“Vampires, witches, wizards, and death NO MORE.
Angel Academy is the world’s next reading phenomenon.”
Aaron M. Stephens, M.B.A. was disturbed with the media glamorizing vampires, werewolves, witches and dystopia and created a wholesome good read for children called Angel Academy in 25 days.
Marketing efforts solely by the author started six months prior to the book launch in July 2014 with the book Facebook Fan pages (author page & book page) acquiring over 100,000 likes in less than 4 months. Fans from every nation around the world participated in choosing the book cover which appeals to children of every religion internationally.
Angel Academy, almost 300 pages with 31 chapters delivers an enlightening perspective for children of all ages to discover the magical world of angels. The author and the book are non-denominational and reflect a multitude of religious beliefs for children to understand including a chapter on Dog Heaven to aid in losing a lost pet.
The Vietnamese born author is the 7th son of a 7th son, with an identical twin, the 8th son. He is a gifted individual with talents extending in marketing, as well as an artist, singer, dancer, photographer and web designer. Read more at http://angel.academy/ The book officially released worldwide on 11.18.14 on Amazon.com and everywhere eBooks are sold. You can support your local bookstore, The Tattered Cover, and order your book online with delivery on or after 11.18.14. Click here. International customers can order here with free shipping, delivery in 7-10 days.
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Platform MBA
Would you just LOVE to have your own platform of fans and followers? Thousands and thousands of people to hang onto your every word, LIKE your posts, share them and engage with you daily? Everyone wants to be liked, it’s human nature.
I now have over 120,000 fans since July. Wow. Why am I excited about that? My friends, that is power. Social media influence over thousands who vote with their likes and their dollars. I am the first author who generated income BEFORE the book launched. Yes seriously. Thousands of pre-orders, bookmarks, and posters; and that is just the beginning. We all know that “Angel Barbie” is around the corner next year. Imagine the number of fans after my book comes out and people love fall in love with my carefully crafted characters. Braeden and Morgan are going to be the two number 1 baby names. Trust me on this one. It’s going to be big. 😉
If your business page is struggling and your posts aren’t liked there is a reason. Facebook is the one place that you can’t fake it. You’re either liked or you’re not. Impressive fan numbers perpetuate that snowball effect of increasing popularity. I have successfully replicated this process on 3 different business pages using the same formula.
My new book will talk about NOT how I did it, but TEACH you how to do it too. Too many want to brag about their results but not tell you how to do it yourself. Boo. Remember I was an online college professor, so this comes naturally for me. Develop a great product, connect with your customers and turn fans into loyal customers.
Do Facebook LIKES translate into sales? The answer is YES! There is a strategy and a madness to my methods and I will explain each of them at a sixth grade level. Personally when I am learning something new I look at credentials of the expert. A lot of the other “experts” don’t even list educational credentials or any experience. I wonder, “How is it you make all these claims when there is nothing really to back it up?”
There is so much to know other than writing a good book. There is pre-launch period, where all kinds of things happen. This is probably the busiest time of activity, tasks, phone calls, meetings, appointments, partnerships, alliances. There is a ton of marketing that has to happen. Most people can’t afford a marketing manager, publicist, web designer, graphic designer and spokesperson and so they are forced to do what they can on their own and leverage the talent of friends.
I have read Michael Hyatt’s book called Platform and I am now reading Jeff Walker’s book Launch, neither who have advanced degrees or have been a marketing manager or a product manager. I was the marketing manager for the Colorado Bar Association continuing legal education and left there to be a product manager at SGI Business group for GE. From there I went into retail marketing management for Best Buy for 7 years. I find it a little disturbing. How can someone tell you how a marketing plan is supposed to be inclusive of your plan if they never had one themselves? Hmmm, odd they never once talk about marketing plans, organization, structure, financing, advertising or ever power partners. Launch had 24 endorsements from well known names. 24! Why so many? Do you need to convince the reader that you fooled other people about your book?
What I find very interesting, is every person who endorsed his book did not have a massive following of fans because of his book, nor stated his book actually was used in their own efforts. Yes, I checked and looked them up. In all fairness, the book LAUNCH has a super long subtitle (not recommended) that is (get ready for it) “An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula To Sell Almost Anything Online, Build A Business You Love, And Live The Life Of Your Dreams”. It’s the “almost anything” that gets him out of not having a real marketing plan. I’ll sum it up for you in one sentence. “Email your friends (if you have any, surely you have one … your mom) and ask for their help in endorsing and supporting you so they email their friends. Repeat over and over.” Sorry, but my own mother hasn’t been going around telling people that her son is a published author and she even has an actual book in her possession and it hasn’t launched yet.
