A grad of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, he trained for years as a musician, before making the jump into the world of entrepreneurship (not that he stopped being a musician).

Over 10 years, he built industry-leading indie-music distributor/retailer, CDBaby, then sold it for $22 million in 2008…but not before transferring the entire company into a charitable trust that set aside only a modest sum for him to live on after the sale.

Derek’s blog is one of the few I subscribe to by email, I don’t want to miss what he writes. In his new book—Anything You Want—from Seth Godin’s Domino Project, he shares a collection of stories, insights and ideas that emerged from his 10 year journey launching, stumbling, learning, growing, then selling CD Baby.

What I loved about this lightning-fast read (seriously, it took an hour) is not only Derek’s genuine, easy-going voice, his insights and strong contrarian outlook, but his transparency and willingness to scale by staying true to his original vision – to help musicians – in an entrepreneurial climate that increasingly values VC over bootstrapping, systems over people, speed over congruity and exit over evolution.

A few nuggets that really resonated include…

We’ve all heard about the importance of persistence. But I had misunderstood. Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently doing what’s not working.

If you’re not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, say “no.”

…even well-meaning companies accidentally get trapped in survival mode. A business is started to solve a problem. But if the problem was truly solved, that business would no longer be needed! So the business accidentally or unconsciously keeps the problem around so that they can keep solving it for a fee.

If you set up your business like you don’t need the money, people are happier to pay you…When someone’s doing something for the money, people can sense it, like a desperate lover. It’s a turnoff….When someone’s doing something for love, being generous in stead of stingy, trusting instead of fearful, it triggers this law: We want to give to those who give.

To have something (a finished recording, a business, or millions of dollars) is the means, not the end. To be something (a good singer, a skilled entrepreneur, or just plain happy) is the real point.

Will every one of Derek’s collection of 40 lessons ring true for every businesses and quest? Maybe yes, maybe no.

But, that’s the point. It’s about the conversation. These are his learnings born of his life and experiences. The questions he raises around some of the major inflection points in any business’ growth and the conversations they prompt have value. HELL YEAH value.

And, when you buy Anything You Want (at least for now), Derek’s giving away more than 200 hand-selected mp3 tunes, too.

Go, check it out. Then share your thoughts…

It was the first stop in a more than 60 location, 4-month North American Unconventional Book Tour.

For those who don’t know Chris, he shot to internet stardom about a year ago when, after a relatively short time blogging about his 5 year quest to visit every country and live unconventionally, he released a giant manifesto called 279 Days to Overnight Success.

In that manifesto, he shared the detailed steps that allowed him to build not only an unconventional life, but a real living as a blogger in an astonishingly short period of time.

It was so genuine, transparent and giving, uber-blogger, Seth Godin, gave it a shout out on his blog and the document soon exploded virally.

Since then, Chris has continued to methodically grow a substantial tribe at ArtOfNonconformity.com and an even bigger business through the vehicle of his Unconventional Guides.

What he’s done is not only unconventional, it’s downright mind-boggling.

But, that’s not what this post is about…

Yesterday, with the publication of The Art of Nonconformity, Chris made the jump from unconventional lifestyle guy, entrepreneur and blogger to author. And, just like he did with the blogosphere, he made quite an impact.

The book exploded to #8 and boasts 25 glowing reviews on amazon in less than 24 hours.

And, I can understand why. Because, it’s a book that rattles your soul more than a just a bit, wakes you up to the possibility of approaching your life and living in an unconventional way, then gives you a process and tools to take action on your agenda. If you’re remotely unsatisfied with how things are going with your life or career, it’s like manna from I-Don’t-Wanna-Be-Just-Like-Everyone-Else heaven.

But, still, that’s not what this post is about…

At Chris’ launch event at Borders in NYC last night, I was given the honor of introducing him. And, as part of that honor, I was forced to think deeply about what it really is about Chris that draws everyone in to him.

Is it his message?

Maybe, there are a lot of square people trying to fit themselves into round holes these days and Chris is out there saying cut your own square hole, dammit.

But, that’s just a piece of it.

Is it that he’s living a life and building a business that so many others dream of living and building?

