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Wrapping Up the 2025 Year · The Expert's Journey: Helping Speakers & Authors Succeed!

• 0:14
  Welcome to the Experts Journey podcast where we're all about creating your path to impact. Join your hosts, Dixie, Mary Carlton from Indie Experts Publishing, and Mr. Web Marketing, Brad Howe, as we look at how you can grow your business and influence by leveraging your knowledge for profit.
• 0:28
  Welcome to the Experts Journey. And we are coming to the end of the year.
• 0:32
  It's an exciting time. That means the end of one year and the start of a new one, which gives us so much to talk about. So today we're going to go back and have a look at some of the things that have happened to us over the last year, what we're thinking about for next year, and what exciting things are on the horizon from our perspective.
• 0:50
  Morning, Dixie. Good morning, Brad. This is going to be exciting. I love reading good things and looking forward to next year. Absolutely. New Year's new hope, change of pace. Who knows what it's going to bring? Every day is a new day, but I always do look forward to the new year.
• 1:08
  I must admit, a bit strange that way, which is weird because financial year is in the middle of the year here. But yeah, so be it.
• 1:15
  You have a little break over Christmas. I'm going to have two weeks off after this podcast and I'm really looking forward to closing my MacBook and getting some time on the beach and just chilling out. Nice. Sounds great. And I will be working through pretty much. I've had a couple of weeks off recently for my birthday in November and on quite a bit of travel this year and of course I get to live partly between Bali and New Zealand.
• 1:40
  Anyway, a lot of my work style and lifestyle feels pretty relaxed, even though sometimes it's a bit crazy. But yeah, so I'm looking forward to actually getting some work done over the summer break because for me that's a really good high productivity time and I quite enjoy the ability to not be distracted with a lot of things.
• 1:59
  So for me it's like a couple of weeks of head down, tail up and hyper focused and then be ready for the coming year. And so I do a lot of planning in this time. Yeah, I think a lot of people do. I know a lot of my clients go on holidays from around the 20th of December to the 20th of January, roughly that period. Some come back a bit earlier, but certainly there's a couple of weeks there early in January where I have time to kind of sit down and really focus on what I'm launching or doing or focusing on.
• 2:26
  So let's have a little bit look back over the last year. Obviously the Podcast, we're up to episode 46, which is an amazing achievement because as the facts are that most podcasts never get past 10 episodes. So that puts us in the top 2 or 3% of podcasts in the world.
• 2:45
  We're getting there slowly but surely bring. In some really good content for people. Maybe a book's in the work from all the stuff that we've done.
• 2:52
  Yeah. So it could definitely be on the cards for next year.
• 2:56
  And I think the idea of doing a book based on some of the content that we've been developing is a really good idea. And. And we are already in discussion about that. But one of the things that has been a highlight for me is some of the books that we've done, including Conference in a book. Book one is out, Book two is in production as we speak, and there'll be a whole series coming out over the next year or two based on that. I finished my section for you too. I've got five paragraphs left to edit and set it to him. Good one. I look forward to that.
• 3:28
  But that's been an exciting project, something completely new, different and transformative in many ways. And it's also enabled me to start working with a larger number of people at any one time, whereas in the past I might have only worked with maybe six authors at a time. Now at the moment I'm probably working with 25 authors, but on smaller projects in many instances. So that's made me really look at changing my systems and my processes around my onboarding, my customer management systems, everything, really my whole workflow, my times that I work, the times of the days and the weeks that I work. So that's been fun because a lot of my clients are now in the Northern hemisphere, so I have to juggle many more time zones on a regular basis. That's been challenging, but delightful. And of course, I've done some really amazing travel this year, including recently to Boston to the Book Thinkers Conference, which was also an incredible experience. And so I've had lots of really great things to inspire me to make this year one of my best years probably ever in terms of my business and my personal life. Myself, I've been doing a lot of work in the SEO area and content creation for people, and I'm really enjoying that. I've always had a theory that good content is built around education, whether that be educating people through social media, videos, or content. And I've developed this new content interview style system that I've got going now where I interview someone and I can create a really good brand story off the back of that as well as ongoing quality content that speaks in someone's voice and that works really well on people's websites. Number one, it ranks really well because it's good content. Number two, it's focused on the keywords and the information that people like. And number three, it really tells the story of the speakers and other businesses that I work with. And it tells it in a truthful way because it's actually taking their words. And that's been a really powerful step forward from just creating generic content for people or having them write their own articles. It really brings them into their content and it's been quite eye opening what's happening now from that. So I'm really enjoying that. That's been a good step this year. Both of our businesses have benefited greatly from the advancements in AI. And I know we're both major league users of AI. Not for creating content or writing content, I want to make that clear. But in how we develop our businesses and our research and finessing of some of the things that we're creating individually. AI has been a real highlight this year for me as I've become more and more solid with the ways that I'm using AI as an administrative addition to my business. So it's for me, it's not artificial intelligence, it's assisted intelligence that I'm bringing into my company, which has been again transformative and enables one to do so much more with the time that you have. And I've really loved the learning process and the development process professionally for that. Yeah, for me, using AI from a deep research perspective has been a real game changer. I need to evaluate people's work and what they've done in the past and all that. And having a research assistant to help me do some of that background research and to dig deeper than maybe I could directly has been really useful. And then going through and assessing that content and using it to help people, I found it really great. And I've developed a few tools along the way, such as some automations to do marketing for people. But also I just think having someone there that you can give a job to while you continue working on another job or can you evaluate this. And as you said, an assistant has been a really powerful step for me and something I'd love more people to understand that you don't have to be using it to do everything but where it can pick up stuff like deep research is really powerful.
