How Successful Authors Build Businesses, Not Just Books

Have you ever wondered why some authors build businesses while others just publish books? If you’ve wondered that, well, that’s what we’re going to talk about today. I’m going to give you what I call the milliondoll author mindset because it starts there with your mindset and how you do things and how you focus. After working with thousands of authors over the last roughly 15 years, I’ve noticed that there’s really two distinct kinds of authors. There are those that go on to either build or grow their businesses to seven figures, eight figures and beyond. Or their book adds an additional seven figures plus to their business. And it’s not because they write necessarily better books. It’s because they think differently about their book. One author publishes a book and hopes that that book sells a lot of copies and makes a lot of royalties and the other builds a business around their book or they have a a business already in place and they write a book specifically for that business and that group of authors always wins. They always win. They always get a return on investment. Okay. So, let’s talk a little bit about these two authors for a moment, and then I’m going to give you eight shifts that you can make if you’re in kind of the mindset of the book author versus the business building author, which is what I want you to be at BSP. So, the book author thinks in language like, how many books did I sell? What is my Amazon ranking currently? What is my what are my royalties this month? As you know, I make royalties every single month. They hit my account. I appreciate them. Thank you, Amazon. Thank you, Ingram Spark. Thank you, Audible. Right? I appreciate all of that. But that’s not what my focus is because that person that is focused on those things is losing out and missing out on the bigger opportunity. The business author asks questions like, “Who needs to have my book? Who needs to read this?” And thinks like individuals or groups. The business author thinks, “What what opportunities can I create for myself with this book? Speaking engagements, media, PR, what conversations can this book start for me? Strategic partnerships, referrals, what offer, maybe you’re you’re starting something brand new. So, what offer can my expertise and my book lead to?” That’s the way the business author thinks. How do I keep this book working for me every single month? Not accidentally, not because it’s on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, but how do I do it? The business author doesn’t see a book, they see an asset. And that’s what I want you to see today. So, I want to give you eight mental shifts, eight shifts for the million-doll author. The one that goes from I’m a book author to I’m a business author. So shift number one, stop measuring your success in book sales. The business book author does not measure their success in book sales. Now perhaps if and when we get to the level of a John Maxwell who’s writing his 71st or 72nd book, you can think in terms of how many books is this going to sell? 500,000, 1 million, etc. because that book is a business for John because of all the other books that laid the foundation for that book to be a business. When we get to that point, I will allow that kind of thinking. But we’re not at that point today. The point we’re at is we have to measure differently. So, the million-doll author measures in how many clients is my book getting me on a monthly or quarterly basis? How many speaking engagements did my book help me to get? How many podcasts? How many referrals? How many new partnerships? How many media interviews of any kind came from my book? The million-dollar author is thinking that way, not thinking about how many sales the book makes. Because one speaking engagement that you get from your book could very easily be worth five or 10,000 book sales easily based on the kind of relationships you build, the consulting or coaching that you sell from it, the speaking engagement fee that you get. So you have to start asking a different question. We don’t want to ask how many books do we sell. Shift number two, if you’re in the writing process or thinking about book number two, etc. Stop thinking about just writing or slashbuilding a book. Stop thinking that way. Start thinking instead about building an ecosystem around your book. You see, your book should connect to your website, your bookfunnel. Perhaps you have a newsletter that goes out to an email list every single week. Perhaps you decide to create a podcast that you host from your book or your book’s content or your expertise. Perhaps you decide to start an entire consulting practice or coaching practice from the expertise that you have put in a book form. Maybe you decide to do workshops or webinars or you use your book for referrals and strategic partner relationships. You see, the book supports everything. It’s the support of your ecosystem. It’s not an ecosystem by itself. It’s we’re bringing the book into so it is connected with all of these other things and it is then creating opportunities for you. So don’t think about building or writing a book. Think about how your book can help you to build an ecosystem with all of these pieces in place. Now if you don’t have any of these pieces in