book

If you follow me through any of my social media thingies, you already know I published my first book a few weeks ago. At this point, you might be sick of hearing about BACON — even though you might not understand that it’s a very powerful acronym to launch a business online. That’s OK.

The thing is, maybe I shouldn’t have written this book after all.

A guy like me, the son of Hispanic — Dominican, specifically — immigrants to the US, isn’t supposed to go around writing books — much less in English! — showing people all over the world how to create impactful digital campaigns. As a Hispanic, I was supposed to write a book for Hispanics, and stay in my own corner.

We all know that a guy who grew up in a so-called third-world country is not supposed to base his knowledge on first-hand experience with some of the largest brands on the planet and in our time. I was supposed to limit myself to a small or even micro-business level. I was supposed to “stay humble” like that.

Coming back to the USA as an immigrant — despite being as much a US Citizen as anyone who was born here and never traveled — I wasn’t supposed to shake hands with media legends like Barry Diller, Kevin Harrington, and even Mr T. I was supposed to be content with seeing these people from afar, and stay happy with my lowly condition as a “minority.”

A “little guy” like me wasn’t supposed to get a best-selling author and top influencer like Chris Brogan to write his foreword. No, I was supposed to feel lucky if a local business owner wrote a two-sentence endorsement for me. And that person should have been Hispanic. You know, because only Hispanics support Hispanics. We’re supposed to bow down and keep within our tribes.

Being a Christian for a quarter of a century, very much involved in ministry work since being a teenager, I was supposed to stay within my circle — namely, produce work for other Christians. We’re not supposed to represent ourselves in the “secular world.” That’s not how it’s supposed to work.

A guy with two children and a stable 15-year marriage is not supposed to gain any type of business credibility through a published piece of work. Men like I are supposed to be hard and silent worker bees, supporting our families and using our free time to enjoy sports or watch TV — consuming content — not writing books, blogs, and producing content.

Neither was I supposed to write the book in four months. I was supposed to be another story among many, the guy who starts writing a book and after a few chapters gets too busy with family and work to ever finish it.

If a simple guy like me writes something, he’s supposed to hang it up as an ebook for free download — if people, you know, want to download it and stuff — not publish a book with a real ISBN, barcode, fully registered by the US Library of Congress, available for circulation in any library in the US and any bookstore around the world.

A serial college dropout like me — I very well might hold the record at three college dropouts — is not supposed to write a serious book about business (despite its funny title)… Much less receive an Amazon review like this one: “It’s a complete detailed package on how to build a successful online presence for your business. One thing that truly amazed me was some of the terms used, which I had learned while finishing my MBA. However, the author breaks these down in such a simple and useful manner that it would have saved me countless hours of trying to understand complicated college books.”

I know. To some people I’m a fly-by-night professional, so I shouldn’t have written a book that upon launch landed within the top 30 Business books on iBooks, the #1 Sales and Marketing book on the same platform, and within the top 20 Hot and New Releases on Amazon in the Business/Marketing category. Neither was it supposed be sitting at over 30 (and counting) 5-star reviews, all authentic with no shenanigans. It was all supposed to be an uphill push to get any type of visibility.

By the world’s standards, none of this was supposed to happen.

But despite all odds, it did.

I’m not telling you this to boast or anything. Stating facts cannot be boasting, but on the other hand, hiding the facts would be akin to lying. And all the odds against me — which are very much reflected in the attitudes of many in similar situations as I — are very much factual.

I’m writing this for you, the “little guy” or “little girl” that thinks they’re supposed to chug along with life. For you, the “minority” who is afraid to play outside the boundaries of which their existence you’ve been convinced of. For you, the “family person” that thinks that only single or divorced people would ever have the time to produce valuable content. For you, the one who thinks that you have nothing to offer or teach anyone.

Let me tell you something: You’re not supposed to step out and accomplish great things.

But will you do it anyway?

 

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I’m not a lone rider. None of these accomplishments would ever be possible without some really valuable people that I am blessed to have in my life.

First off, Christ my Lord. Everything extraordinary comes because of Him.

My wife and my children, for being so patient and holding onto the vision.

My mom and my siblings, for believing in me despite being the outlier — another way to say, the ugly duckling.

My friends and my church family for being so supportive and mature in all things.

My mentors Topher Morrison and Daniel Priestley, and my accountability partner Gabe Aluisy. They carved the formula to GSD.

Finally, my Book Launch Team, a very special group of supporters and cheerleaders who pushed me through the final stages of publishing my book. There are many people among this group I should thank, but the ones that stand out are: Tony Rodríguez, Claudia Aquino, Alfonso Núñez, Katherine Calderón, Eli Gonzalez, Leo Nadal, Aurora Tactuk, Joe Clay, Joe Melendez, Gabriel Aluisy, Yoly Cerón, Laura Patricia Felix, Stefany Baez, Amaury Pumarol, Angel Ramirez, Julissa Contín, George Muñoz, Bolivar Baez, Ernesto Valdes, Laura Mustafá, José Ramírez, David Rodriguez, Erycka Mateo, Luis Julian, Miguel Quezada, Abel García, CJ Rivas, Ignaura Tejeda, Luis Gil, Ligia Carrión, Khalil Delmonte, Manuel Batista, Ivette Díaz and Baltasar Alí González. Although I’m mentioning your names in a list, rest assured each one of you have shown a very special kind of support towards me, and I will not forget any of you.