Welcome to Roaded Agritourism. I'm Dr. Liz Fidler
-Murgan, owner of Sunny Mary Meadow, a you -pick
flower farm, wedding florist, and event venue
in central Minnesota. Our mission is to serve
anyone rooted in agritourism, value -added agriculture,
and rural entrepreneurship. The people turning
ideas and raw products into thriving businesses
and experiences. Let's dig in. We've got some
amazing guests, but I want to point out one one
amazing guest real quick. is my dear friend Joel
Cobb here. Have you guys met Joel Cobb? You have
now. Joel and I met in like November, September,
October, 20 years ago. 2005. And we were connected
by mutual friend. And my mutual friend, our mutual
friend, I've got a arm and more. He said he needed
to meet Joel Cobb. He's got an amazing e -book.
An e -book that you were selling for how much?
And I had to convince him that he really should
take that e -book and turn it into... Thousands
of copies. Thousands of copies. And so thousands
of copies. So thousands of copies. But whatever
you say. A lot of money. And I had to convince
him to turn that e -book that he's killing it
on into a paperback book that was sold for twenty
-four. Fifteen ninety -five. Fifteen ninety -five.
Whatever he said. And it was nothing about it.
But he knew the value even before I did. We were
still very, very young as a publisher. We started
in 2003. And Joel, you said what? I asked you
if you had had a New York Times bestseller yet.
And I said, no. All of us not even believing
that we could do it at that point in our young
life. And then what did you say? With a very
straight face, I said, well, I'm going to be
your first. And I laughed out loud. And hopefully
I did it with love and respect. But I won't tell
a lie. Well, guess what happened? Guess it was
our first four New York Times bestsellers. You
know, we hit the monthly and the weekly twice,
and we hit the business week bestseller, and
I think number three on all of Amazon .com, because
Obram got in the way. Yeah, but Obram. And the
dog whispered, I see them a lot. I know. Never
heard of him. Never heard of him. But so I'm
honored to have him here. We're still together.
He's actually my best friend. And that happens
a lot. I've actually become best friends with
all of our authors, so I'm really, really, really
honored. So if you need a new friend, Not necessarily,
not necessarily. It's a good bonus, but not necessarily.
But yeah, I'm honored to have this panel up here
today. So we're just going to talk about, we're
going to talk about publishing and I want to
introduce everybody. We've got a great, wait
a minute. Okay, this wasn't, this wasn't necessarily
planned, but every one of these experts on stage
is a Martin James author. Seriously, that wasn't,
that wasn't my plan, but we only work with the
experts, as Brendan Burchard was saying. I am
an expert! Right, have you heard him say that?
Okay, never mind. So, that was it. Okay, yes,
thank you. That's how I got started, with this
book, when I was in the messenger. I think we
have two mics. We have a second mic. Oh, that's
the one that I... Oh, is it behind us? Yeah.
So, we're gonna introduce the panel real quick.
For the second time this week, I'm gonna let
go of this mic. Oh, perfect. So, I don't have
to let go if they have one, but I'm gonna let
everybody just kind of do a quick little introduction
of who they are, and their connection to the
space, and... We're just going to, we're going
to share some wisdom, but we do want to, if we
have time, we want to answer any and all questions
you have. So think of this as, you know, all
the questions that you were afraid to ask and
intimidated to do so, we're going to ask today,
because happy to any of us intimidate you. This
is so much fun. We're really having a good time.
So again, thank you for being here. I'm David,
the founder of Morgan James Publishing, and Liz,
who we met last year here at Podfest. That's
right. Yeah. Would you introduce yourself to
us? Besides being an incredibly amazing woman
who has an awesome story that's going to tug
on your heart, but what she's done with it will
blow you away. Hi, I'm Dr. Liz Feather Morgan.