place, don’t worry about it. Start with one that most excites you, that most interests you, and then build from there. Shift number three, don’t think like a typical author. Don’t think like a typical author. Think instead like a marketer. Now, that’s not a dirty word. So, don’t be offended. I want you to be a marketer. You need to market your services. In fact, the more you market, the less you ever have to sell because that way your book and what it is that you put on social media or out to your email list in a newsletter, that does the selling for you. You see, authors think when they write their book, “Oh, my book is done. We talk about this. That’s so wrong.” No, your your work has just started. You you’re just beginning now. Publishing your book is like the end of the first quarter, halftime at best. All the fun and the work starts after your book is written, but you can’t do anything before and you can’t do very much during. So, think of your book as the best marketing tool that you’ll ever have for your expertise and your business. But you see, it’s only going to do the work and the heavy lifting for you if you get it into the right people’s hands. And that’s something that you do proactively. Shift number four, stop looking or worrying about royalties. They’re going to come, but thinking about them and focusing on them simply means that you’re focused on the wrong thing. Let that happen and instead focus on the things that will create the greatest return on investment for yourself and your business. What does that mean? Well, your book should like build relationships for you. One reader can make a massive difference to your project, to your business, to your consulting or or coaching organization. One reader, just one right person can make a massive difference. You guys know the story I’ve told you many times about various clients of ours like Florencia when that book was written and published. One reader made all the difference to that book. And that reader was the president of Mosamb beek who then introduced the authors and myself to the United Nations to the Indian consulate. They presented at the United Nations. They presented at the Indian consulate. They secured the partnership with the largest NGO in the world at the time that worked with prosthetic devices out of India and it led to millions of dollars in charitable giving and contributions. Not because 10,000 people bought the book, but because one book landed on one reader’s desk. Think about that. Instead of focusing on the royalties, think who is the one person or five or 10 or 100 that if you got your book with your message on their desk, it could make all the difference for you. Think about one conversation, one client, one right referral. Dr. Ben Hardy calls these superh who’s individuals that can not just take you like one degree but like make stratospheric atmospheric massive massive changes in your business because of the relationships that they have because of the connections that they have. One partnership, one keynote speech, one opportunity, right? One great TED talk. Think Mel Robbins, the 5-second rule. She did a 17minute TED talk. The first 15 minutes, nobody remembers. The last two minutes or so of that TED talk, she shared one thing. She shared her 5-second rule. Everyone went bananas over that. And she wrote an entire book, which became a number one New York Times bestseller. And she has taken that one twominute clip from a TED talk into a multi-million dollar, eight, perhaps even ninefigure business. Think about where is the one connection, the one opportunity that if you had that because of your book, it would be a gamecher for you. The right reader, the one right reader is worth more than a thousand random readers. Shift number five, stop being invisible. Use your book to make a splash. Many authors are closet introverts. I get it, right? Oh, I’m I’m writing because I don’t want to talk to anybody. [laughter] Well, you’re going to have to talk to some people, okay? [laughter] I don’t think that’s you, and I hope it’s not you, but like raise your game. So, let’s say your game is already high. You’re a speaker, you’re a coach, you’re a consultant, you love people, you’re an extrovert. Great. Well, guess what? There’s a level above that. Are you unknown on social media? Change that. Are you unknown in the podcast circuit? Use your book to change that. Are there articles written about you, videos? Do you have frameworks built out that people use? What about testimonials or videos that you do that turn into reals? In other words, don’t stop being invisible. Stop hiding your light. You’ve written a book. If your book has really like given your best how you can make a difference in somebody’s life, how you can change their life, and you’ve spelled out your frameworks and your magic, and you’ve done that. Well, okay. Now it’s time to get that thing in front of as many people as possible. Don’t be invisible. You are the only one that can make yourself visible. You have to be very practical and focused on being visible in the marketplace. Your book is an element of it, but it is not going to work in and of itself. It needs to work with you. Shift number six, stop asking yourself, some of you will relate to this, not everybody. Stop asking yourself, what do I sell? I