God is always preparing us for what He is preparing us for
Do you ever look back and see that your life experiences steered you to the calling of your heart? I look back over my shoulder and can clearly see how God was putting me in situations to prepare me for the next step in my future. Like a stairway in a mountainous hiking path. Hike for awhile then come to a natural looking step. Generally I had to struggle to get up that step. Finally I learned to depend on the Lord and the steps became less stressful. I didn't see it while I was on the way to here but the winding path zigged and I sometimes zagged to slow the process. I can see now that God was patiently getting me to what He put in my heart as a girl. I wanted to write and speak for Jesus. Now I am in a year of an amazing year of possibilities. I say possibilities because I God worked through me to accomplish the goals I am about to share but only He is responsible for the increase. I can't make things successful. That is His job. Or not. Either way I rest in His awesome power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead can create a following for my platform, right? Its no problem for Him.
In the Fall of 2016, just before I attended my first writing conference a friend called and asked if I was ready. I had packed early and felt confident. She went on to explain that I needed business cards, a One Sheet, and a well rehearsed book pitch. I tried but when I look back now, the things I brought were pitiful and sang of my newbeness.
Now in the late Winter of 2018, not even two years later, I have created three websites. If you knew me you would be trying not to laugh at that because I am not techie. I needed a website and found that designers were not an option I could choose. Using a free website host, I began one website for my author site. Publishers need to know where to find you. They also want to know how many followers you have. This translates to future book sales in their mind. Your author site is usually where you live out your mission, your calling. If you look through this site, you will see that I am passionate to encourage people with the love of Jesus, especially those who have had difficult circumstances and are struggling. Bobbiekingiliff.com is the place where I speak to what I am passionate about. If that is helpful to sell books someday, that's good because the books I write help discouraged people.
While learning the world of writing and speaking I felt like someone needed to throw me a life ring because I was drowning in valuable information. There was so much to learn and so little time to do it. After all I had to write at some point, right? In my impatience I kept saying, "I wish there was a website that broke all this down and was free!" So I decided to help myself and others by creating a site to offer free and affordable training options for speakers and writers. Speakers & Writers in Focused Training was born from frustration but getting all the facts I had learned down in print helped me. I hope it helps you too. At times I will write a blog for you on the topics God lays on my heart but the purpose of this blog is to give you advice from people who have walked this road long enough to have experience and success. So www.swiftseminars.com was born of frustration.
My husband and I love to travel and share travel tips we gather along the way. My third site is Travel Thirsty Toes and the url is www.travelthirstytoes.com. This site is helpful too and was fun to gather the tips.
So, my sites were conceived in passion for discouraged people, an answer to knowledge frustration for myself, others and for sharing fun. That's a good recipe for success I think. Passion driven to give an answer with fun. I like it. It's working for me.
How are you doing on your platform? Cruising along with a good plan in place? Are you like I was and just now you learned you need a platform? Or are you a seasoned pro who has a slick platform with thousands of followers? I would love to hear from you! We encourage each other!
