32: What Nobody Tells You About Publishing Your Book with Anita Henderson
What if the book you were meant to write has been sitting inside you for years and all you just needed someone to help you bring it out?
That’s the question underneath everything Anita Henderson does.
She calls herself the Author’s Midwife. And the more she explained what that actually means, the more I realized how perfectly it fits. She doesn’t write your book for you. She helps you bring it into the world the right way.
In this episode, she walks us through everything that means.
Highlights
The myth that almost every first-time author believes.
You write a great book. You upload it to Amazon. It finds its readers.
If only.
Anita has spent nearly 15 years watching that assumption cost authors dearly. Good content, she’ll tell you, is the floor. Not the ceiling.
“The core of a great book obviously is the content. If you don’t have that in there, then a pretty cover can only take you so far. But it is a compilation of inputs that makes a book really good.”
Structure. Story. Strategy. All three have to show up together. And most first-time authors only think about one of them.
What readers expect, even when they don’t realize it.
Here’s something Anita said that reframed how I think about nonfiction entirely.
Readers come to a book with invisible expectations. They expect the structure to make sense. They expect chapter two to follow naturally from chapter one. They expect you to close the gap between the lesson you promised and the one you actually delivered.
And if you don’t give them that, they feel it. Even if they can’t name why.
“You can tell me your 12-point process all day long, but if I can’t follow you and the structure isn’t there, then I’m confused.”
That confusion is the thing between your reader and your message. Remove it, and something opens up.
The moment she stopped working for other people for good.
Anita went back to corporate twice.
She’s honest about it. Cash flow dried up, the business got hard, and corporate looked safe. Both times she went back, and both times she left again.
The second exit was different. She hired a business coach who asked a simple question: what do you love? Writing and books, Anita said. And the coach told her something she hadn’t considered.
“You know, there’s people who teach other people how to write their books. That’s a thing? An author coach?”
She looked into it. She networked. She learned the space. Then she left corporate for the last time and built Write Your Life into what it is now.
Sometimes the business you’re meant to run is sitting right there in the thing you already know how to do.
Why panicking is the most expensive thing you can do.
When revenue slows down, the instinct is to add things. New offerings. New platforms. A pivot. Something. Anything to make the numbers move.
Anita calls it out directly.
“We panic by adding new products. We panic by adding new platforms. We pivot when we shouldn’t, when we should stay focused on the thing we do best.”
And here’s what that panic actually does. It confuses the market. It confuses potential clients. And it closes off the momentum you spent years building.
The business you’ve been developing has a kind of gravity to it. When you scatter in every direction, you lose it.
Your superpowers are probably hiding in plain sight.
Anita has two superpowers she talks about that most people would overlook.
The ability to see the big picture and the small details at the same time.
And listening. Really listening to what a client isn’t quite saying.
“I need to hear what they’re not saying in a way.”
Neither of these sounds like a marketable skill on paper. But they’re exactly what makes her process work. They’re what lets her pull the right book out of someone who’s been sitting on the idea for five years.
Don’t downplay the soft stuff. It might be the thing that makes you irreplaceable.
The nine to twelve month process that changes everything.
This is where the conversation got specific in a way I think a lot of aspiring authors needed to hear.
Anita’s process at Write Your Life starts with a complimentary book strategy session. Then a VIP Day, six hours of structured conversation that generates the entire framework for the book, thousands of words of content pulled from the conversation itself.
Then months of writing, revisions, beta readers, final edits, cover design, interior layout, and book launch.
“Nine to twelve months from concept to completion, which is a drop in the bucket for most of my clients who say they’ve been thinking about writing a book for three to five, eight years.”
One year. That’s all it takes when you stop going it alone.
Embrace your comfort zone.
Every entrepreneur has heard the opposite advice.
Get uncomfortable. Push your edges. Do the scary thing.
Anita disagrees. Or at least, she thinks we have the order backwards.
“Get into your comfort zone before you try to get out of your comfort zone.”
Find the process that works. Master it. Do it well enough that the results are consistent, that clients are satisfied, that you feel the flow of it. Then you can expand from there.
Mastery first. Then iteration. Not the other way around.
The challenge she wants to leave you with.
Stop trying to do a million things.
Stop trying to escape your comfort zone when you haven’t really found it yet.
“There is a flow that happens when you develop a process or a system. It impacts who you say yes to as a client. It impacts your enjoyment. And it also impacts the quality of the output.”
Find the thing you do well. Do it consistently. Let the momentum build.
That’s the whole game.
Closing Reflection
Anita just wants to see creative entrepreneurs profit from their genius.
That’s the thing underneath all of it. The frameworks, the VIP Days, the nine to twelve month process. The years of figuring out her own comfort zone before she could help others find theirs.
She’s watched too many talented people write good books that never found their readers. Or never got written at all.
If you’ve been sitting on a book idea for three years, or five, or eight, this episode is the nudge.
You don’t have to figure it out alone. You just have to go first.
How long have you been sitting on your book idea? Drop it in the comments.
Transcript
Oftentimes, we want to approach the marketplace with this super unique idea.
Speaker A:I want to do something nobody else has ever done.
Speaker A:Don't approach it that way.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, there's no new.
Speaker A:Well, there are lots of new things under the sun, but focus on what's already out there and then bring your unique perspective, your unique approach, your unique knowledge to the table to do that.
Speaker A:Don't stress yourself out trying to do the one thing that nobody else is doing.
Speaker A:Do the thing that other people are doing because people want that, but do it your way.
Speaker B:Welcome to the Standout Creatives, where making money and creating meaningful work go hand in hand.
Speaker B:You're already passionate about what you create.
Speaker B:Now let's turn that passion into a standout business marketing.
Speaker B:Your work doesn't have to be overwhelming.
Speaker B:It can actually amplify your creativity.
Speaker B:I'm your guide, Kevin Chung, and this podcast is your roadmap to creative business success.
Speaker B:I'll show you how to turn your unique talents into a business that truly represents who you are.
Speaker B:Let's get started.
Speaker C:Welcome to another episode of the Standout Creatives.
Speaker C:And today I'm glad to have on Anita Henderson.
Speaker C:Anita, can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself, the work you do, and how you got into it?
Speaker A:Absolutely, Kevin.
Speaker A:Super happy to be here.
Speaker A:Thanks for the invitation.
Speaker A:I am Anita Henderson.
Speaker A:I'm known as the author's Midwife.
Speaker A:That is because I am an author coach and a book publishing strategist.
Speaker A:So my company is Write youe Life.
Speaker A:And I also coach under the brand CEO Storyteller.
Speaker A:I help C Suite executives and seasoned entrepreneurs write, publish, and leverage their books, typically used in business.
Speaker A:Folks who want to use book publishing as a marketing strategy.
Speaker A:And so our expertise, I have a team of wonderful creatives, writers, ghostwriters, editors, and then of course, some amazing book publishing partners who help transition, I guess, really our clients from, you know, once upon a time to the end when it comes to their books.
Speaker A:Really, we focus on nonfiction publications, but we really help with the content creation, the design, and really the strategy.
Speaker A:I always like to say the.
Speaker A:The structure, the story, and the strategy of creating a really good nonfiction book that impacts audiences in the way that an author wants to.
