Latest / The Daily Writer / December 2020 Listener Q&A

Transcript

December 2020 Listener Q&A · The Daily Writer

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Writer.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Each weekday, we bring you a short lesson that helps you live out the four practices of a great writer: creativity, consistency, courage, and connection.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the weekend edition, we take a deeper dive into those topics through conversations with notable writers, as well as teaching that helps us apply what we're learning and also prepare for the week ahead.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Today is our monthly Q ⁇ A episode, and I love these episodes for a couple of reasons.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is that it's a way to serve you and a way to answer your questions, and hopefully a way for me to be helpful to you.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: But also the flip side of that is that your questions actually make me better.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: When you ask me questions and whenever I have to think about my responses, that actually improves me as a writer, as a podcast host, and as a teacher.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks so much for these questions.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: These are great.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to send me a question for next month's QA, you can shoot me an email at Kent at DailyWriterLife.com.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's Kent at DailyWriterLife.com, and I will be happy to include that.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's jump into this month's questions.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: First question was submitted by Jeffrey, and he says, What do you think is the most important practical step in the transition from writing as a creative hobby or even on behalf of an employer to writing as a professional?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And Jeffrey, that is a phenomenal question.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I would say to that.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I would say the biggest factor in making the transition from writing as a hobby, or from writing for an employer or for someone else, to writing as a profession is by thinking of yourself as a business owner.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'll be honest, this was a very hard mindset shift for me.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: My vocational background is church ministry and college education.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And those are two professions that are about as far away from a typical business context as you can get.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So those professions of ministry and education are mostly concerned with content and ideas and a lot of kind of abstract notions.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in those professions, you rarely have to directly sell your services as a pastor or a teacher.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: So you're kind of there as a hired gun to teach, to pastor, to serve, to advise, and those kind of things.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: So you're mostly spending your time creating content, you're meeting with people, you're teaching and preaching and so forth.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not really directly selling a lot of things in those two professions.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, this was really a big challenge to begin to think of myself as a business owner, as opposed to being someone who is just a content creator or a writer.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, being a business owner is a whole different ballgame from doing those things.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the biggest obstacle that most writers face when creating an actual business is the realization that you're only spending part of your time writing.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're spending a big part of your time connecting with people, working with clients, doing marketing, and so forth.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And most writers get into writing because they love words, so they find that this is really frustrating.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: They love ideas, stories, books, articles, and learning.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And really, it's a frustration point for them because you know, a lot of writers just think, I would I just want to spend all day writing and I want to craft stories and I want to write articles and books and so forth.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: But the reality is that when you have a business, you have to market yourself, you've got to be networking constantly, you've got to be promoting yourself, and you have to be thinking of it as a business owner, not just as someone who works in your business.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why a lot of business people say you've got to spend time working on your business, so like your marketing, your strategy, and so forth, and not just working in your business as kind of like an employee or a service provider within your business.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of a weird thing being a solo business owner, at least it has been for me, because you have to kind of put both hats on.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: You have the hat where you're doing the work for the client or you're doing the work for somebody else, but you also have the hat where you need to think strategically about where you're going with your business and what you want to accomplish in your marketing and so forth.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And this is really the exact same situation that a lot of artists face, this kind of this frustration that they feel, whether they're painters, musicians, designers, or whatever, they got into the business because they love the art, but they're not as excited about the marketing or the business components.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And really, this is why creative people oftentimes complain about the fact that the most successful artists or the most successful writers, financially speaking, are not usually the ones creating the best work.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: The best-selling books are not always the best written books.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And why is that?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's because creating the work and marketing the work are two completely different skill sets.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're not completely different, but they're very, very different.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, every writer and artist has to find their own way through these issues of how to balance their writing along with the business aspect of what they do.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I would offer a couple of suggestions.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, you have to celebrate the fact that you are in charge of your own business success.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: The whole reason why we get into freelance writing or creating our own business is so we can have control and ownership.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: We love the freedom aspect, but freedom means that we are now responsible for everything that happens in the business.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a good thing.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: It means that you can market and you can build your business exactly the way that you want.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: It also means that you're going to be developing skills that you didn't have before.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you're going to be growing, you're going to be stretched, you're going to be learning, and those are all really good things.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, second, you have to remember why you got into writing in the first place, and that is to help people.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Whether we're writing fiction or nonfiction or whatever type of writing we're doing, in the end, it's all about people and how we're serving and helping people.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if we run our business well and if we're consistently connecting with people, those are the means by which we are serving more people.