• 7:24
  Yeah, it sure is. And I think when I look at where we were Collectively, a year ago in terms of using those kind of tools to where we have come so far and so fast this year. It's interesting to contemplate what next year might look like in relation to that and the use of technology and tools and equipment that we've come to rely on already so much.
• 7:47
  Yeah, absolutely. And I think what we understand about how we use AI has changed so much. Its abilities are obviously very wide, but training it to do things well is where it's really at. Training to do what you do for you in certain areas, to speed up processes has been absolutely game changing for me and I think for many people, because when we first started out at the start of the year, we were using AI to write articles and write social media posts and all that. But in a year things have changed so much.
• 8:20
  It really is like having a member of the team. And that is going to get even worse by some people's standards, or better, because the amount of agentic AI coming out now is just phenomenal. Yeah, that really is. And I'm excited by the way things like distributed teams working with people further afield becomes more and more of a standard thing for companies like mine and yours. Relying on not only AI and assisted intelligence, but also people who might have small pieces of information or specialty areas or talents that we can pull in as contractors. In fact, I work with your daughter. Penny is our videographer. There are people that I work with who do certain specific things and that's all they do for my company. And the concept of expanded distribution is. Or expanded teams in a distributed fashion has become so much more of a norm as well, even in the last couple of years. The sky's the limit for next year. Absolutely. So what are you looking forward to for next year, from your perspective? I'm looking forward to continuing to grow the concept of. And the books and the series of the conference in the book.
• 9:34
  We'll be doing a podcast, so conference and a podcast, adding into that as well. I think I'm really looking forward to writing a couple of my own books and I've been playing around with the novel for a while, but I've done a number of novels in the past, but this one intrigues me because I think I'm getting really quite invested in the main characters that I'm developing in that particular book and extending my own ability as a storyteller. So I'm enjoying that. I'm enjoying the idea of more travel and perhaps more Northern hemisphere work in travel and just continuing to grow things. I have some Pretty good, solid family and professional things that I'm wanting to bed in more with over the next 12 months, professionally, family wise, friendship wise.
• 10:24
  I've got some good fun things on the agenda and I need to remember to take more time out to do that and have more fun. But also I'm really excited about the work things that I've got coming up. More of the same, but bigger and better, I think. Yeah, sounds good for me. Obviously, I'm launching this new product, doing the interviews with people and I'm going to be out there talking to people and telling them about it because I really believe in this, this idea that I've idealized now and made it real.
• 10:54
  It's been eye opening the results and I'm really stoked with what I'm achieving and what I think it will give the people.
• 11:02
  I'm really looking forward to that. So for me that's a big one.
• 11:05
  Obviously speaking at the GSS coming up, so I am looking forward to that in March in Cairns and also other opportunities. There's plenty around and I'd like to travel and speak a bit more. So I'd like to get out and talk a little bit more about growing your business and using AI to do that.
• 11:22
  I'm really looking for those opportunities. So for me, yeah, a bit more travel would be nice next year. Definitely a goal is to get a bit more travel in. Yeah, I'm looking at wanting to do more speaking in my industry and I've got a couple of opportunities in Europe which will be fantastic if I can make those happen. But the other thing that I think I'm particularly excited about is the idea of you interviewing more people and perhaps us interviewing people or having guests on our podcast going forward.
• 11:51
  And we've talked a little bit about that and we've got a few things for the listeners coming up that we think will be quite exciting. But the other thing that we've been talking about is the idea of doing challenges to get ready for 2026.
• 12:06
  How do we actually make sure that we are all ready to step up to another level for next year?
• 12:14
  Yeah, setting some goals, as always, is a great thing. But I think just sitting down and thinking about the year that's passed, make a list of things that you've achieved. Give yourself a pat on the back because the biggest mistake we make as speakers, as I always say, is we're so busy, and same with authors, we're so busy doing our thing that we forget to actually thank ourselves when we achieve something. Seeing as we've got no one else to thank us often. And I think going back, making a list of achievements, make a list of things that maybe didn't go so well as well. Learn from your mistakes. One of the things I think is really important is cutting off stuff. In the new year, we trim our trees. I have fruit trees in the backyard and one of the things I have to do is trim them back because they fruit better when they've been trimmed back. And it's the same with business. We start all these different projects throughout a year and some of them take off and some of them don't. And some of the ones that take off are no good. They actually need to be killed.
