Today on the Book More Show, I'm talking with Betsey Vaughn about the opportunity to engage people in the current moment.

There are unprecedented challenges as we all get used to today's 'new normal,' but in these changes are opportunities to be a leading voice and add value to those who could benefit from your knowledge.

It doesn't have to be earth-shattering insights. People still are still looking to buy flowers, run their business, or plan for their retirement, but NOW is a unique time to share your ideas and start a conversation, especially if you consider and write based on how the current situation is impacting your readers.

We talk about some great examples in today's show, and no matter what business you're in, something will resonate and focus your mind on finding your opportunity.

Today on the Book More Show, we’ve got a great podcast catching up with Dean Jackson.

This is a special episode for a few reasons. First, it’s always great to have Dean on the show ;) second, it’s episode 100 and milestones like that are always important, and third and most importantly, we are in some special times at the moment. With people coming to terms with the current ’normal’, it’s a great opportunity to look at what we think will be some of the permanent changes to come from this situation, and what we can do now to be ready for it.

As people are forced to adopt technology like Zoom, Google Classroom, Slack in a way they could avoid before, it overcomes the resistance to change, and for those situations where a virtual option is more convenient, it’s likely these will be the changes that stick.

Taking note of how you as a business owner and customer, overcome social distancing, looking to see how others are putting out content to engage virtually, can uncover huge opportunities and ways to streamline how you connect with people.

Necessity is the mother of invention at the moment, and while some things will get back to the way they were, many others won’t, and for every problem that causes, it will be an opportunity for others.

Without doubt, there are more challenges ahead, but as we move forward, be on the lookout for these special cause variations.

PS: All this week I've been doing Facebook Live's running through the Book Blueprint Mindets.

If you haven't seen them, head over to Facebook.com/90MinuteBooks, like the page & check out the videos.

There are some great tips to get your book created while we're all at home.

Today on the Book More Show, Betsey & I talk about how things look, a week into the rolling lockdowns.

As we talk with clients across the country, we’re getting an insight into how the physical restrictions affect the way people engage with customers, but we’re also starting to see all the amazing ways people are stepping up to provide help, content, and entertainment to people as they spend more time at home.

Depending on where you are in the country (or the world for that matter, with the UK & Florida now just announcing some of the same closures we’ve had in PA), you’ll be on different parts of the curve, both as a consumer & a business owner. The thing that appears very likely for everyone though is at some point you’ll need to deal with your physical location closing.

So, taking a note from the serenity prayer, in this episode, we look to accept the things we can’t change and make a plan for those we can.

There are some great examples of people finding amazing ways to keep in touch with clients and potential customers, so we talk about ways of both dealing with the present, and positioning yourself for when everything returns to ‘normal’.

Some challenging times ahead. Stay safe. Be helpful.

BTW - I mentioned I’ll do some Facebook Live’s next week. If you don't already follow the page, head over to Facebook.com/90MinuteBooks and Like of Follow to get notified.

Today on the Book More Show, we're talking with Sam Altawil from just outside Sacramento, California.

Sam is the author of On the Edge of Effectiveness, a book dedicated to helping individuals and organizations make the most of their HR capabilities, and I really wanted to get Sam on the show to talk about why he wanted to write his book, and his experience almost a year later.

His is an interesting book because he doesn't have a specific commercial intent. Rather than having a specific product or service to promote, Sam's goal was to share the knowledge he has and help people avoid some of the mistakes he's seen.

It lead to a great book, very authentic in its message, and now he's in a position of wanting to add more value, having received feedback from the first version being out in the real world.

We had a great conversation about how to best do this while keeping in mind one of the Book Blueprint mindsets of Beneficial Constraints. How can we best include the information most valuable in the book, and provide a way for people to continue the journey, without the usual lead model of guiding someone toward a specific outcome?

I really enjoyed this call. Sam's passion for his subject comes through in everything he does, and this conversation about adding the right value to the pages, and having the right information elsewhere is very useful to everyone, whether you have commercial intent or not.

Today on the Book More Show I'm talking with Betsey about an issue that's come up a lot recently, people underestimating how much time and effort is involved with doing the production work of creating a book yourself.

Getting your words onto a page is something everyone has some experience of. We all write emails, documents, letters, reports, so it's easy to think that laying out a book falls into this same category.

The reality is the level of detail required to satisfy your ideas, as well as the technical print and production requirements, can be a challenge to the most skilled Word-smith, let alone trying to do it yourself.

We often find that people come back and talk to us months or even years later, having wanted to take the DIY route, but running into the production details that can slow down the most well-intentioned author.

So, in this episode, we're hitting two main points: The 'Who Not How' approach of concentrating on the most valuable assets, your knowledge and time, and for those who only have resources for the DIY approach, we'll go through some tips for making it as painless as possible.

There is something for everyone here and some encouragement that there are quicker ways of getting your idea out there.