Speaker A:And so I've been in this stage, in this iteration of my business for over a decade, almost 15 years,.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker A:Really in business for probably double that time, always in the writing, content creation, marketing, communications area.
Speaker A:And I've absolutely loved it.
Speaker A:And I think one of the best benefits I get from working as an author coach is that I get to Learn from my clients as we develop amazing books.
Speaker C:That's amazing.
Speaker C:I love your mission, the fact that you're helping people through every aspect of this process.
Speaker C:Because there are just so many things and unless you know or have done it before, you don't realize what's involved.
Speaker C:You just think, oh, I can just write a book and just put it up on Amazon and should sell itself.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:I think people like magic.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's just going to magically be a top seller because you write good content.
Speaker C:But that is really just like the bottom of the floor of any good book is the content.
Speaker C:And everything beyond that takes extra effort.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean I would say the, the core of a great book obviously is the content.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:If you don't have that in there, then a pretty cover can only take you so far.
Speaker A:But it is a compilation of inputs that makes a book really good.
Speaker A:Obviously you've got to have a good story.
Speaker A:Even for nonfiction books.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We like a.
Speaker A:Our brains are naturally trained to connect to story.
Speaker A:But even for those authors who are writing instructional books.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:A how to and you know, they're exploring a specific subject matter.
Speaker A:The structure of that content and their teach points needs to be really clear and it needs to flow well.
Speaker A:You can tell me your 12 point process all day long, but if I can't follow you and the structure isn't there, then I'm confused.
Speaker A:Or if you tell me your 12 points and you don't also tell me some stories like how you used it and what clients benefited, like a case story or a case study, I'm probably not going to remember.
Speaker A:So there's a lot of great inputs that go into a really good book.
Speaker A:A lot of times we focus on the COVID because we think that's, you know, the first thing people see and a good cover matters.
Speaker A:There's even strategy that goes into developing a good book cover, but it's also the interior, it's the layout.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You want your book to not look like self published.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We don't want people to open a book and think, oh my God, this person didn't bother to invest in editing.
Speaker A:They didn't bother to invest in a good professional cover design or the interior layout is just all wonky.
Speaker A:So we, we focus on quality with each of our books and every aspect of the process matters.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's.
Speaker C:It's such a crazy thing that you don't realize how much work goes into something, even a non fiction book, because you just assume non fiction.
Speaker C:You can just write about real life things but there's just.
Speaker C:There's usually a formula to everything that's successful and there's a reason why it is built that way.
Speaker C:And you can obviously break those rules if you know the rules first.
Speaker C:So you have to first know what.
Speaker C:What works and what doesn't.
Speaker A:Yeah, you gotta.
Speaker A:You gotta know what the inputs are like, what's the basic things that are needed in a good book.
Speaker A:So think about it from the perspective of a reader, right?
Speaker A:We read books, we expect certain things.
Speaker A:We expect just from a content perspective.
Speaker A:Again, we expect for the structure of it to make sense.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Chapter two should flow obviously from chapter one.
Speaker A:We expect that, yeah, there will be some stories that will be in the book.
Speaker A:We expect for if there are some lessons to be taught, that they actually make sense.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That you close the gap, that the author closes the gap between here's what I'm going to teach you, and then actually teaching it and maybe even providing some how to.
Speaker A:How do I apply this?
Speaker A:Don't just leave me hanging.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then a conclusion.
Speaker A:We're used to reading.
Speaker A:We know that there's a beginning, a middle, and an end to every good book, every good movie, right.
Speaker A:And so we expect that as readers, from an aesthetic perspective, readers have expectations, even if they don't realize it.
Speaker A:They expect for there to be, for example, a table of contents that is sort of the roadmap.
Speaker A:Here's what I can expect from this book.
Speaker A:And they sort of read through the table of contents because not every reader will read a book from beginning to end, especially a nonfiction book.
Speaker A:Sometimes we look at the table of contents and there's something in chapter five that looks like, I need that right now.
Speaker A:So that's where we jump in.
Speaker A:We might need read the introduction and then we go straight to chapter five.
Speaker A:Because, for example, if it's a financial book and chapter five is talking about budgeting, that's the thing I need right now.
Speaker A:I'm going to jump into that and I'll go back to chapters one through four.
Speaker A:So the structure has to be obvious.
Speaker A:That roadmap in the table of contents.
Speaker A:There's a way that people typically engage with a book, specifically a nonfiction book, but probably also fiction, is that we see the spine of it right on the bookshelf.
Speaker A:Sometimes if we actually go to a brick and mortar bookstore, but mostly we look at the book cover on online book coverage, you know, sites, and that has to be attractive.
Speaker A:Obviously, the title needs to hit us where we are and the subtitle needs to make sense.
Speaker A:Give us a Little hint of what's inside that book.
Speaker A:And then oftentimes we do look at the table of contents.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Sometimes we'll look at the back cover.
Speaker A:And you can do that typically on the online retailers, they'll give you the summary of the book.
Speaker A:You look at the table of contents, and again, it is that roadmap map for you.
Speaker A:And then you decide, okay, I think this book is for me.
Speaker A:So you purchase the book and dig into it.
Speaker A:So all of those elements needs to be there.
Speaker A:Layout is really important.
Speaker A:I think it's something that most first time authors don't think about.
Speaker A:Layout is not taking your word document that you've typed your manuscript in and just kind of throwing it up there.
Speaker A:I mean, there are some design elements that are necessary.
Speaker A:We are real sticklers at write your life for just the things that most authors won't think about, which is why they come to us.
Speaker A:Headers and footers and page numbers and, you know, margins and indentations, font sizes, point sizes.
Speaker A:Consistency is key.
Speaker A:With all of that throughout the book, plus the pretty stuff, we call them flourishes.
Speaker A:You know, you'll notice these things at the beginning of different chapters.
Speaker A:It has a pretty little something there to let you know that it's a new chapter.
Speaker A:So those kinds of things really matter.
Speaker A:Not even to mention different images.
Speaker A:Whether it's a photograph, a chart, a graph, some kind of graphic element that makes even a nonfiction book interesting to read and flip through.
Speaker A:So all of that goes into making a book great.
Speaker A:That doesn't even mention the editing process.
Speaker A:And that's super intense when clients work with us because it's necessary.
Speaker A:If you've ever read a book and you've come across errors, cringe, you know that that author did not invest in professional editing.
Speaker A:It's super obvious.
Speaker A:I mean, I've seen errors on book covers and it's scary.
Speaker A:That's a big no no.
Speaker A:Like, clearly I'm not buying a book that has an error on the book cover because why should I pay 20 bucks or 30 bucks for where there's an error on the COVID Oh, my God.
Speaker A:I can only imagine what kind of errors are in the book.
Speaker A:It's extremely distracting and it feels like you've, you know, you've invested in a crappy product and who wants to do that?
Speaker C:Yeah, there's like infinite possibilities of what people could be doing.
Speaker C:So the fact that they're intentionally choosing to, to buy a book means that they, they need it to be the thing that they're looking for.
Speaker C:And if it's not.
Speaker C:They're going to throw it away right away.
Speaker C:They're just going to ignore it.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker C:You've lost the opportunity to make a.
Speaker A:Connection with somebody, and that's really sad for someone.
