Jon Gordon, an author of 20 books, speaker, and consultant, comes on the show today. His clients include Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Heat, and Publix. Over his career, he has used books for his business marketing. Books have also been a big driver for clients and businesses.
He always knew he wanted to be a writer and a speaker. However, he had a very negative mindset. Until one day, when his wife told him to change his mindset or their relationship was finished. Jon researched ways to be more positive and began his journey of writing with a newsletter, “A Weekly Positive Tip,” with five subscribers, all of which were his family and friends.
A publisher came across Jon’s weekly newsletter and reached out to him to write a book. His first book, “101 Ways to Get Addicted to Positive Energy,” was tip-driven and did not go well. Another publisher brought him to the Today Show, and his second book, “The Ten Minute Energy Solution.” His career started to slump, then one day, while walking and praying, he came up with the idea for his next book, “The Energy Bus.”
Writing this book in three and a half weeks, his book was rejected by 30 publishers. This is the book that started Jon’s career. Jon’s advice is to continue to do the work, continue to write, and eventually, you’ll find your voice. He discovered his voice when at a book signing with the author of Marley and Me, he realized he wanted to try and write a story. Jon explains how the characters took on a voice of their own while he was writing his book.
Listen in to find out Jon’s trigger point for the Energy Bus to take off, when and how Jon gets his best ideas for books, and the types of positive impacts made when you author several books. Learn why you shouldn’t write to make money, why speaking and consulting assist you with book writing ideas, and why you should think about additional sources of revenue when writing your book.
Show Notes
[01:53] Jon remembers his first book and what spurred his motivation to write his first book.
[05:00] He comes up with the idea for the book, “The Energy Bus”.
[06:42] How Jon found his voice with his books and realized he needed to make a shift in his genre.
[08:13] What Jon put in place to get the The Energy Bus written in under one month.
[10:02] The differences between writing a story and his first two book genres.
[12:48] How his business came from writing his book.
[15:32] Jon’s favorite book that he has published and why this book is his favorite.
[17:52] Was there a correlation between The Energy Bus sales and previous books?
[20:10] Why he thinks his book The Energy Bus sells so well.
[20:22] Jon doesn’t write just to write, he writes because he loves to write and what he is meant to share.
[24:12] Do what you are called to write is Jon’s message to other writers.
[26:26] How Jon and Chad Morris became a team from Chad’s training camp.
[30:33] Chad’s training camp videos and Chandler’s take on the videos.
[34:24] The power of writing and why more people don’t become authors.
[37:48] While writing, think of an additional source of revenue such as a playbook.
[40:12] What happened to Jon’s business when COVID hit.
[43:35] The effects of Jon’s books on other leaders in business.
