Your Portable Empire: How to Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love

Chapter 28. Authenticity

Let's talk about authenticity. One of the things I'm working with my clients on is being authentic. Have you noticed that some writers, especially on the Internet, put on their "internet marketing voice" when they write?

What's up with that? Their copy reads like they want you to know they put on a suit, tie, polished shoes, and clean underwear to write. I don't want to read that!

It reminds me of conversations I've had at Internet marketing seminars where otherwise normal people, with whom I was having a normal (and interesting) conversation, suddenly started talking about Internet marketing, and their whole vocabulary and affect changed completely.

When I curl up with a book—and lately it's been mostly Kinky Friedman, Christopher Moore, and Douglas Adams for fiction, and Joe Vitale and Dan Kennedy for nonfiction—what intrigues me, and keeps me reading, is the author's voice.

Dan Kennedy doesn't write like he's wearing a suit, and neither does Joe. They write like they talk, and I'll read them for hours.

Kinky Friedman writes like he's had one too many shots of Jameson's. Chris Moore writes like I would write if I was as talented as he is, and Douglas Adams wrote like an appalled visitor from another planet.

But the point is, each author has his own voice. They write as if they were sitting in your living room, sharing a cup of coffee, and telling you a story, or in Dan and Joe's case, telling you how to do something you really want to learn how to do.

Some of ...