In the future, will all book launches be in cyberspace?

Here's the press release we're sending out today- enjoy.

And remember, you're welcome to hang around Portable Empire Island in Second Life any time you like... there's usually somebody there to talk to, and some very interesting JVs and co-writes are happening due to relationships formed on the island.

If you're new to Second Life, my buddy Gideon has put together a couple of videos to make it easy for you.

Second Life Easy Instructions 1

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wwj0FF_bL4k

Second Life Easy Instructions 2

http://youtube.com/watch?v=D6ZUzW7uZCA
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In the Future, Will All Book Launch Parties Be in Cyberspace?




Pat O'Bryan, best-selling author of Internet marketing books, has invited the entire world to a celebrity studded online party to celebrate the release of "Your Portable Empire -- How To Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love", September 4, at "Portable Empire Island" in the online community "Second Life."

Wimberley, TX (PRWEB) September 2, 2007 -- The champagne and cigars will be virtual, but the party will be very real.

On Tuesday, September 4, online marketing expert Pat O'Bryan will host an online party to celebrate the release of his new book, "Your Portable Empire -- How To Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love."

I'll be on the island all day, giving away DVDs, CDs and other gifts to the people who make the effort to come to the party.
O'Bryan, a former "broke musician" who has developed a simple seven-step system for making money online, wrote the book to share his Portable Empire System for creating a profitable business you can run from anywhere.

He's holding his party at his Portable Empire Island in the online community, Second Life (www.secondlife.com).

"Since the book is about how to make money from anywhere," he said, "a party you can attend from anywhere seemed like a good idea.

"So many of my friends and clients live internationally, I decided to make the Portable Empire Island available all day on Tuesday, so that we can celebrate together," he continued. "I'll be on the island all day, giving away DVDs, CDs and other gifts to the people who make the effort to come to the party."

There is a lot to celebrate. Dozens of his friends have banded together to create a special bonus program for people who purchase his book from Amazon.com on Tuesday. In what must certainly be a first for the book-publishing industry, each person who registers their Amazon.com receipt at www.yourportableempire.com/book will receive over $10,000 in downloadable bonuses.

"I intend to hit #1 on Amazon.com on Tuesday," said O'Bryan, "to do that you've got to sell a LOT of books. Giving away over ten grand in bonuses to each buyer of a $16 book seemed like it might do the trick."

Joe Sugarman says that Pat's book is "the easy-to-follow instruction manual on how to first discover your niche and then build it into a big enterprise that can run itsemf from almost anywhere ... A great book for anybody serious about a better life."

O'Bryan's book has been called "the most dangerous book ever written," by best-selling author and star of the movie "The Secret," Dr. Joe Vitale. "Dangerous because companies may try to ban it ... If you're working for someone else, he or she may not want to see you reading this book."

To join Pat O'Bryan and his friends, go to www.secondlife.com and search "places" for "Portable Empire."

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"Your Portable Empire" - The Movie

Dumber than fiction

Work at home- or from anywhere.

This appears to be my ranting blog. I've got another blog that also talks about work at home issues. It's at www.patobryan.com/blog

Rant 1. I just got an email from a subscriber who offered to help me with my grammar and spelling. She's afraid I might look unprofessional, and now that I'm going to be a big-time author, she wants to make sure that my correspondence looks good and has good grammar and spelling.

She's got a heart of gold, but she's missing an important point. I write to be read. I'm not writing to win awards, or get a good grade, or to be accepted by that rapidly shrinking group of people who give a shit about grammar or spelling.

I write like I talk.

My response to her was "you gotta be kiddin' me."

Which is what I would have said if she had been here, in my office, and had made such a recommendation.

Actually, my first response was kinda defensive. I'm a college graduate with a minor in English. There was a time, longer ago than I like to admit, when I was cranking out research papers on the Elizabethan metaphysical poets that conformed to the rules of style, grammar, and spelling.

I hate to be thought of as uneducated or stupid. She probably didn't realize that she was insulting me.

But, there's a lesson in this. When I look at the books on my bookshelf that I actually read, there is a pattern to my choices. Kinky Friedman, Douglas Adams, Chris Moore, hell, even Will Shakespeare- they write in smoooth, flowing dialog. They tell their stories in a voice and with word and sentence choices that their readers will comfortably respond to.

