Controversy surrounding the book, “A Million Little Pieces” endorsed by Oprah’s famous book club, may just be pure marketing strategy by author, James Frey - or, pure con strategy.

Either way, thanks to the arduous research by The Smoking Gun surrounding the facts and lies of A Million Little Pieces, we learn the “supposed” non-fiction book was more fiction than non.

A million little lessons

If anything positive can come from this fiasco, that was, more than anything, an insult to Oprah and her work with her book club that got millions of people back to doing what’s really important - reading - is that “bad PR” is sometimes just that - bad PR.

Oprah teaches Frey about what a lie is and the consequences of conning powerful women… I guess he still has a million little lessons to learn - and perhaps if he submitted himself to going through a 12-steps program, that he demeans and puts down in his book, then perhaps he wouldn’t be in the hot water that he is, because he would have learned this lesson from his sponsor.

To me - the bottom line is that even if controversial marketing works, and despite the fact that he’s getting a ton of attention - I would never advise my coaching clients and authors to engage in something that you would not be proud of down the road.

It doesn’t matter that his book is making more and more headlines than ever with this controversy - the fact that he deceived others by letting them think it was all truth, will diminish trust in the author - which means - good luck with any future book you ever thought of writing as a sequel.

Why was Oprah embarrased?

People trust Oprah - so when she recommends a book, people automatically pick it up and say, “Hey! This MUST be a great book because OPRAH says so!”

Oprah knows she wields this type of power and influence on millions of Americans - and she takes that responsibility very seriously.

But this doesn’t mean any of the journalists should be taking jabs on Oprah - because all she did was share a book she found interesting with her audience. We’re all still responsible to decide whether it’s a book WE would enjoy reading.

I must admit… the cover of the book is interesting, and I was tempted to pick up the book the last few times I was in the book aisle at Costco. But something kept stopping me. Something about the back cover, or the text inside. And then, when I did a little research when I returned home on the internet, I found an audio clip of the author reading his book. And that did even more to convince me this book was not for me.

Within the first few sentences, this guy insults people who have addictions, insults the 12-step program, which I’ve seen help dozens of people when I worked at a social service agency, and he pooh-poohs the concept of God.

Well - perhaps if he believeed in the power of prayer - he might have gotten “the message” from a “Higher Power” that what he was about to do, deceive the American people - was simply… wrong.

Oprah questions him in un-Oprah-esque fashion
Looks like Dr. Phil is rubbing off on Oprah - in a good way. Oprah sure helps Frey understand what a lie is and the consequence of telling lies when he came back on her show so she could ask a million little questions. And boooooy! Did she let him have it!

I’ve never seen Oprah like this. I have an all new respect for her.

She knows how to captivate and entertain an audience, but ultimately she delivers a product that she can be proud of. And it infuriates me that something like this would happen, and thereby discourage her from continuing to invite authors on her show to talk about their books, and put her seal of endorsement on her favorite books.

I hate when people talk about the person who was deceived (the victim) as though they were somehow inadequate - how they were “conned”. To me, that’s simply deflecting the real blame and the real issue - of the character of the con man himself. Let’s not cast expursions on those who have been “fooled”. Let’s put the real blame and responsibility where it lies. With James Frey- and James Frey only.

My message to Oprah:
Keep on promoting the practice of reading. And whatever you feel, don’t feel duped. Show women all across America that women never need to feel bad for trusting people. That’s a natural quality of the innocent. Only the people who are conning others should feel bad and suffer the consequences.

It reminds me of The Paradoxical Commandments, by Dr. Kent M. Keith where it talks about how people may treat you poorly and deceive you, possibly even use you, despite your goodwill towards them, yet - the author promptly encourages you to “Do the right thing anyway!”

We never want to allow others to change our personality, nor encourage us to behave against our character - and that includes how we market and engage in obtaining publicty.

Final Thoughts:
I saw an article that looked like a bookstore was offering refunds for anyone who bought his book. To me - that should come directly out of Frey’s pocket.

What do you think? Share your comments below…

And do you think it’s ever ok to lie to get more publicity?

Or do you think there’s a clear line between getting attention for your products and services, and that you should never compromise your character - even if it means less profit in your pocket.

Deborah Micek is known as the “Business Communication Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™.

