IAM1363 – Author Helps Entrepreneurs Develop Instant Credibility by Writing a Book

Tom Pfeifer is a 35-plus-year professional writer and editor. He self-published his first book on speech-writing in 2016. His second book, in which he provides writers of all skill sets with tools to write more clearly, concisely, and consistently, will be published by Greenleaf Book Group. He now helps entrepreneurs to stand out among their competitors, develop instant credibility with their clients, and greatly increase their earning potential by identifying their niche and writing and publishing a book.

• CEO Story: Carrying a pen in his pocket since he was seven years old. Worked for many years in a newspaper company and in a capitol hall before he finally started his own company.
• Business Service: Help entrepreneurs get the edge on their competitors raise their credibility with their clients and increase potential earnings by writing a book.
• Secret Sauce: Despite the obstacles, Tom was so determined to be a professional writer.
• CEO Hack: Be around people who will help lift you up and push you forward – like the Toastmasters.
• CEO Nugget: Don’t give up. You never know how close you are to success when you give up.
• CEO Defined: Choosing which twelve hours on what to work. Freedom. The opportunity to change the world. Give a little back to life, to the community, and to people.

Website: www.yourconsistentvoice.com

Book: Write-Speak-Writing-Speech-APPLAUD

LinkedIn: tjpfeifer

Facebook: YourConsistentVoice

Twitter: tjpfeifer

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Transcription

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00:20 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:48 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Tom Pfeiffer of Consistent Voice Communications. Tom, it's great to have you on the show.

00:57 – Tom Pfeifer

Thank you, Gresham. It's great to be here.

01:00 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, super excited to have you on. And of course, before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Tom so you hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Tom is a 35-plus-year professional writer and editor. He published his first book on speech writing in 2016. His second book, which he provides writers of all skill sets with tools to write more clearly, concisely, and consistently will be published by Greenleaf Book Group.

He now helps entrepreneurs stand out among their competitors, develop instant credibility with their clients, and increase their earning potential by identifying their niche in writing and publishing a book. Tom, super excited to have you on the show again. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:40 – Tom Pfeifer

I am. Let's get it going.

01:42 – Gresham Harkless

Let's make it happen then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock and hear a little bit more about how you got started, and what to call your CEO story.

01:49 – Tom Pfeifer

Well, I think if you're a creative person, you always want to work for yourself. And I've been a writer and editor. Well, I've been a writer all my life. I've been carrying a pen and pencil in my pocket since I was 7 years old. And unfortunately, I was a late bloomer as far as getting into the professional writing part of my life. And I had to work for somebody else to raise my twin daughters. And I was a newspaper reporter for 15 years and editor. And then I worked on Capitol Hill for 15 years as a congressman in Southern California. And when he retired in 2013, I decided it was time to hang out my shingle. Because my girls were grown by then and I had the opportunity, so I did.

02:39 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate kind of hearing about your journey the steps that you took, and why you do everything that you've been doing. And I almost wonder if, and especially I imagine with that background with the newspaper especially, it probably sets you right up for everything that you've been able to kind of do and work with your clients now.

02:58 – Tom Pfeifer

Oh, absolutely. It was a journey of fits and starts. And my first story that I wrote for the newspaper, the copy editor crumpled up my paper and threw it on my forehead and said, rewrite this crap. I can't turn that into the proofreader. And I grew from there.

03:18 – Gresham Harkless

So yeah, it's funny. Like a lot of those things that you kind of go through sometimes make you stronger. I remember having a similar experience when I wrote my first paper in college and it would look like it was written in reading. And sometimes those things will make you stronger and it sounds like you kind of hit the ground running from there.

03:34 – Tom Pfeifer

I did. I've made all the mistakes you can make in writing and editing and I use that to teach others how to avoid them and how to be a better, stronger writer.

03:49 – Gresham Harkless

That makes so much sense. And I don't know if you heard the quote where you can see a lot further by standing on the shoulders of giants and you being able to kind of accrue all that experience and that knowledge and expertise, I could definitely see how that could positively impact the clients that you work with. So I know I touched on a little bit when I read your bio and you did as well too, could you take us through a little bit more on what that looks like and how you serve the clients you work with?

