Interview with Neal Schaffer, Author of Digital Threads

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Digital Threads: The Small Business and Entrepreneur Digital First Marketing Playbook?

I have always thought that sharing my knowledge and experience would lead to new opportunities. Digital Threads begins where my previous book, The Age of Influence, left off. It was from the writing of that book that led many businesses to contact me requesting help with their influencer marketing, but after working together with them, I realized that there were other digital marketing channels that might be more effective at helping them reach their objective. The methodology of Digital Threads was born, and after applying it to several Fractional CMO clients, I realized it was the perfect time to share my experiences in the format of a book to serve all of the entrepreneurs and small businesses that could benefit from my experience.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I do like to read nonfiction business books, I find inspiration in them, not only for my career, but for life in general. And, yes, it is the same genre I like to write in!

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

I am actually doing research for my next book so I am digging into the classic books about entrepreneurship: The Lean Startup, Zero to One, The E-Myth Revisited, Rework, and Traction!

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

I actually enjoyed the chapter about user-generated content. Businesses invest a lot of time and energy into creating social media content that simply doesn’t get any visibility. It’s hard to compete with content creators and influencers for the attention of social media users. That is why I wrote this chapter: To teach businesses to invest the time and energy they spend in creating their own content to instead invest that time into developing relationships and making efforts to encourage others to share content about their business. I want businesses to rethink why and how they use social media, and this chapter provided me the opportunity to do so.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I definitely write in spurts. While some writers write every day, I write for many hours when I get into the groove of writing!

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

80% of success is showing up!

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

I purposefully did not define what Digital Threads meant until the concluding chapter of the book. That was done intentionally because I wanted the reader to understand that it was not just one channel or activity but multiple digital threads that would lead a business to success in digital marketing.

Neal Schaffer is the author of the new book Digital Threads: The Small Business and Entrepreneur Digital First Marketing Playbook

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