Official Life Coach for the Dream Makeover Hawaii TV show aired on NBC, internationally published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. Deborah is a managing partner with the international small business coaching company RPM Success Group Inc.®

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Business Coaching Question:

Subject: RE: finding a “master” web master for all online marketing and tech support

Dear Coach J.P.,

In your business coachinghave you come across a good web master that you can recommend? Someone who knows how to do everything (design, coding, pop ups, exit survey’s, etc)? If so, do you feel comfortable sharing them with me?

I currently use several different people right now, mostly independent contractors outside my company. I’ve been searching for several months now and have not yet found a one person who can do it all.

It’s been a challenge !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They all seem to swear that they’re the best - then when you give them a project they come back with excuse after excuse about why no-one could ever do it - then I spend a few hours of my time and I get it done. Since I have the knowledge in this area, maybe I should be a web master. NOT!!!

HELP! What’s your guidance or coaching for a business owner tired of managing multiple tech people?

Sincerely,

Tech Support Juggler

Business Coach’s Answer:

Dear Tech Support Juggler,

Amen brother… I hear ya! I know exactly how frustrating this type of challenge is. And when you have an expertise in this (or any area of business,) it is tempting to take it all on yourself. But as you know from our mastermind meetings in the Business Owner’s Coaching Club — taking it on yourself is the last thing you want to do as the owner. Especially with all the progress you’ve made in setting the business up to run without you.

I wouldn’t have a problem sharing a direct reference for a “master” web master, if I had ONE. Currently we have four different people all with their own expertise. And when necessary (since it’s one area of my areas of expertise,) I fill in the blanks.

After giving this some consideration, here are my thoughts.

From both my business coaching experience, and my 25+ years of business ownership, I think there needs to be a manager who coordinates/oversees multiple designers/programmers. This is the much preferred option to having ONE “master” web master. This is a long term strategy for running a successful business with any sizable online presence. (Which in today’s marketplace should be all businesses in 97% of the industries/professions out there.)

For me personally, with RPM Success Group Inc., I know this much of this “management” will be on my plate for a while, as it will be for you. But that’s no excuse for passive acceptance of the status quo. Falling back on yourself long-term, or depending on ONE tech person is not the way to go because that’s not creating a systematized business. That’s creating a job! I’ve never run any of my previous businesses that way long term, and I know you haven’t either. I guess that’s why it’s SOOOO frustrating for us a business owners to face this type of situation.

It’s an unfortunate growing pain that it falls on our shoulders until we can hire a marketing manager or train a full time office manager to handle things. But that’s part of the game.

Business Coaching Q&A NOTE: for the business owner who has a more passive web presence (i.e.: no online sales, but more of a focus on building a prospect list and creating a relationship with those people through regular communication) — you may be able to get away with ONE “master” web master. But you still need to apply the following advice to ensure they don’t get too much power or fall too far off-track.

For small business owners, here are three reasons I prefer multiple service providers (as outsource agents/independent contractors) vs. ONE “master” web master:

1. Each provider can be screened/qualified to have a TRUE expertise in one to three technical areas. Their productivity and performance should be higher than any person who claims they can “do it all.” And because of their narrow niche of expertise, you can better monitor their performance.

2. Since outsource agents are paid based on the satisfactory completion of a project, not by the hour — you have a performance-based reward system automatically built in.

3. There is no centralized dependency on ONE individual as a “master” web master. This helps prevent the company (and me) from being held hostage to the whims of any one person. If one cog in the wheel fails or gives you problems — you pull it out and replace it. But the machine (your business) still keeps running in other areas, or at least it’s not brought to it’s knees. (I know we’re talking about people here. So excuse the mechanical analogy.:))

The key to success with this model is having an office manager who’ll be responsible for all project and accountability management.

Clear goals and a mutually agreed upon time lines are critical. That way, you as the business owner can limit your involvement to the oversight and creative levels. And the office manager is the one holding outsource agents accountable to predetermined parameters.

Our goal for early 06′ is to find and train a new office manager to do just that.

So there’s my business coaching advice on this. If you want, bring this up in an upcoming Business Owner’s Coaching Club mastermind. That way we can expand on some specific action steps for you.

Enjoy!

Coach J.P.

John-Paul Micek has been dubbed the “Communication Commando” by by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club. He’s a weekly columnist for the business section of the Honoulu Star Bulletin, and a managing partner with the international small business development company RPM Success Group Inc.

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc. and licensed under a Creative Commons License.