Read a good book lately?
for me there's no better way to relax, learn, or destress than curling up on the recliner with a good book
In today's edition of Burke's Bits:
Readers Are Leaders
Social Selling Tip
From the Research Files
Pun of the Day
=============================
They Say Readers Are Leaders
I've read so many books in my lifetime I should be the leader of the free world.
I'm not kidding.
I've been reading since I was a toddler. I watched my parents read at night, after dinner, in the front room. Dad in his recliner, Mom on the couch. Both reading by the lamp on the end table between them.
Every house we lived in had a library because our books traveled with us. It didn't matter if the move was from one state to another, one city to another, one country to another.
Any time I had a question about the world or people or science or religion or literature or philosophy I was told to 'look it up'. So I would go to our home library and look for the answer myself. If for some reason our extension book collection didn't have the answer, I would go to the school library. Not there? Time to go to the city or county library.
I knew it was okay to say “I don't know” because I knew how to find the answer. There are too many places to find the answer – and now, with the internet, there is no reason … ever … to say I can't find the answer.
Today I read almost as much as I did when I was young. I love a good story so fiction is a favorite. Arthur C. Clarke science fiction to James Rollins thrillers, Tom Clancy action thrillers to Diana Gabaldon historical romance, James Michener history-based to Dean Koontz psychological horror. My numerous bookshelves will be full to overflowing and when the stacks of books next to the shelves get as high as the bookshelf - I pack them up and donate them to the local library to be sold or to a nearby assisted living facility.
I love to learn so non-fiction can also be found on the bookshelves. These include Tony Robbins self-improvement and Pam Brossman action lists, Dan Kennedy No BS Marketing series to to John Maxwell daily living practices. James Altucher, Gerry Spence, Brian Kurtz, Ted Nicholas, Lois Frankel, Sheryl Sandberg...just to name a few I see on my shelf right now.
I would rather read a book than watch a movie.
If non-fiction interests you, here's a list of books someone else put in a spreadsheet and you might be interested in reading. I've read most of them.
Currently, in fiction, I'm reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I'd heard so much about the recently releases movie that I decided I'd read the book first. I'm glad I did. It's a coming of age story and a murder mystery with two timelines that slowly intertwine. The first timeline describes the life and adventures of a young girl named Kya as she grows up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina. The second timeline follows an investigation into the apparent murder of Chase Andrews, a local celebrity of Barkley Cove, a fictional coastal town of North Carolina.
And in non-fiction, I've been studying Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz so taking it a few pages at a time...and How to Argue and Win Every Time by Gerry Spence.
Do You Read?
What do you like to read? Fiction? Non-Fiction? What are you reading now? I'd love to know.
=============================
Social Selling Tip
Did you know - it's okay to ask a connection to meet for a 30 minute coffee chat? Really, it is.
This is my favorite way to network online. Oh sure, commenting on updates and sharing other people's content is a great way to get them to notice me. Even better is to invite them to a virtual coffee chat ... to get to know one another.
It's not a sales call. It's a networking chat.
I want to know more about them and their business. In turn, they often ask me about my business. Often, we find there's a good match to work together. Sometimes, it's not a good match but that's okay because now we each of someone we can refer our respective networks to. And that's a good thing.
=============================
From the Research Files
aka random bits of info you may or may not be able to use in your life
Victor Lustig was a highly skilled con artist from Austria-Hungary. He undertook a criminal career that involved conducting scams across Europe and the United States during the early 20th century.
He managed to sell the Eiffel Tower to a scrap metal dealer and get away with it. How? He used forged government documents, combined with newspaper articles lamenting how expensive the tower was for the city to maintain.
With the first sale, he not only was paid for the Eiffel Tower, but also managed to get a bribe by the contractor who wanted his bid to be chosen. He fled Paris, only to return a month later when the winning contractor, Andre Poisson, didn’t report the matter to the police because of the embarrassment it would have brought. Lustig then tried to sell the tower again. This time, though, the winning bidder double checked with the authorities before paying, ultimately finding out it was a scam. However, Lustig was able to flee before he could be arrested.
He was captured in America and charged with unrelated crimes after he was turned in by his girlfriend, Billy May, who had found out he was sleeping with another woman. Hell hath no fury and all that. He died of pneumonia in Alcatraz in 1947 while serving a 20 year prison sentence.
=============================
Pun of the Day
Did you know deer can jump higher than the average house?
It’s because of their strong hind legs and the fact that the average house can’t jump.
With Gratitude,
Charlene Burke
Let's Connect
"Never memorize something that you can look up.” ~ Albert Einstein