That he’s figured out how to make serious jack being different than everyone else and traveling the world?

That’s another piece, but still not it.

In the middle of my exploration, I jumped on the phone with creative genius, John T. Unger, another guy who makes a serious six-figure living bouncing between UI design, programming, writing poetry and building these incredible giant fire pit sculptures out of recycled steel for collectors. We were talking about his creative process and toward the end of the conversation, he brought up something he called…

The Zillion Sum Game.

It’s a fascinating concept. We’re all familiar with a zero-sum game. That’s a game where if one person wins, another person has to lose. You can’t have all participants win. The zillion sum game, explained John, is a game where not only does every player win, but as many people as humanly possible who aren’t even playing the game win.

It’s about setting up a quest designed to lift every boat.

That’s how John tries to live his life and choose his projects. And, no sooner did he finish explaining the concept when I realized, that’s also the missing piece of my intro for Chris.

Because what Chris has always done, the thing I believe has fueled his ascent to the top of the blogosphere and now to a tremendous book launch, is structure nearly every project he creates as a zillion-sum game. Not just because he knows it’s great for business, but because he genuinely wants to see everyone around him thrive on a level that equals or exceeds his own success.

So, while his book was soaring to #8 on amazon, he sent me a text to let me know…not that his book was kicking ass, but that my last book, which had been bundled with his as the “buy this with that” book on amazon, had taken a big jump in sales.

He was ecstatic about the possibility that his success was in some way trickling out to benefit me.

That’s the magic behind Chris, behind John and behind so many other “artists” who not only create because that’s what they’re compelled to do, but structure their creative processes in a way that creates the greatest opportunity for the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people.

They create zillion sum games.

And, that my friends, is what this post is really all about.

I wonder what might happen to your life if you stopped looking at the world as you against them.

If you stopped looking at everyone else as competition and saw people as potential collaborators, people with whom to join efforts. People to work with, to delight, to exalt, to co-create with not in the quest to agree upon how best to carve up the existing pieces of someone else’s pie, but to build a newer, bigger, better pie together.

Ponder that…oh, and while you’re pondering, go buy Chris’ book.

It’s really that good!

And, check out John’s steel fire pit sculptures, too. They are insanely cool.

Oh and, maybe, just maybe…

Start thinking more about how you can create experiences where everyone wins.

Thoughts?

For those who’ve never experienced a drive-by review, they’re short, sweet and to the point, answering 3 basic questions: what’s it about, what makes it different, who should read it. Also, I only feature books I can recommend, my life’s too short to finish ones that suck the life outta me and yours is too short to have to read about how bad they are.

Today’s Drive-by review is UnMarketing: Stop marketing, Start Engaging. This book was written by my friend, Scott Stratten, who goes by @unmarketing on twitter.

What’s it all about: Two words that don’t go down easy with Scott are old school. Two others are direct marketing. UnMarketing is about the changes that are happening in marketing and communications for businesses of all sizes. Ones driven in large part by the push for more interaction, engagement and transparency via social media.

Scott argues that traditional interrupt and sell tactics, like cold-calling and shotgun direct-response advertising not only don’t work, but are the equivalent to aggressive, off-putting behavior that alienates the very people you’re trying to befriend, then move to become customers and evangelists. Then, he offers up a cornucopia of strategies and tools to evolve your marketing into something that’s not only more effective, but more enjoyable and likely more impactful and lasting.

What makes it different: One, Scott’s voice. Scott’s got personality. In real life and in print. He’s a lot of fun to be around and to read and is incredibly smart and insanely passionate about his message. And, that means, like every good writer and marketer, his voice will either resonate strongly or repel strongly. There isn’t much middle ground. And, that’s a good thing, because nobody has time for wishy-washy these days.

Two, the message. We are in the very early stages of a potentially seismic shift in the opportunities available to market. There are now tools available to reach directly out to potential customers, engage them in conversation and offer them a ton a value before ever asking for a sale, in a way that’s not only potentially more effective, but more fun.

So, if you’re tired of running sales scripts designed purely as a numbers play with the goal of landing 1 out of every 100 calls to barely qualified leads, UnMarketing will arm you with a lot of alternatives. Social media is part of that equation, but the bigger principles about engagement resonate across all approaches to marketing.