Getting used to using my phrase or my title of
doctor. I have a doctorate in nursing and I have
this story where in 2020 I was working full time
as a nurse practitioner and ultimately had started
this little side hustle of a farm stand selling
flowers at the end of my driveway during COVID
and it was never meant to be anything more than
it was then that and then in December of 2020
my husband died of a heart attack and I found
out I was pregnant the day after the funeral
and that is a huge part of my story and in my
journey of trying to write a book I kind of thought
that that was the story and I thought I was writing
a book about Honestly trauma for trauma's sake,
but what ended up happening is I this farm Completely
exploded in a in an interesting way. I would
say it instead of having Instead of having crock
-pot growth I had microwave growth on my business
because there were so many eyes on it and people
were trying to support me and it just any time
of business 70 times their revenue in five years,
that's actually not great business growth. But
it turned into this great agritourism destination,
and we have this venue on the farm that we've
built, and we do weddings for 60 florists, or
for 60 brides, and it's turned into this wonderful
thing. But last year, I was sitting here and
I decided I was never going to publish my book.
And I, cause I had this podcast on teaching people
about flower farming because people wanted to
know how I did that. And it was so successful.
But then I kept getting asked to come on other
people's podcasts to talk about grief. And I
was just very scattered as an entrepreneur. And
I had probably 60 ,000 words and I came down
here with my podcast producer. And our goal was
to get sponsors for my flower farming spot podcast.
That's why we came to podfest. And in the very
first session. that I came to here because Abby
forced me to go to it. She's like, just find
out what it would be like to get your book published.
Just see. And I was trying to do this self -help,
how to get through your grief, how to get over
your anger, something like that. And Nick was
here. And the very first thing he said is the
reason people don't finish their book is because
they're writing the wrong book. And get to the
space that gets you where you want to be in five
years. I was going to these grief retreats and
I was talking on these grief podcasts and I was,
you know, talking about all of these things.
And not that that's not a huge part of my story,
but I don't, I'm happily remarried. It's a huge
chapter of my life and I'm very happy to talk
about it, but that's not my story and that's
not where I want to be in five years. I want
to be having a really happy flower farm. Our
motto is happy dammit. That's literally on the
signs is, you know, not everything is great,
but we're going to get through it. And so the
book turned into a memoir. It's still in the
categories of self -help. And it's right now
on Barnes and Noble in the coming soon category
out of 2 ,700 books. It's number one in religion.
It's number, I think, out of 4 ,100. It's number
six on memoir right next to Cher. I mean, it's
resonating. It comes out in March, but it's.
That's the story that I want, is kind of the
story of how my farm came to be. So that's my
advice, is if you're trying to think of what
book to write, don't try to retrofit what you
think people want. Just think about what that's
going to do for you as an author. Thank you.
Before Sabine continues with that amazing intro,
we thank you. She also and I met last year at
PopFest. Where have you been all my life? She's
another amazing soul. Sabine, thank you for being
here and sharing your wisdom. Again, she's probably
forgot more about marketing books than I can
ever think I ever remember. And I'm honored to
have you on the platform with us today. So continue
after those two amazing words. Thank you, David.
So it's something similar, what you just shared.
I was here. I've been going to PodFest for some
years now as podcaster and speaker. Last year,
I was interviewed by another podcaster and after
the interview she came to me and said Sabina,
you need to write a book. That's right. And I
said, well, I already wrote three books. But
she said, no, no, no, no, you don't understand.
You have to write your book, your stories. You
have such a colorful life where you just shared
and all the wisdom. you need to write that book,
a biography or something. Said, okay, let me
think about it. And I'm always following my intuition.
So I went to the expo hall, and there was Morgan
James publishing. And there was a sign that says,
pitch your book, and we give you feedback. The
problem was, I didn't have a book. But I thought,
well, maybe I can get some feedback. So I scheduled
a time with Chrissy. But then I went and told
a couple little vignettes of my story. And Chrissy
was very quiet as hell. Was mad. And then she
just replied, you are a good storyteller, because
I'm also known as the Storytelling Dave from
Germany. But your stories really touched my heart.
You need to write this book. Oh, OK. I went thinking.
I didn't say yes right away. You know what I
did? I Googled Morgan James Publishing. Said,
ooh, yes. Okay, let me see. Maybe they take everybody,
but no. No, no, no. So we get about 5 ,000 pitches
a year and 150s are the lucky ones. And wow,
that's 3%. I said, okay, I guess I need to write
this book. And long story short, yes, Chrissy,
she is my editor too because we had such a great
relationship. By the way, Morgan James is just
a beautiful, beautiful family. I've never expected
that relationship and the journey that we did
together and the beautiful authors, co -authors
that I met along the journey. So anyways. So
my book came about, a memoir, and it was released,
I mean, just now. So it's just now available
on Barnes & Noble. It's called Gamchen, Sacred
Whispers, Bold Moves, and The Courage to Become.
