A Visit with Amazon Bestselling Author Jill Klunk

I first became aware of Brian Tracy about thirty years ago or so when I was taken up with books and tapes from the "motivational" section of our library. W. Clement Stone, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, and others of their ilk were part of the motivational diet I was slurping in big gulps at the time. I most vividly recall Brian Tracy's Psychology of Selling as being dense with useful insights, later purchasing the two CD set to listen to while commuting.

In June I began contributing as a writer on Medium, the blogging platform developed by Ev Williams (who previously co-founded Blogger and Twitter.) If you're a writer, there's much to like about what Williams and his team have created. Facebook is a social community of one sort, and platforms like Pinterest and Instagram seem to be visually oriented communities. Medium, on the other hand, is a virtual community for writers and readers. Imagine going to a party where everyone you meet happens to be a writer. And it isn't just Americans here, but writers from every corner of the world.

Jill Klunk, like myself, is relatively new to Medium, but not to writing. She had the privilege of being selected as a contributor to a new book by Brian Tracy titled Ignite Your Life, which became an instant bestseller on Amazon.

EN: You were selected to contribute to Brian Tracy’s 2016 bestseller Ignite Your Life. How did you come to be chosen for this opportunity?

Jill Klunk: I responded to a FaceBook post. DNA was looking for candidates to submit their story on how they got to be where they were. So, I shared this opportunity with my Mentor and we felt it was a great opportunity. On October 23, 2015 I received a letter from Celebrity Press, LLC congratulating me for being selected to participate in Ignite Your Life. On December 17, 2015 I received a letter from Celebrity Press congratulating me that I had been selected by the Editor as one of their recipients of the "Editor's Choice Award" in recognition of the best chapters in the book Ignite Your Life. A couple of weeks later I was interviewed by Lindsay Dicks and Nick Nanton, Esq. On November 4, 2016 the book Ignite Your Life was officially released for publication and my story was one of the 40 stories featured in this book.

EN: The chapter you wrote was about Attraction Marketing. What is “Attraction Marketing”? And how does this differ from Inbound Marketing?

JK: Attraction Marketing is providing your audience with information to build trust and relationships to attract them to my products. It is one of the most powerful ways to provide value and grow my business. I attract people to my business through Facebook, postings, word of mouth, as a minimum.

Like Attraction Marketing, Inbound Marketing is a technique for drawing customers to products and services via content marketing, social media marketing and search engine optimization.

EN: You had a successful career in real estate.

JK: Yes, I did have a successful career in real estate for 13 years. In real estate I not only sold and listed properties I was responsible doing my own marketing, ads in newspapers, postings on Facebook and preparing my own newsletters to my firms and Clients. This was in essence my "jump off" into writing.

EN: How long have you also been writing? 

JK: I started writing stories in college (2002) and wrote them very sporadically until I got into the real estate business. When I would be showing homes to my Clients I would share information with them about neighborhoods, cities and my experiences. This ultimately was what prompted me to pursue writing more seriously.

EN: What lessons from your real estate experience would you apply to people who want to be successful as writers or entrepreneurs in other fields?

JK: Number 1 rule in my book is to just be your self. Your Clients can sense when you are being sincere and when you are not. My favorite story I share with my Clients is: A young man, a college student, lived across the street from me. He approached me one day and said "Miss Jill, my grandparents are coming to my graduation next week and would like to look at homes. Are you available?" My immediate response was absolutely.

As it turned out his grandparents had recently lost everything they had in Hurricane Sandy and were considering Conway SC as one of the areas to move to. After looking at homes, they decided to purchase a home in the neighborhood their grandson was living in.

EN: What was your biggest take-away from working with Brian Tracy?

JK: All of my dealings with Brian Tracy were through Celebrity Press, LLC and Dicks and Nanton Agency. I never spoke with him directly. The folks from Celebrity Press were very professional and I would highly recommend then.

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Here are some links where you can follow Jill Klunk or find the Brian Tracy book which she contributed to:

Blog: https://www.facebook.com/OwnYourOwnBeach/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillklunk
eBook: IgniteYour Life

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Meantime, life goes on all around you. Get into it.