In this video interview, I got to chat with one of my favorite authors, Tim Sanders, about his new book, Today We Are Rich. I was SO excited to spend some time with Tim, as he’s been one of my mentors for a LONG time.

Below is the video. My notes follow if you want to follow along with them or just watch/listen and enjoy the wonder that is Tim Sanders!

Click here if you can’t see the video

Tim Sanders Interview Notes

The book cover is candy apple red – if you watch the video or read his book, you can find out why.

Tim mentions a key question to ask yourself if you’re feeling stuck, learned from his Grandma Billie:

What are you NOT DOING today, that you were doing back in the day when you were on top of your game?

Principle 1: Feed your mind good stuff – Tim explains why this is important, and even better, HOW to put this into your life.

Gratitude should be your first waking thoughts to help you get over your “lucky feeling” in your day

Then Tim talks about one of the most important keys to success:

Preparation

Acquire a specialized piece of information – one that your audience doesn’t know you know. It will keep you bursting with anticipation before you go on.

Rehearse as if – go through it like a good rock band does a set. Put together an audience or stand in front of the mirror to look yourself in the eye with a talk.

Re-experience success right before you hit the stage – fill your mind with the great successes of the past.

Great quote Tim mentioned: “Success is not about hard work, it’s about full preparation.”

How to connect more with Tim Sanders:

Email him tim @ timsanders.com
Check out his website at http://twar.com (free chapter from the book is there)
Follow him on Twitter @sanderssays

One of the most interesting books I’ve read so far in 2011 is Surviving Your Serengeti by Stefan Swanepoel. The book was interesting for the simple metaphor of the African Serengeti and your personal AND business life. Not to mention there is a super cool quiz you can take to find out what YOUR animal is. You can go all the way to the end of this interview if you want to just take the quiz.

Phil: Tell me about the inspiration for the book.

Stefan: When solving problems, sharing experiences or clarifying situations, I often find myself using metaphor. I believe sketching complex situations into fun parables allows people to understand and remember easier.

I am a storyteller at heart, so when I decided to expand my technical writing beyond my current portfolio of books about trends, change and technology, I starting looking for a story.

When I returned to the Serengeti, I realized the strong parallels between life in the Serengeti and in the business world today. That’s when I knew I had found the message of the book.

Not a forced parable, nor a simple one-dimensional metaphor but a huge canvass to provide a powerful message.

PG: Why is this book so important for the right now?

SS: This book is about persevering over whatever challenging conditions you may be facing and surviving your own Serengeti. Whether you’re looking for a job after a long period of being unemployed, struggling to keep your job – balancing more projects with less manpower, trying to keep your company alive through the recession or dealing with challenges in your personal life, this book provides a strong, and hopeful, message of survival – something I think we all need, particularly in the environment we’re in today.

PG: The metaphor for the Serengeti and the animals are strong ones, but I’ve worked with a bunch of monkeys. What do I do?

SS: Haven’t we all? Well, you could be a giraffe, and graciously work with them, or you could be a cheetah and efficiently take them out and…OK, so we are not in the African jungle. We are in an urban, civilized jungle, where such activities are frowned upon, right? On a more serious note, we each have multiple skills, but only one dominant skill.

Find that one.

Find the intuitive YOU.

Find the animal in YOU.

For example:

* Can you endure anything? Do you seem to just keep going, while others around you waver or quit? That skill is portrayed beautifully by the Enduring Wildebeest in the Serengeti.

* Are you a strategist? The one who has a plan for everything. You have a road map, and you know exactly what you want from life and how you are going to get it. You are so a Strategic Lion.

* Are you an entrepreneur, always the creator looking for some new enterprise? That would make you the Enterprising Crocodile.

* Watching time. Maximizing resources. Making sure everything goes smoothly and effectively. No-one illustrates that better than the highly Efficient Cheetah.

* Are you a people person? Grateful, caring and soft-spoken. Always making sure that you do the right thing, no matter what. That is the Graceful Giraffe.

* Do you enjoy stepping outside your comfort zone and trying something new and different? That represented by the Risk-taking Mongoose.