And that's what it's all about. It's about the
journey of becoming your next greater self. having
the spirituality as a very important part of
it, the beliefs that you have, and also everything
that we experience in life. And gamchen is my
framework, so it's not just stories, because
it's important that every story has to have a
point, and every point has to have a story, and
that is what I kind of put together. So somewhere
between chicken soup for the soul, Think and
Grow Rich and The Secret. That's right. Congratulations.
Just fill in the gap real quick. I am Joel Com.
I've been doing business online for more than
30 years now. I've written 16 books. You have
a voice for radio, man. You need to go on my
podcast. And I've been podcasting since 2008.
Played with pioneer a lot of the technologies
that we use today and just had a meeting with
David outside the room before this session and
Committed to writing book number Six seventy
one of them number ten with Morgan James Based
on my latest podcast called AI for everyone Which
is serving the 55 plus community to take away
the intimidation factor and make it so that AI
can be used practically to enrich and empower
their lives. And if I can help any of you in
any way, just ask. That's awesome. Yeah, great
stories. I'm Dr. James Torbelson, known commonly
as Dr. T. I'm a clinical psychologist since making
a transition from the field of behavioral health,
which I've been in service of for 40 plus years.
and thought I would retire on the golf course.
God woke me up one morning, February 20th, and
said, get up and write. I did. And how many know
you don't say no to God? Right. Amen. Right.
So I have my book, Awakened, exposing the web
of deception, threatening our faith, family,
and freedom. It is a niche. It's not for everyone.
But our messages aren't for everyone, and they
also are not for us. We already have it. God
puts out in us to plant, to produce, to expand
it, to get our voice out to others. I was having
breakfast this morning. I saw you across the
table. I was meeting with a gentleman. We were
collaborating. And the waitress comes up and
sees the book and says, is that the author? I
said, yes. She said, my son just bought that
book. We need that book. We need that message.
And so I signed one and gave it to her. I'm also
signing one for she can give to her son and told
them to pass it on, like Chrissy was saying,
give it away. But it's a message for people.
And so that's the importance of all of these
messages. Not one of us speak to everyone. I
have a principle I operate under called Mouth
Smokes. We need many voices, we need many messages
to reach many people. I have written a number
of things. They weren't necessarily, well, of
course, my dissertation, but some articles, and
I have an e -book, which this just hit me. I
have an e -book I should probably think about
putting into a book, but then I've written this
one and look forward to the continuance journey.
I'm also starting a podcast. And the name of
my podcast that it came to has now changed. When
I'm leaving, it'll be something different. And
it was interesting because I felt impressed not
to watch my first episode before I left. I was
supposed to wait till I got back because some
things would change, and sure enough, they did
change. What's the new title? All right, so it
was Truth, Faith, and Culture. Now it's Miracles
Next Door by Dr. T. Because everyone has a miracle.
And everyone can share that for someone else's
benefit. And in that platform, we can still talk
about something that's there to be and that's
truth and faith and culture. I like that because
not only is it saying your miracle's coming,
but by saying miracle next door means it's so
close. Yes, and it's all around and everybody
has one. Amen. Thank you, sir. So anyway, enough.
Anything else I should add there? You did good.
Thank you everybody for sharing your stories
and I'm honored to have you with us today. Let's
ask any more questions. If you don't come up
with questions, I'll make up some. Because I
know the answers to those. So we have our first
anything. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Abby. Hello,
Abby. Abby Graves Productions. I would love to
know from each of you, if you could just like
shortly summarize, what did you wish you knew
going into the publishing process, specifically
with Morgan James Publishing, since this is the
big sponsor of everything. You guys are all Morgan
James authors. Can I go first? I'll be fast.
You have the microwave. I have the microphone,
too. And I talked about this a little bit yesterday.
