Today Bob Poole launched his wonderful sales and marketing book, Listen First – Sell Later.

I love this book.

This is the project I spent so much time focused on editing in February, and I have been incredibly impressed with the content and usefulness and heart of Bob’s writing. I am proud to have been a part of it, and I hope he sells just zillions of copies. If you have an interest in sales, marketing, being a real person who cares about the people around you and/or running a business that cultivates relationships with its customers, I strongly suggest you read it. I’m not the only one, either—some very neat folks weighed in (including Seth Godin). Check out the blurbs on the back of the book.

Pace wrote a great review with a ton of book snippets, and you’re welcome to read my last post (How to Inspire Your Editor, Get a Post Written About Your New Book, and Be Just Plain GREAT With People) if you want to know more about the kind of awesome person Bob Poole is.

Right now if you buy a copy (and probably not forever!), Bob is offering to send a free copy to a friend of yours. All you have to do is forward him the receipt once you’ve ordered and give him shipping information. Here’s everything you need to know.

For real: Buy it from Bob, buy it from Amazon, buy it from the Squidoo lens that supports Acumen Fund (my personal favorite), just buy the book. It will make your life and your work and your relationships with other people better. In the short time since I worked on the editing, it has surely done so with mine.

Last month, I finished a job editing a book.

I know! A freaking book!

It was an awesome book. It was all about listening and building real trust and relationships in business. Of course, nothing’s ever just about business (and neither was this book). It was an incredible resource in terms of great ideas, practical steps and case studies that really make you think about business building, sales, marketing, and people. (I love people. You know how I love people!)

And there were moments during the editing process where I was absorbing so much great material, I felt like I was getting paid to learn. (If you ever want to really ingrain some information, get yourself an editing job!) This book was very worth learning, and it was written by Bob Poole.

If you’ve been paying any attention, you know that Bob Poole is pretty damn nifty.

I first met him on Triiibes, and over the course of the next six months came across him during the work on the Tribes Q&A ebook, my bid for Seth’s Alternative MBA program in NY, and soon after, when he asked me to do some consulting… and this editing work. (He had to convince me to do it, because I’d never really, professionally considered myself an editor. Man, am I glad he did!)

Bob’s way of interacting with people is impactful. In my case, it makes me want to do great work for him; it makes me want to impress him. This is a particularly strong feeling, and I haven’t felt it very often (in fact I can only think of one other person, off the top of my head, who’s struck me quite this way). It seems to happen most when I’m dealing with people I feel undeniably valued by.

Whatever it is Bob does, he does it well. It’s a lesson in dealing with people, prospects, clients, employees—and everybody else. They will work hard for you if they know you appreciate and respect them. They will work harder for you than anyone else.

I don’t think a lot of people get this (even when they think they do), but Bob clearly does. It means that any work with him is sure to be delightful, and it meant that I worked my ass off editing his book.

The title is Listen First—Sell Later. It’s fantastic. Seth Godin wrote a blurb for the cover. (See?) It will be officially published and available in just a few weeks. The title alone should clue you in; this is what Bob’s all about.

If you want to know what the hell Bob does, why and how he does it (and learn a lot about sales and marketing in the process), well, you can read it yourself—but not for another few weeks. Please get crazy excited and send lots and lots of link traffic here so that everyone else can get excited too. Please do not actually hold your breath until the book is available unless you really can go without oxygen for more than a week. Because, dude. Come on.

(Also, I don’t think asphyxiated people buy books.)

You can bet I’ll be letting you know when you can pick up a copy. And in the meantime, you can go read Bob’s post from yesterday. Because of the awesome.

Update 2009-04-15: Bob made a post about his book today! Go take a look!

Update 2009-05-06: Bob launched his book today, and it’s available nigh-instantaneously from Amazon. Plus, if you buy one copy he’ll send a second for a friend (those instructions are here)! He’s doing this for a limited number of purchases, so go grab yours and forward your receipt along now while you’re thinkin’ about it!

Just like the last one, I was only ten pages in before I started saying Whoa.

I define “fundamental change” as a society where every individual comes to accept every social problem as a problem of his own making, and sees the wisdom of changing himself (into a happier and compassionate human being) as his way of changing the world.

