors how to set use #Twitter to build a promotional platform and Amazon launch… as well as many other things (Oops! That’s more than 140 characters!)

Ok… enough with the Twitterspeak!!!

I am quite serious when I say Twitter has changed my life. Yes, my own book would never have become a bestseller without Twitter. Yes, I could never have helped Allison become a number-1 seller. Yes, I would not have gotten some fab new clients and an amazing literary agent. And yes, I would never have thought to create Spirit Authors and now have a blossoming new business as a result.

But it isn’t REALLY about business at all.

Have a look at all the Twitter links above. These are not just links. These are all REAL people whom I have come to know, respect and care about over the past year. Even though some of us are separated by tens of thousands of miles, we have all shared many a heart-felt conversation over the phone, and have been there for each other through the highs and lows.

And really, there are just so many other wonderful people I have met from Twitter (as well as Facebook, Ning and LinkedIn, in that order), I cannot count them.

When many people first come to Twitter, they don’t “get it”. How can you possibly communicate in 140 characters? How can you possibly make friends with people? How can you possibly build a business from it? WHY would you WANT to do this????

And I’m telling you now—it’s because of the PEOPLE!

I have made more close friends from networking on Twitter than any other form of networking I have ever tried… even more than “live” networks in my home town! While I do love Facebook as well, there is nothing (yet) that can beat Twitter for ideas going viral, and for meeting lots of people who share your interests within a very short period of time.

But as I said, it’s not just about the business. The friends I have met through Twitter are some of the most inspiring, supportive, positive and powerful light-workers I have ever met. That is why I have linked to EVERY one of them above.

So, if you are on Twitter, you should follow them. These are wonderful, beautiful people—get to KNOW them.

As always, your comments below are MOST welcome!

Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
@LynnSerafinn
@SpiritAuthors

P. S.: This article was inspired by a Twitter conversation I had a new friend on Twitter @WendyMWarden. Many thanks, Wendy. This was fun to write!

P. P. S.: Knowing HOW to make Twitter (and social networking in general) work for you, both on a business level and on a deeply fulfilling personal level, is something of an art form. This is why I teach it on the Spirit Authors course:

• In Module 2, I teach the fundamental principles of spirit-based promotion so you can create a fertile promotional platform for selling your book online using social networking.
• In Module 4, I teach the “how to’s” of creating an Amazon Book Launch.
• And, of course, there are 3 other modules on starting and writing your book, preparing for publication, and creating a brand and sustainable business from your book.

It’s my hope that by teaching authors (and authors-to-be) the techno-art of Twitter, they will not only find professional fulfilment, but they will also expand their world by connecting to others who understand them and wish to help them grow.

If this sounds like something you would like to explore, I offer a 14-day “Test Drive” on any Spirit Authors learning module for only $1. Visit the site at http://spiritauthors.com and check out the introductory audios and module overviews to see if there is something at Spirit Authors that can help you achieve your writing goals. And if you have any questions, please just fill out a contact form on the site and I promise I will reply personally.

SIDEBAR NOTE: If you haven’t yet gotten your copy of Allison Maslan’s Number-1 seller, check this page out before Friday 29 January: http://myblastoff.com/booklaunch to receive 20 free mind-body-spirit gifts when you buy the book, “Blast Off!”.

This is a true story of how one small thing can change your life.

Back in September 2009, a fellow named Tony Eldridge, whom I had met on Twitter, asked me to write an article for his book marketing blog, talking about the promotional strategies I had used that enabled my book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers to unearth the Self to become a bestselling title. I was a first-time, self-published author. I wasn’t exactly rich, and I had next to nothing to spend on promotion, so I did just about all of it myself. But somehow, by dint of my having spent the previous two years attending dozens of live seminars and teleseminars and reading hundreds of articles and eBooks on the topic of book promotion and Amazon launches, I built my online platform, designed my campaign and found some truly wonderful joint venture partners to assist me. As a result, my book became a bestseller in the UK in spirituality and mind-body-spirit categories, as well as in self-help category in both the US and the UK. I couldn’t have been happier. At age 50-something, it really was the dream of a lifetime.

