Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where
we explore the journeys that lead to success.
I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five
Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you
insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders
and experts who will share not just their expertise,
but the milestone moments that have reshaped
their journeys and led to significant achievements.
So if you're looking for motivation, you're in
the right place. Subscribe now and discover the
milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome
to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. I'm Sheila Slick, your host,
and today I'm thrilled to have Mark Bishop with
us. Mark is the founder of Mark Bishop Media
and host of Nothing Like a Good Book, a podcast
introducing listeners to talented new authors
and diving deep into what drives them to write.
Mark, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sheila.
It's lovely to be here. So before we dive into
your podcasting journey, can you tell us a little
bit about your background? All right. It's diverse
and we don't have too long, so I won't go down
the long road. I'll take a shortcut. Basically,
I was in the media for many years in Australia.
You're from a different country. I'm from a different
country, but I've lived here nearly 20 years
now in the States. And after a long, successful
career in the media, I got into real estate where
I was marketing and and selling luxury resorts
for major brands as project directors. And then
I decided that I was going to do something else
for myself, and basically I created a first free
-to -air television network in Australia called
AFTIS, went on a cruise, and met my future wife.
I didn't know that at the time, but I did. Long
story short, it brought me to America and I started
all over again, entrepreneuring, doing different
things. And I did some radio talk back here in
Arizona, which I loved and enjoyed. And then
eventually I opened up my own studio some, what,
about eight years ago now for podcasting, where
I teach clients and small business how to be
able to get the best out of, you know, what they're
trying to do. And that's business to business.
So that's about it. Yes, and you have multiple
podcasts. But today I wanted to talk about one
specific podcast, and that one is Nothing Like
a Good Book. Can you tell us a little bit about
the pivotal moment that led you to create this
specific podcast to help authors get discovered
by? different podcast audiences and people that
listen to podcasts? Sure. I had a lot of people
talk to me and say, look, why don't you do a
podcast with authors? You know, not all authors
have done two, three, four books. They're not
all, you know, Clancy's and so on and famous
authors. There are a lot of startups, a lot of
brand new authors, authors who want to be authors
haven't done anything yet. So they need help.
And I love helping people, but I love interviewing.
And I love going in depth with people and finding
out what really motivated them. What was the
turn on point for them to want to do it? A lot
of people want to write books. 81 % apparently
of a survey I just read said that 81 % of Americans
want to actually write a book. So I thought,
well, maybe I can do something to help along
these lines. Of course, it's a business, but
I've got to be fair in pricing and that's what
I'll be. So I'll create something. And I started
with nothing like a good book as a podcast. There's
over 100 now, nearly 100 different authors that
have come through. Great stories have come out
of it and success for the authors. And what I'm
really trying to do once my site launches is
to be able to offer right through from A to Z
in reference to from all marketing strategies
and cross -purpose marketing and all sorts of
things that can help. an author not only write
the book, conceptualize the book, get it done,
proofread perhaps, edited, printed, published,
all that type of thing, right up to marketing
it because that's what's critical. And this is
where different budgets come into play and depending
on the book and depending on what they want to
do and so on. my site is nearly finished called
nothing like a good book and that will have all
of that on that sheila to explain because it
does depend you know i actually start with an
interview and also i give social media marketing
and podcast platform marketing throughout america
but as you go on people are going to want other
things as you can imagine you know There's all
sorts of social media to do. There's all sorts
of reels, as they're called, in shorts, because
I do interview online, so it's visual. And the
audio of it, though, that is recorded is also
promoted across all the various podcast platforms
that I'm on. And so it's a double whammy. The
vision goes to YouTube and to other platforms
showing the interview. where I love to show the
book cover. You know, some of the book covers
today are beautiful how they're done. The artwork
is gorgeous. So between the front cover and the
back cover, and sometimes the authors like to
show a couple of pictures from the book itself
inside when they talk about particular things.
So national television is another thing that
I'll be offering. In fact, the show will be going
on national television. There's all sorts of
things one can do when it comes to the wheel
of marketing and cross -purposing. And that's
why I got excited about your particular product
with Pog2Book because, boy, what can I do there
for authors that, you know, don't really want
to write, but they're very good talkers and I'd
love to interview them and we can convert that
within a couple of days into a book for them.
So that'll be great too. Well, I'm glad you mentioned
pod to book. I haven't spoken much about it in
this podcast because I'm usually interviewing
people like you. And I was going to ask you,
as the publishing industry continues to evolve,
we have technology, we've got audio books, we
have AI generated content, we have new distribution
methods, how you were preparing to transform
or renew your approach? Well, that's just it.
I've mentioned a few, but there are lots of things.
But of course, nothing's cheap these days from
a point of view of, you know, marketing. You
know, it does come down to independent budgets,
what people can afford comfortably and what they'd
like to try and do. I think what is important,
Sheila, is they need to be explained to and told
categorically from the beginning that, hey, don't
expect 60 ,000 book sales when you're going to
spend nothing. It doesn't work that way. And
sometimes it takes ages before it gets noticed
or picked up or found. So I make it very clear.