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: So the business and the marketing side of things is not the quote unquote unpleasant side of our writing business.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, the marketing and the business side is the vehicle that allows us to impact people and for us to change lives.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: The more people that we know and the better that we market our services and the more that we build relationships, the more people we can help with our writing.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And third, just on a really practical level, I think it helps in terms of you know moving into writing as a business.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think it helps to have a schedule or a system for when you're writing and when you're doing other business stuff.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is something honestly I struggle with.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: I still have a day job, so I'm juggling that aspect of what I do, but I'm writing my own stuff, but I'm writing books and content for clients.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but then I also just started a um a community for writers called the Daily Writer Community.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's in beta launch mode right now.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: I've not made that public, but uh that will be made public in a few weeks.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've got these different things that I'm juggling, and I struggle with this myself.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: So so for anybody who's listening who you know you're struggling with how to balance and juggle all this stuff as you're building your writing business, know that you're not alone.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is a normal part of things that we all go through whenever we are are building something and we're we're figuring things out and we're exploring and we're kind of coming up against our own limitations and our own limiting beliefs, and we've got to push past those.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's just the process of building a business.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: So so knowing that it's it's going to be frustrating and confusing at times, I think is just part of the it's part of the deal, particularly for creative people, because our impulse is to just want to sit and create all day.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: At least that's my impulse.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but we got to remember remember that if we want to have a business, then we have to do those other things as well.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And those things are good because those allow us to impact more people.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's move on to the next question.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: This was submitted by Brittany and she says, I see authors who do speaking engagements or book signings in other cities.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have to travel to be a writer?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before I give an answer, let me address why someone might not like to travel.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have a home situation, or maybe you have small kids that would make it hard to travel.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you just don't like to travel.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're an introvert, maybe you have a physical disability of some kind.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you uh you have someone living in your home, like maybe you're taking care of aging parents or something like that.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So there's all kinds of reasons why people might not like to travel as a writer.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'll be honest, I like some travel, but I don't like to travel a ton.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: I find for myself that travel kind of throws me off balance, it throws a kink in my schedule, and it just kind of messes up my routine.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a person who really loves routine and stability and predictability.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So some travel is good because it kind of wets that creative whistle, so to speak.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we can't just stay cooped up in our in our houses 24-7 for years and expect to have a lot of creative input.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to get out there and see the world and travel.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm a person who sometimes struggles with that concept because even though I know travel is good, it does kind of throw a wrench into a lot of things in life and so forth.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of setting the context for um for the fact that it's okay if you don't like to travel and why some people may not necessarily like to travel.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So to answer the question, no, you do not have to travel in order to be an author.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: The only main reasons you would really travel when you're an author would be to do book signings or speaking engagements, as I mentioned above, but you might also want to travel for conferences, for meetups, for mastermind groups, or in some cases, if you have a traditional publisher, you might have to travel to your publisher's office if you have a traditional book deal or something like that.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but with the pandemic going on right now, there's not a lot of people traveling to those kinds of things.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Even though there are still events happening, they are much, much fewer and typically much smaller than they used to be, which is probably a good thing since we do have a like a global pandemic crisis happening.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, Brittany, to answer your question, no, you don't have to travel to be an author.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's going to be pretty rare that you are absolutely required to travel for something related to your writing or for your books.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And for people like me who, you know, I don't find a lot of joy in extensive travel.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's probably a good thing.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So for those of you who love to travel, I know you're chomping at the bit to get out there on the road with all the COVID stuff happening.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully in the next year or two, uh things will begin to change and we'll be back to more of a normal situation.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's go to the next question.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: This was submitted by Ray, and Ray says, I'd like to start making income as a freelance writer.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: How do I get started?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, Ray, I would suggest a couple of things.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, you can sign up at sites such as upwork.com or fiverr.com where people can hire you.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, Fiverr is spelled F I V E R R dot com.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: And when you sign up to sites like that, you would need to complete a profile and list your services that you're providing, as well as set your pricing for your services.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's all kinds of different price ranges for various services that you services that you could offer as a freelance writer.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say look at what other people who offer similar services as you are charging and price your services accordingly.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you are way under what other people doing similar things are charging, people are not gonna see you as a quality candidate.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you're way more expensive, then they're probably not gonna hire you because they're gonna they're gonna think, why is he so expensive?