Lee Silber – Business Spotlight Interview

Lee Silber is one of my favorite authors, because his books are innovative, entertaining, highly motivational and easy to read. The timing for this article is perfect so I can introduce his latest book “Bored Games” which will become available August 18th. Lee is not only an accomplished author, but he also owns several businesses, travels the country hosting workshops and seminars, and somehow manages to have a happy family life with his wife and two children.

I asked Lee to answer a few questions that I thought would be helpful to our readers, and here are the questions and responses. There is also a link to his website if you would like more information about his books, workshops, seminars, or to sign up for his free newsletter (This is a no-brainer!). Thanks again Lee for being our inaugural Business of the Week spotlight!

Mark: I loved your book “Rock to Riches”.  Rather than just relying on your publisher to sell the book, how affective has adding online sales been to the success of this and your other books?

Lee: Bookstores are NOT a great place to sell books, believe it or not. For one thing, there are tens of thousands of titles to choose from and they are not organized that well. Plus, they only stock certain titles. Online booksellers are a blessing for the book buyer and the bookseller because it’s easier for the book buyer to find what they need, and online booksellers “carry” more titles (which they order as needed, so they have very little risk.) For many authors this point is mute because they can’t get their books in traditional bookstores to begin with, so online booksellers are key to their success.

Mark: What creative methods have you used to add sales through your website CreativeLee.com?

Lee: I think the best button on a website is the “FREE” button. By offering something for free to capture a potential purchaser’s e-mail address you have built up good will, given them a sample of your great work, and have a way to follow-up. So many times a person has asked for and received a free sample of a book or product and turned around and placed a large order that same day.

Mark: Your products are not only informative, but they are very entertaining and highly motivational. What tips could you share with other writers/bloggers for starting a business that would be helpful?

Lee: Businesses exist for one reason and one reason only. If you were thinking to turn a profit, you would only be half right. The bottom line is the bottom line for the business owner, but for the consumer the reason they buy is because you solve a problem for them. The saying, “Find a problem and solve it” makes sense because it’s true. No matter what the product or service is, it must make someone’s life or business better. Focus on figuring out what that is and then make sure that is the emphasis in any and all marketing efforts.

Mark: CreativeLee is the perfect name to describe how you get your message across to your readers. How do you keep coming up with such one of a kind ideas?

Lee: I made a list of a hundred possible names for my business. Guess what Creative-Lee Speaking was on that list. Exactly, number one. Most of us have great ideas; we just need to trust our instincts. Confidence in your creativity is the key to coming up with clever solutions. I wanted a name that said what I did but also was memorable. I wanted a name that when I told someone what I did, they would want to know more. So far, so good.

Mark: Music is definitely a passion of yours, and it seems fitting that your book focused on Rock and Roll as the main theme. How did you gain access to so many different artists in so many different fields of music for your stories? Were there any artists that you wish you could interview, but couldn’t? Which story was your favorite?

Lee: Every time we went to a manager, publicist, or record label to request an interview with a famous rock star (Steven Tyler is a good example) we were given one excuse after another why they couldn’t do the interview. But, when we were able to name drop and say we were referred by a person who knew the rocker, we were in. It really is who you know. What’s interesting is how we overlook the obvious. Our friends and family know people who know people who can open a lot of doors. It’s worthwhile to let the people around you know what you are doing and want to do so they can help.

Mark: Let’s say I wanted to become a motivational speaker, but had no idea how to get started. What would you recommend I do to start a career similar to the path you followed?

Lee: There are three ways to build a career as a paid professional presenter. The first is write a book that becomes a best seller, or wins rave reviews in a particular field. That’s the fastest way. Another is to do something that is so amazing people want to hear about it. To make sure enough people know about your amazing story, getting your name in print and on radio and television is important. In fact, fame of any kind can lead to lucrative speaking opportunities. Finally, there are seminar companies that pay you to give talks on topics they offer. You get to travel all over the world and make money training and teaching people skills.

Mark: What do you do once you have completed writing a book? Do you jump into promotions, or move onto the next book? How much feedback to you get from your viewers? Do you use a blog or network of your peers for inspiration on your projects?

Lee: To get a book from an idea, to a book deal, to a completed manuscript, to a bookstore takes a LONG time. But that’s only the beginning. The promotional part is the most important phase. I will spend weeks just on magazine and radio interviews, in-store events, and anything else that will help get the word out. That doesn’t mean I dislike this time. In fact, I love talking up one of my titles. It takes passion to get published, and that passion carries over into promotion or publicity.

Mark: The success of Amazon’s Kindle is growing. Are your books available on this format?

Lee: This is an interesting question. Kindle could (and I say “could” because we are at a crossroads) be the next big thing. The problem for Amazon is the iPhone is so popular and can do the same thing, it’s keeping the Kindle from becoming a phase and may make it an (expensive) fad. We’ll see.

Mark: What are some of your favorite websites that you like to visit on a regular basis?

Lee: Being a writer and speaker I find information fascinating so of course Google and Wikipedia are the best.

Mark: What do you think are some of the keys that have lead to your success? I am sure our readers would really love to know this.

Lee: I’ve been asked this question a lot lately and I think I have narrowed it down to two things. The first is, finish what you start and do what you say you are going to do. So many people have great ideas, but so few follow through. If it were simply talent or intelligence that determined success, well, I would be pretty average. What I do is go for it, no matter what the odds or how hard it seems. The saying “When there’s a will, there’s a way,” is my motto. And if I didn’t have a will, there’s no way I would do something. I pick projects I am passionate about and that helps me persist even when it looks like it’s impossible.

The second thing that motivates me, and this will surprise people, is the drive to not be average. I am sure a psychologist could have a field day with this one, but the will to be the best (or at least better than most) is a powerful force when harnessed and used for greater good. I truly want to help others and make a difference, but I also have a drive to be the best author in my field, the best speaker at a conference, and the best person I can be. It works for me.

Again, we want to thank Lee for taking the time out of his busy schedule to help with our first Business Spotlight interview. Please make sure and stop by his website, “CreativeLee.com” and learn more about about him and the products and services he has to offer.

Also, if you could please leave a comment below letting us know what you think of our first interview. Did you like the format and the type of questions asked? Our plan is to personalize the questions for each interview so we can get the information our reader would like to know. Hopefully we did that here.