Speaker A:I think every author puts a fair amount of time, not to mention many people when they're self publishing some dollar investment into producing a book.
Speaker A:You finish writing a book and you're like, I mean, you put some time into it.
Speaker A:Hopefully it's not something that happens overnight or over a weekend.
Speaker A:Even though we've seen a lot of those write a book in a weekend programs.
Speaker A:I mean, to write a really good book takes some time.
Speaker A:It doesn't have to take years and years, but it should take you a month or so to write it well, then you've got to go through revisions, which is just part of the process.
Speaker A:And any creative knows that, you know, iterations are part of the process.
Speaker A:Whether you're writing, you know, music or creating a piece of art, you're refining it over time.
Speaker A:And that does take time.
Speaker A:And so why invest the time and the money to create a book if it's not going to be the very best that you can create?
Speaker A:After all, your name is on it and it's out there forever.
Speaker A:Even if you pull it down off of the website, it's still available.
Speaker A:Somebody will find it.
Speaker A:So you want to put your best work forward, your best effort forward to put that work out there.
Speaker C:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker C:I want to start at the very beginning.
Speaker C:So how did you get into marketing and then how did you transition from what you were doing before into the book space, especially for like C suite?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:I've always been in marketing communications.
Speaker A:I've just loved it.
Speaker A:I was a journalism major and so writing and words.
Speaker A:I'm a word nerd.
Speaker A:As I tell people all the time.
Speaker A:Words have always been the foundation for my career.
Speaker A:I started out in marketing and PR and I worked with as a career as an employee with small businesses, nonprofits as well, doing marketing and pr, press releases.
Speaker A:And back in the old school days when people had actual brochures that they would hand you, I was the person who wrote those brochures and all kinds of marketing collateral.
Speaker A:I started my business just because I was ready.
Speaker A:I was burned out with corporate work and, you know, this an opportunity presented itself for me to do some freelance work.
Speaker A:I thought it was going to be freelance to write some website copy for a new entrepreneur who was in the media and events space.
Speaker A:She was an event planner.
Speaker A:And this was early in the days back in the days.
Speaker A:And I talk about this story in my book.
Speaker A:I wrote a book a couple years ago, my memoir, called Becoming the Minimalist.
Speaker A:Lessons from my Journey to Work Less, Earn More, and Play More.
Speaker A:And so I talk about how I got started with this entrepreneur.
Speaker A:I didn't know what I was doing.
Speaker A:I didn't know how to price my services.
Speaker A:I didn't even know what my services was.
Speaker A:All I knew was that I could write.
Speaker A:And so this woman contacted me.
Speaker A:It was a referral.
Speaker A:I met with her.
Speaker A:She brought her husband along, which was super intimidating.
Speaker A:And, you know, he's this big, high powered, you know, business guy.
Speaker A:And, you know, she's telling me what she wanted.
Speaker A:She needed some website content written.
Speaker A:And I'm like, oh, sure, I can do that.
Speaker A:In the back of my mind, I'm like, I've never written website content ever before, but I'm gonna make myself do this.
Speaker A:I know I can.
Speaker A:And of course she asked me, I charge.
Speaker A:Or he asked me, you know, what I charge.
Speaker A:And I came up with this number.
Speaker A:Just pulled it out of the air, literally.
Speaker A:And his face was like, what?
Speaker A:He's like, I don't even charge that much an hour.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:This was an hourly fee.
Speaker A:He said, I don't even charge that much an hour.
Speaker A:And I just sat there.
Speaker A:I didn't answer, I didn't say anything.
Speaker A:I didn't blink, I didn't flinch.
Speaker A:This is my price.
Speaker A:And while he's questioning it, she said, okay, let's do it.
Speaker A:And I could exhale.
Speaker A:It was a fluke.
Speaker A:And she gave.
Speaker A:Wrote me a check on the spot, gave me a deposit, and I went off and I bought my first computer.
Speaker A:It's a desktop computer.
Speaker A:Like, that was the start of my business.
Speaker A:And from there it just went through all the ups and downs, all the time, crazy things, the headaches, the scary parts, the feast, the famine, like, all of it.
Speaker A:And here I am.
Speaker A:So over the years, this was some decades ago.
Speaker A:I'm not going to give away my age, but this was a while ago.
Speaker A:And so over that time, I did develop, you know, how better to present myself.
Speaker A:I developed a solid hourly rate.
Speaker A:And then over the years realized that hourly wasn't the best way for me to charge for my services.
Speaker A:I developed a cleaner focus for the type of writing that I wanted to do.
Speaker A:I decided early on in my business that, well, it took me some.
Speaker A:Some time, but that press releases and brochures weren't my thing.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It was becoming annoying.
Speaker A:And those things were evolving into something else.
Speaker A:They were kind of Becoming dinosaurs in the marketing communications area.
Speaker A:So I actually did my business for a few years.
Speaker A:Things got crunchy and I went back to corporate.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:My cash flow was slim and I thought, okay, well, there's always corporate work, right?
Speaker A:I'm super smart and I've got a skill that even corporate America can use.
Speaker A:So I went back to corporate and soon realized I'm a square peg and are trying to fit myself into a round hole.
Speaker A:Just never really enjoyed working for other people.
Speaker A:That's the honest truth.
Speaker A:I did not love it.
Speaker A:I didn't like the, you know, the structure and the hierarchy and having to answer to people and explaining myself and having to go through three different levels of, you know, the corporate structure to get an answer.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:So that I can move forward with this fabulous idea that I might have.
Speaker A:I just didn't enjoy that.
Speaker A:It wasn't good for me.
Speaker A:So that entry into corporate lasted a few years.
Speaker A:I moved states and cities just because I was ready for a fresh start.
Speaker A:Brought my business with me, did some freelance work.
Speaker A:I wrote for a couple of publications, wrote articles, did interviews with different executives, and that sharpened my writing skills.
Speaker A:And it was tough to sort of break into a new market as an entrepreneur.
Speaker A:So I took another corporate job.
Speaker A:What was I thinking?
Speaker A:And I stayed there for over five years.
Speaker A:But it was a. I was on the leadership team at this company.
Speaker A:So I developed some really good leadership skills, learned to understand and respect the corporate structure much better.
Speaker A:Learned to supervise other people, delegate work, and certainly hone my craft as a communicator.
Speaker A:Finally left that job and decided I'm unemployable.
Speaker A:I'm literally retiring from corporate work.
Speaker A:And that was almost 15 years ago.
Speaker A:And as I was leaving, prior to giving my notice, I kind of wanted to refresh my business from marketing communications to something else.
Speaker A:And I didn't know what that was going to be.
Speaker A:So I hired a business coach who said, anita, you don't have to do what you've always done.
Speaker A:You can do something different.
Speaker A:What do you love?
Speaker A:Well, I love writing and I love books.
Speaker A:I love reading.
Speaker A:She said, well, you know, there's people who teach other people how to write their books.
Speaker A:And I'm like, what?
Speaker A:That's a thing?
Speaker A:An author coach?
Speaker A:So I looked into that, I did my research.
Speaker A:I hobnobbed with folks in the book publishing space to learn more about what that was.
Speaker A:And this was right around the time when a lot of change was happening in the publishing space, the publishing industry as a whole, from newspapers and magazines to traditional book Publishers.
