Inspired and humbled by the legendary annual reports of Berkshire Hathaway founder, Warren Buffet, I decided to expand my exploration into a full-blown 2011 Annual Report and give it a theme—”Serve, aspire, transcend.”

As you read the Annual Report, I’ll bring you deeper into my life and what I call my “business engines.” I’ll also share something that’s more personal than ever before. Not so much because I want to, but because to omit it would leave a gaping hole in the context around many of my recent business and life decisions. It’ll also provide answers to questions I’ve been asked, yet have never answered publicly.

So, get yourself a latte and some dark chocolate, this craft is taking flight…

Click here to download and read

And if you find it compelling, I’d be grateful if you’d share it around.

P.S. – The report is formatted as a PDF document, and designed to read easily on an iPad or a computer. It’s very visual, so the file a little bigger than a regular document (around 4MB). It’s also 35 pages long, so if you’d like to print it, just remember to check the box when you print to shrink it to fit the page size you are printing on.

As I write this, the TinyBuddha account on twitter is closing in on 240,000 followers and it’s adding some 230 new followers…a day!

The rapid uptake on twitter led Lori to launch a wildly popular communal blog, TinyBuddha.com, a Facebook page with 70,000 likes and now a hot-off-the-presses Tiny Buddha book.

I was fortunate enough to get a review copy and really enjoyed it. But I was also curious about the progression of the Tiny Buddha brand, what led Lori to make to leap into booklandia and what’s driving her these days.

So I did what I normally do. I asked her. And here’s what unfolded…

1. You’ve been building a tremendous community on twitter and your blog, and at a pace that pretty damn stunning. Why a book? And why now?

I knew from the beginning I would eventually write a book, and things fell into place nicely when publishers started contacting me to review some of their other titles.

I wanted to write this book specifically because it touches upon almost all of the themes that writers (and I) explore on the site.

I’ve published stories from more than 175 contributors, and I’ve read comments from thousands of people who also communicate what they’re going through and struggling with. They always come back to the same universal issues—letting go of pain, finding meaning in life, choosing happiness, creating positive change, maintaining healthy relationships, living life to the fullest, and accepting uncertainty.

I thought it would be interesting to ask questions about these topics on Twitter and then shape the book around those insights—so that’s exactly what I did.

I also shared my own experiences in grappling with these big issues. I did that because anyone could write a book about these topics theoretically. My reflections come from my experiences, so it seemed fitting to share them.

2. Why does Tiny Buddha, the brand, exist? Who is it here to serve and how?

When I started the community blog, my main intention was to write and publish stories about applying wisdom to everyday life, especially since we live in an information-overloaded world where it’s much easier to gain knowledge than it is to utilize it.

My hope was to create a space where we all feel comfortable being open about what we’ve been through and what we’re going through, what we’ve learned and what we’re learning, so we can help ourselves and each other.

Tiny Buddha exists because we all have something to teach and something to learn. It’s a place where we can know that we are not alone—and that if we’re willing to be honest, we make a tremendous difference in each other’s lives.

3. What about for you? What does it do for you?

Tiny Buddha does exactly that for me! As I explored in my book, I spent years isolating myself in shame, thinking there was something wrong with me. Now I know we all have a choice: to hide alone or heal together.

The quote that best embodies my mission with Tiny Buddha is “If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your path.” Tiny Buddha brightens mine.

4. You get incredibly revealing in the book, at times sharing stories about your life that are gut-wrenching. Yet, you don’t go to that same place on the blog or anywhere else I’ve seen online. Why? And why was it important for you to do it here?

I’ve actually touched upon many of these stories on the blog. It’s just spread in tiny pieces over two and a half years of posts!

I’ve shared my stories this way, in bits and pieces, because I’ve tried to shape Tiny Buddha around the community, so that it’s about all of our stories, not just mine. For this reason, I didn’t detail any of my personal experiences on the About page, which explains the site’s mission. However, I realized pretty early on with the blog that I wanted to be vulnerable in my writing.