The one thing that I wish I knew, and I had good
counsel. I mean, I had really good counsel when
I wrote my first book. But I didn't really appreciate
what he was telling me. So the thing that I do
now better than I do anything else is the best
time to start marketing your book is the moment
you decide to write it. Not when you're finished
it. Not when you have it in hand. Not on pub
date. I've seen it. The best time to start marketing
a book is right now. start telling people I've
decided to write a book. Who cares if you don't
know how you're going to publish it? Who cares
if you're not finished but your audience is going
to hold you accountable, then they become very
vested in the process with you, and you need
them, you need them to say yes when you ask them
to go pre -order the book. So start, when? Right
now. When? Now. When? Now. That's right. Which
is incidentally exactly the advice you gave me
outside the room. Once again, even though I should
know this, I just want to recognize that a chicken
and a beaver... What is it? A cat just walked
into the room. I just wanted to recognize the
barnyard just entered into the room. So I've
had nine books with Morgan James, one with No
Starch Press, four with Wiley, and one with Thomas
Nelson. And the thing that I've learned is no
matter who you work with, you are going to be
your own best promoter and marketer and PR. Morgan
James certainly has given support in all my efforts,
but even the larger publishing houses, even the
one that gave me the largest royalty of my life,
they count on you as the author to be your greatest
evangelist and promoter. And so realize that
there isn't a publishing house today that unless
you're J .K. Rowling or Clive Patterson and they're
giving you million dollars, millions in advances,
you're going to be the one that is beating the
pavement in your own. best promoter? For me,
I think it is something similar along the line.
But I was not, my mind wasn't there promoting.
My mind was just like, holy moly, I need to write
a book. And coming up with everything. And that
writer's block that you may have at the beginning,
my best advice can be just sit down and just
don't think you have to write it in gold. Just
start writing. And once I did that, and I let
every limiting beliefs and every writer's block
get out of the window and just say, just start
writing and have fun. And then everything will
fall in place. I think what I wish I had known
before and what I'm still just taking the time
to remind myself now is I'm a numbers person.
I'm an analytical person. I have built my businesses
based on what gets measured, gets managed. I,
every single blog post, every podcast episode,
the flowers that I offer for my brides, it's,
you know, what colors are getting requested most?
How many clicks? What's, you know, where is this
information coming from? Watching those metrics.
And right now it's, it's just kind of this, you
know, especially being in this pre -order phase.
I don't know. I don't know what's happening.
I don't know what's going to happen. But that
individual message and being really focused right
now on the people that are reaching out, say,
I'm excited for this book. Or if I do a little
teaser of a little portion of a chapter and,
you know, notice that more people are following
my page or something like that, knowing that
imagine your ideal reader. not your ideal audience,
and that's what's really helped me, is trying
to imagine that specific person that you are
helping, because you're not gonna help everyone,
and that's okay. What did you just say it was
a phrase? What gets measured gets what? Managed.
Managed. And I would agree with all this, and
I think for me, maybe the process, just a little
more. We, by nature, all of us are a bit impatient,
right? And we like things to happen quicker than
you do. It's a case in point. It's a case study.
But we are. And so we're so excited about our
message and our book and what we're doing. And
we would like to see it printed yesterday. And
even once it's printed, we'd like to see it kind
of distributed. And we would like to get our
copies. And so maybe a little more encouragement
to be patient, but trust. So just trusting that
we have them. Morgan James has your back. They're
working in your best interests. We are a team.
But we have to exercise our patience, too, and
trust something outside of ourselves. And that
is that it's going to get out at the right time.
And it may take longer than we wish. But that's
because we have experts that care trying to produce
the best product on our behalf and for the message
we want to get out. So it's just that patience
and that understanding and knowing a little more
of that going in. And I'm not saying I gave our
publisher a hard time, but she got a few more
calls than she probably wanted saying, where's
this at? When's it coming? And that kind of thing.
Thank you so much, Abby. That was a great question.
And thank you, expert. Did you have one more
thing you wanted to say, Abby? All right, that's
great questions. Who's number two? I'm coming
to you. Absolutely. I'd love if you have any,
like, promotion secrets, but a specific question
I have, if I'm promoting my book, do you send
them right to a shopping cart like Amazon or
to your book or author website where there's
bonuses? Yes. All of the above. I've marketed
so many different ways, the way we got the AdSense
code 20 years ago to New York Times, my seller.
was through a lot of partners with a lot of bonuses.