I knew that the success of my launch had come from building my platform at least a year before my book had come out. So when Tony approached me to write the article, I decided to call the article “Pre-Natal Care for your Book,” with the aim of encouraging authors to start building their platform months before they even finished writing their books. When he published my article on 6 October 2009, Tony announced it on Twitter, and continued to ReTweet the link to it throughout the month.

I was very pleased with the article, and very pleased Tony seemed to like it too. I had no idea, however, that this one small thing was very soon going to be the catalyst that would change my life.

A few days after the article was published, an author from California named Allison Maslan saw one of Tony’s ReTweets (bless your tweet heart, Tony), and clicked the link to read my article. She was intrigued with it and contacted me through my website, asking me if I would “coach” her to create a book promotion campaign, because she had just landed a book deal with Morgan James Publishers for her book Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality.

I asked, “What do you want me to do?”

She replied, “Exactly the same thing you did for your own book. I want to do all of it.”

Without thinking, I heard myself saying to her, “OK. Except it’s not enough. My book made it to Number 18, and that was great at the time. But I want your book to do better than that. I want it to go all the way to Number 1.”

Reaching Number 1 was something I had a difficult time imagining, but I really meant it when I said it. Over the months Allison and I worked together, I found myself saying, “I want your book to be a Number-1 bestseller,” again and again. The desire was so powerful I could feel it in my gut.

I have to admit, though, that somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear a voice chiding me, “Number 1, you say? Uh-huh. Well we’ll just see about that!” But in spite of my occasional self-doubt, my logical mind told me if I simply applied all the learning I had amassed from having completed my own launch several months earlier, I could avoid all the pitfalls I had encountered and easily surpass my previous achievement. It seemed perfectly “do-able”.

And while such logic is a wonderful thing, the greater thing I have learned is that when you set a sincere intention, the Universe conspires to ensure it comes to fruition. So honey, let me warn you—before you open your mouth and speak loudly enough for the Universe to hear, you’d better be sure you are ready for outrageous success. But when you say it, you really have to mean it. Don’t just wish it. Don’t just say to yourself, “That would be really nice.” Feel the desire so powerfully that you will not accept anything less, and then commit to doing the work that will make it come true.

Over the following months, I worked closely with Allison to design, coordinate and deliver her campaign. First we tightened up her platform by building a strong online infrastructure and integrating all her social networks. Then, I showed her how to operate many new software programmes. She got to be a real pro at them in no time and soon she was off and running and gathering new followers every day. She was a natural at it, and because she was such a nice person, people simply WANTED to be connected to her.

Then I introduced her to an excellent communications coordinator, Yvonne Perry from Writers in the Sky, whom I had met on my Garden of the Soul Ning group. Together, we three assembled a truly vibrant team of spirit-based joint venture partners. We then designed all the timetables, promotional copy, strategies, sales pages and so many other things. As the day of the launch approached, we worked out tracking systems and a rota for watching the sales. There were some pretty hair-raising last minute “tweaks” behind the scenes and Ali, Yvonne and I were writing emails to each other so rapidly, it was almost like talking in real time.

The day of the big launch finally came Tuesday 19 January 2010. As I live in the UK, I was up hours before Allison or Yvonne. Soon, Britain woke up and started shopping online. I found my heart pounding when I first saw Allison’s book get into the Top-20 bestseller lists in the UK, alongside and even AHEAD of celebrities from Britain’s show “Dragon’s Den”. I frantically started sending out blogs and newsletters and tweets to tell people about this great news. Then, as North America woke up (Allison amongst them), and I started to see her book climb the US and Canadian charts, I could feel my heart pounding even louder. Heck I think I could even hear Allison’s heart pounding all the way from San Diego! Wow! Suddenly Blast Off! was soaring up the charts into the Top-10. Unbelievable. She had indeed passed my own book’s rank, just as I had said I truly wanted.