04:12 – Tom Pfeifer

Sure, right now I'm on a mission to get entrepreneurs to gain an edge over their competitors, raise their credibility with their clients, and greatly increase their earning potential by putting authors into authority. And you do that by writing a book. You find your niche, You figure out what time you can set aside each day to write, and you start writing. The number one secret to writing is to write. So you just have to find the time every day and make it a habit so that you can write every day. My first book took me 2 years to write.

Never got it published because my daughter contracted cancer right around the time I finished it. And it was a timely book. It was on animal terrorists. It was right after 9-11 that I wrote the book. So it never got published, but then it set me up for when I was able to write my first book and my second book so that I had the habits down. Because I used to write 15 minutes every day before I went to work in the congressional office. And that's how I got started.

05:21 – Gresham Harkless

And that makes so much sense. Obviously sorry to hear about your daughter but you are able to kind of develop those habits. I think anytime you look at somebody whenever they finish a book or any type of success, usually, it's made up of those, you know, those small steps, those small things that are done on a consistent basis that leads up to a finished book or, you know, a marathon or a business or whatever it is, we sometimes don't see the behind the scenes, but I love how you dedicate that 15 minutes. And often they say, like, once you do something the first time or you reach that milestone, it becomes easier and easier to do the next one and then the one after that and the one after that.

05:59 – Tom Pfeifer

Absolutely. Couple of things I want to clear up. I'm not a giant. I'm only 5'4″. And I forget what the other one was.

06:11 – Gresham Harkless

There you go. Well, you're a giant to somebody. So you never know. Everything's all perspective and all relational. So you know, you definitely could be looking down on people as well too.

06:21 – Tom Pfeifer

I don't look down on anybody.

06:24 – Gresham Harkless

There you go. There you go. You're better than that. I know you're better than that. I have known you too a long time. I know you're better than that.

06:29 – Tom Pfeifer

My dad always said there's not a man on this earth who doesn't put his pants on one leg at a time. There's nobody in this world that's better or worse than I am. They just have a different story. We all have a story to tell.

06:45 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. And that's why I appreciate the work that you do because I think so many times, you know, we don't get that opportunity to tell a story, we don't get the opportunity to be heard. And I think everybody wants to be valued, they want to be appreciated. So the work that you do, and you know, everything that you're about is all about, you know, making sure that people have that opportunity to talk about their expertise, their knowledge, get their story out there because it's so important that those stories, the expertise, and knowledge that we have kind of live so strongly amongst the people that are around us as well.

07:15 – Tom Pfeifer

Absolutely. Mark Brown says everybody has a story and there's somebody out there that needs to hear it.

07:21 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah.

07:22 – Tom Pfeifer

The other thing I wanted to clear up is my daughter's fine now.

07:27 – Gresham Harkless

That's good.

07:28 – Tom Pfeifer

I have a tool that I give to them. It's a spreadsheet basically in which you lay out your time and that you're working the day of the week that you're working so that you can find your best time to write. The reason you give a day of the week is that you don't want to write 7 days a week because you'll get burned out. You know, it's just one of those things that you have to pace yourself with to figure out what time is best for you. Whether it's 15 minutes, whether it's a half hour, whether it's an hour. Some people write best in the evening.

08:04 – Gresham Harkless

There you go. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for yourself, the business, or a combination of both. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

08:14 – Tom Pfeifer

Well, my unique cell proposition is me. I was raised in a hopelessly blue-collar family. It's not something I'm ashamed of. In fact, I'm quite proud of it because we build your bridges and hang your wires and build your houses and everything else. But I was a writer and I always wanted to be a writer. And through some luck, some bad luck, some good luck, and a lot of perseverance, I made a living for 35-plus years as a professional writer. People need to know that they can do whatever it is they need to do, or want to do, regardless of the obstacles that are in their way. And there will be obstacles, no matter what you're working on, there will be obstacles.

Mine was not having the money to go to college. I only have a two-year degree, but I took that two-year degree and I made a lifetime of being a writer. And the reason I got that two-year degree was the bad luck was getting my head pinned between a bulldozer and a dump truck, cutting me right here down to my skull. I was wheeled into the emergency room. I heard one woman say, oh, that guy's not going to make it. But I did. And I took the settlement money, moved to California, where college was $50 a semester, and got my two-year degree.