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to kind of figure out your pricing by basing it on what is the standard market rate for whatever it is that you're charging.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, also your level of experience will grow the more that you do freelance writing or or work for clients.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna want to raise your prices accordingly the longer that you do this.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're starting out, just set your prices according to what other people are doing that are doing similar things, and just kind of go from there because you can always change those prices later.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you're also going to need to decide what type of freelance writing that you want to do, whether that's things like email newsletters, website copywriting, ghostwriting, uh, writing podcast show notes, writing uh articles for clients.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's all kinds of different things that you can do in terms of freelancing.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: So pick maybe two or three things that are in your wheelhouse and focus on those.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Don't offer 10 or 15 different things.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Also, you're going to need a website where people can go to find out more about your services.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really important because they need to know you're a real person who has a website.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a website is kind of like a sign of validity in today's world if you're offering services to people.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say that's definitely a must-have.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's a second strategy that you can do, aside from signing up at places like Upwork and Fiverr.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: The second way that you can do it is you can let people know that you're doing freelance writing or editing work.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And this is more of a relational strategy.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Sites like Upwork and Fiverr are not built on relationships, that's basically a marketplace where you're listed alongside a million other people and you're basically going to compete on pricing and the services that you offer and the kind of portfolio that you have.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: But if you build your business on relationships and networking, that's a whole different ball of wax.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, you still need to have some experience, you need to be good at what you do and so forth.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that this second approach of relationships is actually a much better way to do it because relationships are much, much stronger than just being listed on a website somewhere.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the question is, how do you start to do this on a relational level?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is just start out very simply.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Just start telling people, hey, I'm building a freelance writing business.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know anybody who would like articles written or content edited or whatever it is that you do, I'd love to chat with them.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: So in fact, this is exactly how I got started ghostwriting last year.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I literally just started telling people that I was building a ghostwriting business.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: At that point, I didn't have a website set up.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now I've got I've had a website for a long time, but I didn't have a ghostwriting website.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: I just started talking to people about it.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, to be fair, I was already doing freelance writing, so I had some experience, and it's not like I was brand new to this deal, but the ghostwriting gigs that I have gotten so far have pretty much had nothing to do with my previous freelance work.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all been based on relationships.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I can't think of, I take that back, I can think of one time over the past year and a half where somebody has approached me for freelancer ghostwriting work based on my website or podcast.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like one, I think that was just one single time.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: All the rest of the many, many dozens of times people have talked to me about freelance work or ghostwriting or something like that.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's all been based on referrals and relationships.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's actually a much, much simpler and stronger way to start is just start telling people that you're building a business, what it is that you do, and that if they know someone who could use your services, then have them get in touch.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a couple other things that I want to mention here before I move on to the next question.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that is um number one, the most important thing when you're starting to write for hire or you're starting to freelance is getting those first couple of gigs.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: So don't worry too much about what you're making or not making.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Just get the gigs so you can have some experience and you can get some testimonials and referrals from those clients.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's really, really important.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: And second, you might also do a couple of small gigs for free just to get the experience and to also get those testimonials and referrals.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I have definitely done this.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you don't want to always work for free because obviously you need to make money, but doing a little bit of free work can be a great way to build that portfolio and build your resume and also get some experience and build connections.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I absolutely recommend that everybody, at least when you're starting out, and really as you go along, I think we should always be doing a little bit of free work for people because uh, well, there's a lot of reasons for doing that.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: It simply the virtue of giving to others who are in need, I think is is reason enough to do that.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you can't do all work for free, but you should be pricing your services accordingly uh so that that does allow you to do some free work occasionally for people as the situation dictates and as you are able to do it.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: So those are some tips for getting started in freelance writing.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Jessica asks, how do I choose which book to work on next?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have several ideas, but can't seem to decide on a direction.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, Jessica, this is a great question, and this is something I think most writers struggle with at times, at least I know I have.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's really easy to get caught in the squirrel syndrome and you get distracted by shiny new objects all the time.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I would suggest: have a framework to help you take the emotion out of this decision and that can help you look at it objectively.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let me give you three criteria that you can use to help you decide which book to write.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, which book idea fits your goals?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, you might have four book ideas, but which one of those are most in line with the overall goals for your business or for your life?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, which book idea are you most excited about?