Today’s episode is bittersweet because I’m re-running a conversation I had with Dan Miller back in August of 2021. Dan was the founder of 48 Days, a company dedicated to helping you find or create work you love. He was also the author of the highly influential book, 48 Days to the Work You Love.
Dan discovered he had pancreatic cancer in December of last year, and in just a few short weeks, he was gone. It was a shock to the many thousands of people who knew, loved, and respected Dan.
In the early years of my journey in building a writing business, no one was more influential and helpful to my thinking than Dan Miller. I remember going to his “Write to the Bank” conference in 2012, feeling so intimidated by being around highly successful authors and business leaders that I barely spoke to anyone the whole time.
Yet I immediately found that Dan and his wife, Joanne, along with other conference attendees, were incredibly gracious and kind.
It’s no exaggeration to say that I would absolutely not have a writing business today if it weren’t for Dan. He impacted countless people, and some of those in turn had a big impact on me as well. I will forever be grateful for what Dan did for my life through his writing, podcast, events, and simply caring about me as an individual.
Here’s a quick story that was so typical of Dan. A few weeks before he discovered he had pancreatic cancer, he sent me an email totally out of the blue. Back in 2018, I had sent in a question to him to answer on his podcast. At the time, I was a college professor and was looking to transition away from teaching. I asked him if it would be possible to do it within five years, and how I would go about that.
Wouldn’t you know it … five years later, Dan emailed me to see how things were going. Of course, we had interacted in the years between then, but I was absolutely amazed that he remembered to check on how I was doing five years after I’d sent that message. Of course, he knew that I’d gone on to build a business, but he was curious about my thoughts on my transition.
That was pretty typical of Dan—always an encourager who helped you become something better than you’d be on your own.
On this episode, you’ll hear some amazing stories from Dan’s adventures as an author, including how he developed the first edition of the 48 Days book, why a book is like a business card, what it means to have SWISS dollars (you’ll see what he means by that), and how his podcast helped grow his business.
Although Dan is gone, you can still access his books, podcast, and all things 48 Days-related at https://48days.com.
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Today’s episode is sponsored by Karen Hunsanger, an incredible editor known as “The Word Wizard.” I’ve worked with Karen many times, and she is your secret weapon for crafting the highest-quality book possible. Visit the link above for a free sample edit.
