Sacred Heartfelt Moments

Promotional Interview II

2007-09-26T15:35:00.000-06:00

Diana Tells All About Coffee and Other PERCs

Richard Ortner, Denver's Channel 7 Weather Guy, interviews Diana Hall.

If you'd like to create a promotional interview like this, call me at 303-885-0652 or email Lissa@TheElementalPress.com

Promotional Interview

2007-08-18T19:23:00.000-06:00

Laurie Cameron Speaks with Her Mentor Joe Sabah

Joe Sabah facilitates a seminar, Speak for Fun and Profit in Denver CO, to help speakers get themselves booked and paid. He provides updated databases for service clubs and organizations--a great place for speakers to start and grow. To learn more about his seminars call Joe at 303-722-7200 or email JSabah@aol.com

Laurie Cameron is speaking to service clubs and organizations in Denver CO on How to Find and Fix the 6 Hidden Hazards That are Secretly Killing Your Business. Laurie would love to share her message with you. Call her at 303-740-0352 or check out her website: www.LaurieCameron.com

Don't forget to let them know I sent you!

If you'd like to create a promotional interview like this, call me at 303-885-0652 or email Lissa@TheElementalPress.com

WWII Veteran--90 years life review

2007-06-30T00:58:00.000-06:00

Through the Windows of Time:
Portrait of a West Point Cadet (8:57)

This video is in honor of my father, Col. Lawrence G. Forbes, a West Point Cadet, WWII veteran, husband, and father. The first gentleman's voice is Brig. Gen. George Snead, a fellow officer, and the second voice is my father.

"What a great surprise to find your wonderful portrait of your Dad and Mom . . . Kitty and I sat enthralled with your work of art. You can do more with stills than others do with video. In fact, I like it much better." - Brig. Gen. George Snead, VA

"What a beautiful tribute to your Dad and what memories for him to enjoy. I am so overwhelmed I just can't find the words to tell you what an absolutely tremendous job you did. You are truly a professional." - Loretta Cybulski, CO

Image printed directly on the disk. Booklet included inside contains short story.
External insert with photo on front and summary on the back.

Lawrence G. Forbes Receives
the Lifetime Achievement Award

(first published August 2004)

by Lissa Ann Forbes

She sits beside her father, Lawrence Forbes, as they listen to stories about ordinary, yet very extraordinary people. She’s beaming because she has something to share.

Finally, it is her turn. The announcer began, “Lissa Ann Forbes will present The Lifetime Achievement Award to Lawrence Gordon Forbes for outstanding service to the USA and being the best Dad she has known.”

Lissa walks slowly to the podium gaining her composure, as she has never addressed a crowd this large before—over 400 attendees. Her father sits in the audience waiting to hear his daughter speak, just realizing he would be the focus of her attention.

Today I present the Lifetime Achievement Award, a gift of recognition, to my Dad, Colonel Lawrence Gordon Forbes. I recently realized that there are many fathers out there, but mine has truly earned the title “Dad.”

What did it take?

From the time I can remember, I was proud to call this gentle man “Dad.” He did not actually “father” me, but from the age of two when I was adopted he never wavered from calling me his own, his daughter.

He held me on his knee and helped me put socks and shoes on. He splashed water on me as I learned to play in the plastic inflatable pool. He stood near as I gained balance and confidence to pogo stick and walk on stilts. He engaged in a fair duel of tennis. He helped me with homework. He attended plays and choral and dance recitals.

I learned from my Mom to be proud of him for the role he played in our world history. My Dad graduated from West Point with honors and served 27 years in the US Army. He was active duty in WWII and had achieved the rank of full Colonel by the time he retired in 1966.

Because of his military service, I learned to have pride in our country, respect the American flag and feel the words of the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America. To this day these songs bring tears to my eyes. They remind me that my father is a symbol of duty, honor, courage, and survival.

Larry Forbes, at 87, is one of the lucky ones. He survived a war, was married to a woman he loved for 56 years, found fulfilling work, raised two children he can be proud of, and after eight years alone found another companion to love and married in May of this year.

When my mother died in 1996, Dad started talking, like never before. I always remember his quiet presence. But suddenly I felt I was his confidante. He told me what he was doing, where he was traveling and discussed finances and health issues, subjects never before discussed openly with the children. I felt important—valued.