Speaker A:There were a lot of mergers, acquisitions.
Speaker A:A lot of our daily newspapers went away and it became like sort of a weekly thing.
Speaker A:Things were going online.
Speaker A:Regular smart people were discovering self publishing and realizing they didn't have to wait and sort of pitch their idea to a traditional book publisher, they could actually publish their book themselves.
Speaker A:And there were platforms and tools and resources to do that.
Speaker A:And they actually needed help.
Speaker A:So I thought, I'm going to step in and help these people get their words right.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And figure out the structure.
Speaker A:One of my superpowers is organizing, structuring things really well.
Speaker A:So I combined that gift with my talent for writing and pivoted my business from marketing communications to book publishing.
Speaker A:And the rest is kind of history.
Speaker A:I started marketing myself, networking, left that job and just hung out my shingle as write your life.
Speaker A:And I've been working with none fiction business authors for years now.
Speaker A:It's been great.
Speaker C:That's amazing.
Speaker C:I think it's so important to, one, recognize yourself and the way you operate and the way you can't operate.
Speaker C:So you, you went to corporate a few times and you just said, no, this is it.
Speaker C:I'm gonna figure out how to do it for myself, whether or not I like it.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:That's just what's gonna happen from now on.
Speaker C:And obviously, even during down times, you know that going back is not going to help you unless it's the only option left.
Speaker C:Right, right.
Speaker A:It's a decision.
Speaker A:And I think we all have to just decide and commit.
Speaker A:So it doesn't mean that it's been the easiest thing always.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We do the ebb and flow, the ups and downs, as I said, the feast or famine.
Speaker A:Some years it's great.
Speaker A:Some years you're like, oh, God, you're scraping together all the everything things.
Speaker A:And I explained this in my book, that that causes that, that famine part, right?
Speaker A:Where there's nothing, there's no new business coming in.
Speaker A:It often causes us as entrepreneurs to panic.
Speaker A:We panic by adding new products, we panic by adding new platforms and, you know, new technology.
Speaker A:We pivot when we shouldn't.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:When we should stay focused on the thing that we do best.
Speaker A:And if it's not bringing in the revenue, then we panic.
Speaker A:We're like, okay, maybe I should do this instead.
Speaker A:Or we're thinking, my main thing's not working well for me, so I'm going to add these other three things, which what we don't realize in the moment spreads us far too thin.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because if you're marketing yourself as a, you know, photographer, but you just, you know, as a, as a headshot photographer, for example, and if people aren't coming to you for that, you panic and you decide you're going to be a wedding photographer.
Speaker A:Well, but you've been marketing, you've started this momentum that you're a headshot photographer and you know, you've pivoted to weddings and now you're talking about that.
Speaker A:Well, the market is confused.
Speaker A:What do you really do?
Speaker A:Yeah, photography is photography.
Speaker A:But how great to specialize in something so that you're known for that thing.
Speaker A:And, and you're really good at it.
Speaker A:So now you're like throwing in wedding photography not because you love it and do it well, but because you've panicked because your headshot photography business is not doing well.
Speaker A:So, you know, I think sometimes we, we add or pivot or subtract from the thing we do really, really well simply because, you know, the money's not coming in right away.
Speaker A:And I know it feels counterintuitive and it's very uncomfortable to not be earning, doing the thing you do really well.
Speaker A:But when you change, it's.
Speaker A:The market is confused, your potential clients are confused.
Speaker A:What do you really do?
Speaker A:And you're closing yourself off often for further advancement and to bring in new clients.
Speaker A:It's a difficult thing to juggle.
Speaker A:I've been through it many times and I can tell you 100% that if you just stay true to what you, what you are doing, what you do well and what the market needs, and you have to know that those two things exist concurrently, the business will come.
Speaker A:You have to be consistent.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's, there's the idea of pivoting when you, just because you feel like you need to, versus knowing that the thing you're doing is not working.
Speaker C:And I think, think it was important.
Speaker C:The thing that you said about, is there a market for the thing that you want to offer?
Speaker C:And that's like number one, if there's no market, there's no one to sell to.
Speaker C:You have no business.
Speaker A:That part.
Speaker C:Just understand that first and foremost, if there's no nobody there to buy from you, there's, you're just wasting your time.
Speaker C:You're just doing it for the sake of doing it.
Speaker A:And to me, that's a hobby.
Speaker A:And there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker A:Do it as a hobby, but don't expect to earn substantial amount of income from that.
Speaker A:It's just a hobby.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:And there are ways that we can research what the market wants.
Speaker A:One of them is to see who else is out there doing that thing.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's the same thing I tell my authors who, you know, have this great book idea.
Speaker A:Let's just take the usual leadership.
Speaker A:I want to write a leadership book.
Speaker A:How many thousands of leadership books are out there?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We can't even count them.
Speaker A:There's so many.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:I tell my clients who come to me who want to write a leadership book, and they're like, I don't know if I should write it.
Speaker A:There's so many other books out there.
Speaker A:And I tell them that is true.
Speaker A:There are lots of leadership books out there.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:None of them is yours.
Speaker A:None of them has your unique story.
Speaker A:And if there weren't leadership books out there, that would tell you that there's no market for it.
Speaker A:The fact that people continuously read write leadership books means that there's people out there who want to know more about leadership, how to be a good leader, who should I lead?
Speaker A:You know, 12 steps to whatever in a leadership thing.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They keep coming out with leadership books, which means that there are constantly.
Speaker A:There's constantly a market for that.
Speaker A:It's an evergreen topic.
Speaker A:Same thing for whatever your creative outlet is.
Speaker A:You look at the marketplace and see if there are other people doing what you want to do.
Speaker A:Oftentimes we want to approach the marketplace with this super unique idea.
Speaker A:I want to do something nobody else has ever done.
Speaker A:Don't approach it that way.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, there's no new.
Speaker A:Well, there are lots of new things under the sun.
Speaker A:But focus on what's already out there and then bring your unique perspective, your unique approach, your unique knowledge to the table to do that.
Speaker A:Like, don't stress yourself out trying to do the one thing that nobody else is doing.
Speaker A:Do the thing that other people are doing because people want that.
Speaker A:But do it your way.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think if something doesn't exist, there is the possibility that you could create something.
Speaker C:But it.
Speaker C:It's infinitely harder than working with something that does exist.
Speaker C:And the only reason those things work is because there's a demand that no one has filled before.
Speaker C:People are looking for something and no one has done it.
Speaker C:And that's the only way that you can work on something completely new and have it succeed is if there's a demand that just hasn't been fulfilled.
Speaker C:It's just like everything in money and marketing and economics relies on people that want the thing that you're offering, except they don't want it.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And most of us don't have the resources to put behind this huge research platform to try to, you know, figure out and create all these things.
Speaker A:I think that the basic research you do, you could just go online and, you know, type in whatever the thing is you do well.
Speaker A:And that starts with examining yourself.
Speaker A:You know, what do I like to do?
Speaker A:What am I really good at?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, oftentimes back in the day, people used to sell, what would you do for free?
Speaker A:You know, if you didn't get paid?
Speaker A:What would you do for free?
Speaker A:Blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A:I'm not a proponent of doing things for free at all.
Speaker A:Especially if you're really good at it.