Vulnerability can connect us on a powerful level, because there are so many feelings we all experience, but might be hesitant to discuss. When we don’t open up to each other, we hold the weight of these experiences alone—and there’s no reason to carry that burden when we can instead come together to help ourselves and each other.

Not everyone will relate to my specific experiences, but everyone can relate to the universal struggles—and that’s really what my book is about. We all live our lives around the same questions, and we all need to be able to identify and utilize the answers that make sense for us individually. We can do that most effectively if we’re willing to be honest with ourselves.

5. One of the unique things in the book is how you weave answers to questions shared by your twitter tribe. So, there’s a bit of a crowdsourcing/co-creation element to the book. How was this experience for you? And how do you feel about the notion of content crowdsourcing and co-creation?

It was an amazing experience, though I have to admit it had its challenges! I collected nearly 1,000 tweets—and then I had to narrow them down, categorize them in a way that made sense, and contact all of those people to verify I had their permission to publish their responses.

I love the idea of crowdsourcing in this way because I believe it gives any work a greater sense of depth. It becomes more than just one person’s stories, opinions, or research; instead, it’s shaped by a community of people with varied perspectives and sets of experiences.

That’s one of things I enjoy about running Tiny Buddha a community blog. Many of the posts explore similar topics, but different perspectives resonate with different people.

6. What’d I miss? What should people know that I didn’t ask?

You didn’t miss much! The only other thing I’d like to share is the “Life’s Hard Questions” contest, which I’m running until January 15,2012. Anyone can enter by submitting a photo of themselves displaying the hardest question in their life at lifeshardquestions.com.

The winners will be chosen at random, though there will be a special prize for the most creative. The prizes include a Canon DSLR camera, two Kindles, and 10 free copies of my book. It’s just another opportunity for people to get involved and share a little of themselves.

+++

[FTC Disclosure - You should always assume that pretty much every link on this blog is an affiliate link and that if you click it, find something you like and buy it, I'm gonna make some serious money. Now, understand this, I'm not talking chump change, I'm talking huge windfall in commissions, bling up the wazoo and all sorts of other free stuff. I may even be given a mansion and a yacht, though honestly I'd settle most of the time for some organic dark chocolate and clean socks. Oh, and if I mention a book or some other product, just assume I got a review copy of it gratis and that me getting it has completely biased everything I say. Because, books are like a drug to me, put one in my hand and you own my ass. Ethics be damned! K, you've been warned. Huggies and butterflies. ]

It happened during a skype interview about swearing on blogs and in business. The whole conversation was fantastic and generated a lot of conversation and just a wee bit of controversy. But, what I didn’t know was this one moment would leave Julien spinning about something that would, over the course of the year, evolve into a book called The Flinch that’s being released today by Seth Godin’s The Domino Project.

So I circled back to Julien for round two.

In this new video interview, he shares what really happened in that pivotal moment earlier this year. We get into what led him on a quest that ended in him writing The Flinch, what it’s all about, why he did it with Seth Godin and The Domino Project and why it’s only on kindle and it’s being released at the price of…nothing.

But, as often happens when you get Julien and me talking, that conversation somehow led down the publishing industry rabbit hole, and we go off on a whole new tangent about the future of publishing for authors and publishers and how authors can leverage what’s nothing less than mass disruption for serious gain.

The Flinch is published today, it’s available only on kindle and it doesn’t cost a dime. You don’t actually need a kindle to read it, you just need the kindle app and you can read it pretty much anywhere with that. So, go download it now.

+++Good Life Notes+++

• Also out this week – my friend Chris Guillebeau has a fantastic new manifesto available for download called The Tower
• Mini-Break - Close your door, put on your headphones, turn up the volume, click here, then close your eyes and smile.

Something most “experts” will tell you is death to any blog.

I stopped posting. For 2 ½ weeks. Not a peep.

Without explanation. Without notice. I just plain vanished.

Why?

A few reasons…

I’m often asked how many times a day or week a blogger should post to maximize growth, influence and impact. I have friends who post two or three times a month and experience extraordinary growth and sharing.