• 13:06
  And so going through and killing off some things and then starting fresh, putting your effort into the things that did work well and maybe doubling your effort into those areas.
• 13:18
  Sometimes people make the mistake of doing too much at once. So if you can kill some things off and focus in on the things that do really work, in other words, the ones that turn a dollar that you enjoy doing that are good for you and your business, then that's a great place to start. And then set some goals how you're going to try and achieve that. I have a list of specific things that will be forming part of a challenge that I'm about to release.
• 13:45
  But I want to challenge our listeners because by the time this is, that challenge will actually be finished. But I want to give our listeners some specific things that you guys can all do to help you get ready for next year. There's five things.
• 14:01
  First, I want you all to think about writing one 800 word article about your area of expertise because that's going to help you get really set on what it is that you most wanting to focus on other people knowing about you for the next year. That's going to be a good way of setting yourself up to be ready and willing to pitch yourself out there for other opportunities. Number two, create a set of five of your name isms like for example Bradisms or Dixie isms. Things that you are really well known for saying things that you think are uniquely you. And if you don't have anything, then start thinking about creating those and then turn those into some memes for using on social media and putting onto some of your marketing.
• 14:49
  Number three, outline three parts of your new 2026 keynote to prepare for pitching in the new year.
• 14:56
  Ooh, I like that one. Yeah, we all get embedded in thinking that our content is forever evergreen content, but we all need to sit there every year and think how can I make this better? What are the three main parts that I'm going to put into a new keynote that will actually make me ready to pitch for something new and fresh next year?
• 15:15
  Number four, I want you to find a book or several books and review them on Amazon. Pay it forward to other readers and authors that you know will appreciate you taking the time to do an Amazon review. Now, this comes up again and again in my business where people are saying, I really need more reviews, ask people for them. And then people say they're having trouble with getting their reviews on Amazon because they haven't bought enough books in the last 12 months or they don't do enough reviews on Amazon, are slow to pick them up.
• 15:45
  If you're a regular reviewer, it makes it easier for Amazon to create reviews and accept your review, but it also means a lot to the authors and it also means a lot to you as a reviewer, potentially, because when your own book comes out, you want people to review your book. So reviews is a cyclical thing. Do it for others and they'll do it for you. So review a book on Amazon, or at least one, and then also maybe with that, commit yourself to a book, a new book to read that's going to do something for you professionally over the next few weeks. And finally, I want you to create a pledge for yourself for the next 12 months and then find a buddy that you can team up with and commit to it with each other.
• 16:32
  Those are five great things you can do over the next three to four weeks while you are sitting in the sun, taking a break, thinking about what you're going to do for the next year and it will help you be ready for what you have got coming up from beginning of January. Excellent. Well, that's a great list of things and that'll certainly keep me busy if I can remember them all. I'll have to download the sheet that goes to a Snips podcast so I. Can remember goes up online. Yes, but look, I think that brings us to the end, you know, we're almost there. I wish everybody a great holiday season, whether you celebrate it or not. I hope you enjoy the season. I hope you get a break. I know traditionally here in Australia, it's the time when most businesses do have a break, except retail, of course, and have time to spend on your own with your family, whichever you choose.
• 17:20
  And we'll see you in the new year. That'll be fantastic. Happy New Year. Merry Christmas and to you and your beautiful wife Kate and your family. I hope everything goes well for your holiday next week and to all the listeners. We'll talk to you soon.
• 17:35
  Thanks thanks for tuning in to the Experts Journey. If you picked up some useful tips today, please take a moment to subscribe and share this episode with a fellow speaker or author. It really helps us reach more people.
• 17:46
  And don't forget to check out our books on Amazon. Dixie's Start with a Draft, how to easily plan and write a non fiction book and a dynamic new conference in a book series. The first one being Connect Lead Succeed and of course my book Micro Course Profits Build a seven figure income with bite sized microlearning courses. They're packed with practical tools to help you grow your business faster. We'll catch you next time.
• 18:08
  Here's everyone tips today. Please take a moment to subscribe and share this episode with a fellow speaker or author.
• 18:16
  It really helps us reach more people. And don't forget to check out our books on Amazon. Dixie's Start with a Draft, how to easily plan and write a non fiction book and a dynamic new conference in a book series. The first one being Connect Lead Succeed and of course my book Microcourse Profits Build a seven figure income with bite sized micro learning courses. They are packed with practical tools to help you grow your business faster. We'll catch you next time.
• 18:41
  Here's everyone.