Do you know what a product champion is? It is NOT the person who is going to spam their friends via email for your product/idea. Sorry. It is someone on your marketing team, or not on the team, who is out there pushing and promoting your product. You did not pay this person, or even ask for their assistance. They took it upon themselves to advance your cause. I have dozens of these people across the globe doing the same thing for me now for Angel Academy. Why? Because I resonate with these people on some level and we see things eye to eye. It might have been a blog like this one, maybe it was LIKING their product or page, or even supporting them and retweeting, it might have been a random thought, it might be what I stand for. Regardless the reason, they are there, helping you. Your silent invisible angel blessing your mission. I like to think of these individuals as your secret weapon in your launch. Neither of these books talks about product champions.
You know, it’s not that I come up with these terrific ideas. I would have to say more than anything I am very keen at identifying areas in the marketplace that have gone unfulfilled adequately. This goes to a very basic S.W.O.T. analysis. Determining the market for the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and then maximizing on them. I have decided to market my marketing background, product management, sales AND my M.B.A. as an expert and authority in the matter. Will I identify additional areas of opportunity and maximize on it? Absolutely.
Many people see a challenge and a problem and give up too easily. I see an opportunity and a chance to make an impact (financially, emotionally, relationship). I have to say I am very excited about my new book, which for now will be code name “Platform MBA”. I will incorporate all the things using my business and marketing expertise to help millions. As you can see this is a book that has been a work in the making. It’s going to be just awesome!
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Will the REAL Aaron Stephens please stand up?
Did you know that Aaron Stephens is a very common name? Yep, it’s true. Years ago when MySpace.com was popular I had a group of almost 100 other Aaron’s with the exact same name. Crazy huh? I actually talked with two in real life. One Aaron worked at Best Buy somewhere in Michigan or something, and he was always getting my emails. The other Aaron Stephens worked at AT&T in Virginia. He too was always getting my emails. Both were really nice guys.
Here’s another crazy thing, there is an Aaron Stephens that lives IN Denver, and another Aaron Stephens that lives in Nebraska, where I’m from. Of course I have looked up people who have the same name as me. One thing is for sure, once I become a celebrity in the US when my book launches, it is going to cause problems for the other Aaron Stephens.
One day Facebook will realize that there are more than one of me running around and want to verify me. When I set up the page I used “official” in front of my name, just like on the book page. Something about seeing “official” somehow helps fans.
There actually is an actor with the same name. He’s a white American guy, looks nothing like me. He does have an IMDB page. I’m sure at some point I’ll move into acting and have one of those pages too. It’s a natural move for singers to move into acting.
I thought if I branded myself with my middle initial “M” I would be one of a kind. Nope. No such luck. I am however, the only Aaron M. Stephens that has an MBA (that I know of). Just so you know, Aaron Stephens is the name my American white family gave me. My Vietnamese name is a very common surname and a very common first name. Nothing special about that one either. Minh Nyguen (I probably have it spelled wrong) or something as common as Mike Miller, or John Smith.
I am the only Asian “Aaron Stephens” with a white guy name. I have a mid-western accent growing up in Nebraska. I can DO accents, but I really don’t have one.
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Bucket List Item – Check
Bucket List Item: Perform a solo at Mile Hi Church in front of a live audience. Check.
For years I dreamed/fantasized what it would be like holding a microphone singing on stage at my church. I am so blessed, thankful and my heart is so full of love. Dozens of people came up to me and told me they loved me and how great we sounded. People loved my bow tie.
A special thank you to Stacey Landes for believing in me. The two songs actually were about believing. Our new minster, Rev. Shannon received my gift/book, and in her service she secretly acknowledged us as the “choir angels”. After I sang and was walking back to the riser she mouthed “thank you” to me. I know that the room was filled with angels.
Every minister got a beautifully wrapped present in rich red paper with a white silk ribbon. Of course it was signed and had a bookmark waiting at chapter 1. The presentation is as wonderful as the gift inside. Certainly out of 20 ministers ONE will want to give me a wonderful review. I would LOVE a minister endorsement right about now.
I was told by several people that after my book comes out I better get used to being in front of big audiences, and then I can sing, talk, laugh, joke, tell stories, read a poem or whatever I want. I’m a heck of a dancer, I can do that too. Knowing that there were hundreds or even thousands of my fans watching all over the world really made a difference for me. Gratitude friends.
