How to Create Content and Build Authority
“It’s the same with a book. They start reading and they decide very quickly: is this worth my time, my investment, my effort, my thought, or have I had enough of this?” — Bruce Turkel
Once you reach your goals in life, then what do you do? What’s next? This question is what inspired Bruce Turkel to pivot from running a successful ad agency for decades to selling it and becoming a public speaker. He had experienced burnout as most people do in their careers and needed to change something in his life. As a public speaker, he has found ways to use all of his talents of drawing, and design, and shared his biggest takeaways from running an ad agency.
In this episode of “Authors Who Lead,” I talk with Bruce about branding and creativity, and his newest book, “Is That All There Is? What Are You Doing for the rest of Your Life?” and how it transformed his life.
Authority and Content
Bruce has worked in the advertising business for a long time, and one thing he’s learned is that no matter who you are or how important your message is to you if the message is not compelling or aimed at helping others then people won’t listen. You have no control over who listens to you on any kind of media. You can only do your best to put it out there in a way that will get attention and benefit others.
Time to Pivot
Burnout and success go hand in hand. Most people get to a point in their lives where they are asking, “What’s next?” Sometimes the burnout or pivot moment can be a disease, job loss, or divorce. All of these life events can leave us taking a closer look at our lives and if we’re truly happy despite our successes.
Once we realize we need a pivot in our lives, this change can be scary, whether it’s a change in job, housing, or relationships. Bruce’s dad used to say, “People don’t mind change. People mind being told to change. This being told to change not only comes from someone actually telling you you need to change or be different but also can come from circumstances such as a health scare or financial hardship that may force you to change.
Using Interviews in a Book
Bruce didn’t start out intending to write a book with the interviews he gathered. He did the interviews because he was planning on selling his ad agency and was asking the “What’s next?” question of his life. He chose people who had successfully pivoted their lives and asked them if he could talk to them about it. Once he realized there was a book that needed to be written about all he was learning from these successful people, he transcribed all the interviews and went to work putting them into a book form.
The actual task of writing was easy for Bruce, as he was used to writing copy and blogs and loved writing. The hard part came when he tried to find a publisher for this book. He had already written several books, but many publishers told him with this one that no one wanted to read about what these people had to say. He did more research and created a book that was half his original thoughts and half of what other people said.
In this podcast, Bruce also shares with us:
- Three things that mastermind groups can help with your success
- Ideas to stand out in your career
- Writing in a quickly digestible format is important
- How to incorporate interviews into a book
- The importance of focusing on your reader
- How networking can help your career as an author and a speaker
What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Are you thinking about writing a book? Are you asking yourself “What’s next?” Share in the comments below!
That’s all for this week. If you have a message inside of you that needs to be written, today is the day to start. Don’t delay — take action.
Episode Resource:
Connect with Bruce here:
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Get a copy of Bruce’s book here:
Building Brand Value
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