don’t know what to sell. I don’t know what to offer. Okay, we deal with this from time to time because many clients that come to us at Bestseller Publishing are very successful and they are pivoting into something perhaps new or perhaps something different. And this is where they get stuck. Rob, I I have this expertise. I have this thing. What do I sell? What’s my offer? Here’s the problem. You’re asking the wrong question. Don’t think in terms of what do I sell? Start asking yourself, what problem can I solve for somebody else? What problem can I solve for somebody else? You need to ask yourself, what problem am I known for solving? What can I do for somebody? And be as narrow as possible. Obviously, think in terms of problems that people have that they can pay you for. But when you start asking yourself the right question, not what do I sell, don’t worry about what to sell, worry about the problem that you’re solving, then when you believe you have the answer to that question, start making offers. So you sit down, you make a decision. Okay, I’ve got to figure out what problem can I really solve for somebody? What are my expertises? What am I known for? How can I really help someone? What have I changed in my own life? What am I passionate about, excited about? Great. Let’s say you come to something, you’re not 100% sure, you’re not dead certain on it. Great. Start making offers to help people. Make it on social media. Say, “Hey, I’m looking for three people that have this problem and would like to work with me over the next 8 weeks to solve it by this date in the next 30 days.” Now, should you charge for that? Probably not. So, start help three people to change their life in whatever way you can help them change their life. And those three people are going to be your case studies. So stop asking yourself, what do I sell? And instead ask yourself, what problem can I solve for somebody? That will help to answer the real question. Shift number seven, have the BSP mindset. I call this the BSP mindset. At BSP, you know this. We have never believed the end goal was becoming a best-selling author. Do I think it’s important? Of course. I have a whole business built around it. But that’s not the end goal. It’s a big milestone. It’s a major goal, but it’s a major goal on the way to what your real goal is. Your real goal is for you to decide. If I were to answer it, I would say your real goal is to become the obvious authority in your space. Now, is that going to be done with one book? Not by itself. See, the author mindset thinks so, right? But not the million-doll author mindset. The million-dollar author says, “Okay, I have a book. I have a best-selling book. Now, I’m going to use it in all these different ways and I’m going to build that foundation and I’m going to create some incredible return on investment. And then what am I going to do? I’m going to repeat the process. I’m going to do it again until I become the obvious authority in my space because authority creates clients, speaking, media, partnerships, referrals, higher fees, bigger opportunities, all of the things that the right mindset wants. Now, if somehow you’ve stumbled onto this and you say, “Well, all I want to do is write children’s books.” Wonderful. Good. None of this is applicable in your case, right? If all you’re looking to do is just write and be quiet and whatever happens from it happens from it, great. That is the author mindset. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but that is not the BSP mindset and that’s not why you came. You came because you want to be the obvious authority in your space. So have that mindset and don’t think, well, I became a best-selling author. Everything should fall into place now. No, it’s a great start. It’s a massive milestone. Congratulations. Now, let’s get to work. Final shift. Shift number eight. This is a good one. I I like this one. I like them all, but and I did come up with them, so I guess I should like them all. But shift number eight. I want you to think like an investor, not like an author. Think like an investor, not like an author. What does that mean? Well, every time you create something, you should be thinking, how will I get a return on my investment for what I have created? I spend money on ads. I spend tens of thousands of dollars a week on ads. I am not independently wealthy nor trying to support Mark Zuckerberg and all the things that he wants to do. I am doing that because I am expecting a return on investment. Right? makes complete sense because I’m thinking like an investor, not like an author. I do workshops. When I do a workshop, I realize that of the thousand people or so that are registered for that workshop, that roughly two to 300 are going to show up live. And of those two or 300 that show up live, because it’s a free workshop, probably 10 or 20 of those people are going to buy and become bestseller publishing clients. Now, on the surface, that sounds discouraging. A thousand people give me their name, email address, get on my email list, and only 10 or 20 of those people become clients. Yes. But I’m thinking like an investor. If I invest $20,000 to get those,000 people registered and I get 15 new clients, which produces $150,000 in revenue for bestseller publishing, then what have I done? I’ve done two