Speaker A:People should pay you to do it and pay you well.
Speaker A:But yeah, what do you love to do?
Speaker A:What do you do well?
Speaker A:And then finally, what does the marketplace need?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That's that concept of ikigai.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, what do you do well, what does the marketplace need and what do you love?
Speaker A:Like, what really lights you up?
Speaker A:We should be doing work that.
Speaker A:That lights us up.
Speaker A:You don't start a business to do something you hate, and you shouldn't be in business doing something that you're not good at.
Speaker A:And thirdly, you shouldn't be doing something that the market doesn't need or want or somehow curious about.
Speaker A:So those three things go together.
Speaker A:And I think in this day and age, it's easy enough to find the intersection of that for what you're interested in.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I think the biggest thing is, like, especially if you're a small business, that you should work on what makes you different.
Speaker C:Like you were saying before, what is the unique element that you bring?
Speaker C:There's a bunch of leadership books, but not from the perspective of what you did with your company.
Speaker C:If you're writing a leadership book, you.
Speaker C:You already lead a bunch of people, and the way that you did that could have been borrowed from a bunch of other different people.
Speaker C:But that combination is what makes you unique.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Nothing is really completely brand new.
Speaker C:Everything is either borrowed from something else or the offshoot of something.
Speaker A:It's your unique approach to it.
Speaker A:And I call those superpowers.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I call that your superpowers.
Speaker A:You may only have one, but you may have five.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Find out how to work those together so that it makes you unique in the marketplace.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Again, the service you offer might not be completely unique, but it's you applying your superpowers to make it special.
Speaker A:That's the differentiator between you and someone else who does the same thing that you do.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:There's an infinite Number of people doing the same exact thing as you, but they don't connect with the same types of people just based on personality alone.
Speaker C:You're gonna find different people that want to work with you versus somebody else or because you specialize in this specific thing.
Speaker C:So really determining how you can fit into the necessity of what people are looking for is how you really stand out.
Speaker A:And I tell people, don't underestimate some of those what's considered soft skills as superpowers as your unique approach to doing what you do.
Speaker A:So, you know, we tend to value, you know, the math skills and even some of the hardcore writing and that kind of stuff, or someone who's extremely technology focused, that kind of thing.
Speaker A:But from a business perspective, from an entrepreneurial perspective, sometimes it's our softer skills that can be our unique uniqueifier, as one of my clients would call it, your unique.
Speaker A:The thing that makes you unique.
Speaker A:So I would say some of my skills that makes me unique is one of them.
Speaker A:One of my superpowers is that I can see the big picture and the small details at the same time.
Speaker A:That is unique.
Speaker A:And I had to figure that out.
Speaker A:Like, I always took it for granted.
Speaker A:Some people, I had to realize some people can only see the big picture.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:And that's great.
Speaker A:Some people see super details.
Speaker A:Really, really well.
Speaker A:I have the unique ability to see both, and that comes into play a lot with my clients.
Speaker A:I can see the big picture of when, like the whole process that's necessary for them to create a great book.
Speaker A:I know all the steps, I know the whole big picture, and I know what the end looks like.
Speaker A:But I can also see the details, all the small things that are required to get to the final product.
Speaker A:One of my other superpowers is listening skills.
Speaker A:Super necessary because in my work with people, we're talking about something really personal.
Speaker A:They're writing, and, you know, people are nervous, you know, am I a good writer?
Speaker A:Do you like it?
Speaker A:Is this gonna really, you know, turn out to be a good book?
Speaker A:Well, I have to listen to them for months.
Speaker A:Our process takes months long, you know, nine to 12 months from concept to completion.
Speaker A:And I'm developing a relationship with these people.
Speaker A:I have to listen to them really well to get to the good stuff of their content.
Speaker A:As an author coach and an editor, and sometimes as a ghostwriter.
Speaker A:And so I need to listen well, I need to hear what they're not saying in a way.
Speaker A:So that's a soft skill that makes me unique in the marketplace.
Speaker A:As an author coach, Being orderly and organized also helps, again, in executing the process that we use and also in helping them develop an orderly book.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So that readers can enjoy it and understand it.
Speaker A:So, and these are things I've realized about myself over the years.
Speaker A:And as entrepreneurs develop in their journey and their entrepreneurial journey, be intentional about knowing thyself and understanding what makes you unique.
Speaker A:And don't marginalize those.
Speaker A:What I'm considering, I'm calling them, you know, soft skills.
Speaker A:The things that, you know, other people may think that someone would take for granted, but in the business that you do, they may be very, very critical to getting your clients or customers exactly what they need.
Speaker A:So explore those things about yourself.
Speaker A:Make a list of them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And use that as part of your marketing communications.
Speaker A:Let people know I'm a really good listener.
Speaker A:So that makes me a better.
Speaker A:Whatever.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, I think knowing yourself is probably the biggest aspect of running a successful business, because if you're just.
Speaker C:Just doing a bunch of things and you don't know what you're good at, you're just all over the place and trying to do everything, and you're not really leaning on the strengths of what you do best.
Speaker C:And I think that's what people are looking for.
Speaker C:They don't need help with the things that they can do themselves really well.
Speaker C:They need help with what you can help them with.
Speaker C:That's why they might choose you over another book coach, because like you said, you have these very specific skills that allow you to work with them specifically.
Speaker C:So it doesn't matter if you can't work with somebody else.
Speaker C:They're not going to hire you.
Speaker C:You have to really focus on the people who are looking for the things you offer.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that, that, you know, it shows you that business is very personal.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Again, I'm not the only author coach who exists.
Speaker A:For some people, we just don't click, and that's okay.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I'm at the point in my business where I'm fine if it's not a good fit.
Speaker A:Sometimes I decide that, you know, sometimes I'll meet a prospect and I'm like, I can.
Speaker A:I know that it's not a good fit.
Speaker A:I know that they're not, you know, just a good fit for me to work with.
Speaker A:Whether it's their personality, maybe it's something they said.
Speaker A:It could be anything.
Speaker A:Maybe I don't even know what it is, but I just don't get a good feeling, and that's okay.
Speaker A:And I'm willing to pass on that project, refer them to someone else or refer them to another resource that might be helpful for them.
Speaker A:I mean, I lovingly let them go.
Speaker A:But yeah, sometimes you know that a client or a project is just not for you.
Speaker A:And you have to learn that.
Speaker A:It takes time and practice.
Speaker A:Because I think as we grow as entrepreneurs, almost everybody, if you've been in business for three to five years, you've probably had a client who you regret saying yes to, right?
Speaker A:It sounded good at first, but there was something in your gut that was like, I don't know, but you needed the money or it sounded like it would be, you know, that project would lead to something bigger or this person might be a good referral for new business for you.
Speaker A:So you say, yes, okay, I'll take it.
Speaker A:And along the way, it became a headache.
Speaker A:Like, we've all been there and I feel like you have to do this.
Speaker A:Not on purpose, but it just makes you a better entrepreneur.
Speaker A:If you've taken a client that you probably shouldn't have.
Speaker A:Again, I wouldn't do it intentionally, but as you walk the journey, you will have a client that you regret taking.
Speaker A:And here's a couple of things that it does.
Speaker A:One, those terrible fit clients, they drain you.
