- Quarter Turn
- Posts
- Quarter Turn + Dennis Geelen
Quarter Turn + Dennis Geelen
For this first edition of Quarter Turn+, I was lucky to get a “yes” from my friend Dennis Geelen.
If you like:
one-person businesses
becoming a better person
and Dad jokes
then you want Dennis in your social media feed yesterday.
In his words, here are his story, favorite tools, advice, and reading.
What’s your online writing origin story?
In 2018, I was unexpectedly laid off from my corporate job.
I was 43 at the time, and up to that point, I didn’t think I had an entrepreneurial bone in my body. But with some convincing from my incredible wife, Cindy, I decided to bet on myself and start my own one-person management consulting business (Zero In).
Turns out I knew nothing about starting a business.
I had a ton to learn about branding, marketing, and sales. But everywhere I turned, the advice suggested I need to engage people with stories and good copywriting. So, I dove in.
I started writing on LinkedIn. I was terrible but got better.
Next I wrote a book. I was terrible. But the next one was a bit better.
I saw that my writing was helping me get clients, so I doubled down.
When COVID hit I took the extra time I had to write my 3rd book. This one (The Zero In Formula) was released in Sept 2020 and it took off!
People started asking for my advice on starting their own consulting or coaching business and on writing books. So of course, I wrote a 4th book (The Accidental Solopreneur). It was released in Sept 2022 and it took off as well.
That led me to launch my newsletter (Happy Accidents) in February of this year.
I’ve learned from some pretty terrific authors and copywriters and continue to hone my writing on a weekly basis.
What have been the most important tools, topics, or ideas in supporting your journey?
I soak up anything I can find when it comes to writing. People like Justin Welsh, Dickie Bush, and Charles Miller put out some great content on LinkedIn and Twitter.
For tools, I use a variety:
Hypefury for both ideas and scheduling posts
ChatGPT for ideas and research
Grammarly and Hemingway App for editing
Canva for creating visuals for posts or my newsletter
For topics, I’ve become obsessed with the idea of accidental success over the past year. This all started from a) my own accidental journey and b) listening to the ‘How I Built This’ podcast.
At the end of every episode the host, Guy Raz, asks the guest how much of their success is due to their own hard work and how much is due to luck. Their answers fascinated me and I decided to delve deeper into that aspect of success.
Now I just can’t stop researching and writing about these stories for my Happy Accidents newsletter!
What’s a favorite quote or piece of advice that you’d share with other writers?
My personal motto these days is to make my future self proud and solve for regret.
If I hadn’t at least tried to start my own business, I knew I would regret it. If I hadn’t taken a stab at writing and specifically publishing some books, I knew I would regret it.
My biggest advice would be to get over your fears (they’re mostly false anyway) and just go for it!
What writing advice do you think is wildly overrated?
There’s a ton of bogus writing gurus on the internet. Be careful who you follow.
I like to look for people who have already done what I am doing and have been successful at it.
Some of the overrated advice I see is to always be short and concise.
That’s terrible advice!
In general, yes, it’s easier to read. But give me some writing with a flow to it. A few short sentences, maybe a medium sentence thrown in, a few more short ones, then maybe a long one.
At the end of the day, good writing will stand out by what you say and how you say. Not just from keeping all your sentences short.
Which books—on ANY topic—do you recommend to people most often?
Lots!
Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order:
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry – By John Mark Comer
Mastering Uncertainty – By Matt Watkinson and Csaba Konkoly
Getting Naked – By Patrick Lencioni
Built to Sell – By John Warrillow
The War of Art – By Steven Pressfield
On Writing – By Stephen King
[note: as usual, no affiliate links here - just Amazon links]
What’s something you’ve taught yourself to do that you’re proud of?
I’ve had a lot of help along the way, but I’m super proud of my writing and how much I have been able to hone it over the past 5 years.
It’s the foundation that my business is built on.
