That aphorism has been around for nearly a century, but Marty Clarke took it to heart. The one-time
corporate executive is in demand these days as a communications consultant and
speaker, but that’s largely because while he was in between jobs, he gave
himself another one: Author.
“The company (he was with) had imploded,” Clarke said while
in transit from one business meeting to another. “I found myself with time off,
so I used that time to write a book.” The result was Communication Land Mines, 18 Communication Catastrophes and How toAvoid Them, published in 2004.
Now, we’ve all seen television shows where someone steps on
a land mine, and we know what happens next. Clarke says in one’s professional
life, land mines can be just as dangerous, but with one distinction: You
usually don’t know you’ve stepped on one. There it is in print: On page 10 of Communication
Land Mines, Clarke says “The damage done by communication land mines is
often silent and invisible.”
Whoa. Then how do you know if you’ve stepped on one? And if
you have, how can you mitigate the damage and ensure you don’t do it again?
Those are the questions Clarke sought to answer. He takes on
such topics as leaving a far-too-lengthy voice mail (“The Endless Message”),
not speaking clearly and slowly when leaving a telephone number (“Phone Number
at Mach Speed”), going on and on ad nauseam in email (“The Term Paper”). The
former English major also takes on some grammatical challenges (who vs. whom,
for example), as well as those who send much more information than is needed or
even wanted (“The Metric Ton Mailer”).
All told, the book walks people through a series of gaffes
which have the potential to annoy or frustrate those on the receiving end, and
possibly even derail the career of those committing the faux pas.
“My wife says all my material is born out of rage,” he said
with a laugh. “When I was an executive, anytime anyone would leave their phone
number too fast I would write it down.” The same went for when he’d have a
similarly exasperating exchange with someone face to face or via email.
The end result was that when Clarke finally got around to
creating the book, he had his topic in mind and a ready-made source of
examples. “When I was ready to write, I almost had an outline,” he said.
And after writing the book, Clarke found himself looked upon
with a much greater degree of respect. He says writing the book gave him
credence and trustworthiness. “The book is the great legitimizer,” he said.
“Gravitas is exactly correct.”
Clarke said writing a book can also give you additional
insights into a topic. That’s a common theme among authors, including many of
those profiled in these blog posts: financial advisor Dan Prisciotta (Defend Your Wealth), marketing expert Laura Ries (Visual Hammer), attorney Ned Minor (Deciding to Sell Your Business).
In other words, what you don’t know or may not have considered thoroughly often
comes clear as you research and write your book. It may even lead to further
efforts.
That was certainly the case for Clarke. He followed up Communication Land Mines with Leadership Land Mines, 8 Management Catastrophes and How to Avoid Them in 2005, and then four
years later Sales Machine Land Mines, 6 Sales Revenue Killers and the Blueprint to Avoid Them.
Clarke said the second and third books took longer to write
than his first book. For one thing, he didn’t have that handy outline already
prepared. For another, he was no longer out of work, so he didn’t have as much
time to devote to the books. “By the time I wrote them, I was giving speeches,
consulting, and had begun training, so I couldn’t put in as much time.”
There’s your return on investment right there. Clarke used
his first book to establish his credibility and expertise while building his
brand to the point the public could and would seek out the author and subsequent books. Then those books furthered his reputation. You can see the
same in the multiple books by such successful authors as doctors Andrew Weil
and Mehmet Oz, fiction writers John Grisham and Kathy Reichs, cookbook authors
Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) and Marcel Desaulniers.
Now, because of his Land Mines books, Clarke is able
to work at his own pace on the subjects he decides, while gaining the
satisfaction of helping others avoid those nasty pitfalls. “It gave me the
living I enjoy today,” he said. “Without them I would not be nearly as
successful as I am.”