I think I had 50 partners. And remember, it's
not who you know, it's who knows you, right?
And so building that network of people that you
can align with, that will support your goals,
and you can support theirs is a great way to
do it. But when you talk about promotions and
marketing, a lot of people use swag. They create
something, whether it's a pen or a t -shirt or
whatever. And the best piece of swag that I ever
created is a great example for everybody. I was
inspired by Staples' Easy Button. Everybody know
that? That was easy. And I did a book for John
Wiley & Sons in 2010 called Ka -ching! How to
build an online business that pays and pays.
Talked about internet marketing, affiliate marketing,
selling your own products and all this. And I
decided the visual would be this green button
in the same shape as the Easy Button. It was
a dollar sign on the top. push it, it would go
ka -ching. I thought, how do I manufacture these?
So I found a contact, had it made in China, and
had a bunch of sentences to me, and when I sent
the book out to editors, I sent it with the ka
-ching button. When you send out something that's
swag, a lot of it automatically gets pitched.
People are like, another koozie, I need another
koozie, really? So you want to make sure it gets
opened, whatever it is that they have, that they
use it. And they keep it. I can't tell you to
this day how many people still tell me that a
chain button is on their desk and they still
use it when a sale comes in. In fact, so many
people liked them that I had thousands produced
shipped to fulfill by Amazon and sold them for
$18 .95 for several years until somebody made
knockoffs and I decided I didn't want to compete
with them. But those are my tips. Well, we have
to talk. Because I want to be the number one.
No, maybe not the number one. Yes, number one.
Of course. New York Times, all kinds of bestselling
lists. That's my goal. And with that said, there
are also different ways. And I'm just starting
out. So it's just like what I've learned from
the master over there. What is your objective?
So my objectives obviously is if I want to be
a bestseller It has to get me has to be bought
at the stores as many stores as possible So I
sent people there and what I'm doing right now
When I'm talking and when I'm teaching courses
or master classes or workshops, I Encourage people.
Hey if you pre -order it because it's not out
until August, so I have eight months time now
to build this up. If you preorder it and send
me a copy, you will get a master coaching session
with me, which is a high value. And if somebody
is wanting what I provide as communication confidence
coach, oh yeah, that's this deal. So that is
one of my strategies. As I said, I'm going to
talk with this guy because I wanted to get to
the bestseller list. Oh, look at that. I love
it. I love it. So I started. my wait list on
my website in April and, you know, get on the
list, get on the wait list probably three times
a month. So like every 10 days I would share
it on my social media. And I have, I have like
seven different Instagram accounts for my different,
you know, I have my brick and mortar flower farm.
I have my event venue. I have my podcast. That's
Rooted Egg or Tourism related to this. I put
on the flower farmer forum conference, but then
there's myself, my author page. And so I just
kept sharing that on all of those pages, just
everywhere. And I'm like, hey, if you're interested
in book -specific stuff. And so from April through
November, and then I kept track on a spreadsheet,
because what gets measured gets managed. And
I have a spreadsheet of follower counts of all
of everything for the last. And then in December,
when pre -orders. were available. I officially
said, hey, pre -orders are launched and here
we are. And then I renamed my wait list to The
Bloom Crew. And people want something to cheer
for. They are part of it. I had pitched my book
to some traditional publishers, to some literary
agents, and they said, hey, it's a great story,
but... At the time, I had 500 followers on Instagram.
I still have less than 2 ,000 on my personal
page. And they're like, nobody's going to care.
I think they will. I think that I have a very
engaged audience. And that's what they want.
And so I have a drive. I have a Google Drive
that they can go to with, hey, download this.
Post this on social. Say the book. They want
something to root for and to be part of it. So
I've just brought them on the journey. And if
they don't want to be part of it, then they don't
have to. So I can also put it out before Dr.
T jumps in. A couple of things probably to consider
when where to send them to buy the book is don't
send everybody to Amazon. Everybody knows the
book is on Amazon. Unless Amazon is your only
source to get the book, say things like go to
your favorite bookstore or available at your
favorite bookstore or wherever books are sold.
But maybe even send links to your favorite bookstore.
So if you have traditional distribution, and
it's definitely pre -published, pre -orders matter.