Recently, I realized I’ve been honoring my Dad in an unusual way. First, let me give you a small detail that will help you understand the story. USAA is worldwide insurance and financial services association, providing insurance and financial services to the US military community and their families. At Borders, where I work part-time, I easily notice USAA credit cards. When I see one I ask, “Are you a dependent or did you serve?” I take a moment to thank them or their family member for their service to our country. I didn’t even realize what I was doing for some time, but now I recognize that I’m honoring and acknowledging the contribution made one individual at a time. I’ve also been honoring my Dad every time I do this.

I want to close with my favorite story about my Dad and me. One we still laugh about from long ago—the day I moved into the dorm at the University of Arizona 30 years ago. We had finished lugging what seemed like a hundred boxes up the front steps to the dorm, stacking them in the elevator, and carrying them down the hall on the fifth floor to the fourth room on the left. As I stood on the sidewalk, having said my thanks to Mom, I turned to Dad and gave him a hug. At that moment, two young college boys drove by in the red convertible Mustang and shouted, “Dirty old man!” My father turned to me with the trademark twinkle in his eye saying, “Don’t young girls have fathers anymore?”

Thank you all for allowing me to recognize the hero in my Dad.

Applause exploded. Lissa noticed a lone tear run down her father’s face. She was proud of him all over again. She called him up to the podium to present this special man she calls “Dad” to all who had come to recognize their heroes. The room shook with the thunderous clapping . Sweet music to her ears.

This story originally appeared in Write from the Inside: The Ezine in August 2004. It has since been published in my first book, Write from the Inside: Dig for Treasures, Discover Yourself, Leave a Legacy, copyright 2006. The audience referred to was ~400 ezine readers, not a live audience.

Promote Your Book Using Video

2007-06-28T08:27:00.000-06:00

Ten Ways to Use Video to Promote Your Book
by Penny Sansevieri
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a preamble to Penny's article, please don't miss the book tie-in I did for Karen Merhinger, author of Sail Into Your Dreams
http://sacredheartfeltmoments.blogspot.com/2007/06/sail-into-your-dreams.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When it comes to convincing a reader to buy, sometimes there's nothing more compelling than a good sales pitch. Yes, you can have excellent back copy, a stunning cover, but nothing makes a reader morph into a buyer quicker than a hefty pitch that pushes every single hot button (and even a few they didn't know they had). Video as a means to promote a book is a great sales pitch, but only if it's done right. What do I mean by "done right"?

With all the talk today about using video to promote your book, it's easy to get caught up in a YouTube-driven world. It's a great idea certainly but there's one catch: you've got to make your viewer feel something. An example of this is a recent video posted to Yahoo videos (it also landed on YouTube) about a contestant (Paul Potts) on Britain's Got Talent. While not an author (yet) the video shows us clearly what we mean by emotion. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself.

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=646496&fr=yvmtf

The video became so popular (almost overnight) that within a few days it made it to the U.S. and into the hands of millions of viewers. Why? Well, let's think about this. If you've ever watched an episode of American Idol or a version of the program you know that the most favored contestants are the underdogs, the ones who just show up and blow the judges away. That's the biggest emotional hot button on any of these types of shows and that's why the Paul Potts video made such an impact online. Of course he had talent, but talent in the absence of a true underdog factor wouldn't have made this video as successful as it was.

In fact, not only that but every major media outlet is clamoring for an interview with Paul. He's become a sensation. The video gave him exposure to people globally and it tapped into an emotion - but more than that, it tapped into the right emotion. That is key. If the Paul Potts video had been scary, or disturbing, or flat out boring, who would have cared? So if you're considering doing a book video for your own tome, don't sell yourself short by just "telling the story," do it in such a way that grabs your reader, engages them and hits them right in their emotional hot buttons. Know the triggers your audience responds to and incorporate that into your video.

Check out this video that MonkeyCMedia did for a book we worked on: http://www.redhotinternetpublicity.com/trailers/engaged.html

Here are some ways to make the most of your video:
1) Have you been YouTube'd? If you haven't this is the #1 place to load your book video.

2) Put your video on your own website, don't let a single visitor land on your site without getting the "touch and feel" of your book.