Have you ever picked up a book and seen your thoughts reflected almost perfectly in its pages? This happened to me with most of Chris Guillebeau’s ebook, nearly all of Seth Godin’s Tribes, and probably only a few others that I can think of. Snow Crash wasn’t a reflection—it was a new adventure for me that fit perfectly into what I wanted, right then. (It was crazy inspiring, too.) But Republic of Tea is reading my brain like a… like a book.

So those of you who’ve read it and remember its particular turns of phrase will find it very funny when I say: The Republic of Tea is reading me.

There are parts that have created bizarre chemical changes in my brain, like this:

In The Republic of Tea we embody Chuang Tzu’s “time before history,” when people were kind to one another but did not call it “being kind to one another,” when people naturally looked out for each other and for the world around them but didn’t see it as “being caring and responsible.” Incidentally, the reason Chuang Tzu called this the “time before history” is because it was an era that came and went without leaving a trace of itself. Since nothing went “wrong,” nobody had any reason to write anything down. It was lived, not recorded.

And there are parts that are constantly making me laugh, even as I consider how true they can sometimes be:

...reflects that business is life and life is business and our understanding that anybody who separates the two is just looking for a way to rationalize his uncivil behavior in business.

And geeze, I’m barely halfway through. It’s a decent first edition, so I had to strong arm myself into enacting my customary dog-ear’d note-taking learning process. (Any book, to me, is worth more as a lesson than a museum piece. Well, unless it’s a museum piece.)

It gets more heavily into business territory as it goes. It’s teaching me really interesting things about physical product development, and it’s showing me a lot of process that I’ve never seen anywhere else. But it’s so much more than that; it’s based on ideas that give me chills.

People thrive on happiness. There is nothing elusive about happiness. It’s here always; the only problem is that sometimes we’re not here for it.

Read that one again, guys.

I don’t know whether you’re interested in tea or business, but great big parts of this book are just about life, and it’s already so worth reading.

The Republic of Tea and Snow Crash (among many others) were picked up on !MBA recommendation. So far it’s steering way true. (Thanks, Seth!)

Man, do I love good books.

At least to the half point, this one’s a doozy. I’ll keep you updated, but I doubt I’ll change my mind. ;}

[Edit: That’s what I get for posting before sleep! Snow Crash was actually on this list. Made to Stick is the other from the !MBA. I’ll tell you about that one shortly!]

Megan’s Self-Learnification Extravaganza shall commence shortly. Please take off your seat belts and wander around the cabin, adjusting seat backs at random. It’s going to be a bracing flight!

(There’s more information in notes on the photo in Flickr. Click safely!)

I’m done with my planes for the day, and the word is in: I’m free for brilliant things in the next six months! (In unambiguous terms, no, I didn’t get chosen for the !MBA. And that’s completely okay.)

We made a huge effort (and it did not go unnoticed). I am so, so grateful to all of you. I had no idea we would get as far as we did, and I’m proud of myself too. I was a real warrior the last few weeks, I don’t mind saying! And I’m really touched that there was such an outpouring of enthusiasm about the possibility of me going—so much that I actually DID the whole fund raising thing, mixed feelings or no. It’s hard to ignore that many vehement emails. When I look back and consider that, it is a teeny bit astonishing and mind-bendingly awesome.

If you offered me your support—pledges, donations, anything—you’ll be hearing from me pretty soon. We have some things to iron out! After that, it’s time to start thinking about what happens next, and to top this it’s going to need to be pretty damn awesome. (I’m not worried.)

Thank you, guys. You propelled me through an incredibly intense period of self-discovery, and I won’t forget it.

[Update: Brendan Mitchell said something that made me realize… my title would be a great intentional pun if I had gotten in! My brain sure is doing funny loop-the-loops—sorry if that confused anyone. I didn’t even notice it before. What a riot!]

I have had the most insanely amazing day, I can’t even process it properly—at least until I get a nap, or some food. New York is amazing, the people here are amazing, people on the street will smile back if you smile first, just TRY it!