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10%
Do you tithe? Tithing means you give 10% of your earnings back to your source (God). I tithe, and 10% of all my book profits will go back to Mile Hi Church. I feel so strongly about it I even put it in the back of my book. I have to say when I made that mental commitment with the Universe my life changed for the better.
I’m self-employed, so I don’t have a steady paycheck. Even when I didn’t have money to give (no paycheck) I still managed to find some money to give to the church. EVERY single time when I had less to give, the Universe always paid me back tenfold for my little contributions. Many people think “Oh, when I make some good money I’ll start giving to the church.” It should be just the opposite.
I had always heard about “those” people who tithed, giving away their hard earned money to church. I was blindsided by ignorance and immaturity at the time and my spiritual eyes had not been opened yet. It wasn’t until I read “Prosperity” by Charles Fillmore from the Unitarian church that I finally could see. It explained how the farmers dedicated one tenth of their crops to God. Amazingly those farmers all prospered and did well. The other farmers who were doing poorly tried it, thinking they had nothing to lose at that point and guess what? They also prospered. Could life really be that simple? Can you simply allocate in your mind and your checkbook to the church? What IF you did and something amazing happened? An opportunity? An idea? A new friendship?
What if a small percentage of my fans all decided to give 10% back to their church? The world is a really big place, but anything and everything can start with one person with an idea. One belief that has such strong conviction that others will feel that vibrational energy and respond in kind.
Would you believe that some of the biggest ideas came from some of the smallest minded people? It’s true. Did you know that when I pitched Angel Academy I was told no one would buy my book. Do you know that I am still in the top 100 on Amazon in children’s religious fiction and my book comes out in a month? Don’t ever listen to anyone tell you that you can’t do something. How would they know? They aren’t you. They don’t know what you are capable of or what amazing creation you are going to dazzle the world.
I believe in you. One of your angels made sure you saw this blog. Smile, someone is watching over you.
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I Believe
Life is full of signs. I believe in signs. Earlier I found a “Believe” charm on a dog tag chain and I knew it was meant for me. It actually hangs above my monitor so I can see it. A constant reminder from the angels.
My tagline for the book is “The World is Ready To Believe.” So how perfect is that? Ready for the next cool sign? I sing in the choir, actually this Sunday at 10 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (GMT -7) you can actually see me singing. Go to milehichurch.org and then click on live service. So here is the cool thing, I was selected to sing the descant (like a solo) for one of the songs. I know right? How cool is that? The really cool thing is the song is entitled “I Believe”. Coincidence? Not a chance.
This morning as I was rehearsing tears came to my eyes as I really listened to the words. It’s almost like this song was written for me and this book. So I wanted to share the lyrics with you.
There comes a moment when my heart must stand alone
On this lonely path I’ve chosen, like a house that’s not a home.
Sometimes when I feel I’ve had enough and I feel like giving in
You will me to be, all I can be
Now nothing can stop me
I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one
I believe together we’ll fly
I believe in the power of you and I.
This is the moment we have dreamed of all our lives
We’ll be the change we wish from others;
We’ll stand tall for what is right
And in my heart there’ll be no doubt
the arms of the world will come reaching out
and embrace me to be, all that I can be! Now nothing can stop me.
I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one
I believe together we’ll fly
I believe in the power of you and I.
I believe I believe I believe in – I believe I believe I believe in — you.
I believe in the power that comes from a world brought together as one
I believe together we’ll fly
I believe in the power of you and I.
I have had a lot of requests from fans for more pictures and videos about me. The blog is a good start, and seeing me perform online will be the next. If you do happen to be online 10.19.14 at 10 a.m. GMT-7, you can see me. If you are in the chat room Sunday shout out what country you are from. I know my peeps and what countries love me. 😉
The World is Ready To Believe.
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Author Review of Angel Academy
Author Review of Angel Academy
If you follow my tweets, then you know this morning angels told me to write the worst review for my book and the best review for my book.
I wrote the bad one and it is just ugly. Nope, you don’t get to see it. The good review was really, really good. So my friends wanted to see it and I thought my fans might want to see it also. I have to warn you, it’s dripping with accolades.
“Amazing. Spectacular. The most impressive writing this turn of the century. Everything a reader could want out of a children’s masterpiece Stephens delivers flawlessly.
Angel Academy provides countless hours of page turning excitement as this debut author delights readers of all ages in a non-denominational story on so many levels. Introducing a large cast of personalities, readers will struggle with choosing just one favorite and will love them all.
