If you are a busy person who wants to publish a book and continue to work in another profession, Tom Asacker can help you manage those parts of your life. He shares his thoughts about honing a craft and balancing wealth creation in this podcast interview with Consulting Success. 

Tom Asacker is an author and independent brand-strategy advisor. He’s a busy man working on understanding his philosophy of life to share with the world. 

Asacker wanted to be an artist but became an economist because his dad didn’t think he would make money painting. He worked for GE and eventually left the company to start his own medical device company for four or five years. He argued with his partners, then decided to write a book and began consulting 18 or 19 years ago. 

He ran into challenges with partners in the business world. Asacker’s previous work with partners was all about growing wealth and drawing it out of the business. Asacker did not want to do this. If he were to partner with someone, it would only be with someone who wants to solve problems and help clients succeed. He would only want to work with someone who has the same vision he has. 

Asacker likens wealth creation to sports. People who play sports don’t always look at the score; they look at the game and strategy. They love the game. If you no longer enjoy the game, then it’s time to move on to something else. 

The numbers in business should reflect your love; if you only pay attention to the numbers, you aren’t in the game for the real reason. No one says that they wish they had more money when they are on their deathbed. 

Asacker quit the medical device company. That same day, he talked to his daughter about how her image changed when she was looking at a spoon. He had a moment about how business people don’t know much other than a bunch of words. He wrote and self-published a book about the moment, called Sandbox Wisdom, and his life changed as people started coming to him. 

He sent his book to CEOs that he read about in magazines and newspapers (this was pre-Internet), as he tried to understand them better. He only sent his book to people who he thought had a similar view of the world as he did. His goal was to connect with people who felt the same way, and he tried to touch them with the words in his book. He never followed up, but he just wanted to plant his book everywhere he could. 

There are ways to build clients and grow your business:

  1. Connect with people who you can connect with. If people don’t want to communicate with you, then nothing you can do will change that. 
  2. Don’t doubt yourself by trying to connect with people who aren’t like you. There is no reason to waste your time with people who don’t have anything in common with you. 
  3. Create value for other people. People need to see that you have something they need. Your business will grow when people see you have something they want. 
  4. Share your insights with people who are struggling. People will want what you have to offer, especially if you are trying to help them – even without being asked. 
  5. Don’t think so much about yourself. If you can help other people, more people will come your way. Don’t worry about trying to get the best client, get the clients who need you, and build a beneficial relationship with you. 

As Asacker had issues with his consulting about branding, he wrote a second book called The Business of Belief. He self-published, and this book went out into several countries. He did the same thing, reading about people and sending the book to them. He didn’t send the book out to get clients. He sent it out because he thought people would be interested in reading it. 

You can find Asacker’s books Sandbox Wisdom and The Business of Belief at his website. He has other books on his website, too.