* Do you have the gift of the gab? Do you speak eloquently, understand body language and realize the importance of getting your message across accurately? Few are as in touch with those around them as the Communicating Elephant.

It doesn’t make any difference which animal you are; one is not better than any another. What is important is learning to maximize your skill to not only survive, but also to succeed in whatever challenges you encounter.

Achievement comes from understanding who you are instinctively, and then honing your talents and your skills. (Emphasis Phil’s)

PG: Who is the best person to read this book?

SS: Surviving Your Serengeti is a fable meant for helping people overcome obstacles in business AND in life. It is about life, our journey through it, and the role we play in it.

Business owners; parents; teenagers; people looking for a job. This book was written with all of these people in mind, along with many others. This message is universal and should find a home with anyone who has a challenge to overcome, a dream to follow, or even someone who feels they just can’t make it any more.

PG: What animal are you, and how has that worked for (and maybe against) you in your career?

SS: I originally started with about 20 animals and over 50 skills, which I eventually narrowed down to seven, but only after spending two years of struggling to unlock the wisdom each animal has to offer.

Personally, I would have tagged myself as a wildebeest or a cheetah. Endurance and efficiency are both skills I possess.

That said, neither is my most dominant skill. Instinctively, I am a lion. I have strategies, plans, roadmaps, goals and checklists that I use to approach all challenges in life, both personally and professionally.

And yes, I did take the “What Animal Am I?” quiz. Five times. I was a Cheetah once and Lion four times. As only a quick fun quiz, it was surprisingly accurate.

All three skills have played a part in shaping my career. Setting clear goals at a very young age, being very efficient in pursuing them and not giving up, no matter what, has brought me to the junction of life where I find myself today.

PG: I took the quiz, and I am the Communicating Elephant. Good stuff!

PG: If you could offer one key working takeaway from your book, what would it be?

SS: Never give up, and live the life you have always believed you can.

PG: Anything else you’d like to share?

SS: Success is seldom an accidentally discovered treasure.

My hope would be that Surviving Your Serengeti enables people to believe in themselves more. Not unbridled, ignorant arrogance – but a determined, balanced, founded resolve.

Make a plan and use your resources effectively. Be enterprising and take calculated risks. Don’t give up. Share your message, and be grateful and enjoy the opportunities, the people you meet along the way and the journey itself.

PG: Where can we learn more about the ideas found in your book?

SS: Information about the book as well as my daily blog can be found at www.SerengetiBook.com. To discover your innate skill, go to www.WhatAnimalAmI.com.

I can also be found on Twitter (@Serengeti) and on facebook.com/Serengeti.

PG: Thanks so much Stefan! VERY inspiring and insightful!

Now it’s your turn:  Take the quiz at www.WhatAnimalAmI.com.

Share your animal below.

Does it fit you?

Have you read the book? What did you think?

Recently I’ve been blessed to spend a little time with Corinne Edwards, author of Sales, Lies and Naked Truths, and get a behind the scenes look at the person behind the book, and get some more insight into how this book can help you move from inaction to action and get more done in your sales career (and yes, I believe we are ALL in sales careers).

Phil: Who do you say you are?

Corinne: I am a communicator. I am a writer, a life and media coach. I believe that my talent is to take a complicated situation and simplify it into every day terms.

Phil: What’s your life’s purpose?

Corinne: I was blessed with the ability to intuitively “get” the person or group I was dealing with. My purpose is to never lose sight of that fact and to use it for their advantage – and as a byproduct, – mine.
Phil: What is the general premise of your book?

Corinne: I believe that selling involves all of life. Whether you are a stay at home Mom who is in charge of the bake sale, it involves selling. And selling is very tied into appreciating and thanking people for their involvement with you.

You need those other busy Moms to bake those cupcakes. If you make everyone feel that their role, their hopes, their goals are very important to you they will give their full support. .

And that they are important. The turnover in travel agent staff is tremendous. I kept people for years because I always told them what a good job they did. That is sometimes more important than money.

I think people in business do not praise enough.

In the travel agency, we also were offered many free trips. I spread them out and gave people time off to travel.

People are so hungry for affirmation that they are doing well. Including us. So some of the book is about techniques I have learned in my long history in sales and a lot of it is about taking care of your own needs and giving yourself credit.

We are inclined to be much harder on ourselves than others.

Phil: Why did you write your book?

Corinne: Because I love sales. I am good at it. I have a lot to share.

Phil: Who do you learn from?

Corinne: I have to say that I learned most from my mother who was a funny, crazy Irish lady, was known to take a drink and was the last one dancing at every party.

But she never had a bad word to say about anyone. She always told us that if we grew up to be kind, she had done her job.

When you come down to the basics of sales – the bottom line is kindness.

Phil: How do you prefer to network with people? (Face-to-face, phone, Skype, Twitter, pick your favorite)

Corinne: I love to network face to face because you pick up so much from the affect of people, their body language, their eyes. You can tell if you are connecting.

I do also enjoy the social networking. Have made some good friends on the Internet like you who I have never met. But I am hoping to change that soon. The secret there is supporting other people. Taking the time. They almost always return the favor. You supported me when I first started blogging three years ago. I’ll never forget that.

Phil: Always make the time to connect with people. Be supportive and don’t expect anything in return, and you’ll almost always be amazed at how things turn out.

Phil: What’s the best advice you ever received?

Corinne: When someone does you a huge favor, you may not be able to reciprocate directly to them. But you owe.

You pay off your debt to them by paying it forward.

Phil: What else do you want to share?

Corinne: If you don’t keep reinventing yourself, you may as well pack it in and give up. Without a curiosity and a challenge in life, our voyage on this earth is not only worthless – but boring.

And if you fall flat on your face, I always liked that old song –

“Pick yourself up, dust yourself off – and start all over again.”

Phil: Last but certainly not least, where can we find more about you Corinne?

My “About” page on my blog will tell you a lot.

I also had fun writing about 25 things you probably don’t know about me.

Phil: It’s truly been a pleasure Corinne. I always enjoy learning from you, and Sales, Lies and Naked Truths was exceptional for its simple, actionable tips. Thank you for making time to share a little more with my readers!

Full disclosure: The links are not affiliate links, and I get nothing other than the satisfaction of you being smarter if you buy Corinne’s awesome book. It’s only $9.95, and if you get just 1 actionable idea, you’ve made your money back right there.

Recently I got to spend 30 or so minutes with the author of the book and blog Escape from Cubicle Nation, Pam Slim. Pam and I met a few years back when I was starting my blog, and we’ve exchanged books and become friends. Her book was released last year, and for no good reason, I didn’t interview her then. This year, her book is out in paperback, and I LOVE the book, so I wanted to help her promote the book and share some insights with you.

NOTE: Pam and I both agree, jumping out of the corporate America window is NOT for everybody. Even if that isn’t your thing, you can still learn a lot from our conversation about finding a mentor and more.

Escape from Cubicle Nation Makes It Great from Phil Gerbyshak on Vimeo.

It’s about 32 minutes long, and we did it on 2 takes. The first take was going great, but unfortunately the recording wasn’t working. We did this off the top of our heads because we talked about things we are both passionate about.

Now it’s your turn: What questions do you have about escaping corporate America? Is there anything we should have covered in greater depth?

Thought I’d share a few places you can find a few more of my social media and networking insights, as I don’t always put all my helpful tips here. Please visit and leave a comment if you find the content shared valuable.

Business Insanity Radio with Barry Moltz

Barry and I talked for 10 minutes about Networking for Nerds (his words, not mine):

• Relationship Geek – oxymoron or business truth?
• Offline networking – as important as online?
• Feeding Your Friendlies – what’s this all about…and can you really use this to get more business?
• Social Media Saturdays – how are you planning to teach folks Social Media in just 5 30 minute sessions?

Bridging Old & New Social Media Series with CB Whittemore

CB asked me some great questions about social media:

• How/why did you get involved in social media?
• What do you like most about social media?
• What do you like least about social media?
• How has social media changed how you interact with the marketplace as a consumer or customer?
• What 5 suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?
• Any other thoughts to share about the effectiveness of social media in forging stronger relations with customers and how best to do so.

If you’d like to have me as a guest on your show/blog or have any questions you’d like me to answer, please contact me using the contact form found in the top navigation on your  or by clicking here.