Speaker A:They drain your energy, they drain you emotionally.
Speaker A:They may drain your time, right?
Speaker A:They take way more time than they should.
Speaker A:They ask more of you than a best fit client, a better fit client.
Speaker A:It takes more time, it's distracting.
Speaker A:It seems like the couple of times I've taken a client that I shouldn't have, almost always soon thereafter, the right client comes.
Speaker A:And now I don't have as much time to focus on the right client because I've got this other joker over here that I should have said no to that I've got to finish, right?
Speaker A:I made a commitment to say yes to this person even though they're not a good fit.
Speaker A:And I don't have enough time to focus on the person that really lights my fire.
Speaker A:So that's a problem as well.
Speaker A:So I think, as you know, don't do it on purpose.
Speaker A:You know, take on a client that's not a good fit.
Speaker A:But if you do, and as you do, you'll learn to identify those traits, personality traits, the little red flags that tell you, I don't think so.
Speaker A:And it takes courage to say no to someone.
Speaker A:It takes courage when someone says, you know, I can send you the money right away.
Speaker A:I'm ready to, you know, put a deposit in your account, you know, and you get all excited over the dollar signs, but you've got to Take a step back, take a breath and say, is this really the right project, the right client, and the right time for me for this?
Speaker C:Yeah, I think the, the best thing that you can probably do is have people weed themselves out before they even contact you.
Speaker C:Say, these are the things that I am looking for and I work best with.
Speaker C:And people will say, oh, that's not me at all.
Speaker C:I don't want to.
Speaker C:Yeah, I don't want the hassle of trying to figure out how this is going to work.
Speaker C:So I think the more upfront you are about what your expectations are, who are the types of people you want to work with, what you can do for everybody, it makes it easier for everyone.
Speaker C:And just because you think you're throwing money away doesn't mean it's a bad idea, because it'll cause you more trouble than it's worth.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's a practice.
Speaker A:It's a practice.
Speaker A:Every time you talk to a prospective client, you are practicing, you know, sort of homing in on your uniqueness, qualifying them, helping them disqualify themselves, you know, but you have to be clear.
Speaker A:You really have to be clear about what you will and won't do, what you're good at, what types of projects and clients you love to work with, what helps you shine, you know, so and again, that takes process, you know, takes practice over time.
Speaker A:And it doesn't happen 100% in year one.
Speaker A:Maybe by year four, you feeling a little more confident.
Speaker A:Sometimes it takes us seven or eight years to get to that point.
Speaker A:Honestly, it really does, to feel comfortable.
Speaker A:And that's what I call the comfort zone.
Speaker A:When you have learned to identify your superpowers, work your magic the way you work it, and, and find the right clients that really resonate with you, and you have a process some kind of way, you don't have to have a.
Speaker A:You have to call it a process or a system, but you have a way to do things that is it that yields the same result at the end.
Speaker A:Whatever the thing is that you create, it feels good.
Speaker A:It turns out right, the client or customer is satisfied and the result is equally awesome at the end.
Speaker A:That's your comfort zone.
Speaker A:And I always encourage entrepreneurs to get to that comfort zone.
Speaker A:Find that place where you can do client after client after client.
Speaker A:It feels the same goodness about it, you know, and you get to that outcome that satisfying to both you and the customer.
Speaker A:That feels great.
Speaker A:Do that first.
Speaker A:Get into your comfort zone before you try to get out of your comfort zone.
Speaker A:I talk to so many entrepreneurs who Say, yeah, I got to get out of my comfort zone.
Speaker A:I'm trying to do this, I'm going to do that.
Speaker A:I'm going to add this, I'm going to switch this, I'm pivoting, blah, blah.
Speaker A:And they're so busy trying to get out of their comfort zone that they've never really practiced being in the comfort zone.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I'm not saying get out.
Speaker A:I'm not saying don't ever do things that challenge you.
Speaker A:But before you do that, find what your comfort zone is and then you can get out of it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:This is called mastery.
Speaker A:It's mastery of what you do and you.
Speaker C:Everything is a process, so nothing is going to be automatic.
Speaker C:And everything takes time.
Speaker C:And we all just want to jump steps to get to.
Speaker A:We all want to skip steps.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Can you talk a little bit.
Speaker C:Just how the process works for somebody that wants to work with you on creating their own book?
Speaker C:Because that's where your expertise lies.
Speaker A:Well, it is a process, and it's a process we've developed over time, and it does work every time.
Speaker A:I prefer, although we've had clients come at different stages, but I prefer to work with those clients who just have, like, they haven't written anything yet other than some notes.
Speaker A:So they come to us with, hey, Anita, I've got an idea for a book.
Speaker A:I've been doing XYZ in my business or in the corporate world for X number of years, and I want to write a book about it to help other people in some way.
Speaker A:So we do.
Speaker A:So we have this conversation during what I call a book strategy session, which is complimentary.
Speaker A:And we just kind of talk about what they want, why they're writing the book and sort of what they want to get out of it, you know, some of their goals and timeline and that kind of thing.
Speaker A:And then we do VIP day.
Speaker A:And so we are online most of the time, unless there's some folks locally here, where I am in the metro Atlanta area, But we're usually online and we spend a day, literally, like maybe six hours with some breaks in between to hash out the framework for their book.
Speaker A:So there's a form that they need to fill out just to give me some insights into what they're thinking about with this book project.
Speaker A:We talk about their goals as an author.
Speaker A:We talk about the purpose of the book for themselves and for the reader.
Speaker A:And then we talk about who their ideal reader is, which is not everybody.
Speaker A:Everybody should read my book.
Speaker A:Wrong answer.
Speaker A:So we get really clear on who their ideal reader is we profile them very succinctly.
Speaker A:We talk about the concept of the book.
Speaker A:Are we teaching something?
Speaker A:Are we inspiring people with a memoir, for example, are we exploring a particular subject matter?
Speaker A:What are we doing here?
Speaker A:Then we talk about the phases of this, like, how does it unfold, Right?
Speaker A:If you're teaching a concept, then what's step one, step two, step three?
Speaker A:These are the business owners who have developed a system or a process or an approach or a methodology for doing a thing.
Speaker A:If we're talking about memoir, we go through, please, heaven forbid to tell me a chronological story of your entire life, but we talk about what's the thread that run through, runs through your life.
Speaker A:And let's talk about some stories that illustrate that without telling it in chronological order, because how boring is that?
Speaker A:So we talk about how to structure the book so that the reader can follow you.
Speaker A:What the reader should get at the end of the book, right?
Speaker A:What should they think, feel, or do by the time they're finished reading your awesome book, right?
Speaker A:Your book should change people in some way.
Speaker A:They should not close that last page and think, that was good.
Speaker A:Throw it on the shelf and keep going.
Speaker A:Like, you want to envision a reader, like, who can't stop reading your book.
Speaker A:They're up on a Tuesday night at midnight, and they can't stop until they finish reading it.
Speaker A:And when they close your book, they're like, oh, my gosh, now I know.
Speaker A:I know the next thing I'm going to do.
Speaker A:I know how to whatever.
Speaker A:I'm inspired to do whatever.
Speaker A:So we go through all of that in VIP Day.
Speaker A:Then the author goes off as we develop a framework.