And, here, too, is where Scott and I diverge a bit. For two reasons.

First, while while the trend is definitely away from interrupt and sell, that old-school mode of marketing/selling, done well, still works. It may be ugly, it may be disliked by many, but for a business that’s been built upon it over years or decades, I’m hesitant to remove any tool that’s generating substantial ROI in tough times until the new strategies and tactics have demonstrated their ability to not only replace that revenue, but exceed it. That’s going to take time and, for certain businesses, it may never happen.

And, second, really good “old-school” direct response list-marketing does engage and respect (granted, “really good” is rarely done). Without social tools, there was a lot less room for conversation, but great direct list marketers have always provided a ton of value to their tribes over time, then occasionally asked for the sale.

In fact, guys like Brian Clark of Copyblogger will gleefully tell you they’ve generated huge revenues online by transferring traditional direct-response list-marketing strategy into the digital engagement economy, essentially turning social media marketing into direct response 2.0.

So, when Scott says it’s not about the list anymore, it’s about engagement, my thought is it’s about having an “engaged list” and that comes from not only conversation, but value over time.

The big difference is that we now have tools to take that engagement and the ability to offer value to entirely new levels.

And, UnMarketing: Stop marketing, Start Engaging, does a great job of showing you how.

Who should read it: Anyone looking to understand how to market to, better understand, offer value to and truly engage both existing customers and potential customers in the name of turning them into long-term, loyal clients and evangelists for both your brand and your solutions.

[Disclaimer - Scott gave me a review copy of UnMarketing. I didn't pay for it, even though he also said I was sexy, while simultaneously emailing me the PDF and I would've paid him the price of the book just to have him call me sexy. But that really doesn't matter because it's over now, the moment has passed. And, he has a lot more hair than me, too, which I'm kind of jealous about, but that'd make me more likely to give his book a bad review, unless of course I was still under the influence of the sexy comment, which may have influenced my review, though I don't think it did. And, btw, the links are all affiliate links, which means if you buy through them, I'll be rich, rich, rich! Oh look, a squirrel...]

I confess, I’m obsessed…

Strike that. Possessed. With the art of storytelling.

It’s why I’m about to spend four 10-hour days in a NYC workshop led by Robert McKee called simply Story next week. McKee’s taught many of the top screenwriters and novelists in the world how to craft stories that have defined the genres for decades.

Because, storytelling isn’t just entertainment, nor is it just about books and movies. Storytelling is about power. The power to transport, enrapture, uplift, inspire, devastate, surprise, enthrall, destroy, eviscerate, elevate, drive to tears, laughter, love, hysteria, awe and inspire action.

Powerful stories told beautifully wield immense potential.

So, when I was offered a sneak peak at a movie based on the first book in Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s Milennium series, I couldn’t say no.

Partly, because the novels have sold more than 25 million copies (I’m so easily swayed by social proof). Partly, because the trilogy, beginning with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, has been heralded as a stunning example of dark, moving, deeply engaging storytelling. And, maybe I was even swayed by the mysterious “supposed” heart attack that killed Larsson, an oft-threatened anti-right wing activist, before the books were even published (conspiracy theorists, delight)!

When the dvd arrived, I unwrapped it and popped it.

First surprise…it was in Swedish! Ack! My friend never mentioned that to me.

I’m generally not a foreign film guy, but this became an interesting challenge for me. Could the power of the story, the acting, the cinematography overcome the challenge of having to follow along with subtitles? Two and a half hours later, the answer was…bigtime.

I hadn’t known the story before watching the movie. It was beautifully filmed in the cold Swedish countryside. But, it wasn’t the setting that drew you in, it was the characters, their quest and their struggles.

Raw, flawed, honest, conflicted, constantly bouncing between a sense of justice, service and revenge.

It felt unfiltered. Very un-PC. And, it immediately pulled you in and kept you immersed in the arc, sometimes cringing, other times pondering, still others exalting. It felt complete. Not that it left no questions unanswered. In fact, it set up the second book/movie the way a master copywriter sets up the sale. You’re left simultaneously satisfied and teased. Knowing there’s more to come.

