Yes, drum roll please. Well, after one month, including two weeks of submitting videos and two weeks of voting, we finally have the winners of The Go-Giver Thank YOU Contest ready to announce.

And, the winners are…

Grand Prize $1,000 – Sabrina Risley

Five Runners Up

#1 – Norbeth DeJesus

#2 – Laura Newman

#3 – Christie Ellis

There was a tie for 4th Runner Up, decided by a toss of the coin, which resulted in…

#4 – Gina Parris

#5 – Amy Wells

Today the runners up will get to decide, in order of their finish, which coaching session — based on The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success — they will choose.

VIEW THE VIDEOS

Again, the awesome coaches who have volunteered their time to do this are:

Law #1, The Law of Value – Melanie Benson Strick and Jim Palmer

Law #2, The Law of Compensation – John David Mann

Law #3, The Law of Influence – Dondi Scumaci

Law #4, The Law of Authenticity – Dixie “Dynamite” Gillaspie

Law #5, The Law of Receptivity – Randy Gage

John David Mann and I want to thank everyone who participated either by submitting a video or by voting.

And, mainly, we want to thank each and every one of you for being such awesome Ambassadors of The Go-Giver Message.

This was tough! I mean, really, really difficult! The panel of mysterious, secretive, clandestine, ninja-like, un-named judges, whose names and votes are forever sealed in figurative hermetically-sealed jars, struggled through a weekend of watching countless video entries into “The Go-Giver Thank YOU” Contest.

NO NO, wait…we didn’t struggle because the videos weren’t fun to watch. Quite the contrary, they were awesome! I mean, truly awesome!!

The challenge was they were all so terrific and inspiring that choosing just ten finalist was mind-bogglingly difficult. We did it by voting separately and tallying up the totals, and each of us expressing how lucky we felt that we didn’t have to go through the pressure of being the sole decision-maker.

So, you’ll notice there are ten. They are in alphabetical order. You can vote for one person. Feel free to change your mind if you’d like. When you re-vote it will override your previous choice.

We also included two more as Honorable Mentions because they both tied for 11th, and were mere percentage points behind the 10th person. While you can’t vote for them, we know you’ll enjoy their videos as well.

Now it is your turn. It is up to you to determine who the winners will be. So, go forth my friends, and vote. So, go forth, my friends, and vote. Though, unlike certain voting campaigns, vote early but not often.

Mainly, have fun watching these superb videos. Oh, the voting goes through Friday, July 1st and the winners will be announced on Tuesday, July 5th.

And…a huge, huge thanks to everyone who took the time, made the effort, and shared their hearts by submitting their videos.

We have become aware that Apple does not allow their iPads® to be used in third party promotions or contests (Guidelines for Third Party Promotions). Yesterday, several friends emailed us an article stating that giving away a free iPad 2 as a prize is contrary to Apple’s policy.

Regardless of whether we agree or disagree with their policy and/or strategy, we absolutely respect intellectual property rights, copyrights and trademarks.

So, we are changing the Grand Prize from an iPad 2 ($829 value) to a $1,000 cash prize.  With this $1,000 the winner is free to independently purchase an iPad 2 or whatever else they would like with the prize money.

We did contact Apple to make sure this was true and apparently it has been their policy since at least January, 2011. We apologize for any infringement we committed.

Meanwhile, we continue to receive great video entries. If you have not yet submitted yours, please know we’re looking forward to watching it. If you’re not planning to enter as a contestant, we hope you’ll participate by voting once that part of the contest begins.

By the way, we make no judgment regarding Apple’s policy. It is their company and their products and they have the right to determine how to market them.

In terms of marketing, yes, it seems – at least on the surface – to be a rather counterproductive strategy.

Still, let’s face it, Apple didn’t get to be as successful as they are without knowing what they are doing. So, in the name of marketing, branding, positioning, etc., any thoughts on why they have this rule in place?

The one with the best answer will win a free iP…whoops, never mind.

True, we really can’t thank you enough. We’d like to try though.

So, to say “Thank YOU” for all your help in The Go-Giver soaring past the 200,000 mark in sales, John David Mann and I have put together a contest with some really cool prizes.

The Grand Prize Winner will receive a brand new iPad 2: 64 GB with Wi-Fi + 3G (Yep, only the best for you!)

Five additional winners will receive a one-on-one, personal coaching session with one of today’s top authorities; each session based on one of the Five Laws from the book.

This is about YOU, and we invite you to participate. Mostly, we invite you to have fun!

Check out the Contest web page.

Our awesome publisher (Penguin/Portfolio) emailed John and me yesterday with some great news: sales of The Go-Giver, including both domestic and international, has passed the 200,000 mark (actually, 222,473 but who’s counting?) and heading toward the big Quarter-Mill.

THANK YOU … YOU ROCK!!!!!

We wish to extend our absolute gratitude to every one of you for being amazing Ambassadors for the message. This could not have happened so quickly — it could not happened at all — without you.

So, congratulations and thank you, to YOU … Team Go-Giver!

A young man named Greg wrote us last year to say he had begun a non-profit organization in his small community.

He wrote:

I am responsible for raising money, and the way I’ve been creating great impact is with the Go-Giver mentality, helping others.