Started me off, I never wanted to be a journalist. In fact, I promised my aunt I would never be a journalist. Mark Twain was a journalist, and Hemingway was a journalist. It's a good experience, good ground for learning to make deadlines, to think on your feet, write on your feet. It's a wonderful profession to, as a writer, to get to cut your teeth on, I guess, is what the phrase I'm looking for. So yeah, that's me. If I could do it, anybody could do it.

10:04 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have. What's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

10:16 – Tom Pfeifer

Getting up every morning, choosing what 12 hours I'm going to work in the day. I put down Toastmasters as a CEO hack. I think if you're going to be on your own, you need people around you who are going to lift you up and push you forward. And Toastmasters is a wonderful organization for that. Toastmasters is mostly a speaking organization and a leadership organization. And there is no animosity, no, well, they build you up.

There's no such thing as a bad speech in Toastmasters. I remember my first speech was my icebreaker in 2012, and I froze. I got up there and my brain went blank, right halfway through the speech, and I got a standing ovation. Made it a lot easier to get up the next time. It's a very supportive atmosphere and if you're going to be a CEO, you need to be able to go out and speak and I'm going to lose the train right now.

11:17 – Gresham Harkless

I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this is a little bit more of a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. I like to say it might be something you would tell your favorite client, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

11:31 – Tom Pfeifer

Don't give up. Thomas Edison quote, that many of life's failures are people who do not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. I almost gave up one time when I had fallen on really hard times and was going to sell my house and look for a job. And my wife told me, no, not gonna let you. Next week I got a multi-thousand dollar contract. I was able to keep the house and pay the bills and I almost gave up, but I was right there. Don't give up. It's my nugget.

12:01 – Gresham Harkless

I love that nugget.

12:02 – Tom Pfeifer

I search for it just for this interview.

12:05 – Gresham Harkless

Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you for doing the honor for us. So I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Tom, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:19 – Tom Pfeifer

This means choosing which 12 hours a day I get to work. Gives me freedom, and allows me to do something that I can't do when I'm working for somebody else, which is to change the world the way I see the world should be changed. To give a little bit of myself back to life, to community, to people in a way that is consistent with my morals and my obligations.

12:45 – Gresham Harkless

I love that. I think so many times like that I just got a visual of I always usually say a paintbrush but even sometimes being with a pencil or pen and you have the agency at the opportunity to kind of create you know the impact that you want to have in those 12 hours, as you said, and I think so many times we forget that we have the pencil or pen or paintbrush, whatever it is in our hands and we get to kind of make that impact.

So I love, you know, obviously the work that you do and I love that definition just because we're so often saying We don't have anything in our hands. We don't have that opportunity to do that, but it may not be the same pencil, may not be the same pen as somebody else, but we might have something that we can kind of lean into to kind of create that impact in the way that we ultimately see fit in the way that we ultimately want to happen.

13:29 – Tom Pfeifer

I think you just explained it perfectly.

13:33 – Gresham Harkless

There we go. There we go. So there we go. I listen and listen very well. So Tom, truly appreciate that definition. And of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people could get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on. Of course, get a copy of your book.

13:55 – Tom Pfeifer

Well, my new book won't be coming out till next year. Unfortunately, This will air right after I start my six-month program for entrepreneurs on book writing, in which I spend a lot of time with 15 dedicated entrepreneurs who are dedicated to writing their books and go through the processes of writing a book and all the elements you need to be a good writer.

But I also do this one-on-one. So if people want to get in touch with me between these six-month sessions, which I only offer once a year, they can go to connectwithtom.com, choose the 30-minute consultation, or free consultation tab, and make an appointment. And we'll discuss whether we're a good fit or not. Because I only work with those who are committed to the process and making the progress that they need to do, become a better writer, become a better editor, become a better person, and become a better entrepreneur.

15:06 – Gresham Harkless

Do you typically have information about your, your every 6 months on the site as well to connect with Tom? Okay.

15:15 – Tom Pfeifer

Yourconsistentvoice.com is my main site in which you have videos and downloads, free downloads, and style books. And the one that I was talking about earlier, the timesheet for keeping yourself writing is all there. So your consistent voice.com is one-stop shop.

15:41 – Gresham Harkless

There you go. It's just like Walmart. There you go. So we will have Walmart for writing. I'll say that. So we will have the links and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you. Thank you so much, my friend, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

15:53 – Tom Pfeifer

Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time and your efforts and everything you do for the community, too.

15:58 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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