I'm very transparent to my authors when they
say, well, look, I'd love to come with you and
do this and do that. I say, well, what's the
range? What do you really want to do? What do
you want to get out of this book? What is your
goal? Is it just sales and to make money or is
it to get a point across? Because, I mean, I
can offer you right up to a screenplay and make
a movie. Well, I've always wanted to do that,
but how much is that going to cost? Well, it
certainly isn't going to be Hollywood's budgets,
I can tell you that. But I'm fortunate enough
to where we can make good movies for around 10
grand. We can do that today. So we can make a
nice quality movie for you, but you'd need that
sort of budget, okay? Because I'm very fortunate
where I live with a lot of screen talent and
writers and directors and, you know, cinematographers
and so on. And we've got that talent here where
I live. So they get a lot of work out of it too,
which is great. A screenplay, well, we can do
that. And you're welcome to take it to Hollywood
if you want. Good luck. It's yours. You own it.
Or we come all the way back to where, look, let's
do the interview and let's repurpose the interview.
We can do social media with it. We can do all
the reels and shorts. You know, we can, we can,
there's lots of things one can do. Put it that
way. Okay. It's a matter of defining what your
goals and dreams are, where you'd like to take
it. Because if it's just a book that you really
want to hand out to people because you'd like
to be on the speaking tour, you know, or you
want it as a lead magnet because you're very
shy going to network marketings or the B &Is
of the world or whatever, and you'd like to hand
something out instead, then, you know, that's
very different. to writing your novel or writing
your full -on book where you want to take it
a lot further. So that's really the honest answer
when it comes to all of that. It depends on the
author. Well, since you mentioned part of the
book, I'm going to just explain in a few minutes
what the tool is. Did I do that? I think you
liked it. We talked about it before the show.
I love it. I'm blown away by it, to be honest.
And, you know, I can't wait to be offering this
to... I guess my market is going to be somebody
that wants to write a book but doesn't feel they've
got the time to sit down between everything else
or they don't feel they could write. Okay? And
it's not a matter of saying, Chad GTP, write
the book for me, because that's not on either.
But here's the reality. How about we interview
you? Or there's another way of recording that
you'd like to do. And from that, Pod the Book
steps in and takes a bow. Isn't that right? In
about two and a half hours, you have a manuscript
that will be in your inbox. And then you can
proofread it so you don't need that ghostwriter.
You can create these book chapters using your
voice. I think it'd be great if somebody that
doesn't know where to start reached out to you
and said, Mark, can you interview me so that
I get 10 conversations that I can turn into my
book? Because with your experience, you would
know what questions to ask and what. questions
could make great chapters for this book. But
for those that don't know what Pot to Book AI
is, it is a software tool that I built because
I was one of those 80 % that Mark mentioned earlier,
one of these Americans that has been wanting
to write her book. And even though I am in a
writing class and I love to write creatively,
I wanted my business book. I wanted to pass some
of those insights. And so I took this very same
microphone and crafted 11 different episodes,
each one using my voice. And then in about two
and a half hours, I got a manuscript in my inbox.
Now, I do want to be clear before we continue
with your questions, that once I received the
manuscript, That was developed, right? That manuscript
transcribed using Pod2Book AI, that all of the
content was reviewed, verified, edited, and refined
by me, the author, prior to publication. That's
right at the very beginning, isn't it, of the
book? Yes, and I talk about, because my book
is called Momentum, Daily Practices to Build
and Thrive, I talk about how I... was able to
use some of these practices in building this
very same tool. And this also serves as my proof
of concept, even though I'm not the first book
that's been published using my tool. I'm very
proud. So now I want to be on your podcast because
I'm an author. Yeah, that's fantastic. And you
are an author. And congratulations. You must
be very proud of yourself. I saw you open the
box and the books arrived from Amazon. What a
thrill. In fact, I'm writing mine right now.
I mean, I have done a shorter one, but it's a
business book for my podcasting for profit, but
it's more of a flippy book sort of thing that
can't go up on Amazon because it's not enough
pages. But my book that I'm actually writing
for the movie called Nightwaves, which will be
shot next year. That is what I'm in the middle
of now. So that'll be my first book that'll come
out from that point of view. But yeah, man, this
is an incredible, it's an incredible invention.
Full credit to you. There's uses for everything,
you know. I think people, you know, so many people
are worried about AI, aren't they, when it comes
down to it, Sheila? But there are so many good
uses of it too, you know, that can be utilized.
It's a matter of knowing. But I tell you what
you've got to be careful of in Nothing Like a
Good Book that I do try to offer now with the
show. I'm bringing on people who, like yourself,
have something to offer. You know, the niche.
Excuse me. They have something to offer the industry
as a whole. And I'll also have lawyers coming
on and certain publishers coming on. Publishing
lawyers, I should say, because... I'm a little
concerned at what I'm hearing out there with
the scams that are going on in the industry and
what a lot of novice authors are being charged
to do things. And, you know, it's not fair. It's
not right. So I want to make it very clear. If
you want to do, you know, an interview with me
on Nothing Like a Good Book, you call me, email
me, mark at nlgb .info. Talk to the horse, not
the jockey, okay? If you want to do that. And
you'll find out what the pricing is directly
from me. And, I mean, look, I'll give an example.
Somebody told me the other day they were charged
$8 ,000 to be on my show. Now, I don't charge
anywhere near that. And I don't think that's
fair, Sheila, to be honest. So... I don't think
that sort of stuff should go on in the industry,
and we need to protect up -and -coming authors.
That's my point of view. And your software here
is going to go a long way towards helping that
as well. So that'll be great. But if anybody
does, that is the best way to contact me. Mark,
M -A -R -K, at N -L -G -B, short for nothing
like a good book, dot info. or straight to my
site, markbishopmedia .com. So there, that's
that. A lot of good things happening, you know.
Another show I'll get going eventually is called
ScamAlert .tv. I'm dying to get that one off
the ground, you know. You've got your, people
say, you know, what the Americans say, oh, wheelhouse
in my wheelhouse, right? Look at your wheelhouse.
Look what you've done and achieved in your...
diplomas and degrees and your business consultancy.
Look how far you've come and look what you've
achieved for nothing. Now you're an author, right?
And the book pertains to what you're actually
doing. And that's wonderful. And that's what
my other business, Podcasting for Profit, with
the numeral four, podcastingforprofit .com, that's
geared at helping businesses. for business to
business. That's a different ballgame altogether
again. But if any authors are listening or potential
authors, by all means, just you can check it
all out. So what are you going to do next? What's
your next book, may I ask you? I know you're
interviewing me, but... Yes, my next book will
be the one that precedes Momentum, Daily Practices
to Build Your Business and Thrive. And I'm putting
on my consulting hat and sharing the steps and
the practices that I've used when I've helped
mentor, coach, or consult lots and lots and lots
of aspiring and existing entrepreneurs throughout
my career. And so it'll be a series because it's
the before. the during, and then perhaps I can
do a third one with the after. But my next book
precedes Momentum, the one that's out officially
right now. Oh, it's like a volume two then, sort
of thing. Is that right? Like a volume two? Correct.
I've seen marketing -wise, and I don't know,
I'm going to reach out to you for consulting,
that marketing -wise, it works beautifully to
have a series because one book connects to the
other. So I'm experimenting, but I am so excited
because with the new tool that I built, it's
only about 60 days old. You're like a child that
is able to use conversations, use the voice,
and without having to hire a ghostwriter or somebody,
you know, to take months to write. from beginning
to end a book that I hand people to convert it
to a manuscript. And so we'll see. It's the process
in big time. And I'll give you an example. I
just thought of something in one of my interviews,
one of my authors. Goes by the name of Kevin
Shuey. He's a heart surgeon by trade, but he's
an author by love and hobby. Well, we had a fantastic
interview. And I tell you what, you never know
who's going to hear your interviews. Globally,
this is, by the way. Long story short, he's won
now 500 different awards around the globe for
the screenplays that he's written from his books.
And it's going to be turned into a movie. Hollywood's
wrapped. They're going to do TV series, God knows
what. Bad Love Tigers, Bad Love Boys. But that
all started out there because somebody heard
the message. Right? And people say, but our podcast,
you know, there's 2 .8 million. Yes, there are.
But the reality is this. You can be heard if
you're targeted correctly. Targeting is one thing,
but it's people who are interested. That's the
beauty of podcasting. That's the beauty of your
interviews with podcasting. You're not running
across the dial trying to be entertained. Right?
There might only be 300 listeners in one particular
situation, Sheila, but... They're all very, very
intentional listeners. You know, they're your
followers, they're your listeners, and they're
intentional, so they're interested. Whereas somebody
else might have 10 ,000, somebody else might
have a million, half their luck, because they're
the ones that get so -called monetized because
the big brands and the advertising agencies only
want to advertise with them because they've got
so many listeners, just like the same old, same
old. But it will change, I feel, when it's going
to get down to people realizing that you're better
off having... Something dedicated to that you
can enjoy. And, you know, if you can walk the
dog and drive the car and mow the lawn and listen
to your favorite podcast that you enjoy, whatever
you get out of it, it's a thriller, a crime,
a business book, a religious message. There's
so many nominations to choose from that turns
you on. You're the listener. So that's the power
of podcasting. So I believe that authors and
potential authors have a wonderful opportunity
with this medium to be really heard out there.
And even more so now that we've got Pod to Book.
Yes, you can transform those conversations into
a book. My word. Well, Mark, this has been fantastic.
Thank you for sharing your insights, for sharing
your next milestone. with us and for all the
incredible work that you're doing to connect
the readers with amazing authors. Well, I'm honored
to be on your show. Thank you. I've been a listener
for some time. And you're growing in stature
all the time. And I'm so thrilled for you with
this because, you know, to watch you open your
box and get your books, your very first ones.
And in your case, you're giving them to your
children. You know, lovely. What a lovely gesture.
And they must be very proud of their mom, I can
tell you now. Keep them next to your bed, kids.
There you go. So thank you for having me on Five
Milestones, Sheila. It's been a pleasure. Thank
you. And thank you all for tuning in to another
episode of Milestone Moments in Business and
Leadership. Until next time.