amazing things. Number one, my investment produced a return, which is what I want. And number two, I got to help and teach hundreds of people for free. They didn’t have to pay me a dime. They got to come to a workshop, come to a webinar, be inspired, be encouraged, learn because I’m teaching them real stuff. And the 10 or 15 people that buy, they support all of that. That’s how an investor thinks. I build funnels for a return on investment. I go on podcast for return on investment. Do you know we have a bestseller publishing client that we did a book big book launch for became a Wall Street Journal USA Today bestseller. I won’t say who it is but he went on one p he’s been on 200 podcasts at least. He went on one podcast and he made almost a million dollar from one podcast. That is by far more than he made on the other 199 combined. In fact, it’s like a hundred times more, 50 times more than he made on the others. One right podcast led to a massive return on investment. Think like an investor, not like an author. Think how am I going to get what am I going to do with my book to get a return on my investment? speaking engagements, articles that you write, social, whatever it is that you’re doing, you have to think in terms of investment and dare I say the biggest investment you’ll make is the investment of your time because you’ll never get that back. Far more valuable than your money is your time. So the faster you can do something, the better because that time you’ll never be able to receive back. Those are the eight shifts. I can go through them again if you like. Before I do, answer yourself or or write down these questions for you to think about later on or we can even talk about it if you like. Ask yourself, what business is my book building for me? Do you know the answer to that? Is it crystal clear? Number two, what offer does my book naturally lead to? If it doesn’t naturally lead to an offer, then you have some work to do on your book. It’s not all of what it needs to be to be a million-dollar book. Number three, obviously these are not necessarily in order, but number two is important to number three. Number three is who needs this the most? Who needs my book the most? Make a list. Create your list of superhoss. And lastly, if your book has been out for a while, ask yourself, what am I doing every month to keep my book working? My book, Public Profit, has not been out all that long, but it has been out seven plus years, which is a long time when it comes to to shelf life, no pun intended. You know what? their books that have been out 40 or 50 years that are just still crushing it because the authors have done a fantastic job continuing to make their book work for them. Do I think you need to write book number two, book number three, book number four? Let’s get book number one working the way it should be working creating the return on investment that you want and then you can think in terms of building even greater authority. So let me go through the eight shifts again and then I can answer any questions that you guys have. Shift number one is stop measuring book sales. Don’t ask how many books did I sell. Ask how many clients did I get from my book? How many speaking engagements came from my book? How many podcasts? How many media interviews? Ask for the things that are really going to produce a return on investment. Shift number two. Stop thinking about just writing or building a book. Instead, think about the ecosystem, the whole thing. Think about the big picture. Website, funnel, newsletter, podcast, speaking, consulting. Shift number three. Don’t think like an author. Instead, think like a marketer. Shift number four. Stop looking for royalties and instead start looking for relationships. The one right reader, the one right conversation, the one client that comes from it, the one referral that comes from it. Shift number five, stop being invisible. Use your book to make a splash. If you’re already well-known, wonderful. Become more well-known. Become a bigger presence, not a smaller presence. podcasts, PR, articles, speaking, all of those things. TEDex talks. Shift six, stop asking yourself, what do I sell? Instead, ask yourself, what problem am I known for solving? And then shift seven, have the BSP mindset, which is being a best-selling author is not the end goal. It’s a big milestone. You need it to reach the end goal, but it is not the end goal in and of itself. And then last but not least, think like an investor, not like an author. Think ROI with everything you do. Ads, workshops, funnels. Think, how can I invest and make a return on my investment? I’m always looking for ways to do that. In fact, you’re going to see a month from now, I’m going to hold my first live 3-day virtual workshop. It’s going to be the first week of August. I’m going to fly to Atlanta, Georgia, and I’m going to do five hours a day of live workshop. It’s going to require a paid ticket, which I’ve never done before. I’ve always done free workshops with like a VIP upsell and I’m spending a lot of money both on advertising as well as on studio rental and help and coaching and all of that because I’m looking for a return on investment, a new way to get a return on investment. So, keep your eyes open. What ways can you use your book and get a return? [music]