For some time, I’ve posted anywhere from two to seven times a week. And I wanted to see what would happen if I radically cut back on my posting frequency.

I wanted to see:

• What would happen to my traffic
• What would happen to my subscription rate
• Whether anyone would notice, and if they did…
• Whether anyone would care

So, here’s what happened. Over 2 ½ postless, totally AWOL weeks…

My traffic - Traffic to the blog dropped about 25%, but my deep history of links, SEO and ongoing social discovery kept a nice flow of organic traffic rolling in. This is the benefit of having a substantial number of evergreen posts built up over a period of years, especially authoritative ones with strong search-rankings.

My subscription rate and total new subscribers/day – Net new subscribers/day stayed steady. You read that right. There was a very slight decrease in gross new subscribers, but also a decrease in unsubscribes, likely because the same emails that deliver posts also serve as prompts to unsubscribe. So, no new emails, meant no new prompts to split. At the same time, new organic visitors continued to subscribe, so my inflow of subscribers kept on keeping on, while my unsubscribes dropped to zero.

Did anyone notice? This is harder to measure. Plenty of people may have noticed, but not said anything. Over this window, while people can message me through email, twitter, Facebook, google+ and comments on the blog, only a single person reached out to me to say he noticed I hadn’t posted. Not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing right now.

Did anyone care? That one person expressed concern for me, shared that he loved my work and that it was doing good things in the world and that my tribe really appreciated me and was here for me. His message was deeply heartening. What wasn’t as heartening was that his was the only message from a tribe of tens of thousands of regulars.

My big, fat take-aways…

If you’ve been in the tribe for a while, you’ve likely noticed a bit of an evolution in what I write about on the blog and beyond.

I’m shifting gears professionally. As I emerge from my book launch bubble, I’m beginning to focus intensely on where I’ve succeed and failed in 2011 and what I want to build in 2012 and beyond. While I’ve accomplished some great things this year, I know I’ve also dropped a lot of balls and not come close to what I’m capable of creating in the world.

As a writer, it’s becoming clear that posting one to five times a week is unsustainable. I can do it, but I can’t do it and also create content, experiences and value that inform, illuminate and impact on the level I aspire to. It’s simply a matter of personal bandwidth.

I don’t write to be prolific, I write to make a difference.

And I cannot do that on the level I know I’m capable of when I’m churning out content at concert pitch. I’d rather go narrow and deep a few times a month than go shallow and wide a few times a week. I’m not knocking anyone who chooses the latter, we all have our own internal barometers, aspirations and metrics. It’s just that on a personal fulfillment level, the latter isn’t working for me any more.

The fact that over three weeks there was a near total lack of response to my disappearance also tells me a lot. It was a bit of a wake-up call to me and a validation of my hunch that I need to re-think the perceived value of what I’m building here, how I’m building it and where I want it to go from this moment forward.

You will see some substantial changes over the next few months, all in the name of finding a more sustainable, sweeter spot between:

• My ability and desire to do what I’m here to do,
• My desire to provide a more clearly differentiated experience, and
• My deep Jones to better serve your needs and interests

I’ll create appetizers here and there, but my focus will be on main courses, served up hot two or three times a month. I may also introduce a new video Q&A segment as a way to more directly respond to the many questions that come to me.

Curious, what about you?

Did you notice I’d disappeared? Did it matter?

If you did the same, would it matter to your community?

Are you working in the sweet spot between your authentic genius zone and the deeper needs of your community?

How do you know?

And, last thing, for my first Q&A segment, what can I answer for you?

Sean Platt is one of them. You may know him from WriterDad.com, GhostWriterDad.com, CollectiveInkwell.com and his contributions all over the web.

But it’s a pretty radical new approach to “episodic” or serialized digital fiction with his Yesterday’s Gone series that’s turning a lot of heads these days.

In this in depth interview we look at how a new generation of authors is trying to leverage the exploding “kindle economy,” most with little success, and how Sean’s radically different approach may create a whole new model for e-fiction and beyond.