You've heard that bit you mentioned a minute
ago. As many pre -orders we get at BarnesNobel
.com can influence how many stores will carry
it on the shelf. So drive them to BarnesNobel
if you can, but avoid the Amazon trap. So if
you're published by publishing, you have distribution,
you will get blacklisted and not even know it.
If you say Amazon one too many times on social
media, and that one too many times could be one
time, it's a very sensitive topic. But you can
link to or talk about any bookstore on the planet.
Nobody will get upset with you unless you say
hims eye. So keep that in mind. Who will blacklist
you? Who will? The bookstore buyers. Oh, the
bookstore buyers. Yeah, in fact, we had one of
our Wall Street Journal USA Today bestselling
and actually our top grossing foreign rights
translated books has been blacklisted on Barnes
and Noble for five years. They just got un -blacklisted
five years later. So we don't want that for you.
So send them to your favorite bookstore, and
Kurt is going to go to their favorite bookstore.
And if they go to Amazon, that's great. That's
wonderful. All books sales matter. But spread
the love. Is it self -published? Sorry, just
as self -published, the reason I'm sending there,
and open your feedback, is because then the algorithm
shows my book to more buyers on Amazon, and it's
not at the local bookstore. And that's perfect.
So sing, do that, drive up to Amazon. But in
that case, to kind of further the answer of where
you should send them, is you should send them
to your website first, like on podcasts or in
conversations, go to a website, learn more about
the book, and give them something, you know,
to get an ethical bribe, we call it in guerrilla
marketing, it's really a lead magnet, and then
point them to Amazon. That way you can hopefully
capture as many, because Amazon's not going to
tell you about the book, so if you can capture
as many names and email addresses as possible,
give them some sort of gift to stay engaged with
you, get them on your email list, and then send
them over to Amazon. But yeah. Absolutely, so
for the big picture. Listen to whatever I was
going to say, but that's perfect. Dr. T. Yeah,
I think that's great advice. And I was just going
to say, it's not going to happen on its own.
It just isn't. It's very rare. I mean, even the
Bible didn't happen on its own. It gets people
out sharing it, right, and showing the Word.
But maximize in our sphere of influence, right?
We have a past. We have a present. But then maximize
and build and expand your current. And we do
that through the eclectic kind of utilization
of the different methodologies that weigh in
the modalities that we can use to get our book
out. I've got three conferences coming up. I
will be speaking at them, and cooking men, and
so forth. They'll sure be hearing about my book.
I'm starting the podcast. They'll certainly be
hearing about it. So all of these are avenues
to get our message and our word out. And as we
put in that energy, that passion, that effort,
that time, then what's the end result? Well,
we know all the parallels of the farmer and everything
else. Seed turns into a harvest. And so as we
do all that, it will happen. We need to trust
that. But our passion, our excitement, and our
commitment is going to make that happen. And
use our collaborations, build that network. And
that's what I'm working at. I see it happening
piece by piece. And looking at what you've already
produced is incredible. And what you've accomplished
is incredible. And that's how it happens. That's
great. Thank you so much. So we've got time for
like one more question. Who would like to ask
the next question? This has been really good.
Don't be shy. We got another question that you
might guys want. Oh yes, thank you. All right,
brother. Okay, talking about this self promoting
the book and getting out there and the author's
got to do it. It scares the crap out of me. You
know, honestly, like just being busy with life
and family and podcasting. I don't think it's
about the time it's the right moves with the
right people it's about being wise and figuring
out okay who can help move which activities are
gonna move the needle the most otherwise you
can get completely bogged down with the list
of I guarantee you there's books out there that
tell you here's a hundred things you can do to
promote your book. That's right. And it's, it
can be a lot. You didn't write that. You have
to figure out what's going to work best with
your lifestyle and focus on it and then do the
best you can with, you know, pick one thing to
start with. But we only need 24 hours in a day.
I mean how many of them do you sleep and you
got a wife and kids and you have work and...