I am quite behind on the blogging I meant to do, so I’ll put this out there: If there’s something you were looking forward to hearing me yammer about, poke me about it and I’ll make sure it gets up sometime soon.

I can’t tell you much about the !MBA meet at Seth’s office… but I’ll tell you this. That was more awesome people than I’ve seen stuffed into one room in… a really long time. Possibly ever. (I’m thinking. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything that comes close.)

I can also tell you that I have a very limited amount of time to come up with the remaining pre-paid work that would allow me to go. And that my brain is so fried after today that I’m having trouble figuring out how to move forward, tight deadlines and all. So I’m going to list what I know, and you can tell me what you think.

* I am in fact happy to accept work in smaller chunks. I’m even happy to accept pledges of monthly installments (especially if I can do work for you when I get back in August), so let me know what you WANT to do and we’ll find a way to make it work. (I hit $8000 in the last few hours—that’s more than a third of what I need!) This may not have been clear from my original copy, for which I’m saying Der! and redrafting.

• I’m pretty sure I need a mailing list. Email me if you want to be on it—I’ll use it for quick updates on my situation and last-minute requests for advice or assistance. (I still love you a LOT even if you don’t want to be on this list.)
• Advice for Megans: I may send out a few emails to help me clear my head. If you feel like helping me clear my head, feel free to email me first. ;}

Growing is uncomfortable. I am uncomfortable! But how could I possibly trade this experience? Uncle Henry’s Empire State Building, the amazing cityscape view from my aunt’s apartment, half-second connections with happy people on sidewalks, friendly construction workers, brilliant vegan restaurants, that great crowd of sharp minds this morning, and then I walked out of Grand Central Station and it was snowing, all those buildings and the sky and the people and the vibration of this crazy fantastic place, what a thing someone built by coming here and deciding it should be something! What a great brilliant beast this city is.

Holy. Cow. Guys.

Time to regroup, and get my brain back. Here goes…

I’ve been thinking a lot about this.

I don’t like “fund raising”. I don’t like asking for something without giving something—or more—in return. (As you might have gathered.) I don’t like the obnoxious overtones it often takes on—even when obnoxious overtones are being specifically avoided!) and I don’t like what it does to people. It sometimes disconnects them, gives them guilt, and it’s hard to steer clear of those things even with the best of intentions. Maybe someday I’ll have perfected the formula, but that day is a long time coming.

The positive side of it is the part that trips me up. (It’s easy to stop doing something with no upside.) I’m pretty thoroughly certain that I can do great things for great people, if I can just find the people who want the opportunity. Second-guessing the urge to fund raise—and no, I haven’t thought of a better term for it, but please feel free to suggest—means not only closing a door for me, but closing windows for potentially dozens of other people. People who could use those windows.

It’s just that I’m not willing to go too far to find those people. I’m not willing to engage in tactics that would alienate half my audience and guilt the rest into putting a dollar in the pot. It’s just not worth the ugh feeling, all around.

This may mean that I’ll have to create another opportunity elsewhere and make this my big trip to New York, but I won’t budge on it. It’s too important. So the question is… what do I need to do to go as far as I can, responsibly, consciously? And maybe succeed?

That’s a damn good question.

Most of you know already that I got my application in, and was invited to the open office session + interview in New York on December 16th. I thence purchased a last-minute plane ticket (for what is probably an absurdly reasonable price) and I am at this very moment sitting in the Austin airport.

G’ness!

The part of my brain that identifies “normal” situations, feelings, and experiences… has shut down. If it was awake, it would be shrieking about how I’m supposed to be home watching TV or making myself a smoothie. I don’t think it can handle me hopping off to New York on (quite a bit) less than two week’s notice, so I’m going to let it sleep. (I’m probably better off, come to think of it…)

My intent was to do a lot more blogging through the end of my application process—but as you might guess, I found myself seriously crunched for time. I’m not going to stop here, and maybe I can be of use in other ways as I go. Tiara was poking me for more fund raising information so I think I’ll yammer about that while I push to raise !MBA attendee funds. I haz a plan. ;}

For the moment, though, I’m waiting to board to Houston and trying to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything important. If you’re waiting for an email from me, you are awesomely patient and I adore you. I have a huge lot of messages in my mailbox, so I’ll be making time this week to plow through them and make them manageable. (If you need to send me a reminder, I certainly won’t be offended!)

