“What can we do instead?”
This seems to be the theme of life over the past few months.
I feel a great deal of power in being able to pose this question, with family, friends, clients.
Such as, “Ok, family, we can’t go outside and play with friends…what can we do instead?”
(Answer: Let’s find something fun to do inside as a family, such as do a puzzle, learn to make bread, help Dad with a video!)
How about, “Yes my friend, I’d love to send money to your fundraiser, but I don’t have any to give right now…what can we do instead?”
(Answer: Going through closets and finding clothing to donate that we no longer fit in!)
Or with clients, “I understand you need to cancel your Live In-Person event, which I’m very sorry to hear must be done…what can we do instead?”
(Answer: How about I get on a call with your Team and make them laugh for your weekly Zoom call?)
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The magic of INSTEAD rings in my head this week.
Multiple friends who have supported my career contacted me in utter frustration after I asked them to write a review about my eBook on Amazon. They were ready and willing to help! They took the time to go in, write a thoughtful review, and then –
BAM! Denied by Amazon. The Review LOST forever!!!
This didn’t happen to everyone, but some who bought the eBook literally couldn’t post.
Talk about frustrating! Our whole hope and plan to get to the much needed level of 25 Reviews this week went up in flames. Some could post, others could not.
Back Story for Reference: If an Author gets to 25 Reviews or more on Amazon in the first week or two of an eBook launch that would qualify them for more opportunity, and in a time when it seems there is very little opportunity to be had, would be able to share the book on some of the world’s largest platforms…
And then, dang, not every review was accepted!
To add insult to injury – I’ve even had friends and yes family find out the eBook was all that is available, and since they prefer Audible or physical book (which won’t be out until August), they opted to not get the eBook at all!
I understand…and at the same time, this is pretty much the only thing I have going for me at this point.
BUT –
That’s where the Power of Instead comes in.
I just hope that instead they’ll eventually get the book.
With the Reviews: I know in reviewing and helping my peers on AMAZON with their book launches, when it would not let me leave a Review (oddly), here’s what I did INSTEAD:
I made a video of my review *
I took a photo with the book in hand, or of me reading their eBook *
I posted my review of their book across all social media platforms instead of being able to post on Amazon reviews *
And guess what happened: It generated so much interest in my friend’s books that people supported those authors more than had it just been a review on Amazon.
There’s a great power in the word “Instead”.
This past week I spent (20 hours each video) prepping 2 video performances needing to be recorded, one for a school group, one for a church group, both of which received my VIRTUAL performance and presentation at around 75% OFF my usual price…why?
Because this is the time to embrace the Power of Instead!
They couldn’t have a LIVE event…
They couldn’t have afforded the usual price I do LIVE events for…
Luckily they reached out to me at a time when I have very little chance to do anything LIVE at events…
And so we did something INSTEAD: A Virtual Event!
My Clients received the videos yesterday and FLIPPED OUT over how cool they are. Said they can’t believe the VALUE and amount of time & effort I spent to customize the video to them.
And I enjoyed every minute of it.
A local Client who had me speak about 3 years ago reached out yesterday and wanted to convince the national office that I could do some cool things from my home studio as a Virtual Event Speaker.
They asked for a phone call with the main event planner to discuss options.
I asked if we could do a ZOOM call instead.
The call began – I did a song, did my faces, told a story and showed my office setup, demonstrated some of the capabilities LIVE with video overlays, powerpoint, camera angles, my white board, teaching and entertaining, and the national office planner said, “We want you to do that for all of our meetings throughout the summer – exactly what you just showed me!”
It was a 7 minute call. In 7 minutes we went from a phone call where I’d have to explain what was possible… to instead doing a ZOOM call where it could be seen and demonstrated what the options are and it was immediately confirmed!
The Power of Instead can work wonders in life, if you’re willing to consider doing something instead of doing nothing.
And the word INSTEAD is just another way we can keep a Promise, to our family, to our friends, to our work.
Mostly to OURSELVES.
Today, if you aren’t having the type of day that makes you happy, fulfilled, or moving forward, ask yourself:
“What can we do instead?”
(Huge Thanks and shout-out to Michelle McCullough, and so many other friends, who posted amazing reviews and shared my book launch on social media the past 2 weeks, you’ve made all the difference!)
~ jason hewlett
Leadership Expert * Virtual Keynote Speaker * Speaker Hall of Fame
The Promise
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