Nobody's useful if you're facing burnout. So
the thing I can tell you is no matter what you're
doing Make sure you're having fun doing it So
you're fully engaged You know, we do start a
little broader because we want to get some traction
we want to get some energy We want to get some
response, but very quickly we need to narrow
that and go with what's working is we have a
capacity. Everyone has a capacity. We want to
try to go to as close to that capacity as we
can, but we don't want to try to go beyond it
or you experience burnout. There is no one size
fits all. I'll say this. And if you do what everybody
else is doing, you're not going to stand out.
So figure out that one thing that differentiates
you. And just because you go, well, nobody's
done that. Perfect. Sign me up for that. And
second, what they just said. Number one, have
fun doing it. Number two, make it personal to
you, because it really doesn't do any good if
you say, ah, now I have to pose this, now, ah,
then you're dragging your feet. But if you do
something that is aligned with what you do and
who you are, and have fun doing it, that is what
comes across authentic. to the audience, and
then they want to buy from you. So I'm on video
all the time. I talk about confidence and all
this stuff, and I talk about gumption. And so
I just have fun promoting it, but not always.
Oh, buy my book, buy my book. No, no, no, just
say, hey, this is like one piece, and go. out
on video if you can, because this is where people
have connection with you. They see you, they
hear you, and there's an energy that comes across
on video. So, like on Instagram, Tiktok, whatever
it is, everybody's not their specific one. But
be you, have fun, be authentic, and be alive
with your message, and then just go for it. To
make it really simple, there's one little square
graph that I really like to look at. Really simple.
How do you decide what to delegate first or what
to get rid of? The things that you hate and you
are not good at, get rid of them. If you make
me make graphics on Canva, I will be... throw
my computer out the window. And so that is the
first thing I will do, just a static post. I'll
make a reel, I'll make a carousel, I'll do social
media, I'll go be a guest on someone else's podcast.
That's easy for me. But to sit there and make
something look perfect and make the, no, I don't
wanna do that. So that's what I've decided, hey,
I want you to make two posts a week on this.
Or I've hired that part out or something. But
just figure out. because it has to be sustainable.
And if it's something you hate doing, and I had
a hard time, I do have someone that, between
all of my businesses, helps with some of that
part, but it's like, if you dread it every time,
because it's a long game, and so if that's something
that you cannot do consistently, then either...
Don't do that and go be a guest on someone else's
podcast, something. But whatever work you're
doing yourself, make sure it's something that
you can do consistently without wanting to throw
your computer out the window on a daily basis.
I have a VA, she's posting, and I look at, oh,
that looks really good. So she's doing all that
stuff that you would like throw out of the window.
And then I go on and say, hey, I'm at PowerFest,
and look at this, and we are right now here and
there, and you will see it later today. That's
really good. In guerrilla marketing, we call
that hiring a designated guerrilla. But you have
it in your hand, the book you have in your hand
right now. There's over 100 different things
you could do. It should do to market your book
and engage your audience, but don't think you
have to do them all. As long as you're doing
three to five things consistently every week,
you will be way ahead of every author that you've
met. The average author will do marketing for
a month and a half. And you're stronger than
that. So keep it up. So that's really, really
good answers. Thank you. That's a great question.
So we're out of time. I know you guys might have
some place to go. But if you want to throw in
another question, we can. But otherwise, man,
this is really good. I have a gift for you. Can
I give you guys a gift? Besides presents, they
have all of our amazing offers. If you don't
already have it, I'd love to gift you a copy
of Guerrilla Marketing for Writers. Over 21 million
Guerrilla books sold, and honored to be co -author
of that book with Jade Levinson. So just go to
gmarketingforwriters .com. That's gmarketingforwriters
.com. And funny little side note, and I'll let
you go to me. That book is effectively 26 years
old. Second edition came out in 2010, so maybe
it's 16 years old. But it's still relevant. Hopefully
we wrote it to be as timeless as possible. But
my only marketing that I do for that book now,
and just a hint, it is as relevant as we make
it, so I try to keep it relevant, but my only
marketing is I give the book away, just like
I did to you, like I go on podcasts and I give
a great Q &A on guerrilla marketing, and at the
end I go, I got a gift for you guys, hey, if
you go to gmarketingforwriters .com, you can
get the book free. I'll get about 5 ,000 people
a year who say, yeah, I'll do that, and then
I sell 7 ,000 physical copies because of it.
So, consistency matters, build trust, do something.
That's it for you guys. Thank you. classes and
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