Behind the scenes was a FRENZY of emails, Tweets, Skypes and on-the-fly blog posts. We analysed. We strategised. It was total madness! I think if I could pick one thing I am most proud of about the campaign, it would be when Allison got to the Number-4 ranking, just behind Gary Vaynerchuk and Michael Gerber—two monumental names in the charts. We looked at the sales figures and estimated that we were very close to the Number-3 position, and all we needed to get over the “hump” was another 15 book sales. At that point, I sent out an appeal to all our members on Spirit Authors fan page on Facebook, as well as my blogs, and Allison sent out emails to her lists, telling them exactly what was going on. Yvonne started Tweeting like crazy. Within minutes, people responded with messages of support, telling us they had just bought the book.

I watched as an amazing truth became evident—people WANTED Allison reach Number-1. Their desire was just as strong as ours… except now there were hundreds of people all desiring the same thing.

And do you know what? With all that passionate desire being sent into the cosmos, the Universe could not help but fulfil our collective wishes. It was like an ocean of desire flowing into cyberspace.

In less than an hour, the book Blast Off! by my wonderful client (and now dear friend) Allison Maslan not only moved into the Number-3 rank, but within the next couple of hours, it also rose in both US and Canada to become Number-1 bestseller in entrepreneurship and was dubbed Number-1 “Hot New Seller”. It also made the top 5 in several other categories including “motivational” and “self-help”.

As you might imagine, Allison is over the moon and she is getting a lot of media attention. I spoke to her this evening and she has FOURTEEN radio interviews tomorrow! I can’t imagine that many interviews in one day. And I have to say, it couldn’t happen to a nicer person.

As for me, I’ve been living on not much more than adrenaline all week. But I really wanted to come back down to earth to tell you about the exciting things that have been happening in my life since the success as Allison’s campaign.

My first big announcement is that “Lynn the author” is now being represented by Waterside Literary Agency in Los Angeles, who also represent an array of illustrious spirit-based authors such as Eckhart Tolle, Neal Donald Walsch, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and of course my own client, Allison Maslan, amongst many others whose names you would undoubtedly recognise. Together, we are getting ready to approach publishers with a proposal for a NEW book I am writing. I’ll be telling you more about it over the coming months.

The second bit of news (and this will probably come as no surprise) is that, ever since the launch, I have been approached by a steady stream of authors requesting I help them with their book campaigns. Some of these are truly BIG and exciting projects. I’ll be telling you all about these wonderful books over the coming months.

All of this truly takes my breath away and, of course, I am absolutely thrilled so many people are approaching me about managing their spirit-based book campaigns. But there is a flip side to all this that also needs to be considered:

a) There’s only one of me and there are hundreds of authors who need help with their book projects and

b) Private campaign managers are simply not a financial option for everyone.

But here’s the beauty of the situation. The Universe is so incredibly wise and clever, it has been orchestrating a solution to this dilemma for the past two months, long before any of these events had occurred.

What is the solution? My new Spirit Authors site, of course!

For the past two months, I’ve been very excited about my new project Spirit Authors, which is a membership site that allows me to combine my professional experience as a teacher, coach, author, online promotion expert, WordPress “techie” and non-stop talker (!) in one place. I call it a “Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience” for mind-body-spirit authors—including those who simply have a dream to write and be a published author in the future. What Spirit Authors will offer authors is the opportunity to learn from myself and a range of other industry professionals about writing, social network-based promotion, self-publishing, Amazon launch campaigns, and making the most of your success, while always retaining your spirit-based focus, and being true to your personal values. It is also an online community, offering you the opportunity to make close personal and professional connections with others of like mind, for friendship, support, ideas sharing and business partnerships.

I originally set up this project because it resonated with my own values and interests. It also fulfils a long-term dream for me, because I have an MA in adult education and distance learning, and for many years I wanted to create a really fabulous online course, using all the principles I have learned in my many years as an educator.