Links mentioned in the interview:

• Yesterday’s Gone (Season 1) on amazon
• SerializedFiction.com

If you’re the slightest bit interested in what Sean’s doing and how he’s doing it, I’d run and grab the entire first “season” (c’mon it’s like $4.99), read the short 100-page books and, more importantly, deconstruct how he’s writing each one differently than the typical novel and how it might apply to your own quest to bring great fiction to life, have a blast doing it and get paid well for your efforts.

+++Timely Tidbits+++

• TribalAuthorCamp – Authors and aspiring authors who are willing to do the work needed to succes – the next semester begins Monday, October 17th – grab one of the remaining seats today. Click here to learn more
• Entrepreneurs - Andrew Warner of Mixergy just posted an incredibly in-depth, 1-hour video interview we did on how entrepreneurs, founders and start-up teams can better manage and even embrace uncertainty to build better companies faster and with less suffering. Check it out here.

Straight up, total goofball, do not do this at home fun. Because life’s too serious to be, well, serious all the time!

Buy 10,000 books (yes, that’s not a typo, my dignity will cost you, lol) and I will shave your company’s logo on my head and dye my hair to match your brand.

Then, I’ll film the whole thing, have it professionally produced by my crack team of editors—which happens to include a gaggle of improv comedians, a Chihuahua named Doug, a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Justin Bieber and a disembodied unicorn head—and have it posted online for maximum fun and exposure.

And, of course, an offer like this deserves its very own, super-cheesy, over-the-top, whiz-bang-animated, movie-trailer-voice-over video. So, here it is…

If you want to be the one to lock up my head, do NOT wait. This is grade-A noggin real-estate people!

Do like the video says and email head@theuncertaintybook.com for the details.

Huggies & butterflies.

You cannot see the world differently if it’s already been seen in every possible way. You cannot solve a problem better if every solution has already been defined. You cannot create great art if every way to stroke a canvas, connect a note, or grace a stage has already been inventoried, categorized, and laid bare for all to see.

If everything is known and certain, that means it’s all been done before. And creation isn’t about repetition.

Genius always starts with a question, not an answer.

Eliminate the question and you eliminate the possibility of genius. However, that’s where things get really sticky.

For all but a rare few, “living in the question” hurts. It causes anxiety, fear, suffering, and pain. And people don’t like pain. Rather than lean into it, we do everything possible to snuff it out. Not because we have to, but because we can’t handle the discomfort that we assume “has to” go along with the quest.

Snuffing out uncertainty leads to a sea of prematurely terminated mediocre output, when “sweet mother of God” was just over the hump if only we’d had the will to embrace uncertainty, risk, and judgment and hang on a bit longer. If only we’d learned how to harness and ride rather than hunt and kill the butterflies that live in the gut of every person who strives to create something extraordinary from nothing.

+++

The above was excerpted from Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance.

Curious, how do you deal with the butterflies?

+++

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them:

“When you dress properly and look clean, people treat you better. They’ll think you’re smart. And that you come from a good family with money. They’ll be nicer and pay attention and help you more. Don’t you want that?”

After I’d spoken, I fell silent and felt guilty. What an awful, biased, discriminating thing to say – and worse, I’d said it to my six-year-old daughter.

Some role model I was, right?

But I hadn’t been thinking when blurted that out. I’d been frustrated and irritated because I needed to take my daughter to the hospital, and she’d been (loudly) refusing to brush her long, curly hair.

I don’t blame her. She’d been sick, it was tangled, and it hurt.

Here’s the problem: No matter how much we wish the world to be a fair place that judges people for their inner worth and not their outer appearance… it just doesn’t work that way.

Sad, but true. Clean, well-dressed people are perceived to be more educated, skilled or experienced. And they get better treatment because of it. Disagree with me? Go stand next to a beggar and ask the first person to pass by for some help or a few dollars.

In business, things are much the same – and we know this. We dress well, have nice websites, and put our best foot forward for our clients. We realize (sometimes intuitively) that our appearance directly influences our reputation, our potential, and our chances of making the sale.