Speaker A:After a week or so, we give them a framework which is essentially all of their.
Speaker A:A table of contents, so all of their chapters structured during VIP day.
Speaker A:We audio record and we transcribe in real time.
Speaker A:And we actually are creating content during that conversation so that we plug and play for them and build in this framework so that they've got thousands of words of content by the time they get that framework delivered to them and they start writing.
Speaker A:So over a couple of months, we do a few rounds of writing, revisions, edits back and forth, until we arrive at a pretty good first draft that we're ready to present to beta readers, test readers.
Speaker A:And so we deliver that test manuscript to those people, we ask them some questions.
Speaker A:We don't just hand it off and go, hey, what do you think about this?
Speaker A:We ask them very specific questions.
Speaker A:The whole point of our beta reader process is to improve the manuscript for Our ideal reader.
Speaker A:And so they answer our questions, give us some feedback, constructive feedback.
Speaker A:Many of our clients have said that's one of the best parts of the process, the beta reader process.
Speaker A:They're scared and nervous at first, but once they start getting those copies back, they're like, oh, my God, this is.
Speaker A:That's true.
Speaker A:I did leave people hanging with that story.
Speaker A:Or maybe I didn't complete the explanation of this part of my concept.
Speaker A:So the author makes those changes.
Speaker A:We do a final copy edit, and then we go design the COVID we lay it out, the interior layout, and then we upload it, and we do a big book launch.
Speaker A:And it's awesome.
Speaker A:Many of our clients have gotten to bestseller status.
Speaker A:They have won awards with their books.
Speaker A:It's because of the detail and the time we put into creating this product.
Speaker A:It is literally a product.
Speaker A:And we put product development and project management expertise into every book because your name's on it.
Speaker A:After all, this is your introduction or your fingerprint or your thumbprint on the industry that you are an expert at or the industry you want to impact, maybe with your inspirational memoir or something.
Speaker A:And so we want it to be the best it can be for you and for your readers.
Speaker A:So it's a process, like I said, that takes about nine to 12 months from concept to completion, which is a drop in the bucket for most of my clients who say they've been thinking about or trying to write a book book for, like, three to five, eight years.
Speaker A:I'm like, honey, if you just devote one year to me, I got you, and it's gonna be awesome.
Speaker C:Yeah, I love that the.
Speaker C:The process that you take people with through is so detailed and structured, because I think that's what most people lack when trying to create something like a book.
Speaker C:They don't know what they don't know, and they don't know how to get from nothing.
Speaker C:Just something.
Speaker C:So I think it's so important to show people that there is a long process, but the end result will be worth all the effort because you can try to do it yourself.
Speaker A:Each of.
Speaker A:Yeah, people could do it themselves.
Speaker A:God bless you.
Speaker A:Each of those steps is necessary, and they have to happen in the right order.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Otherwise you're going to waste time and you're going to waste money because you'll do things out of order.
Speaker A:Then you got to go back and do it again, and you have to pay someone else to redo.
Speaker A:You know, it has to happen in the right order.
Speaker A:And so we've developed this process over some years.
Speaker A:It works Every single time.
Speaker A:It is my comfort zone.
Speaker A:It is my mastery of this business and this.
Speaker A:This approach to constructing, building, creating amazing book products.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:It works every time.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Couple more questions left.
Speaker C:Do you know anyone personally who also runs the standout creative business?
Speaker A:Oh, I know a lot of people who run standout businesses.
Speaker A:I do quite a bit of networking in my area, and so I meet creatives all the time, and I love when they can take their creativity and actually structure a good business with it.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:A profitable business.
Speaker A:I think that when you do something well and you love it, you should be charging for it.
Speaker A:You should charge well.
Speaker A:You should earn a profit.
Speaker A:And I love that there is one.
Speaker A:I used the example of photography earlier.
Speaker A:There's a photographer here in the metro Atlanta area who I absolutely love.
Speaker A:Her name is Mo Lima.
Speaker A:Mo Lima Photography.
Speaker A:She does an amazing job.
Speaker A:So, you know, how many photographers do, you know, right?
Speaker A:A dozen who do really good work.
Speaker A:She has this approach to really getting to know her clients.
Speaker A:It's very personal.
Speaker A:It's not just, you know, stand in front of a backdrop, click, click, click.
Speaker A:It's, you know, what do you want this photo to demonstrate for you?
Speaker A:What do you want it to say?
Speaker A:Who are you speaking to?
Speaker A:Is this for, you know, for your career?
Speaker A:Is it for your business?
Speaker A:Is it for, like, what?
Speaker A:She's excellent with headshots.
Speaker A:That's her thing.
Speaker A:She does headshots, and that's mainly what she focused on.
Speaker A:I never see her talking about, oh, yeah, I did a wedding the other day or I did some, you know, high school senior portraits.
Speaker A:Like, she does professional headshots for business people.
Speaker A:That's her focus.
Speaker A:That's what everyone knows her for.
Speaker A:And she does a great job.
Speaker A:Like, she has conversation with every one of her clients, and that makes her such a giver and a skilled photographer.
Speaker A:It makes people comfortable coming to her and being with her.
Speaker A:Because most people are like, I don't take good pictures.
Speaker A:I hate it.
Speaker A:I don't know what to do with my body or my hand, like.
Speaker A:And she makes you comfortable.
Speaker A:And the outcomes that she produces are amazing.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker A:So she does a great job with that.
Speaker A:I think it's her personal approach and her focus on what she does best that makes her successful.
Speaker C:I love when people make it personal versus, like, a number.
Speaker C:You can make anybody a number.
Speaker A:Yeah, take a number.
Speaker A:I'll take your picture.
Speaker C:Let's go do it that way.
Speaker C:But I think the.
Speaker C:Especially the people at the highest levels.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Of any creative pursuit are personalizing it and making it unique and tailored to the subject or the.
Speaker C:Whoever you're selling the thing to.
Speaker C:And that is important if you want to do higher level of sales, if you want to grow from whatever you're at into the stratosphere that you want to be at, if that's your goal, obviously that's up to everyone.
Speaker C:So I think it's just really important to know that the more you can relate to people, the better you will do with business in general.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because business is relationships.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's all about relationships.
Speaker A:People want to work with people that they feel comfortable with.
Speaker A:They want to work with people who feel like.
Speaker A:You get me?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So no matter how skilled you are at whatever you do, you need to, you know, be a person that someone can trust, that they feel like, you know, they can communicate with well and that they actually like.
Speaker A:That matters.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:What is one extraordinary book, podcast, documentary, or tool that has had the biggest impact on your journey?
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh, Kevin.
Speaker A:I've been at this for so long.
Speaker A:There's not just one, but if I had to.
Speaker A:If I had to mention, and I'll go with a book because I'm in the book space, I would say Profit first by Mike Michalowitz.
Speaker A:I think I said his name right.
Speaker A:It's called Profit first.
Speaker A:And it has been an incredible book to help guide me in what I said, which is that as creatives and as entrepreneurs, we need to profit from our genius.
Speaker A:And that book kind of flips the approach that a lot of entrepreneurs have kind of upside down.
Speaker A:Again, we talked about, you know, you just can't go out into the marketplace and say, I do this really well, like Anita, I'm a really good writer, so I'm going to go write for people.
