Here's a sample of one of Dr. Joey's stories:
"You're standing in the express line at the grocery store and the person in front of you has eleven items in the basket. You know because you counted them. And the sign clearly reads, “Express Lane: 10 Items or Less.”So you decide to do something about it. You tell her that lane 2 is for shoppers with more than ten items. And she just looks at you like, “So what?” or “Who cares?” and turns back around, waiting in line. And then she pulls out her checkbook and starts writing a dreaded check; dreaded because you know what’s coming next. The check needs the manager's authorization. So the manager is paged. And you wait and wait for him to show up. Finally you decide he must have left the building and then he shows up and approves the check. The person in front of you picks up her groceries, smiles at you, and says, “Goodbye.” And what do you say?Patience as a theory is great. Patience as a practice is hard. The more you listen to life today for what God has to say, the more patience you receive. So listen to life and make a life, not just a living today."Advertisments
Feature
Customer feedback leads to new books and opportunities
When “life coach” and motivational speaker Dr. Joey Faucette wrote and published Listen to Life: The First Book in 2001, it wasn’t the first medium he chose. More familiar with talking directly to people and coaching them to “listen to life” and “make a life, not just a living,” Dr. Faucette decided he should add the printed word to his offerings to clients and customers. When the book was finished, he didn’t stop there.Faucette, or “Dr. Joey” as he’s commonly known, discovered that in today’s rapidly developing, technology-driven world, he could transform more lives -– AND sell more books -- by developing a well-balanced, multi-media plan. Since then he’s been growing relationships with more people, building his brand and, ultimately, driving increased book sales.
It all began with appearances on a local radio show. Approached by the president of a broadcasting company to do “whatever you want on our stations,” Dr. Joey searched within for the unique contribution that was his to make. Rather than emulating currently successful shows, he discovered his particular voice for writing and sharing stories about everyday life that inspire, encourage, and instruct overworked, stressed-out listeners. Most of the stories are based on experiences he’s had and learned something from. Now, the 60-second, advertiser-sponsored story is syndicated nationally in markets like Los Angeles and Kansas City.
Requests poured in for a book of Listen to Life stories. Listen to Life: The First Book was published. While he had contributed to books and written over 400 articles for various publications, Dr. Joey had never authored a book, but knew that lots of other people had and could teach him how. Having been bogged down in the machinations of traditional publishing several times before, Dr. Joey chose to create his own publishing company, and not surprisingly, the journey into the world of writing took far less time and energy than learning how to be a publisher! Listen to Life was incorporated in 2001, the same year Listen to Life: The First Book was released.
Next, the website www.ListenToLife.org was developed. It now receives 200K+ hits monthly through free subscriptions to “Today’s Story.” These are the same stories heard on the radio show, and subscribers also have access to the LIFE Resources store, info on other aspects of the company, and a link to Dr. Joey’s blog where they can discuss Today’s Story with other subscribers.
Requests also came in for a newspaper column. Wanting to create a high level of impact with his weekday stories, Dr. Joey decided to coordinate his various media, so the story radio listeners tune in for, and Web subscribers click through for, is the same script as the story in the newspaper column. Like the radio show, the newspaper column is advertiser sponsored. This sponsorship is a key to the success of both the radio show and the newspaper column, as both generate revenue for their media. The column has been running in Dr. Joey’s local market for almost five years, and he’s now seeking national syndication.
A second book seemed a natural, so Dr. Joey wrote and published Listen to Life, Too: The Second Book, and a series was born. Coming in October 2005, Dr. Joey will release the third book in the series, Listen to Life Like a Child. He chose this theme based on response he’s received from website subscribers to their favorite stories. It seems that stories about children got the most feedback and were most frequently forwarded to friends. For the book, Dr. Joey expands the stories from their 60-second format, thus engaging the reader more fully. He also includes three “Listen to Your Life” reflection questions which help readers process the story more deeply.
When people started calling Dr. Joey to do speaking engagements, he developed a list of topics based on their requests. Listening carefully to his subscribers’ emailed questions and discussions allowed him to once again keep his voice unique among the thousands of excellent speakers across the nation. Now he belongs to the National Speakers Association and does keynotes and seminars across the country.
Through contacts during speaking engagements, individual business owners and executives began asking Dr. Joey if he could work with their staff or individuals to coach them to “listen to life.” His role as a Life Coach began.
Seeing an opportunity to market to small business owners, Dr. Joey put together a package of services including the radio show, newspaper column, Life Coaching, premium book sales, and added another product: on-hold phone messaging, using the radio show audio.
Never one to shy away from a new technology, his foray into podcasting started when a friend sold his radio stations, started the American Podcasting Network, and invited Dr. Joey to participate. His daily radio show is delivered as an mp3 file for download on computers and iPods free with advertising that ad agencies sell. He sees great potential in this medium to deliver audio versions of his books -— one chapter a week. He sees this medium accelerating very quickly and offering greater accessibility to impact more persons than traditional media such as radio.
On the horizon is Dr. Joey’s fourth book in the series, The Secret of Life: 6 Keys to Listen to Your Life, which will also be based on everyday stories, but will be more instructional and process-oriented about how to listen to life and make a life, not just a living. Planned supporting media include a workbook, CD and DVD series, and teleseminars for group coaching.
Listen to Life is truly more than a book, with each medium supporting the other interdependently. Dr Joey explains:
More is More
“Today’s consumers are looking for more than just a book. They want to receive stories in a multi-media format according to their lifestyle and learning styles. They want to interact with the author.”
Listen and Learn
“Consumers will tell you what they want if you listen, observe, and then follow their lead. The core value of my marketing plan is to listen to those persons who trust me to coach them to listen to life and make a life, not just a living. Taking care of them takes good care of all of us.”
Monitor Subscriber Activity
Through daily tracking of the hits on his website, Dr. Joey can monitor the relevance and effectiveness of his stories. Those days that receive more hits indicate greater popularity, which also means subscribers share the story with their friends and increase the reach of his message. Looking at the content of these stories helps him know what subscribers prefer to read about, and determined the theme for Listen to Life Like a Child.
Media are Interdependent
“Promotion of your books on radio talk shows is a lot easier if you already have a presence. Promotion of your books to your website subscribers is easy when you’re giving them something free and have a relationship with them. Your distributor’s sales reps are more effective when you have a media presence in a market, e.g., “John Q. Author, as heard on KXYZ Radio.”
Brand Yourself Online
“Electronic media are growing rapidly with advertisers’ money finally following. Yahoo’s ad revenues are exceeding TV networks. It’s easier to find ways to build your brand—not just sell a book—electronically than via traditional media, e.g., radio, newspaper, TV. Find out where your target consumers go digitally and meet them there. You’ll sell lots of books, and more of your other products, too.”
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Visit www.ListenToLife.org
Or contact Dr. Joey at:
Listen to Life
3321 Pleasant Gap Drive
Dry Fork, Virginia 24549
877.4DRJOEY