Children will love this magical imaginary land where you quickly find yourself immersed in beautiful colorful worlds. There is no world that is off limits for angels and readers will quickly want to learn more about these fantastic new worlds.
When you read it a second or a third time you will find so many hidden treasures. A very easily identifiable theme is “Love”. Stephens’ advanced writing skills and techniques drives readers deeper and deeper with every emotional bonding sub-story. Trust, betrayal, loss, death, remorse, forgiveness, friendship and faith are all cleverly disguised in each chapter.
Reviewing the table of contents and you can’t help but feel giddy seeing “God’s Office, Happy Birthday Baby Jesus, Dog Heaven and Oh Jesus, Air Force One Is Under Attack”. No doubt this will soon be a children & adult favorite for years to come.”
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Oh The Places We Could Go!
So here is what I am thinking for my book launch. I am contemplating doing a book signing event in NYC in Times Square at Barnes & Noble flagship store. I love New York City and things are looking extremely positive for setting up with Barnes & Noble. So why not pick the biggest city where I could sell the most amount of books? Why limit myself just to Denver? I have a pretty large following of fans and I know of ton of them would love to see me in person. Airfare is all a part of doing business, especially when you are launching an international best seller. I’ll start looking at hotels tomorrow along with flights. I think a Saturday morning and afternoon would be fun, then I could go explore the city in the evening and then go to another store in the city, probably downtown and do another signing before leaving Sunday night. Afterwards we could take in a show or go to a club as VIP’s. Yes seriously.
I was also considering Washington D.C. as another location. I’ll stop by the White House and give a few books to the First Lady. Yes also serious. Last I checked she had two little girls. Everyone knows that you can’t be the President if you don’t have a religious upbringing. So why not stop by, say hi, take some selfies and then do another book signing in the D.C. area. It’ll be fun.
Everything that I have foretold that would happen has happened. Angels are seriously making all these amazing things happen. It’s their book. Last night I was visited by angels who gave me an amazing new story line … dream angels. They visit you in your dreams to tell you important messages. They can’t wait for me to start writing about it. Angel Academy was created in 25 days. The rest of the books will also be created in record time. I already have all the stories recorded in my head. Angels have also told me that I have suddenly shown up American Express Centurion’s radar. Did you know there is a celebrity division that can get you a black card through a back door? If I am reserving limited edition signed books for their members certainly they would want to add me to their list of distinguished celebrities right?
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Rick Riordan – Book Event
Sunday was the book deal for Rick Riordan in Boulder Colorado. It wasn’t even a book signing. It was him on stage talking. It was sold out. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to get tickets. I even called American Express and asked the concierge if they could get me tickets. No go. It was a sign from the Universe that it wasn’t meant to happen. A friend of mine suggested I buy several books showing my support so I would have more face time with him and I could give him my book. I could give them as gifts. I honestly haven’t read this series, so I had no idea what was even going on in this book. But as gifts, I could do that. $60 USD saved plus the cost of the tickets.
So if you didn’t know, Rick is the New York Times best selling author of the Percy Jackson series. He sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide making him a millionaire and pretty famous. I read up on him and his story and he and I mirror each other quite a bit.
For starters, we both were teachers. He was high school English, I was a college professor teaching human resources. He wrote about Greek Gods, I wrote about God. He wrote about the half sons of God, I wrote about all of the sons and daughters of God. His characters have to save to fight and defend the world, my characters fight and defend the Universe. He wanted to write something good for his son, I wanted to write something good for all of God’s children.
Since I have read several of his books and there are many things that I liked but many things I didn’t like. For starters, he frequently leaves out who is talking. If you get distracted and have to look away for a second, if you lose your place you have no idea who is talking or what they are saying. This drives me up the wall when an author does this. I promise you I will never do that in my books. You will always know who is saying what, where they are saying it, or if they are thinking it.
As a fellow author I always read what readers say about their new favorite — or not so favorite book — in the Amazon.com reviews. There will always be supporters that sugar coat things and tell it like it is through rose colored glasses, and then there are those who won’t hold back for anything and really let the author have it. In Rick’s book, the final in the book series, he left out the two main characters, Percy and Annabeth and left the climax of the book series to a measly 3 paragraphs leaving readers disappointed. For the end of a book AND the series, I think this was a huge let down. From what I gather, no more books from Rick either. If you read his official website he is kind of snotty. Saying things like, “Don’t even think of emailing my agent or publisher asking for a signed copy because you won’t get one. I don’t do school talks either so don’t bother asking about that either.” For a school teacher now celebrity that isn’t very nice. There is a way to gently let people down nicely. At least I will be that way.