Their grammar is conversational.

It would drive my Freshman English prof crazy- but, I'd like to point out that Friedman, Adams, and Moore are millionaires. Well, actually, Adams' estate is a millionaire, but you get the point. God knows what Shakespeare would be worth if he was alive and getting publishing royalties.

My Freshman English professor probably made about twenty-five grand a year.

The story's the thing.

Anything the writer can do to break down the barrier between the reader and the author is a good thing. A writer who writes to show how much smarter he/she is than his/her readers is gonna be a lonely guy/gal.

Consider the television.

There are some programs that appeal to the cultural elite. Those are the ones that you tell others you watch, when you're at a party and people are talking about the downfall of western civilization and using TV as an example. You say, "yes, but, there's the history channel, and the discovery channel, and A & E."

Which is all true, but it's bullshit.

What do we really watch? Look at the ratings.

Who's gonna do a spell-check or grammar-check on Oprah, much less her guests? Reality shows? Lost? The cop shows?

We want action, and we want our characters to talk like we talk, or at least like reasonably realistic archetypes would talk.

There's a reason why advertisers will pay millions to be seen on the popular shows, and the "high-brow" shows have to be subsidized with tax dollars. (btw, I think subsidizing art with tax dollars is a lovely idea and would like to see more of it.)

The bottom line, way down at the bottom of all the other bottom lines is, "if something is working, do that. If something isn't working, stop doing it."

Damn few grammar teachers or proof-readers have publishing deals. One of the first things Joe Vitale told me, way back when I first started writing on my blog, was "write in your own voice."

His thinking was that the people who resonated with my voice would want more. It works for me, and it's what I teach my clients- and it works for them. Just imagine how much of a pain in the ass it would be to have to adopt a persona and write in somebody else's voice... and then send what you've written to the grammar nazis before you release it...

And if people like it, then what? Do you have to talk that way when you see them?

Bleh.

Be yourself. Be authentic. It's more fun, it's easier, and it can make you rich.

The Portable Empire Manifesto

Manifestos are all the rage, right now, so I'm going to jump in with mine.

Most of the ones I've read have been fear based. They sell you on a fear, and then sell you the solution.

My manifestation is not fear based. There is no competition. We live in an infinite universe, and there is plenty of everything for everybody. You can live the life of your dreams doing what you love- and I'm going to teach you how.

This is part one.

***

In a Buddhist monastery, high in the mountains of Tibet, a long, long time ago, a student was summoned to sit with the master.

The student was honored, but a little surprised. He was not known as one of the better students, and a personal visit to the head-monk was considered a high honor. Or the precursor of a very enlightened ass-chewing.

The master's space is small, but larger than the rooms alloted to the monks. Rich tapestries hang on the wall, and comfortable, colorful carpets are on the floor.

In the center of the room, lit by candles and the yellow light from the one tall thin window, is a low wooden table, worn smooth by years of service. In the center of the table is a simple teapot, warmed by a single candle.

As the student entered, the head monk looked up from his side of the table, and motioned for the student to sit.

Wordlessly, the head monk poured tea into the student's teacup until it was full. After a brief pause, he continued pouring tea into the student's cup, until tea was running out of the cup, onto the table, and then onto the carpet...

The student looked up at the head-monk, who was staring him right in the eyes, as he continued pouring the tea.

Finally, after what seemed to the student to be an eternity, the head monk stopped pouring tea into his cup, and poured some into his own.

Then he spoke, "one cannot pour tea into a cup that is already full. One cannot put knowledge into a mind that is already full. To learn what we have to teach, you must unlearn what you already know."

In that defining moment, the student "got it," and was able to successfully master his studies from then on.

Thirty years later, the head monk peacefully passed on to his next incarnation, and the student became, by acclamation, the new head monk.

After a modest ceremony, he was escorted to his new quarters. He stopped at the door, and looked over the room- the tapestries, the ancient wooden table, low to the ground, the thin windows that let in the pale light...

He looked at the tea-colored stain on the carpet, and smiled...

***

That's an old story that Christopher Moore stole to use in his book, Lamb, and I stole to make an important point.

The point of the Portable Empire "Write Your Own Success Story" contest is to prove that the Portable Empire 7-point system works.

If you were already happy with your success, you would not have entered the contest.