3) Send a sample of your book video to every media contact you pitch. Never let a press kit leave your office without a disc.

4) Got a social networking page? If you do (and you should) add the clip or a link to it on the page.

5) When you pitch the media, don't forget to insert a link to the trailer in your email. Don't send it as an attachment; chances are an overaggressive spam filter will have it for lunch.

6) Blog about it every chance you get. No, I'm not talking about repeating a blog over and over but blog on what success you've had thanks to your video. And oh, yes, add a link to the book video too.

7) Trying to get a signing but have been unsuccessful? Let your book speak for itself, literally. Drop off a copy of your book trailer to an as-yet-unconvinced bookstore person and I can almost bet you'll get a signing in the store.

8) Ready for your close-up? There's no quicker way to a potential producer's heart than through his eyes and ears. Seeing a book come to life can sometimes be a great way to sell someone on the concept of turning your book into a movie.

9) If you're doing a signing bring the book video to show while you're signing books. I've known authors who've done this and they sold almost twice as many books. The video really pulls in readers!

10) Just like you can tell a book by its cover, you can often tell a book video by its packaging. Get your CD cover professionally printed, don't skim on the first impression! In fact, why not have your video burned to a business card size cd that you can pop into the card slot of a presentation folder?

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Before the Wedding

2007-06-13T14:34:00.000-06:00

Sarah & Jason: Before the Wedding Part I (4:29)
This segment features Sarah as she grows up and Jason as he grows up."

Sarah & Jason: Before the Wedding Part II (9:01)
This segment features Sarah and Jason together before their wedding July 1, 2007."

This video is divided into two segments only to accomodate YouTube guidelines.

"We were absolutely in love with the slideshow that Lissa put together before our wedding. She took our photos and created something more beautiful than we had even imagined. Everyone at the wedding was so impressed. Our photographer was especially complimentary. He kept exclaiming, "Who did this? This is great!" Lissa's artistic work added a value that I am certain we could not find anywhere else." - Sarah Cook, CO www.innatehealthllc.com

Image printed directly on the disk. Booklet included inside contains listing of photos in order of appearance. External insert with photo on front and summary on the back.

Book Tie-In Promotion

2007-05-22T14:33:00.000-06:00

Sail into Your Dreams (6:28)
This is a book tie-in promotional video for author, Karen Mehringer. Her book is Sail into Your Dreams: 8 Steps to Living a More Purposeful Life.

"Lissa was an absolute joy to work with! Her creativity, technical expertise and responsiveness to my requests made for smooth sailing. The outcome...I am thrilled with the quality of her work. The way she put together the images and music was very touching. I even cried the first couple of times I watched it. And, most importantly, my audiences have been inspired and captivated by watching it as well. Thanks a million, Lissa!" - Karen Mehringer, author of Sail Into Your Dreams, http://www.liveapurposefullife.com/

Image printed directly on the disk. Booklet included inside contains listing of photos in order of appearance. External insert with photo on front and summary on the back.

Memorial/Funeral

2007-05-02T14:33:00.000-06:00

A Woman of Substance (4:04)
This is a memorial video.
A tribute to my Mom ... "We finally got it right and time ran out."

Image printed directly on the disk. Booklet included inside contains listing of photos in order of appearance. External insert with photo on front and summary on the back.

Oceans, Seashells and Summer Vacations—
Remembering Mom

(first published May 2004)

Easter 1996. She made dinner for seven people—me, a friend, my two boys, Phillip and Scott, Dad, and herself. Six weeks later, she was gone.

Mom cooked family dinners every night. She kept an immaculate home in color-coordinated decor, made sure I had clothes in the latest fashion for my figure, taught me to sew and cook, and encouraged me by example that reading was an important pastime. She taught me strength as she faced adversity of her own. At Christmas time, as we visited families less fortunate than ours, she taught me compassion for others. I learned that we all have at least one passion. Mom’s was golf. Mine is reading and writing.

Two and a half years later, in 1998, I revisited a familiar place and wrote this to her:

I sit on a rock at the ocean’s edge remembering I’ve been here before.
Mom, I’ve come back to visit you here where we spent many vacation hours with the boys, Aunt Pat, and Dad. Once, soon after you died, I sat on a different beach and remembered the same thing, but promised I would get back here one day to visit you on the same ground, the same waterfront we shared in a time gone by. I’ve kept my promise.