But what I now understand is that the real importance of the project is that it will be able to help HUNDREDS of authors get the information and support they want and need for their projects. I couldn’t possibly do that as a one-to-one coach.

I have arranged a Grand Opening Webinar Week, Monday 22 through Friday 26 February. I’ve got over a dozen industry professionals from authors, marketing specialists, publishers, editors, etc., coming along to share their wisdom and experience on the air. And, yes, Allison Maslan will be amongst the guest line up to tell us what life has been like since becoming a Number-1 bestselling author. It’s all going to be FREE in celebration of the Grand Opening of the new Spirit Authors site.

The sign-up page for the Grand Opening won’t be available until NEXT week, so for now, if you’d like to make sure you receive a VIP invitation to the FREE Grand Opening Webinar Week, just got to http://spiritauthors.com and enter your email address in the right-hand side of this screen. Then, you’ll receive all updates about the event.

So there you have it. It all started by someone asking me to write a simple little blog article. Less than six months later, so many things I wanted to achieve in life are all joining together. It has truly been a dance of synchronicity, desire and manifestation.

If you follow my work, you know that one of my key messages is that there is great learning to be found in every story of our lives. So for this story, let me offer you these two “thoughts for the day:”

a) Never underestimate the power of an opportunity you are given, even if it seems very small. You simply do not know how far it will take you.

b) The more you desire to fulfil the dreams of others, the more your own dreams become fulfilled.

Thanks for reading. I really needed to share this story with you. Just by reading these words, you have become a part of my journey. Even if we have never spoken in person, I know on a subtle level that your presence in the world is impacting my life in ways I cannot yet measure. Similarly, I truly hope my presence in the world is impacting you in some small but positive way.

Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
Transformation Coach, Book Promotion Coach,
Author, Teacher, Talk Radio Host
Spirit Authors Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience
http://spiritauthors.com

P.S.: If you haven’t already, have a look at http://myblastoff.com/booklaunch. You still have time to receive 20 free mind-body-spirit gifts if you buy Allison Maslan’s (Number-1 selling!) book Blast Off! before the end of Friday 29 January. I’m also offering over 1 hour of audio book excerpts from The Garden of the Soul as a gift, along with other great gifts from coaches, authors, marketing pros and holistic practitioners. Have a look and see what’s on offer.

P.P.S.: I’m celebrating my 55^th birthday this Thursday 28 January. If you are on Facebook, come join my “Virtual Birthday Party” on my Spirit Authors fan page. I’m giving away a gift to all fans on Thursday, so come along and invite your friends. http://facebook.com/SpiritAuthors.

As most of you know by now, amongst other things, I am a book promotion coach for spirit-based authors. For the past 5 months, I’ve been working with a VERY wonderful woman named Allison Maslan. Allison came to me wanting me to design a book launch campaign for her book “Blast Off”, which is a motivational book where she shows you an actual system for achieving your “dream life”, whether it is creating a business, finding the love of your life, achieving optimum health, having fun, or connecting to your spirituality.

Anyway, here’s the situation.

Allison’s book launched today and she’s done FANTASTICALLY well. About 2 hours ago, she PASSED one of the BIGGEST selling books of the past few months, Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush It!” and took the Number 3 position in the entrepreneurship category.

Wow! That is truly an amazing feat.

AND… our next hurdle is to get to Number 1.

To get there, we have to pass two MEGA books in the field, one of which is Michael Gerber’s CLASSIC book “E-Myth Revisited.” No small feat. That book has been a top seller for years!

But it’s not impossible. I estimate that all Allison needs right now is about 15 more books to get sold via the Amazon dot com (US customers) in the next few hours to get her from Number 3 up to Number 2 (or higher?).

It’s not that we are not looking for sales in other countries, but it’s the US that is currently holding steady at the Number 3 rank. Canada has been dancing between Number 4 and 5, and the UK is coming up from behind around Number 14-15 (of course, it’s almost 3am here, and only people like me are awake at this hour!).