We want to look capable. We want to create a good impression. We want prospects to think, “This could be the guy we’re looking for.”

Let’s take things online, shall we?

Online, there aren’t any face-to-face interviews. It’s all websites and blogs and newsletters and emails. Sure, you have some Skype calls and videos thrown into the mix, but for the most part, people learn more about you and your business through written communication.

And how you present yourself in words means everything to your success.

It starts with design. People land on your website and in seconds, decide whether it looks appealing enough for them to stick around. If they like what they see, they start to read.

And they start making all sorts of judgements about you.

They decide whether you’re smart. Whether you’re sassy or friendly. Whether you’re professionally skilled or specialized in your field. Whether you’re experienced enough for what they need. And whether you’re nice.

They haven’t met you yet. They have no clue who you are. But they make decisions and assumptions about you and your business based on how you present yourself… in writing.

That means that what you write and the way you write it directly influences people’s perceptions – and in turn, how they treat you and whether they should buy from you based on those perceptions.

If they think your home copy sounds expert, they’ll assume you’re a good choice for their project. If your About page sounds personable, they’ll assume you’re a nice guy. If your Services page is clear and concise, they’ll assume you’re on the ball.

And if your sales copy speaks to them… they’ll trust you with their money.

They don’t even know who you are. Or whether you can do what you say you can do. Or whether your product is going to work or break.

But if you write compelling, engaging words… they’ll believe you’re everything your writing conveys.

The problem is that most business owners don’t know how to write in a way that reflects the image they want to present to readers. They might write well enough, sure, but does their writing create trust, build a bond and convey the right image to pull in sales?

Very often, no.

And if you’re writing your own business content, you’ll want to think about learning better techniques. Why? The answer is simple: If your copy is awkward, if your blog post is clunky, if your newsletter is boring… you’ve lost a sale. Probably several.

You’re leaving money on the table.

That’s not something you want to do, so here are 3 tips (and a bonus!) on how can improve your copy to instantly improve your business credibility – and of course, get better results.

Focus on “you”, not “I”

When businesspeople write about their company, what it does, and why it’s a good choice, it’s tough to write using a “you” focus. But the alternative is writing “we” all over the place. “We do this, we do that, we, we, we.” That gives readers the impression your business is arrogant and doesn’t care about them much. Go through your copy now. Rewrite every “we” so that it reads “you” instead – and see the difference yourself!

Cut the fluff

Most business people are long winded, especially when it comes to writing their own web copy. They think longer sentences sound more professional. But short, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand words create a better impression – yes, even if your visitors are high-level executives. Why use 20 words when 5 will do? Cut out all the fluffy words and trim your content down so that even a teenager could read it – your bottom line will thank you, and so will your readers.

Add some spunk

Some people think that “professional writing” means informative, bland and devoid of personality – but people (and customers) much prefer seeing a more human side, even in business. So go ahead and add personality to your web copy, with little phrases that make people smile or a bit of witty prose. Not too much, though: Personality is a seasoning best used with gentle moderation.

Cut back on the catchwords

Some people use so many catchwords and trendy phrases that it’s nearly impossible to figure out what they’re talking about. (Normstorming? Sounds cool, but what the…??) Trying to be too cool with your copy ends up losing you customers who think you’re just crazy. Be clear, never clever, and make sure you use simple phrases that site visitors understand at first glance – without having to think about it for 10 minutes.
Your online success directly hinges on your content and copy. So learn the techniques. Improve your writing skills. Put every chance on your side.

Because just like my daughter’s brushed hair and clean clothes got her better treatment, your polished words and well-written content bring you better sales and business results.

+++

Men with Pens’ famous writer James Chartrand recently launched Damn Fine Words, the game-changing writing course for business owners.

Then, last week, I announced a mad-cool 3-book pre-order bundle and a whole lotta people took advantage of the offer.

But, then I got a lot of emails from others saying:

“I’d love to be able to pre-order 3-copies of Uncertainty and give two to friends, but I’m a bit short on change these days. Any chance you could do something special for me if I pre-ordered a single book?”

