Why I Wrote My Second Book

I never knew I was a writer.  Never considered myself good at it.  And in fact, my first few months at Johnson & Johnson were all about honing my writing skills, which quite honestly were sorely lacking.  So who would have thought I'd write a book ... let alone a second book.  The Experience Effect for Small Business.

But it was in the process of writing my first book that I found my voice, and that's why I started writing a blog.  When the first book was launched, I missed that process of writing so I took to crafting a daily message and hence my blog was born.

Something very interesting happened along the way that I never would have expected.  People started asking me, at speaking engagements and over social media, how to apply it to their small business.  Small business!  I'm a big brand kind of guy!  Many people said, "I'm not a brand, but I do have a business."  Obviously I quickly corrected them on the brand part.  We are all a brand, whether we say it out loud or not.

And so it came over me ... small business owners don't generally have the marketing training that comes with starting out at the big consumer products companies.  Like Johnson & Johnson where I started and got a lot of learning under my belt, as they say.

As we look to recover from this economic mess that we are in, it's probably going to be the entrepreneurial spirit and small business that will re-shape our economy.  That and digital marketing.  So I decided to translate all that I have learned in big brand theory into small business marketing.  I decided to write a second book all about how to create an incredible brand experience if you are a small business owner.  The Experience Effect for Small Business.

The principles are the same.  It's the budgets and the team resources that are so vastly different.  But what seems obvious to so many of us is new territory for most small business owners.  I hope that my perspective helps.  Entrepreneurs are the key to our future, and I consider myself one as well.

The Holmes Report ran an excerpt from my book if you'd like a peek.  Or you can take a bigger look at it on Amazon.  In any event,  I have so enjoyed the writing process and am already working on the next one.  Personal branding.  The Personal Experience Effect if you will.

What's your experience?  Exactly.  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe North America
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU