WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.960 we explore the journeys that lead to success. 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:10.220 I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:13.859 Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:17.100 insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:20.820 and experts who will share not just their expertise, 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.120 but the milestone moments that have reshaped 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:27.059 their journeys and led to significant achievements. 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:30.379 So if you're looking for motivation, you're in 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:33.560 the right place. Subscribe now and discover the 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:40.560 milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:44.100 to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:47.280 and Leadership. I'm your host, Sheila Slick, 00:00:47.299 --> 00:00:51.079 and today my special guest is Aurora Winter. 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:55.520 She is a successful entrepreneur, best -selling 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:59.560 author, TV writer, producer, and the founder 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:04.439 of SamePagePublishing .com. Using her expertise 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:08.340 in film and neuroscience, she helps people tell 00:01:08.340 --> 00:01:13.260 memorable stories that build brands, books, and 00:01:13.260 --> 00:01:17.079 businesses. She is the winner of the Outstanding 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:20.359 Nonfiction Book of the Year Award, Aurora's book, 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.959 Turn Words into Wealth, Blueprint for Your Business. 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:28.540 Welcome to the show, Aurora. Well, it's great 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:30.260 to be on the show with you, Sheila, and I look 00:01:30.260 --> 00:01:32.519 forward to helping the listeners turn their words 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:35.219 into wealth. I think you're also going to help 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:38.739 me. Okay, I'll help you too. I'm your number 00:01:38.739 --> 00:01:42.060 one fan right now, Aurora. Tell me a little bit 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:45.680 about your backstory. Why do you do what you 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.599 do? I love helping people with their books. I 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:52.019 know you share a similar passion. I come from 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:54.579 a background of film and television. I launched 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:57.260 a film and TV company. We rose, we made eight 00:01:57.260 --> 00:02:01.939 films. raised $5 million. I oversaw 250 hours 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:04.480 of TV programming when I was a vice president 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.319 in the film business. And so I have all of this 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:10.039 creative storytelling expertise, but I'm also 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:12.360 a serial entrepreneur. I've launched several 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:14.340 different businesses that grew to seven figures 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:17.479 from startup. And so I have a real heart for 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:20.580 entrepreneurs being frustrated with their message. 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:23.699 And so what I really love to do is help people 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:27.599 create their own unique million -dollar message, 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:29.759 and I'll give you a bunch of examples of why 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:33.080 it's worth seven figures, and really break through 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:36.509 the noise. Because if you're just one of... dozens 00:02:36.509 --> 00:02:40.129 or hundreds of possible solutions, you or your 00:02:40.129 --> 00:02:43.090 business is a commodity. And that's bad because 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:45.669 that's a race to the bottom. That's a race to 00:02:45.669 --> 00:02:48.770 Walmart or China pricing. That's no good. We 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:51.789 want you and your business and your brand to 00:02:51.789 --> 00:02:54.810 be positioned as a luxury tier, like a Ferrari, 00:02:55.129 --> 00:02:58.819 right? Like a Bugatti. And to do that, you need 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:00.900 a clear message that cuts through the noise, 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:04.500 and then you need to show up like a luxury brand 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:06.659 and not just like one of many. And there's a 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:09.000 bunch of different ways to do that, seven different 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.759 ways at least, which are detailed in my book, 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:13.319 Turn Words Into Wealth, which you can get for 00:03:13.319 --> 00:03:16.360 free at turnwordsintowealth .com. But let's dive 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.780 into whatever aspect you'd like to know more 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:22.539 about, Shayla. So my first question was, do words 00:03:22.539 --> 00:03:27.280 matter? How much value does a story add? Oh, 00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:30.340 my goodness. Do words matter, girlfriend? Yes. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.120 This is the thing. Like so many entrepreneurs 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:36.979 and leaders and CEOs, they spend all this time 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:40.479 perfecting their product, their service, their 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:43.680 systems, their hiring, and they just drop the 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.259 ball about their message. But studies show that 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:53.340 the value of a story, it can 27x. 27 times, not 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:57.860 2 .7 times, 27 times the revenue with the right 00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:00.379 story. And it can take your business from struggling 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:04.020 to thriving. In fact, I have several examples 00:04:04.020 --> 00:04:07.060 from my own life where I had a million dollar 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:10.840 idea. I had a killer idea. I had a one -off idea 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:13.699 that nobody else could compete with. But until 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:17.110 I got the right message. It struggled because 00:04:17.110 --> 00:04:19.910 I was burying prospects with too much information. 00:04:20.089 --> 00:04:21.910 You want to give people the minimum amount of 00:04:21.910 --> 00:04:24.910 information, and you want really not so much 00:04:24.910 --> 00:04:28.269 information but a story of transformation they 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:31.089 can connect with. People remember stories. They 00:04:31.089 --> 00:04:34.069 repeat stories. In fact, a recent meta study 00:04:34.069 --> 00:04:37.329 said that videos are memorable statistically 00:04:37.329 --> 00:04:41.569 significantly at 0 .27 seconds, not even one 00:04:41.569 --> 00:04:44.329 second. So when people may have an attention 00:04:44.329 --> 00:04:46.310 span of eight seconds, less than a goldfish. 00:04:47.449 --> 00:04:49.930 If you have a video, you can grab attention very 00:04:49.930 --> 00:04:52.189 quickly. But I also, I want to dive into that 00:04:52.189 --> 00:04:54.149 for a moment because I think most people just 00:04:54.149 --> 00:04:57.189 stop at human beings have attention span of eight 00:04:57.189 --> 00:05:00.670 seconds or less. That's not actually the full 00:05:00.670 --> 00:05:04.230 picture. That's not clearly nuanced enough. people 00:05:04.230 --> 00:05:07.129 have become faster and more efficient at filtering 00:05:07.129 --> 00:05:09.689 the crap message that they don't want to pay 00:05:09.689 --> 00:05:13.250 attention to to a message that is for them. But 00:05:13.250 --> 00:05:16.089 if you get past that filter, and we can get into 00:05:16.089 --> 00:05:17.870 the neuroscience of communication, the first 00:05:17.870 --> 00:05:21.529 filter is that quick message. If you can get 00:05:21.529 --> 00:05:24.980 past that filtering, people have... hours that 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:27.399 they'll spend. They'll binge your content. You 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:29.560 know, Joe Rogan proves they'll watch you for 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:33.060 hours. There's lots of long -form podcasts. But 00:05:33.060 --> 00:05:34.680 you need to understand the neuroscience, which 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:36.879 we can get into, and there's three steps in that. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:40.800 But what's your next question? All ears. Let's 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.740 dive into the three steps. Forget the questions 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:46.620 I had. All right. And then I want to also talk 00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:48.620 about how a little book can really make a difference. 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.019 Because I know you help people create short books. 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:52.819 And you have a fairly short book that just came 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:56.759 out. Momentum. Great title. Momentum. I like 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:59.529 Momentum. Okay, so the neuroscience of communication. 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:02.990 I get into this in more detail in my book, Turn 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:04.610 Words Into Wealth, which again, you can get for 00:06:04.610 --> 00:06:06.990 free at turnwordsintowealth .com or it's available 00:06:06.990 --> 00:06:10.129 wherever books are sold. And I studied neuroscience 00:06:10.129 --> 00:06:12.790 when I got my MBA in 2015. I know you've got 00:06:12.790 --> 00:06:15.110 a master's in leadership, so we've both got that 00:06:15.110 --> 00:06:17.829 master's degree thing going on here. And there's 00:06:17.829 --> 00:06:20.230 really three steps and you really need to do 00:06:20.230 --> 00:06:23.939 it in this order. So there is a blueprint. behind 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:26.579 effective communication. And the order matters. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:28.699 Imagine you're building a house. You can't put 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:31.839 the roof on first. But that's what so many people 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.220 try to do with our communication. We put the 00:06:34.220 --> 00:06:37.279 roof on first by leading with, you know, all 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:40.279 of the intellectual reasons why, like sort of 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:42.519 a verbal equivalent of an Excel spreadsheet. 00:06:42.779 --> 00:06:45.300 I know I made this mistake myself in one of my 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:48.000 first businesses. People would run away. They're 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.879 like, I know she's smart. I know she's up to 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:51.639 something, but she's overwhelming me with data. 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:55.870 Stop it. You do that too, Sheila. All right. 00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:58.430 So the first step is we need to connect with 00:06:58.430 --> 00:06:59.889 the croc of the brain. Here, let me give you 00:06:59.889 --> 00:07:03.649 a visual to make it easy. Imagine you're a messenger. 00:07:03.990 --> 00:07:06.430 You're on your beautiful stallion. You're riding 00:07:06.430 --> 00:07:08.990 up to the castle, but there's a moat filled with 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:12.470 crocodiles and the drawbridge is up. So in order 00:07:12.470 --> 00:07:14.670 to get past that moat, you have to appeal to 00:07:14.670 --> 00:07:18.069 the croc brain. And the croc brain, or the ancient 00:07:18.069 --> 00:07:20.649 reptilian brain, is looking for, is this novel? 00:07:20.850 --> 00:07:23.230 Is this new? Is this different? Is this interesting? 00:07:23.490 --> 00:07:26.490 What's in it for me? And if it's the same message 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:29.009 that the last 14 people on their horses came 00:07:29.009 --> 00:07:31.089 up with, the drawbridge is not going to come 00:07:31.089 --> 00:07:32.889 down. Okay, but if you have a message that's 00:07:32.889 --> 00:07:35.790 interesting, novel, spark something, and this 00:07:35.790 --> 00:07:38.149 is very, very quick. It's like the title of a 00:07:38.149 --> 00:07:40.269 book, like Marketing Fast Track or Turn Words 00:07:40.269 --> 00:07:42.730 Into Wealth, or it's Seth Godin's Purple Cow 00:07:42.730 --> 00:07:45.810 or Tim Ferriss's 4 -Hour Workweek. That gets 00:07:45.810 --> 00:07:48.029 the drawbridge to come down. Okay, so you trot 00:07:48.029 --> 00:07:50.310 in on your horse. You're ready to sell something. 00:07:50.490 --> 00:07:52.870 But the king and queen are not going to greet 00:07:52.870 --> 00:07:55.240 you as soon as you come across. the drawbridge. 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:58.279 And the brain works the same way. There's a second 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:00.959 filter that you need to pass, and that is the 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:03.620 social midbrain. And the social midbrain is like, 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:08.180 who are you and who sent you anyway? Who else 00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:10.379 thinks this is a good idea? Because if you come 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.199 across the side and, well, you did get past the 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:15.699 crocodile, you look like a bum and nobody else 00:08:15.699 --> 00:08:17.819 has heard of you, you know, you're going to be 00:08:17.819 --> 00:08:21.500 quietly shunted to the... the back door. So this 00:08:21.500 --> 00:08:23.319 would be an example would be here, as you said, 00:08:23.339 --> 00:08:25.279 when you introduced me, award -winning book. 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.079 You can mention your clients. You can mention 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:32.299 some wow factor, something that's social midbrain. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:37.879 So if you pass that next criteria that this person 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:40.500 is all right, or people that I know think they're 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:42.980 all right, even talking to you on a podcast, 00:08:43.259 --> 00:08:45.720 that's social midbrain. Aurora thinks Sheila 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:48.360 is worth talking to and vice versa. Check. So 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:49.899 it takes longer to explain it than to do it. 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:54.299 That's like the croc brain is like the foundation 00:08:54.299 --> 00:08:57.379 of the house. The midbrain is like the walls. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:00.820 Now you can put on the roof. Now you are escorted 00:09:00.820 --> 00:09:05.240 up to the king and queen in the royal receiving 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.700 chamber. And now you can communicate. But, and 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:10.500 I know this is a slight exaggeration, but it 00:09:10.500 --> 00:09:13.679 will help you remember it. The queen likes stories 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:17.049 and the king likes data. Two sides of our brain, 00:09:17.169 --> 00:09:19.970 right? So tell the queen some stories and give 00:09:19.970 --> 00:09:22.710 the king some data. If you only talk to the king, 00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:24.669 even though you think he's the decision maker, 00:09:24.809 --> 00:09:26.850 you are wrong because it's always the woman who 00:09:26.850 --> 00:09:31.269 decides. People think that they make decisions 00:09:31.269 --> 00:09:33.840 logically, but they don't. They actually decide 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.960 emotionally and then they justify a second later, 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.980 a nanosecond later with the logic of it. And 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:42.620 then you want to repeat this. So people can only 00:09:42.620 --> 00:09:45.320 listen for about 20 minutes. It's very effortful 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:49.299 and expensive calories -wise to listen. It causes 00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:52.200 a lot of brain drain. So make it easy on them 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.019 and repeat this sequence every five minutes about. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.159 So again, remind them, you know, what is the 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.419 croc brain? What is the midbrain? And what is... 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:02.519 a little bit longer of your message, and ideally 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:06.779 put your message in a story. I love how you turn 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:10.940 that into a story. I'm proud. I don't need to 00:10:10.940 --> 00:10:16.279 explain it. I do it. So you are now writing fiction, 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:19.940 if I understood correctly, and you're known for 00:10:19.940 --> 00:10:22.779 nonfiction books like Turn Words Into Wealth. 00:10:22.940 --> 00:10:26.759 What made you switch? Yeah, I actually, I'm an 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:28.419 award -winning screenwriter. I've written about 00:10:28.419 --> 00:10:30.559 30 screenplays, as I mentioned, of background 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.379 in film and television. But I have a trilogy 00:10:33.379 --> 00:10:36.539 now, a young adult trilogy. This is the first 00:10:36.539 --> 00:10:39.539 book, Magic, Mystery, and the Multiverse. And 00:10:39.539 --> 00:10:44.320 I've always loved storytelling. I know that storytelling 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:46.740 can really move people. And I think like even 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:51.220 fiction has the power to change facts. So part 00:10:51.220 --> 00:10:53.299 of why I wrote Magic Missed in the Multiverse 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:56.419 was to encourage people to read. I can't think 00:10:56.419 --> 00:10:59.179 of a superpower that's more valuable than to 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:01.879 encourage young people or really anybody to read. 00:11:01.940 --> 00:11:04.659 It changed my life because if you develop a love 00:11:04.659 --> 00:11:07.059 of reading, before you know it, you're first 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:09.620 reading for entertainment. And then later, you 00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:11.799 know, you have a problem. You're like. Maybe 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:13.580 there's a book about this. Or maybe I can find 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:15.779 an answer online. And you start getting into 00:11:15.779 --> 00:11:20.000 the habit of leaning into reading. And that can 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.259 completely transform your life. Because every 00:11:23.259 --> 00:11:25.580 problem you've had, probably somebody else has 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:27.899 had it. So, hey, one thing I want to share about 00:11:27.899 --> 00:11:32.379 this. We're talking about video having. being 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:35.159 memorable statistically significantly at under 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:37.879 a second, well, we've launched a new YouTube 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:42.179 channel called Anna Zest Series, because I have 00:11:42.179 --> 00:11:44.039 a background in film. So we're creating little 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:48.820 films, little mini films, like imagine a book 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:51.799 trailer or a movie trailer, two or three minutes. 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:55.139 And when we just launched it, but here's what 00:11:55.139 --> 00:12:00.279 I want people to lean into, is we had a 12 % 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:05.740 click -through rate to cold traffic, which is 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:08.820 absolutely unheard of. So if you know how to 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:11.740 tell a good story and you can add a really cool 00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:15.559 image, which is super possible now with AI using 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:18.960 Sora 2 and HeyGen and MidJourney and Runway and 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.740 other such AI apps, that's a good use of AI. 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:26.559 Take your story, make it visual, make it compelling, 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:29.720 and YouTube is the number two search engine. 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:32.240 Anyway. I also have Strategic Basics YouTube 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:35.259 channel, which is more a resource for people 00:12:35.259 --> 00:12:37.700 to help them with their message. But anyway, 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:39.860 it's not just about books, also about videos. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.700 But I did want to tell the story, if I may, of 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:45.340 a little short book that changed my life. So 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:47.620 you will connect because you've got a master's. 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:53.360 And I got my MBA in 2015. And I'm like, oh, happy. 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:56.500 You know, I'm officially approved, stamped, edumacated. 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:00.080 And I'm like, it was. A moment of being lost, 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:02.580 though, because I could do anything. I could 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:06.039 live anywhere. And so I'm in Venice, Italy, going, 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:09.500 OK, well, check the MBA. But my mother had just 00:13:09.500 --> 00:13:13.080 died. And I'm like, well, what do I do next? 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.899 I didn't have her wise counsel. I'm a widow. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.019 My husband had died. I didn't have his wise counsel. 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:21.980 So I'm like, OK, well, do I go get a job at Netflix? 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:24.480 Do I go back? work in film and television? Do 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:27.879 I try to reboot my coach training company? But 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:29.779 I'm a restless person and I was bored of it. 00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:34.620 So I decided to see if a little short book could 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:37.779 prove or disprove the idea that people would 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:39.600 like help with their messaging and marketing 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:45.379 from me. So based on a one -hour interview, turned 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:48.019 that one -hour interview into a short book marketing 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:50.759 fast track. the little book that launched a new 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:52.480 business. And you can get this book for free 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:56.600 too at turnwordsintowealth .com. And I offered 00:13:56.600 --> 00:14:00.919 it to my small email list of 12 ,000 at that 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:04.000 time. And the book was free. People just paid 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.580 for the shipping. And then they got a sequence 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:08.360 of videos because we really believe in videos 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:11.500 over here. And then I said, hey, if you'd like 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:13.460 some help with your messaging, with your marketing, 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:15.500 with writing your book, with creating your TED 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:17.639 Talk, with creating, you know, videos to put 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.039 on YouTube, you can sign up at bookcall .biz 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:23.539 and have a free business breakthrough call. And 00:14:23.539 --> 00:14:25.340 this was a sprint because I needed to either 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:27.440 apply for a job at Netflix or get something else 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:32.139 going. And so within 90 days, that little free 00:14:32.139 --> 00:14:35.700 book, well, free plus shipping, generated $250 00:14:35.700 --> 00:14:40.190 ,000. in 90 days. So that's basically a seven 00:14:40.190 --> 00:14:44.750 -figure revenue stream over a year. And the money 00:14:44.750 --> 00:14:47.330 was great because, as you know, getting a master's 00:14:47.330 --> 00:14:51.990 degree is expensive. But the certainty was worth 00:14:51.990 --> 00:14:55.740 even more. So one of the things I love... to 00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:59.360 suggest people do is do a little 90 -day test. 00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:02.559 Test your idea, but don't just ask your mother 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:04.139 and your cousin and your next -door neighbor 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:06.659 if they think it's a good idea. Get real money. 00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:09.200 Even if it's only a couple of dollars, that's 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:12.480 a more... definite signal that you're onto something. 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.960 And then from a couple of dollars, whether it's 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.600 a free book plus shipping or something else that 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:22.639 actually involves some money passing hands, then 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:24.740 you can add more value, you can add the like 00:15:24.740 --> 00:15:27.200 and trust, and then offer them what your main... 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.720 what your main thing is. And if nobody gets, 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:32.960 nobody buys, you're better off having done a 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.799 quick 90 -day test and spending a whole bunch 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:38.740 of money hiring staff, getting the fancy schmancy 00:15:38.740 --> 00:15:41.559 office, and then realizing nobody wants what 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:44.519 you have. This is a mistake I see so many well 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.240 -funded Silicon Valley companies make. They put 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:50.200 so much effort into... creating something with 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:52.580 the engineers deciding what people want instead 00:15:52.580 --> 00:15:55.379 of the marketplace deciding what they want. In 00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:57.539 fact, when Gmail was first launched, it only 00:15:57.539 --> 00:16:00.340 had three features because they decided let's 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:03.299 launch it quickly and let the market tell us 00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:05.799 what else needs to be added. Anyway, so I'm passionate 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:09.789 about very quick, very quick tests. So I call 00:16:09.789 --> 00:16:12.970 that validation. Exactly. Work on the business 00:16:12.970 --> 00:16:16.710 plan. And I used to develop apps. And so I would 00:16:16.710 --> 00:16:19.330 get everyone might have an idea. I have an idea 00:16:19.330 --> 00:16:21.669 for an app. She might try and walk them through 00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:24.909 the business plan. And so validation, I agree, 00:16:25.129 --> 00:16:31.009 is key. I'm actually in that process myself with 00:16:31.009 --> 00:16:34.309 my software that we spoke about before, because 00:16:34.309 --> 00:16:37.750 you need to make sure that there is a need for 00:16:37.750 --> 00:16:39.769 it. And you want to make sure there's product 00:16:39.769 --> 00:16:42.710 market fit. Yeah. Yes. Lots of people, you know, 00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:45.289 giving me ideas of, oh, you could do this or 00:16:45.289 --> 00:16:47.169 you could do this or you could do this. I'm like, 00:16:47.190 --> 00:16:49.610 right now it's focusing on one thing and one 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:53.710 thing only because I want to make sure that that 00:16:53.710 --> 00:16:57.769 works, not just a click all solution. And yeah, 00:16:57.830 --> 00:17:00.769 you can have people once they're paying for the 00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:03.210 first tier, if they want to pay for an extra 00:17:03.210 --> 00:17:06.089 tier, but just ideas of things you can do. These 00:17:06.089 --> 00:17:10.480 are. A trap. Avoid at all costs because you can 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.539 spend a lot of money implementing good ideas. 00:17:12.740 --> 00:17:15.119 But is it a good idea if it's not coming from 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.380 a market that's willing to pay for it? No. I 00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:21.799 agree. All right. So now I have one more question. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:25.779 How do you leverage your name as an author if 00:17:25.779 --> 00:17:28.960 you want to write fiction? You might want to 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.319 have a pen name. What I did with my fantasy books 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:33.960 is I just put my middle initial to help Amazon, 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:36.900 the Amazon algorithm go, oh, these are her fiction 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:38.619 books and these are her nonfiction books and 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:41.359 not confuse it. But you could have a pen name. 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:43.519 Like one of the authors I like, Joanna Penn, 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:48.059 she writes fiction under JF Penn. And she writes 00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:50.259 her nonfiction under Joanna Penn. Here's the 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:53.799 interesting thing. I'm one of the few book coaches 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:57.589 or... marketing messaging strategists who actually 00:17:57.589 --> 00:18:00.009 help people with fiction because I have a deep 00:18:00.009 --> 00:18:02.650 background in three screenplays, one of which 00:18:02.650 --> 00:18:04.750 was produced. Development hell for the other 00:18:04.750 --> 00:18:11.170 29. The interesting thing is the demand for fiction 00:18:11.170 --> 00:18:15.150 is so much higher than for nonfiction. So, for 00:18:15.150 --> 00:18:17.910 example, I have a litigation attorney. I helped 00:18:17.910 --> 00:18:20.569 him write and publish his first book, which is 00:18:20.569 --> 00:18:22.490 called Confessions of an Accidental Attorney. 00:18:22.789 --> 00:18:26.809 He loved that process so much that we now sketched 00:18:26.809 --> 00:18:30.470 out and outlined nine more legal thrillers, and 00:18:30.470 --> 00:18:32.650 they're all like the Jake Fox series of books. 00:18:32.769 --> 00:18:35.910 The first one's already come out. So these, his 00:18:35.910 --> 00:18:38.559 legal thrillers, have already got over 3 million 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:41.640 pages read, a dozen awards, including American 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:45.680 Fiction Award. And people are buying the book 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:48.839 in thousands. Like, I think he's got, I might 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:53.059 be slightly wrong on the number, 200 ,000 orders. 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:58.319 Like, a lot more demand for fiction than nonfiction, 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:01.400 because most nonfiction books have a back end 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:05.099 that's consulting, training, speaking, whatever. 00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:07.380 whereas most fiction books don't necessarily 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:11.460 have a back end. However, what he's noticed as 00:19:11.460 --> 00:19:15.369 a litigation attorney When corporations are deciding 00:19:15.369 --> 00:19:17.609 who do they want to represent them for their 00:19:17.609 --> 00:19:20.710 next big case, and they look at all of the other 00:19:20.710 --> 00:19:23.750 very qualified litigation attorneys, but they 00:19:23.750 --> 00:19:26.410 all kind of look like interchangeable gray land 00:19:26.410 --> 00:19:28.849 suits. And then Michael Stockham, my client, 00:19:28.890 --> 00:19:30.809 stands out because he's like, whoa, this guy's 00:19:30.809 --> 00:19:32.410 a best -selling award -winning author. Like, 00:19:32.450 --> 00:19:34.690 wow, he's got legal thrillers. Wow, you know, 00:19:34.690 --> 00:19:37.390 he's appeared on a podcast. Oh, wow, he's even 00:19:37.390 --> 00:19:39.789 got, you know, videos about his book. He looks 00:19:39.789 --> 00:19:43.470 interesting. So they hire him. him because he 00:19:43.470 --> 00:19:46.210 has a brand. He has a presence. He's interesting. 00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:50.009 So even though it's a little less obvious how 00:19:50.009 --> 00:19:52.849 you can use a fiction book to build your business, 00:19:53.069 --> 00:19:55.650 I've noticed with him, oh, that actually really 00:19:55.650 --> 00:19:58.769 works. And he's secured seven figures of new 00:19:58.769 --> 00:20:02.289 business because he's an author. Interesting, 00:20:02.410 --> 00:20:05.670 eh? Very interesting. So it makes you stand out. 00:20:05.750 --> 00:20:08.430 Sometimes we're afraid of being different or... 00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:11.019 you know, not fitting in. It goes back to how 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:14.559 you began this conversation with that same messaging 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.079 that gets repeated over and over. So it could 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:20.160 even work to your advantage to think out of the 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:23.640 box and let your imagination go wild, whether 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:25.799 it's a thriller. I could just see it now, leadership 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:31.740 thriller. I don't know if you know the Valuetainment 00:20:31.740 --> 00:20:37.660 podcast host, Patrick Betts. David? I think that's 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:40.940 right, but David, he has two nonfiction business 00:20:40.940 --> 00:20:43.759 books. One is like five strategies to this, that, 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:45.880 or the other thing. But his most recent book 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:50.599 is a young adult thriller. So, and it's interesting 00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:52.259 because it goes the other way too, because I 00:20:52.259 --> 00:20:54.359 just launched actually today on the Strategic 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:58.980 Basics channel, I covered three nonfiction business 00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:01.019 bestsellers that people might want to read or 00:21:01.019 --> 00:21:03.440 get to give for Christmas gifts. And I thought 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:05.519 they were great, but one of them is Disrupt. 00:21:06.809 --> 00:21:10.470 Disrupt Everything and Win by James Patterson, 00:21:10.569 --> 00:21:12.490 who is a thriller author, but now he's writing 00:21:12.490 --> 00:21:15.730 nonfiction. And he's a good example of disrupting 00:21:15.730 --> 00:21:19.589 things. So yes, I think the way to lose is to 00:21:19.589 --> 00:21:24.529 be afraid to stick out. Because I think if you 00:21:24.529 --> 00:21:29.009 don't stick out, that's death. It's better. It's 00:21:29.009 --> 00:21:33.009 hard. I know. I struggle with this myself. But 00:21:33.009 --> 00:21:36.839 it's better to be controversial. And have some 00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:39.500 people go like, forget it. What is that person 00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:42.359 talking about? That is so not interesting. And 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:45.380 have other people go, Sheila's my gal or Aurora's 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:47.880 my gal because they're like, wow, she really 00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:50.299 said something. She took a stand. She's like 00:21:50.299 --> 00:21:53.279 pro -AI. She's pro -video. She's pro -everybody 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:56.140 writing all kinds of different books. Take a 00:21:56.140 --> 00:22:00.940 stand. And it's much better to appeal to 20 % 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:04.119 of the market who are 100 % in. then try to appeal 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:06.440 to 100 % of the market who are only 2 % engaged. 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:15.400 Wow. That's the key takeaway. So in my next book, 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:18.220 when I do that fiction book, I am going to dedicate 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:22.059 inspiration, this podcast, remember, sometime 00:22:22.059 --> 00:22:26.329 in November. Oh, Thanksgiving. It's going to 00:22:26.329 --> 00:22:29.250 read something like, I am grateful for that conversation 00:22:29.250 --> 00:22:32.049 because we are near Thanksgiving. Oh, well, send 00:22:32.049 --> 00:22:34.569 me an email and I'll buy it. I'd love to read 00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:37.390 your new fiction book that got inspired by our 00:22:37.390 --> 00:22:40.670 conversation. That's absolutely great. Not confessions. 00:22:40.670 --> 00:22:44.329 I'm going to make it more, I don't know, just 00:22:44.329 --> 00:22:48.230 leadership gone wrong. I don't know. I got to 00:22:48.230 --> 00:22:51.720 start exploring. Well, you know, the cool thing 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:55.339 that most people don't realize is that the process 00:22:55.339 --> 00:22:59.119 of writing a book is transformative in and of 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.140 itself, whether or not you publish the book. 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:03.920 Because you get more clear about what you care 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.759 about, what moves you, what makes you angry, 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:09.579 what makes you happy, what makes you joyful. 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:11.680 And when I interview people, I interview people 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:14.039 and turn it into a book. We review their whole 00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:15.720 life. Like, what were the challenges? What were 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:17.579 the problems? What were the devastating moments? 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:19.869 And they get a chance to look at that. And go, 00:23:20.069 --> 00:23:23.289 yeah, that sucked. But on the other hand, they 00:23:23.289 --> 00:23:25.309 learned this and that changed my life. And then 00:23:25.309 --> 00:23:27.470 I met this person and that was really good. So 00:23:27.470 --> 00:23:31.230 they get a chance to integrate their history 00:23:31.230 --> 00:23:34.829 in a way that's extraordinary and really claim 00:23:34.829 --> 00:23:37.690 who they are and let go of pieces that didn't 00:23:37.690 --> 00:23:39.329 serve them because they have a chance with this 00:23:39.329 --> 00:23:42.210 new perspective from the moment that I'm helping 00:23:42.210 --> 00:23:45.750 them create their content to let go of the past 00:23:45.750 --> 00:23:48.769 and claim it. And they've just become more. more 00:23:48.769 --> 00:23:52.309 clear as a human being, as a leader, as an entrepreneur. 00:23:52.470 --> 00:23:54.369 Even if the book was never published, they would 00:23:54.369 --> 00:23:57.089 get so much value from it. I don't know, what 00:23:57.089 --> 00:23:58.890 did you find as you were working on your own 00:23:58.890 --> 00:24:01.450 books even before they were published? You probably 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:03.970 noticed you got more clear on what you care about 00:24:03.970 --> 00:24:05.730 and what's meaningful and what works and what 00:24:05.730 --> 00:24:09.309 doesn't, right? So yes, actually the inspiration 00:24:09.309 --> 00:24:12.589 for that book, like you, I went back to school 00:24:12.589 --> 00:24:17.279 and earned a master's. Mine was 2018. And people 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:19.460 were questioning, well, why at this stage in 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:21.500 your life do you want to go back to school and 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:24.160 get a master's? I said, because I've always wanted 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:28.420 to check it off. I had all of that research and 00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:31.460 I enjoyed the writing process. It's how I... 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:35.200 communicated, processed information, processed 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:38.599 change, because it was a time of change. I thought, 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:41.220 I want to share those. And I'm always thinking 00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:45.039 legacy in terms of my children. What can I leave 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.079 them with? It's a great time to reflect. And 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:50.180 that's what led me to start wanting to write 00:24:50.180 --> 00:24:53.440 and write. And even now that I'm writing every 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:56.819 Wednesday, I'm having a great time because I 00:24:56.819 --> 00:25:01.740 just get thoughts out of my head. Reading, writing, 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:04.900 and reviewing in that way can transform your 00:25:04.900 --> 00:25:08.680 life, your clarity, and your business. That's 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:13.220 beautiful. Yeah, I like it. I've enjoyed speaking 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:15.859 with you today, Aurora. Thank you so much for 00:25:15.859 --> 00:25:18.519 joining me. Oh, it was such a pleasure, Sheila. 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:20.880 And if any of your listeners want help with their 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:24.259 legacy books, they can go to samepagepublishing 00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:27.099 .com. They can get some free resources, absolutely 00:25:27.099 --> 00:25:29.099 free. They can get the book Terminates into Wealth 00:25:29.099 --> 00:25:31.539 and Marketing Fast Track and some videos. And 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:33.299 if they want even more help, they can sign up 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:36.500 for a free business breakthrough call at bookcall 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:39.359 .biz. I'd love to help them. And I'd love to 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:41.700 help you. Maybe we can work. I can help you with 00:25:41.700 --> 00:25:43.849 your fiction. That'd be fun. Oh, that would be 00:25:43.849 --> 00:25:46.109 amazing. Well, I will make sure to leave all 00:25:46.109 --> 00:25:48.769 of the links in the comments and maybe all your 00:25:48.769 --> 00:25:51.569 other books because you've published 10. We'll 00:25:51.569 --> 00:25:53.849 have an election down there. Maybe you'll come 00:25:53.849 --> 00:25:56.930 back and tell us when you've published your 11th. 00:25:56.930 --> 00:25:59.009 Okay, I'll come back. Thanks so much, Sheila. 00:25:59.369 --> 00:26:02.470 Thank you all for joining us. Thank you for tuning 00:26:02.470 --> 00:26:05.289 in to another episode of Milestone Moments in 00:26:05.289 --> 00:26:07.809 Business and Leadership. Until next time.