A Cause For The Heart - An interview with Dr. Mani

Dr. Mani please share a little about yourself.

Thanks for having me on this interview, Freya. I'm a paediatric heart surgeon, and treat children born with congenital heart defects.
Since the vast majority of my patients come from families of low economic means and are unable to afford the expensive treatment, I came up with the idea of running an online enterprise which funds these surgeries.
As a result, I now have an information business online as well as a non-profit Foundation. From a combination of business profits and
charitable donations, we have funded 52 operations until today, with many more to follow.

What inspired you to start the Children's Heart Foundation? Can you share a little about it?

Around April 1998, I first came up with the idea of using profits from my fledgling online infopreneur business to sponsor heart surgery for one child who could not afford it. It was a vague hope, I had no idea if it would work - but to my surprise and encouragement, that happened within 2 years, and then grew to helping three more kids.
This sparked off the bigger idea of funding many more surgeries, and that's when the formal structure for a non-profit foundation was put in place. The Dr.Mani Children Heart Foundation was registered in October 2003, that's almost 6 years ago. And over this period, it has grown steadily to where we are today, with over 1,000 donors, having raised funds to sponsor more than fifty operations.
That's how a dream, backed by purpose and nurtured with persistence, can grow.

Your mission is to make high quality heart health care accessible and affordable to every Indian child. How are you doing this?

There are many dimensions to this effort. First comes building awareness of the problem. Many people know that adults get heart disease, but few are aware that children can be born with heart conditions that are just as serious and life-threatening.
Seven of every 1,000 children born alive in the world have some form of congenital heart defect (CHD), and more than one-half of them require treatment. Many are fatal without timely correction. And almost always, the cost of this is high.
In India, there are only very rough estimates. In my home state, the figure is over 47,000 children are affected by CHD - and many more are born every day.
So, after building awareness, the next step is to deliver thetreatment necessary to help this large group of children.
The effort involves a combination of private enterprise and Government backed action, both of which are progressing at a healthy pace. Our State Government has recently put into place so me initiatives that have gone a long way in helping over 1,000 children with CHD in the last year alone.
Finally, the toughest problem of all is preventing CHD (or detecting it early enough to minimize the consequences of it), and that is in the realm of research - an area where I hope to have some impact, but only later after my primary goal of helping as many children live has been achieved.


You are an author of four books. Which of them is closest to your heart and why?

I have actually authored over 70 books in digital format, though I've only recently build up the nerve to publish them in physical form. My first print book, "Think, Write & Retire", was well-received and reached #83 on Amazon.com in the Business & Investing section. All profits from that launch are being used to sponsor heart surgery. But if you ask for the one closest to my heart, it has to be the one due for publication next. Its title is "47 HEARTS - How To Live Your Dreams And Reach Your Goals With Passion, Purpose & Persistence". It will be out soon, and you can keep up with it at http://47hearts.com


You have been active online for many years now. What are the different marketing activities you have done for your various books and foundation?
It would be easier to list the ones I have NOT done! :-)
Name it, I've probably tried it. Email, blogs, direct mail, tele-marketing, SMS marketing, newspaper ads, articles, integration marketing, joint entures, affiliates, online video - I've tried it all.
The ones I use most often and effectively are email marketing to my own in-house list, social networking on platforms like Twitter, blogging, and a limited amount of search engine optimization efforts. I've found that being very good at a few channels of marketing works better than being average at many more.

What has made a big difference? Do you have any recommendations for other authors?

For authors, my best advice would be to focus on building your platform BEFORE even writing your book. Your digital platform is a way to reach your core audience - book buyers.
Have a blog, and post regularly to it. You could share excerpts from your book, or discuss how you wrote it, or detail the lives of your characters or, more effective than others, use it as a way to spread your ideas even further... by discussing the THEME of your book.
That way you attract the kind of reader who identifies with you, is interested in what you stand for, and will likely buy your book when it is out. Targeting the right audience is what matters, not size of audience alone.
Use social networking to reach more people and invite them to your blog. I would focus on two or three social networks and go 'deep'. My favorites are Twitter, Facebook and forums. Yours may be different.
Finally, get 'launch partners' involved. Anyone with an audience that may be interested in your book is a good fit. Let them preview your book, so they can write about it to their followers. Allow them to give away a few copies in a contest. Offer to 'guest blog' for them. Try to get in front of their audience - but in a way that also gives THEM value.
All of these worked for me. But then, my experience with book launches is pretty narrow, so take this advice for what it's worth! :)


Do you have a message for authors and readers out there?

Dare to dream.And dream big.Then, do not give up on your dream - no matter what happens.Dreamers see the world, not as it is, but as it should be. Remember, nothing worthwhile happens in a short time. Or easily. Or effortlessly.
Be prepared to put in the effort that your dream demands. Be prepared to wait for as long as it takes to make it come true. Be happy at all that happens along the way as you move towards your goals.
And trust that it is worthwhile - because when dreams come true, even in a small way, it is magic! And it will completely transform your life!