I sometimes wonder if story has become increasingly relegated to the level of second class citizen.

Forced to stand in line behind special effects, glitz and A-list celebs with a proven draw. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a stunning example of how to bring it back to the center. And, I’ve no doubt, that’s what’s driven the books to such an extraordinary level. I’ll be buying copies of all three.

Which brings us to why I was was given a preview copy of the movie and asked to write anything I wanted about it—The big, bad Dragon Tattoo Blog Hunt!

If you’re one of my regular readers, here’s what it’s all about…

As part of the movie launch, there is a worldwide blog hunt being conducted. You can join the Dragon Tattoo Blog HUNT - an internet wide scavenger hunt tied to the feature film launch of bestselling book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Win great prizes – freemovie tickets, books, movie soundtrack, posters and more. To join the contest, start at the beginning of the HUNT by visiting  www.dragontattoofilm.com/contest for full details and the first clue. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is in theaters near you starting March 19th.

If you’ve landed here by following a clue from another blog, this is what you’ve been searching for…

THE NEXT CLUE:

After fantasizing about her husband’s funeral, this blogger decided she was going to fix her marriage no matter what. Her ‘project’ is to find her fairy-tale ending with humor, raw honest, karma and a lot of rolling around in the hay. See for yourself if she’s living Happily Ever After.

Now, go forth, hunt, read, watch, and, above all craft a great story…

During our conversation, I own up to the fact that I didn’t actually want to read the book, having been a bit overwhelmed by career books last year. But, once diving in, I realized this was different. She explains how in our conversation. Enjoy!

You can find Alexandra at: AlexandraLevit.com | @ALevit | WSJ

And, her book is New Job, New You.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Who’s it for? This book is just out today, but is so compelling it’s already racked up more than 25 reviews via amazon’s Vine program and last I checked was ranked in the top 100 books on amazon…before you could even get it! I guess that’s because a ton of people are looking for practical, non-preachy information about how to get and stay happy. If that’s you, this book just may be the perfect start to your new year.

What’s it all about? The book tracks Gretchen’s year-long journey into the wacky world of happiness research, tips and strategies. Gretchen’s not a researcher or professor, she’s a real person living in Manhattan. So, rather than reporting on the science and sharing others’ stories, she decided to round up all the major claims and theories that’ve been set out over the last few years, from positive psychology to the great philosophers, and test them in her own life.

Every month, Gretchen focused on a different happiness strategy, doing what she could to bring it to life, then observed what happened. Did it work? Was it total bunk? How could she tweak it to get the biggest happiness bump possible? Her goal wasn’t to push any agenda or strategy, but rather to “do, observe and report.” So, there’s no bias to prove anything right or wrong, just great information.

What makes it so different? Three things make this book very different than the growing gaggle of happiness books out there.

One, it’s written from the perspective of a real world person. I’ve read every book that’s come out on happiness over the last 5 years. There’ve been many great ones, but they’re pretty much all written from the prospective of researchers or aggregators of research. And, I LOVE research, but I’ve often been left wondering…does that really work? Gretchen is living life and testing the theories laid out in the books and papers of most others in the field. There’s no agenda beyond that.

Two, it’s supported by a fantastic, established blog that I read regularly and an online happiness project toolbox that’s got real value. Gretchen’s been writing The Happiness Project blog for almost 3 years now and somehow managed to write a book that builds upon, but is very different from the content in the blog. Together, they work magic. The book acts as an anchor and the blog turns the book into a constantly evolving and growing community, where Gretchen interacts with her readers every day.

Three…the woman can write. This isn’t a one-off for Gretchen. She’s an author with a number of other books to her credit. And, she’s not afraid to get personal and funny. The Happiness Project isn’t written to make Gretchen look good, instead, it reveals through stories and insights a very real, engaging person and a process of discovery we can all connect with. And, in fact, as the book unfolds, that’s exactly what she challenges us to do. Connect with and create our own Happiness Projects.

Thumbs? Totally up. Will we all walk away and do what Gretchen’s done? Doubtful. But, you don’t have to buy into every strategy proffered or try everything she tried. You’re not Gretchen and she’s very aware of that fact. The idea is to personalize your journey, to try then adopt what works for you.