Short answer…YES! Not only that, I’ve created a bunch of new bundles, give-aways and just posted the first two chapters to read.

Download the Intro & first chapter now.

You can now read the introduction and first chapter of Uncertainty. You don’t need to give me an email or anything. It’s available as an instant PDF download. So, go check it out, read it and share it around. Click on the download link to the right of the video here.

1-Book Pre-Order Experience.

One key element of the 3-book bundle I announced last week was a 6-week training with me. Every week, once a week for 6 weeks, starting around October 15th, you and I will come together on a live conference-line (or webcast for those who prefer it). I will take you deeper into six key areas in the book, explore the strategies and practices on a real-life/implementation level, share updated research with you and spend as much time as I can answering your questions.

What’s the value of something like that? Well, an hour Skype Borrow My Brain consult with me these days starts at $1,000. A skype lunch-n-learn starts at $2,500 and a 1-hour keynote starts at $12,500. And, you’re getting 6-hours of me for around $17, or whatever it costs for you to pre-order your copy of Uncertainty at any bookstore or website that works for you. Click here to learn more & claim your spot.

100 & 500 Book Pre-Order Experience.

Is your company, organization or group getting crushed by a lack of creativity and innovation? Are your people suffering more than they’re creating? If so, the very things you’re doing to try to spark creativity and innovation may be shutting them down. This book, the ideas and strategies in it, and the training experience I can deliver around it may well be your answer. So, I’ve created two special bundles for organizations.

When you pre-order 100 or 500 books now, you will essentially save your company between $2,500 and $10,000 and get me, a boatload of books and a set of strategies and practices that will change how your people live, create, relate and innovate. But, there are only 5 of each offer available. Click here to learn more & claim your event date.

Insane 10,000 Book Mystery Offer –

This is still double-top-secret, but you’ll know in a few days. You will not want to miss the video for this puppy! Even if you have no interest in the offer. Trust me on this…

Let’s Make a Deal –

A bunch of people have asked me if I could create some kind of custom pre-order bundle or experience. I thought about it, then decided, “hey, why not?” So I’ve also added a place for you to make me an offer. Maybe you work with a group of 25 artists or lead a small business or run a book group for the inmates in your cell block. Whatever it is, you can now make me an offer and, hey, we can talk about it! Just click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

The cool thing about each of these pre-order “experience” bundles is that you’re no longer just buying a book, you’re enrolling in an experience, one that not only brings the book to life, but illuminates the ideas, practices and strategies on a whole different level, while allowing you to ask me questions about how to make it all work in your own quest to create great art, business and life.

I love being able to create bigger experiences like this for you guys! Makes me feel good to be able to give you more.

If you feel like sharing these experiences, I’d be grateful.

And, there’s also something deeply-gratifying about giving someone I care about a book that I’ve hand-chosen for them to explore. I buy books for myself all the time, but it’s just not the same as when someone says, “I chose this for you,” then gives it to me.

So I decided, with my new book – Uncertainty – I wanted to reclaim that experience for you. But not just the giving part. In the book, I spend a solid slice of time on the concept of “creation hives” – small groups of people who strive together to achieve great things – and how to build them. And it’s my hope that sharing this book with those in your hive will help get you all humming and acting on a radically different creative and execution level.

So I spent a lot of time brainstorming ways to inspire people to pre-order not just one, but three copies of the physical book. One to keep, two to share.

Here’s the thing, though. I’m so leery of all the pre-order bonus bonanzas I’ve seen with a bazillion downloadable PDFs and “trials” that we all know are largely worthless. And, on the rare occasion that I have an “ask,” it’s really important for me to feel like I’m still giving way more than I’m getting.

I wanted to do something different for you…

Something with extraordinary “real” value. Something that was a substantial multiple of the cost of the book and delivered mile-wide smiles (hint: think amazing limited-edition art), a deeper window into the minds, experiences and insights from a collection of some of the world’s greatest creators and direct access to me.

Click here to check it all out in detail

And, feel free to share this with anyone you feel would enjoy not only the book, but the experiences included in the bundle.