I would imagine that is my cue to enter stage left and tell the world about about a new writer who is not go to disappoint. Unlike Rick, I enlist readers while the book is being created, during the edit process and finally until the very end. Hang on friends, just a little over a month and Angel Academy will be available everywhere fine books are sold.
Have a great week guys & gals! Love ya! Namaste.
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Need Help Getting a Job?
Friends, if you didn’t know I have an MBA (Master’s degree in Business Administration) in Human Resources and taught at a college for almost a decade, guiding seniors marketing themselves before graduation. I have helped thousands get good jobs.
After my book launches and is on auto pilot I plan on a new book for my fans providing some really cool tactics for getting a job, getting a promotion or starting your own business. There is a ton of wisdom, secrets I learned working HR at Best Buy and Walmart for over a decade! I also worked with unions at AT&T wireless for 4 years. Oh the things I can tell that would make an employer pay big money to shut me up. Seriously. Who can you trust? Who can’t you trust? You THINK you can trust your HR department, but guess what? They work for the employer’s best interest, not yours!
Did you know that are certain things you can say in an interview that will automatically disqualify you? Yep, and there are words that are music to an employers ears. I have interviewed thousands of candidates and for years I used to post the funny things they would say. Someone once told me I should write a book with all those things in it. Your comic relief is someone’s LIFE we’re talking about. I know, funny right?
In my classes I would actually tell the candidate afterward what they said wrong and why I would never hire them or advance them to the next round. VERY valuable feedback. Students would tell me consistently that my class was the ONE thing in college that was worth something that they could use in the real world. What if I told you some secrets when negotiating your next salary or promotion? When is the right time to talk about salary? Bringing up at a certain point and time will hinder your earning potential. How about a chapter on “All the things NOT to say in an interview?” That could be it’s own book! Look for it in 2015.
The angels were right. They asked me to please focus on ONE book for now, which I am doing, and they promised me that after it launches the world will buy any book that I write. Everything they have told me has come to fruition and I give thanks. There is a whole new world that is about to unfold before your eyes.
I have also been told by angels that the results I see on my Facebook fan pages are only the tip of the iceberg of what really is going on behind the scenes. Millions will buy and read my book before they EVER say they like it. After they read it, they will wish for a LOVE button instead of a like button.
Every day a child tells me “I love you” in a language I cannot read. My response, like God’s is, “Love you too.”
Aaron Stephens, Author.”Angel Academy.”
neither who have advanced degrees or have been a marketing manager or a product manager. I was the marketing manager for the Colorado Bar Association continuing legal education and left there to be a product manager at SGI Business group for GE. From there I went into retail marketing management for Best Buy for 7 years. I find it a little disturbing. How can someone tell you how a marketing plan is supposed to be inclusive of your plan if they never had one themselves? Hmmm, odd they never once talk about marketing plans, organization, structure, financing, advertising or ever power partners. Launch had 24 endorsements from well known names. 24! Why so many? Do you need to convince the reader that you fooled other people about your book?
“Amazing. Spectacular. The most impressive writing this turn of the century. Everything a reader could want out of a children’s masterpiece Stephens delivers flawlessly.
Why limit myself just to Denver? I have a pretty large following of fans and I know of ton of them would love to see me in person. Airfare is all a part of doing business, especially when you are launching an international best seller. I’ll start looking at hotels tomorrow along with flights. I think a Saturday morning and afternoon would be fun, then I could go explore the city in the evening and then go to another store in the city, probably downtown and do another signing before leaving Sunday night. Afterwards we could take in a show or go to a club as VIP’s. Yes seriously.
Angels have also told me that I have suddenly shown up American Express Centurion’s radar. Did you know there is a celebrity division that can get you a black card through a back door? If I am reserving limited edition signed books for their members certainly they would want to add me to their list of distinguished celebrities right?
Sunday was the book deal for Rick Riordan in Boulder Colorado. It wasn’t even a book signing. It was him on stage talking. It was sold out. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to get tickets. I even called American Express and asked the concierge if they could get me tickets. No go. It was a sign from the Universe that it wasn’t meant to happen. A friend of mine suggested I buy several books showing my support so I would have more face time with him and I could give him my book. I could give them as gifts. I honestly haven’t read this series, so I had no idea what was even going on in this book. But as gifts, I could do that. $60 USD saved plus the cost of the tickets.
imes best selling author of the Percy Jackson series. He sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide making him a millionaire and pretty famous. I read up on him and his story and he and I mirror each other quite a bit.
