Going to the post office can be amusing at times.

Today I went there during lunch time to send a reviewer copy of my book to Daunt Books, a big bookshop in London.  I put a promotional sticker (please see the photo) on the parcel. The counter staff asked me what it was and I started to introduce my book and try to sell it to her on the spot.

Before I could finish my whole sales pitch, a queue of grumbling lunch-time customers behind me made themselves known to me. Afraid of my own safety (and theirs), I took the hint and left my perspective reader with a copy of my promotional postcard and walked out there with my head held high.

A bigger drama was avoided. It may not be that easy next time. :>

 

One main reason of Wearing-Different-Hats (WDH) is to convey your message to the target audience effectively. In another words, it is to package your message and present YOURSELF in a way that will be more receptive by the recipient.

A lesson learnt for me when I promote my book to a total stranger is to scale down my eccentricity (or political-correctly called uniqueness). Essentially, I need to wear a hat of an author of self-published book on adult learning (a generic image of someone a bit plain and calm). I would not want people (mostly faint-hearted ones) to “switch” off because of my “charming” character. When they get to know me (like most of my friends and acquaintances), then I can reveal more of “Raymond-ness” to them.

My dear circle of friends and family, don’t worry. I won’t lose myself in the process. I am just “flexing my muscles” to fine-tune my personality to promote my book more effectively.

 

 

Another clarification: Wearing-Different-Hats (WDH) is not the same as multi-tasking. The latter refers to the fact that a person can SIMULANTEOUSLY doing more than one task effectively (or adequately at a minimum). For example, it was pointed out to me that I had the “talent” of carrying on a conversation with 3 different people in high school. To be exact, they were 2 classmates sitting on both my sides and one in the front. I guess if I was willing to turn my head to my back, I could have handled 4 different people at one time!

Back to the subject of WDH, a recent example is my relationship with my 13-year old niece Cameron. During the summer, she helped me with some marketing research and I paid her pocket money by hour (undisclosed amount). For work-related matters, I was her boss and she was my personal assistant. I could be (believe me – I was on a few occasions) quite tough (yet reasonable) towards her. But outside of work, I remain her uncle who profoundly adores her. I needed to make sure that I walked that “fine line” cautiously without crossing it. I found it useful to remind myself and the other party (in this case Cameron) of the “different hats” lying on that “fine line”.

 

 

Last night I kicked off the launching of my book globally via the social media including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

The initial results: My friends are very support. Thank you folks :>
1) I got close to 20 Facebook Likes and a lot of encouraging comments.
2) A high school friend in Hong Kong has already ordered one copy of my book.
3) I got the first Amazon book review.

In addition, the distribution of flyers and postcards of my book has started in my neighborhood in London, U.K. Due to the limited marketing budget, I have to start cautiously and evaluate how effective these marketing materials are in terms of generating book sales.

In short, another milestone has been made and many more to go!

Apparently the number of copies sold can be a special appeal to some people.  A colleague told me that he would buy the 100th & 101st copies of my book.  Done and sold.

Anyone up for the 1,000th copy of my book?  Bidding starts right now!

 

As it is not turning water into wine, so what is the big deal? Ice melts into water under room temperature anyway!

Actually, I meant turning the Ice bucket challenge into Water bucket challenge. I took the challenge yesterday with 6 other colleagues for charity. I was the last person taking the bucket. When it was my turn, they ran out of ice and got “lucked out” with just the WATER bucket challenge instead of the ice one.

Well, I would not complain. The thought of ice water pouring down my head remained a thought “fortunately” and I will not hold that thought anymore. :>

With 62 copies sold at the conference today, the total sales figure has reached triple digit!

The first milestone is 1,000 in 12-month, so we are now more than 10% of that. We still have quite a bit to go, but I am very much encouraged. Thank you for all your support. I will report when we pass halfway point (500 copies). Hopefully soon.

 

So much fun on a single day!

Tomorrow I will have my first corporate presentation of my book in front of 50+ colleagues in Holland. It will take place right before lunch, so I can get the butterflies out of my stomach before I can actually eat. Not necessary a bad thing in itself :>

After that, I will face the ice bucket challenge at 6pm since I managed to raise more than 100 EUROs for charity with 5 other colleagues. Together we shall raise close to 1,000 Euros for charity. Yes, bring on the ice. What the head!

At the outset, let me clarify that wearing-different-hats (WDH) is not the same as having multiple personality disorder. The former refers to the ability to strategically, consciously and intentionally take up distinct and different roles as needed. The latter one is a mental illness in the form of personality disorder that a single person unconsciously and uncontrollably switches between different personalities.

As a self-published author, I am presented with a great opportunity to improve my skill of wearing –different-hats (WDH). When I have the entrepreneur hat on, I need to sell as many books as possible, at times may be a bit of “in your face” hard-selling. Putting my normal Raymond hat back on, I remain the fun-seeking and somewhat eccentric person as I always am. It will not (I repeat) affect our friendship if you purchase my book or not (of course, the entrepreneur me prefers the former choice).

This is such an interesting subject and I will devote a few more blogs on it.

Just imagine me fighting my way against the pouring rain and gusting wind with a small foldable umbrella (obviously not folded at that time :>) on the beach at 9:30pm last night searching for the beach club. Believe me – It was “slightly” less glamorous than the film “Singing in the Rain” suggests.

The party was scheduled to start at 8:30pm. There was no rain during the day (just overcast). About 1/3 on my way to the beach walking from the hotel, it started to pour. I was stuck between “the rain and a wet place” (vs. a rock and a hard place). After waiting for 15 minutes, I decided to RUN back to the hotel and pick up my umbrella before venturing out again.

After a few failed attempts to locate the venue, I finally arrived at the party soaking wet. I quietly went to a corner and took out a BIG hotel white towel to dry my hair and my jacket. My friends were glad that I made it and they said “No one was coming on foot. It must be quite difficult.” Yes, but it was worthy. Even if I risked being swept away by the roaring waves, I made it there.

Yes, the party was good. My book was saved from the rain because I left it at the hotel which proved to be the right decision.