Speaker A:You have to understand the marketplace.
Speaker A:You have to understand what people's needs are and shape your business around that.
Speaker A:But also from a financial perspective, from an earnings perspective, consider what you want to earn in your business and work it backwards from there.
Speaker A:Percentage of growth each year, looking at how much you actually want to profit from each project that you engage in.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's not enough just to earn some revenue.
Speaker A:Anybody who's ever had their, you know, business taxes done know that revenue and income does not equal profit that you get to put in your pocket or invest back into your business or help your life run well.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So we want to look at the profit that we'd like to gain, and that does impact what we charge, how much we charge and who we're working with.
Speaker A:Because a lot of times when we start a business, we're, you know, we think we need to practice on somebody before we can start charging prices that matter.
Speaker A:Because I just started.
Speaker A:So I really shouldn't charge, you know, five or six figures for my thing because I'm new and they are.
Speaker A:I'm going to be found out.
Speaker A:People are going to ask me, you know, how many other people have you done this for?
Speaker A:And what did you charge them?
Speaker A:And we start asking ourselves questions that other people will never ask us because we're new.
Speaker A:And then as we grow and develop, we learn how to charge.
Speaker A:Well, again, that whole hourly thing for a lot of entrepreneurs just doesn't work.
Speaker A:It's just not sustainable.
Speaker A:You really need to price, you know, in a bigger package format and really look more at the output and the outcomes that you and the results that you get for your customers and clients rather than just how many hours does it take you to do it.
Speaker A:So Profit first really talks about looking at the profitable part of your business, profitable approach to business, rather than just how much does it, you know, what are your expenses and, you know, what you charge and that kind of thing.
Speaker A:So, you know, you got to read it.
Speaker A:Profit first by Mike Michalowicz.
Speaker A:And it is a wonderful insight on how to profit as an entrepreneur.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:And if you're being an entrepreneur, you're.
Speaker C:You want to make some profit, right?
Speaker C:Or else why are you creating a business?
Speaker A:Otherwise, it's a hobby.
Speaker C:What do you think makes a creative business stand out?
Speaker C:And from your experience, what have you done to make yourself stand out?
Speaker A:I think a couple of things are critical.
Speaker A:One is focusing on what you do again, what you do well, what the market needs.
Speaker A:You know, focus is really important, not being all over the place.
Speaker A:Focus on what you do and focus on who you do it for.
Speaker A:So everybody should never be your target audience.
Speaker A:I do this for everyone, right?
Speaker A:I'm writing a book for everybody.
Speaker A:I make artwork for everyone.
Speaker A:I do photography forever.
Speaker A:Like, that shouldn't be your thing.
Speaker A:So you really have to focus on your audience, your target audience.
Speaker A:Which doesn't mean you're excluding other people because, hey, anybody who is a good fit for you and wants to come to you, you welcome, right?
Speaker A:If they're a good fit.
Speaker A:But focusing on a particular audience helps you.
Speaker A:You have limited time and limited marketing dollars, for example, marketing space to narrow in on the main people.
Speaker A:And you have to be intentional to focus on who you really want to do this work for.
Speaker A:So focus is key, again, on your skill, your craft, and also focusing on your target Audience very important.
Speaker A:But I think mastery of what you do just as important.
Speaker A:I think that you stand out more when you are a master, when you are really, really good at what you do.
Speaker A:And you only can do that with practice, iteration, and just doing one or two maybe things really well.
Speaker A:We can't do all the things.
Speaker A:You know, you've seen that graphic with the person, and they've got like 20 hands and they're doing all these things.
Speaker A:You can't do any of those things well.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Jack of all trades, master of none.
Speaker A:Master one or two things.
Speaker A:Be really, really good at that.
Speaker A:And they should be things that you really enjoy.
Speaker A:So I think focus and mastery are two critical characteristics that help us stand out as creative entrepreneurs.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:And do you have a challenge that you want to present to everyone who's listening so that they can stand up?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think it kind of goes in line with this mastery and focus concept, and that is to embrace your comfort zone.
Speaker A:I mentioned that earlier, and I talk about it in my book Becoming the Minimalist Entrepreneur.
Speaker A:But embrace your comfort zone.
Speaker A:Stop trying to do a million things and stop trying to get out of your comfort zone when you've never been in it.
Speaker A:There is a flow that happens when you develop a process or a system or an approach to doing the things that.
Speaker A:The thing that you do well.
Speaker A:And it is the way you.
Speaker A:It impacts the way you enter, impacts who you say yes to as a client.
Speaker A:It impacts your enjoyment of delivering the product or service, and it also impacts the quality of the output, the outcome, whatever it is you create at the end.
Speaker A:So embrace your comfort zone.
Speaker A:Learn to do what you do well and do it consistently.
Speaker A:Have mastery over it.
Speaker A:And then once you have embraced that comfort zone and you do what you do really well, then you can make some tweaks, then you can practice some iterations, and then if you find you're done with that or bored with it, then you can pivot.
Speaker A:But don't focus on getting outside your comfort zone thinking that it allows you to be more.
Speaker A:I don't know, more attractive because you're doing five different things.
Speaker A:You know, work within your comfort zone, embrace it.
Speaker A:It master what you do and see how you feel with that, because you might decide to just go with the flow on that or you can pivot if.
Speaker A:If that doesn't work for you or if.
Speaker A:When you're ready to do it, to do a new thing.
Speaker C:Yeah, I think it's the hardest for our creative people who like to work on a lot of different things.
Speaker C:That's one of those aspects where it's it's a hard thing to do.
Speaker C:But if you're doing five things, maybe narrow down to a couple versus yeah,.
Speaker A:Especially if you want to profit.
Speaker A:If you want to profit in your thing, then you need to master it.
Speaker A:If you just want to do some other things as a hobby, that's fine.
Speaker A:But if you want to be a business owner, an entrepreneur who profits from their work, you need to focus.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Well, Anita, this has been really amazing talking to you.
Speaker C:We haven't even touched on your book.
Speaker C:I think we can do a whole other conversation about that.
Speaker C:Can you let people know where they can find you online?
Speaker A:They can find me@WriteYourLife.net that's my website.
Speaker A:You can schedule a book strategy session from there.
Speaker A:Of course you can find my book on Amazon.
Speaker A:It is becoming the Minimalist Lessons from my Journey to Work Less, Earn more, and play more.
Speaker A:So I hope to hear from some of your viewers and listeners and maybe see some people become some minimalist entrepreneurs and do it really well.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Well, this has been a pleasure.
Speaker C:Anita, thanks for coming on.
Speaker A:Kevin, thanks for having me.
Speaker B:Thanks for listening to this episode of Standout Creatives.
Speaker B:If you're feeling stuck, let's chat and see how we can help you.
Speaker C:Stuck.
Speaker B:Start standing out instead of burning out.
Speaker B:You can sign up for a free strategy call@thestandoutcreatives.com if you want to keep up to date with everything I'm working on, including interviews, essays, and upcoming projects, head to standoutcreativebusiness.substack.com and if you have any thoughts on this episode or just want to chat, you can follow me on Instagram @StandoutCreativeBusiness.
Speaker B:Thanks again for tuning in and as always, lean into your creativity and curiosity.
Speaker C:I'll see you again on the next episode.