I REALLY want Allison to get to Number 2, and ultimately to Number 1, with your help.

So I am asking all of you to have a look at Allison’s book at http://myblastoff.com/booklaunch. On the LEFT hand side of the screen, you will find out all about the book itself. On the RIGHT hand side of the screen, you will see buttons to purchase, if you’re ready to buy.

AND… further down the screen, you’ll see about 20 free bonus gifts that a bunch of us (many of us here on Spirit Authors) are giving away when you buy Allison’s book before the end of the launch. I’m giving away 4 audio book excerpts from The Garden of the Soul, but there are SO many great gifts there from many Spirit Authors members (like Steph Gunning, Dana Lynn Smith, Brenda Adelman, Joe Rumbolo, Tracy Latz, Marion Ross, Yvonne Perry, Shelagh Jones, Sheila Bakely Finkelstein, Amethyst Wyldfyre… good grief, have I forgotten anyone?). Plus, so many other wonderful people like Callie Carling, Shannon Jackson Arnold and Gaylena Nia Collins helped with Tweeting, blogging, etc.

PLEASE help us “Blast Off!” Allison’s book and get it to number 1. She’s a brand new spirit-based author, and this is the dream of a lifetime for her.

And frankly, it’s a dream for me too. I would LOVE to say that I was the campaign manager for a Number 1 selling spirit-based book!

Watch out, of course. If we do reach Number 1, you’ve gotta know that I’m going to “milk it” baby, lol! After all, this is my most successful book launch to date and I see this as the beginning of my helping ALL my Spirit Author friends reach Number 1 in the coming years through the new Spirit Authors site.

Again, PLEASE buy Allison’s book right away if possible at http://myblastoff.com/booklaunch and receive all those beautiful gifts instantly.

Thank you sooooooooo much, everyone. I hope some day I can help some of YOU become a number 1 seller too.

Warm wishes,
Lynn

Yesterday I told you all about the launch of the book Blast Off! by my good friend and client, and fellow Spirit Author, Allison Maslan.

Well I am pleased to announce that her book came out early this morning and has already been dancing around the top 25 list in “Entrepreneurship” category all morning here in the UK, reaching as high as number 14 so far. I find myself smiling as I see her title on the same list as Michael Gerber’s classic E-Myth Revisited, Gary Vaynerchuk’s recent smash hit Crush It, and several books by UK “Dragons Den” icons, Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis and Duncan Bannatyne. She’s even been AHEAD of several of the “Dragons” over the past couple of hours… giving them a real run for their money… a lot of fun to watch, actually.

Now what’s so great about this is that Allison’s book is a radical shift from many other entrepreneurial approaches. She takes a spirit-based approach, where she helps you connect with your passions, and she actually gives you a step-by-step method to work towards anything from building an entrepreneurial enterprise, to finding a soul mate.

But what I like best about Allison as a person, and a writer, is that she keeps it “real.” She doesn’t talk “over your head” when it comes to talking about business, like so many other books I have read. As a coach and a homeopath, she speaks to you like a real person because her first interest and sole focus (or soul focus?) is people.

If you haven’t yet picked up your copy of Allison’s book, try to do so before the end of the day because when you do, you’ll also be able to pick up 20 great bonus gifts from some of the nicest mind-body-spirit and business professionals on the planet. I’m giving away over 1 hour of free audio book excerpts to help celebrate with her.

To find out how to get the book and the gifts, just visit http://myblastoff.com/booklaunch.

What a great start to have her be in the top 20 in the UK, right from the starting gate. I can’t wait to see how far Blast Off will go, especially when readers in the US start buying the book later today.

This is why I LOVE being a book promotion coach!

Enjoy the rest of your day,
Lynn Serafinn
Author, transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host
Author of mind-body-spirit bestseller The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self

http://lynnserafinn.com
http://spiritauthors.com
http://create-a-life.co.uk