I'd like you to consider the possibility that what you're doing isn't working, and you need to do something else.

That something else is the Portable Empire system.

It works.

After you have mastered the system, you may want to go back and revisit your current projects. In the meantime, I want you to empty your mind of everything you think you know about internet marketing, and come to the system with a clean, empty, beginner's mind.

Over the last three years, I've developed this system with my own business, which is successful. I've helped hundreds of coaching/mentoring clients- or at least I've tried to. The ones who have become successful are the ones who accepted the system, and took concentrated action. Some of them have become quite successful.

The ones who wanted to argue, or who tried to mix the Portable Empire system with what other "gurus" are teaching, or who didn't take action... failed.

If you didn't enter the contest, you can still participate- I'll post the bare-bones of the system here. The Portable Empire membership site will have most of the rest- along with hundreds of hours of audio and video training.

Here is step one- remember to approach this exercise with a beginner's mind.

Choosing your niche-

Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left-hand side, write down everything you're already good at. Use lots of paper. Include EVERYTHING- are you a good auto mechanic? A good kisser? Can you make a killer lasagna? Did you raise children well? Can you write? Draw? Organize?

Write it all down.

Now, on the right-hand side of the paper, write a list of everything you're passionate about. This will be a shorter list.

What's on both sides?

Pick the one that you're most passionate about and do a Google search on it. If you don't turn up a LOT of web pages on your subject, pick another one.

You're looking for a subject that you're already good at, very passionate about, and that has a large audience.

Don't worry about competition. Using the Portable Empire system, there is no such thing as competition.

Once you find a subject that you're good at, passionate about, and that has a lot of activity- congratulations, you've found your niche.

If you did this exercise correctly, with a beginner's mind, you were probably surprised at the outcome.

Your niche is your playground, where you will invite others to play with you.

Stay tuned for part two.

You may also want to check out my other blog- click on work from home to visit it now.

Big news about the contest

If you entered the "success story" contest, go to Pat O'Bryan's Blog, quick!

one week and counting...

Wow. How time flies.

This time next week, we'll be setting up video cameras, testing microphones, and sorting t-shirts. UnSeminar3 is about to begin.

Speaking of time flying, which we were, nine months ago I had never put on a seminar. I owned a cheap video camera but I didn't know how to use it. I had never done any public speaking. At all.

Now, nine months later, I'm hosting my third. I own a world-class video production company, that does a lot more than just record seminars. And, to be honest, I'm pretty comfortable on stage. Speaking is much different than singing, btw. At least for me. I don't rehearse my public speaking performances- I just wander up to the front of the room and talk. It's tricky, but I'm getting better at it. Try it sometime. At first, it's scary. Later, it's liberating.

This will be the biggest unseminar in terms of audience size. And the most relaxed. Looking back, thinking that we could teach all you needed to know about internet marketing in a weekend was pretty brazen. That was the plan at the first unseminar.

This time, we're focusing on the inner game. I know lots of people who "know how" and don't have a great life. The few people I know who have their inner game together don't have any trouble making money and living a grand life.

Teaching the "inner game" is tricky. I don't think there is a curriculum, and if there was, I wouldn't use it. Structure has killed more great philosophies... Just look at Taoism and Zen. They both started out as free and liberating (and liberated) philosophies. Now, Taoism is a mess. Lao Tsu would just giggle, grab a bottle of wine and head for the mountains.

I'm with him.

So, without a curriculum, what are we gonna do? We're going to put a bunch of people together with the intention of discussing the "inner game," and what it means to live a life. Some of these people will be at the front of the room. Some will be in the audience. I intend to learn from both groups.

interesting links

Let's see if we can compile a list of interesting links-

Here's a few to start us off

Most Interesting Philosophical quotations: http://www.neatorama.com/2007/02/06/11-most-important-philosophical-quotations/

Free Utilities for just about anything: http://www.econsultant.com/i-want-freeware-utilities/

Free Utility to convert audio to MP3's: http://www.mp3surgeon.co.uk/

Solar energy supplies (the retreat in Terlingua is totally off the grid-) http://home.altenergystore.com/

Free games that are good for your mind: http://cognitivelabs.com/game_list2.htm

Very interesting site that improves your mood: http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/moodlogin.asp

Leave a comment with your favorite useful links-

thanks!