The way I see it, resolution season is a few days away and most resolutions, when you boil them down, are rooted in our desire to be happier.

The Happiness Project is a great starting point for that process.

Go grab your copy today!

[Disclosure - I was given a review copy for free (though I would've gladly paid when it came out), the link to the book is an affiliate link, so if every reader buys a copy I'll have enough to buy myself a new hairnet tomorrow and Gretchen is a friend, so while I've tried to be unbiased, c'mon, she rocks and I want you guys to be her friend, too...dammit!]

Lots of authors make claims. But, this is different..

On Monday, online giver bar none, Chris Brogan, and his writing partner, Julien Smith, released their new book, Trust Agents.

It’s a good book. Strike that. It’s a really good book.

Because it explains the deeper shift in the process of gaining trust, establishing credibility, then leveraging that into some desired call to action. It reveals how profoundly this process has changed in our hyperconnected, instantaneous, 2.0 world.

And it delivers tons of practical, immediately actionable things to do to begin the hard work necessary to be anointed a Trust Agent—someone who’s given so much consistent value over time, they are worthy of your attention, your action, your trust and , potentially…your money.

But, that’s not the coolest thing about Trust Agents…

What’s so cool is watching how Chris and Julien have positioned the launch of this book as a big, honking, massively public test of the ideas they offer up. Both have been heavily invested in building and giving mercilessly to their various online communities. Not for days or even months. But for years. They’ve built giant followings by being immensely one-sided, giving way more than they get. They’ve primed the reciprocity, credibility and value pump like nobody else. In precisely the way they lay out in the book.

And, if the guidance they offer up in the book has truth, nobody could be better positioned to be Trust Agents than they. Nobody could be more empowered to now turn to their deep constituencies and, maybe for the first time, say, “we’ve given so much for so long. Now, we ask a simple favor…buy the book.”

If Trust Agents are real, if they wield the power heralded in the book, this request should be a no-brainer. Massive numbers of people should be tripping over themselves to order.

The book’s success becomes a very public proof of concept.

Question is…did this happen?

Here’s their day 3 ranking on amazon…

And, that’s an evening rank, down from the 30s and 40s the two days before.

Chris and Julien stood naked in the rain with this book.

They put themselves out there and said, “if we’re not snowing you, this book will kick ass. And, those who trust us will line up to buy it.”

That’s cool. Very cool. Classic renegade move.

The only thing cooler is that the world, it seems, it stepping up and saying…count us in. We trust you.

So, should you buy the book? Hello! Of course, you should. It’s worth many times the price. But, more importantly, learn from Chris and Julien.

They just might have the keys to the Trust 2.0 castle…

Curious…what do YOU think of the notion of Trust Agents as the drivers of a new Trust Economy?

Let’s discuss…

Maybe it was due to my longstanding interest in Buddhism or because the central message resonates so closely with one of my favorite books, Comfortable With Uncertainty by Pema Chodron.

Fact is, about the only thing we know for sure is that life is uncertain.

Change is a regular part of the process. Sometimes we see it coming and embrace what it’s bringing. Other times, we’re blindsided and hope desperately to sidestep it’s impact.

Either way, de Bonvoisin argues, how you handle major changes within the first 30 days determines, in large part, the way they impact your life. What I love about this approach is that it acknowledges and accepts the notion that “stuff happens,” but gives you power within that framework of uncertainty.

de Bonvoisin lays out a series of actions, exercises and ideas, developed through thousands of interviews, that not only shift the way you look at change, but allow you to take regular steps to move through the early stages with a lot more grace and create a team of people who participate in the process and support your efforts. And, her website is literally bursting with a ton of additional information and resources.

So, check out The First 30 Days, the paperback version is just out today and word on the street is de Bonvoisin is even offering some cool stuff for new readers.

Well, Scott’s got a new book coming out at the end of this month called e-Riches 2.0 and, again, the book is jam packed with great online business and marketing tips. In fact, Scott and I just presented together at the Learning Annex’s monster MoneyFest event in NYC. So, I grabbed him for a quick interview to learn how his new book, e-Riches 2.0, is different from his last…