Working for a startup non-profit, I am not paid well, which is fine with me. I appreciate the story you’ve told as it spoke to my soul.

I wrote back:

Hi Greg. Thank you for your note, and congratulations on all the great work you are doing.

As a thought, when you say that working for a startup non-profit you are not paid well and that you are fine with that: that’s great for now, but I’d like to see you bring in more and more money as salary as the organization brings in more money.

Remember, Law #2 says that your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. Being a Go-Giver does not mean being a martyr or taking a vow of poverty. (That is, of course, a choice you have the right to make, but it is not a part of the Go-Giver philosophy.)

You can do a great deal more good in the world and specifically for those you wish to help when you are living comfortably, rather than having to worry about where your next meal is coming from and how you’re going to make your next rent payment. Just a thought, as you seem like a truly great guy.

A month or so later, Greg replied:

Bob, your message hit a nerve. Thank you for the reminder. I agree, doing good does not mean earning less. I went to business school and felt guilty about the idea of making a lot of money doing something I loved.

I’ve been practicing, and I am starting to ask for more money when I speak—and am getting paid what I’m worth. Your words came at a time when I needed to hear them.

Yes, good work can be rewarded, and good things keep happening to me. Wow, I love The Go-Giver as it represents my life.

Cool. Very cool! Provide exceptional value, provide it to lots of people, and stay open to receiving. Great things will happen.

Good for you, Greg!

It’s difficult to think of a much greater compliment than to know that someone so values the message of our book that they choose to give it as a gift for the holiday season. As we hear from people who are doing this very thing, we first want to say, “Thank you — we are honored.”

We also want to acknowledge in particular a very sweet blog post by our friend Dondi Scumaci (herself author of one of my all-time favorite books, Career Moves, and a highly sought-after international speaker) and an amazingly creative video by our buddy Brian Pasch, Internet marketing expert and the CEO of PCG Digital Marketing.

Both of these people embody the term Go-Giver!

Dondi’s very kind blog post is here.

Brian’s amazing video is here. Notice how he combines The Go-Giver (the audiobook, in this case) along with one of this coauthor’s favorite products on earth.

Thank you, Dondi and Brian — and the many others spreading The Go-Giver message during this holiday season!

And of course, more importantly, whatever your religious and spiritual beliefs happen to be, all of us at Team Go-Giver wish you the happiest, merriest and most joyous of holiday seasons.

It simply doesn’t get any better than this: receiving a letter beginning with “Dear Mr. Burg & Mr. Mann” from an adorable little 10 year-old girl describing the difference in her life our book has made.

Here is her letter (click on letter image to read):

I wrote back to thank her, and asked if she could have her Mommy or Daddy call me. Several days later I received a call from Steven, who thanked me for writing back. I asked if I could post her letter and he gave me his permission. He also asked if I’d say hi to Nadia, which I was very happy to do.

The poise and maturity in that little voice was well beyond her years. However, when I asked her what grade she is in and she said, “8th grade” I wondered what was up. “8th grade home school” she added. Figures.

And, it turns out the family lives near St. Petersburg, Florida, where I’ll be speaking tomorrow. I asked Steven if he’d like to bring the entire family, including Nadia and her older brother as my guests. He enthusiastically agreed, feeling it would be a great learning experience for his kids.

Have I ever mentioned how much I respect home-schoolers?

John and I always love hearing from people who find creative and value-based ways to apply “The Go-Giver Award” in order to honor those who live by the principles and laws in the book and positively affect the lives of others.

Brian Pasch, a noted expert in automotive SEO, digital marketing and automotive advertising (Brian is CEO of the Rumson, New Jersey–based PGC Marketing), has done exactly that. And the honoree Brian has singled out is a really great guy and true Go-Giver.

According to Mr. Pasch, Alex Snyder, Director of Product Research at Dealer.com, was chosen to receive the Lighthouse 2010 Automotive Website Award (AWA) for his active participation and contributions to online automotive communities. The awards were presented to the leading automotive website companies, developers, and social media advocates at the AWA breakfast ceremony in Las Vegas on October 12, 2010.

As you’ll see (and hear), in Alex’s acceptance remarks—which are incredibly heartfelt and well worth the two minutes it takes to watch—he also shares several messages from the text of The Go-Giver.

At the same event, Pasch also presented Mr. Snyder (via video from yours truly) with The Go-Giver Award…

… and then proceeded to gift copies of The Go-Giver to every single person in attendance!

(If you’d like to read more about the awards and event, click here.)

Thank you, Alex, for being such a go-giver — and thank you, Brian, for exactly the same thing!

Last week I had the pleasure of being a guest on the syndicated television show, Daytime to discuss John’s and my book, The Go-Giver.

Lindsay MacDonald did the interview. I felt kind of bad for her as she got thrown this at the last minute and didn’t have time to read the book (you can tell because she didn’t mention John as coauthor – we in Go-Giver Land know he was the awesome storyteller who made it come alive).

But, not only is she a very sweet and delightful person, she’s also a real pro, and handled it very well.

Here’s our brief chat; I hope you enjoy it.

Daytime can be seen weekday mornings in 106 markets.