I reflect. Short-term promises are easy to recognize in their keeping. One hasn’t had time to forget the promise. But long-term realized promises are more difficult. In the time between the promise made and the promise fulfilled, one can easily forget it. When a promise is fulfilled many days, weeks, or months later, the frustrations of the day may cloud the blessing that has finally come.

Mom, I am here to spend just a glimpse of time with you, appreciating all that you have given me. I believe I did not give you adequate recognition and appreciation when you were here, but please know you sit on high ground now. There is one quality you had that I only wish to be capable of—the ability to shrug off a mood and show a happy face to the world. I often find it difficult to do so when I need to. You were an entertainer—an actress, in your own right. I still search to figure out who and what I am, what I am really good at. I used to blame you for that struggle. But now I know it is inherent in the course of my journey. I strive so hard not to blame others for my displeasure, but I often feel I carry an anger so deep that I need help to dig it out and dispose of it. It’s time now.

I don’t quite understand why I feel so sad, so lost, so isolated. I have plenty of people around me—many who take pleasure in my company—some who seek me out.

But something is missing . . .

I sit by the ocean with that wondrous whoosh and thunder of waves washing up to shore. I contemplate how it must feel to be a sea creature carried by the waves.

Sometimes you may simply flow peacefully through the water observing life as you go by. Sometimes you may be crushed by the force of the water into a rock or the sand. Are you hurt? Are you stranded? Do you wonder why this is happening to you? Or do you take it in stride, pick yourself up, and catch the next wave to safety? You don’t know if the next wave is a vehicle to safety or transport to further danger. You go anyway. And then you may be washed to shore to be left to dry out and possibly . . . most likely . . . to die. But your life is not over, because if you have a shell or a soul, someone comes to pick you up and shelter you and revere you . . . to find the preciousness in you. They take you home.

There are always moments of preciousness. The joy is found in the recognition of these moments.

It is odd that as I sit here, listening to the crash and splash of the tide coming in, absorbing the faint warmth of the sun breaking through the cloud cover, that I begin to feel at peace with my complete aloneness even though people continue to maneuver around me . . . some jogging, some walking, couples walking hand-in-hand, and parents helping children search for the souls of beached shells. It is odd that with all this life going on around me, I feel I am the sole survivor sitting on a lone beach . . . the only one to hear the sound of the waves grow louder as the tide comes in . . . and feel a faint breeze whisper across my face.

I breathe the salty air . . . that familiar scent that takes me back to memories of many summers gone by, but can paradoxically keep me in the present moment. I feel I’m floating in a bubble, simply an observer of all that God has created. The bubble is timeless.

It’s time to catch the bus from Del Coronado Hotel back to the Ferry Landing, and on to my hotel. How I would love to stay here longer, allow nature’s rhythms to cleanse my soul . . . to do so completely . . . to remove the barnacles, and smooth my rough edges to reveal the inherent beauty.

Now, on Mother’s Day 2004, I reflect. I celebrate who Mom was to me; grateful, as I discover my own talents.

This story originally appeared in Write from the Inside: The Ezine in May 2004. It has since been published in my first book, Write from the Inside: Dig for Treasures, Discover Yourself, Leave a Legacy, copyright 2006.

Wedding

2007-04-26T14:32:00.000-06:00

My Niece: All Grown Up (10:36)
This video features my niece and family on her wedding day in 2005.

Image printed directly on the disk. Booklet included inside is a blank journal with title page and dedication. External insert with photo on front and summary on the back.

Child's Highlights

2007-04-25T14:29:00.000-06:00

Madison: So Sweet & Going Places Already (5:07)
Great Granpa honors his great grand-daughter

"When I first saw the video Lissa created of my great grand-daughter, my first thought was, 'Who can I call? I want to share this with someone.'" - Joe Sabah

Image printed directly on the disk. Booklet included inside is a blank journal with title page and dedication. External insert with photo on front and summary on the back.

Life Review

2007-04-21T19:45:00.000-06:00

Living the Dream ... a review of my life (4:24)
I am living my dreams!

Image printed directly on the disk. Booklet included inside is a blank journal with title page and dedication. External insert with photo on front and summary on the back.