Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Jay Echternach. I am the guy on the right. I am a life long sales person for national corporations like Philips, Norelco and Hunter Fan. For the last 10 years, I have been working in the book publishing arena as a vice president of sales and as an independent sales and consulting rep.
I just started a web and social media marketing company in the last year called Gotcha Marketing. We help local businesses get found and generate revenue. I am the creative arm of the businesses, writing blogs, articles and content for the website and social media presence.
How do you bring ideas to life?
The most fun I have is in presenting book titles, ideas and ad concepts to national retailer’s like WalMart, Costco and Target and watching their responses. They are usually NOT interested in the content; they just want to know if something is going to sell. Then we transition the topic to what themes or ideas ARE relevant to their shoppers and we CREATE books based on those ideas.
In the last 2 years we have sold a series of books based on the themes prevalent in Eat Pray Love. We have sold over 250,000 books to select retailers.
Most ideas in life are NOT new, they are just seen through a different lens by different people and tend to look like a whole NEW concept to them.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, a best-seller for the past year. It is a story of great trial and endurance but even more important, forgiveness and resolution in the end. We tend to focus on our concerns, fears and self-righteousness most days, and in the end, we are no different from the people or issues we fight lifelong battles against.
Bitterness is usually the pill we want our enemy to swallow, but it can end up poisoning our minds and souls and hampering our ability to have productive lives.
What is one piece of advice that you’d like to give?
Pause for a moment during the day. Clear your mind, forget ALL preconceived notions and ask yourself: what COULD make this better?
In publishing, we constantly ask ourselves how we can sell a book that is NOT a book but a collection of thoughts, stories or ideas. These days we now have digital downloads via Kindles or Nooks and publisher who print book on demand with virtual inventory.
A few years ago, we asked ourselves what jobs or industries would be thriving and where should we invest our time and energy. Low and behold, almost 50% of those jobs or industries did NOT even exist 5 years ago. So if we continue to hold on to our current views of life, work or opportunities, we will invariably miss what could be the next best or newest thing!
What is one idea that you’re going to bring to life in 2012?
Our customers want to believe in social media and its value for their businesses. There is no doubt that we live in an age of instant communication and available networking. How that gets communicated in the years to come via the web, TV, radio, books, etc. will be quite interesting.
In 2012 I am going to devote my time and available energy (at the ripe old age of 60) to several non-profits, including a community health clinic and a chaplains organization. It is certainly not a new idea, but one that needs constant reminders and/or new champions. We can invest our expertise and skills into organizations whose purposes are to benefit our neighbors who are suffering (either physically, mentally, spiritually or financially). Most times, they just want someone to talk to and thereby know that someone cares about them. That is an idea and effort that could change the world, albeit one person at a time but it is tangible and worthy of our time!
Connect:
Walk Off Sales Website: www.walkoffsales.com
Gotcha Marketing Website: www.gotchamktg.com
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.