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Create Your First Book: Part 8

Writers: What's in Your "Staging Area"?

When did you last set up a staging area? The day before every mountain adventure I create a "Staging Area". It could be a table, it could be a corner of a room. In that staging area I begin to gather everything I will need for the adventure. Spiked shoes, pack, layers of clothing, ice axe, sun glasses, compass...

As I gather everything I'm imagining myself on the mountain and rehearsing what I will need at every point in the adventure. As I look at the resources spread out, excitement, anticipation and confidence grow, and I begin to imagine new creative turns and variations for the adventure. I pre-live the adventure. And when the moment arrives to begin, I take off like a bolt shot out of a cannon!

What would you put in your staging area as you prepare to create information product? By information product, we could be referring to a book, a video, a multimedia presentation, a tool kit. It is a communication of extreme value into which you will pour your life and spirit, skill, knowledge and experience to help your audience accomplish a goal, overcome a problem or experience a new level of sheer wonder.

As I finished by multimedia product, The Client Generator System (Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies Coaching Edition), I paused to reflect on the resources upon which I had called for this adventure. The following is a partial list of the items that need to be in the staging area of a communicator and producer of multimedia product. And the exciting thing is that these items are all within the reach of every one of us:

• Inner Resources:
  • A deep and genuine empathy, respect and concern for your audience.
  • Your own specialized knowledge, skill and experience.
  • Project management skill (every business owner has a large measure of this).
• Communication Skills: I believe the bar is raised in the expectations of your modern audience. In order to stand out, you will need to do more than write. You will need to communicate on multiple levels. Writing and Speaking that communicate beyond information include your personal energy and spirit. Once again, every business owner has these skills. Communicating is basically the business owner's "project management" skill set in a different arena. And your spirit and energy are the magical element that breathe life into your business.
• Technology--An intermediate to advanced ability to navigate the following:
  • A good word processor program like Microsoft Word
  • PowerPoint
  • A PDF creation program like Adobe Acrobat
  • A graphic art program like Adobe Photoshop

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