And finally, if you fell off your chair when you found out that I got an interview, and you want to pre-book my time—which will be necessary if I’m going to say “yes” when Seth asks me to join them in January—go on and read all the details right here. ;}

I’ll see y’all when I land. Here we go!

My application is just about finished (it’s here, if anyone would like to go through it and help me look for typos while I continue finishing up—ha!), and I’m moving fast! Here’s a run-down of all the stuff I’ve gone through, in case it comes in handy:

• I used highlighters to turn a print-out of Seth’s !MBA lens into a checklist. I took notes on the conference call (linked near the bottom of the lens) and I’m using that as a checklist, too. I’m not going to turn this thing in until every one of my boxes is checked off!
• I’ve been collecting references like mad. I have a feeling that putting them in the comments on this page was a really great idea, because I can keep them on my site for future endeavors—or look at them when I’m feeling down. (Note to self: Make Happy File for stowing all the nice things people say for cheerin’ up on lame days. GREAT idea.)
• Don’t get discouraged if a plan of action doesn’t work out! I’m seeing a lot of great ideas and a lot of motivated people sort of tapering off, and that’s okay, but remember, YOU have to decide whether to push it forward and make it happen or not. Don’t depend on someone else to do it if you believe it needs to be done! (And don’t take no for an answer if you’re sure in your heart that it’s right.)
• Things have been quiet for the last few days. Don’t let that slow you down—things are not quiet because of you. (I’ve been telling myself this over the last 48 hours.) Don’t second-guess yourself. Ask trusted confidantes for advice and stick to your guns. We can do this!
• I’ve had a lot of trouble actually sitting down to write my application. There’s way more riding on this than the !MBA for me—my ability to see my own awesomeness, to talk about myself without getting embarrassed, to feel proud of my accomplishments instead of afraid that they’re not like everyone else’s. I know I’m not the only one who experiences those feelings. THEY DON’T MATTER. Only what you DO matters, only what you MAKE HAPPEN. Don’t let them stop you. They’re not worth it. You are the one who’s worth it!

So now that I’ve shared all my internal affirmations… ;}

Very soon I’m going to make a few (or more than a few?) posts about my fund raising efforts, what I did, how I did it and what happens next. But first—I’m going to finish this application!

PRELUDE

This application process has been constructed to be 1100% Megan Safe. This means that Megan M. has devised a wiley plan that will allow her to come to New York without any negative effects on her life, relationships, finances, or existing works in progress. She worked hard to come up with this plan, and it’s a great one. It has been certified Super Duper Bonafide Megan M. Approved to create ultra-positive lasting change in the lives of Megan and those around her. She has also determined that it absolutely must — MUST! — be of use to someone other than herself, and has taken steps to make it so. She is quite proud of herself.

Man, things are busy around here!

I determined today that fear, excitement and indigestion all seem to manifest the same physical sensations. Can I take a Tums for unbearable positive anticipation?

In the first eight hours after I posted my fund raising ideas, I tallied up over $4000. Things have been mostly quiet since then, but I’m feeling very grateful to the folks who have offered, no matter what happens in the end. What a rush, to be able to make something happen!

Marty set up something really amazing and is offering almost the same deal I am in order to help me raise money for the possibility of New York. (Yes. If your response is that he’s a huge sweety, you’d be right.) If you need illustration work, hiring him will help me out too—because our finances are one and the same. Anything that helps pay our bills for six months makes a difference, very much including work for Marty. And you’ll get a great deal on insanely awesome illustration work. !MBA or not, Marty is fantastic.

This evening I left recommendations for Becky and Jon because they are truly fabulous (and they asked sweetly!). If anyone else needs one I am happy to provide! (Well, if I worked with you on a project, or know you well enough to say something!) So please don’t hesitate to ask. :}

Speaking of which, I’m collecting references for my application in the comments on this page. Please drop by! :}

More amazing things are in the works. Stay tuned! (That high C is a doozy!)