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, as you know, and as any of our writers know, if you're listening to this, a book takes a long time to write, to edit, to publish, and to market.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to make sure that you have enough enthusiasm about that book to sustain it through the whole production process and marketing process of the book.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you have an idea for a book, but you're not really that excited about it, then I would not do it because a book takes way too much time and energy for you to spend on it if you're not personally excited about it.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm gonna be honest with you, I also applied this criteria to client projects.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, for example, I had someone email me yesterday.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: When you listen to this, it'll be two days ago, but for me, this was yesterday, and they said, Hey, I wonder if you could.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: They were referred to me uh by somebody else, somebody else in my network.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: They said, Hey, we we want to know if you would like to help us work on some book development for this book idea that we have.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Can you help us to look at the content that we have and helps us help us to structure it and organize the material and so forth?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Yes, I would love it.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the reasons I said yes is because that as they described the book concept, I was really, really interested in it.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: It is an area of business and commerce that I have really never thought much about.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I can't say what it is because I'm sort of acting behind the scenes in this particular situation, but it's something that I'm highly interested in, but I don't know a lot about.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a person where, based on their reputation in the business community, I I want to kind of dig into their brain.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: One of the reasons why I love ghostwriting is because I get to dig into the brains of people and find out how they think, how they process information.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: I get to kind of download information and experience from their life.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's not a one-way street.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Ghostwriting helps me to learn a lot about the world and how it works, about business or about creativity or about whatever the topic is.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, that's that's a key component that we should apply not just to our client work if we can, but also to our own books.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that is, are we personally excited about it?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, number three.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I took a long time on number two, but I got a little excited there.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Number three is which book is your audience asking for?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, again, if you're approaching this like a business, which you should be, you want to make sure that it's meeting a need of some kind.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Have people asked you to write on specific topics, or do you have an audience that is focused on particular topics?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: For example, my readers often ask me about habits, creativity, and productivity as they relate to writing.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody ever asks me questions about car repair or fly fishing or Christmas decorating or you know how to build apps.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody ever asks me about those things because I don't know anything about those things.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: I could write books on those topics because I can organize information very well, but it would mostly be crickets if I published those under my own name.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want a book to be a part of your business, it should be aligned topic-wise with your core message or your audience.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean you have to write the same book over and over and over again, but it does mean that you don't want to publish books that are on a on all completely different topics and for completely different audiences, unless you're ghostwriting.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: But if it's under your own name, I think it makes much more business sense if all those books are are in some way aligned, uh if they're related in some way, because that each book will strengthen the other books if they are geared toward the same audience.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me give you a couple of examples here.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, let me put these three principles into practice that I've talked about in terms of how do you choose which book to work on next.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: So there are two books that I'm currently working on.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is a book called Let It Flow.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this book is a parable that talks about the four practices of a great writer.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I talk about these four practices here on the podcast frequently.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Those four practices are creativity, consistency, courage, and connection.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: And those are the four main ideas.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is the framework that drives everything behind the Daily Writer, including the Daily Writer community, which will be publicly launching very soon.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast, and a book that I'll talk about here in a second.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: So those are kind of the four pillars.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's the framework that drives everything behind web.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: I do in terms of the Daily Writer.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: So this book called Let It Flow is designed to teach those principles in hopefully an interesting and an entertaining way.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And this book will come out in the spring sometime, maybe summer, I'm not totally sure, but sometime next year.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Business-wise, the book is designed to spark interest in my paid community, the Daily Writer community.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: So this book will drive interest in that group, which is paid and is one income stream for my business.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, I'm not just putting this book out there as its own thing, totally isolated from everything else that I'm doing in my business.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: No, this book will have a lot of value in itself, but really the book is designed to, in some ways, be a funnel to other things in my business, like the paid community or like ghostwriting services, because I'm definitely going to mention I'm a ghostwriter in like the back of the book and in my author bio.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: So the book is like a spark to something else.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: A book should never end with itself.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: A book should always lead to the next step for the reader, whatever that is, whether it's signing up for an email list, whether it's purchasing your coaching services or being part of a paid community or doing whatever it is that you want them to do next.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: A book should never ever stop with itself.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: So you should always give the reader next steps that they can take to engage with you on a deeper level, whatever that might be.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's a second book I'm working on called The Daily Writer, same as this podcast in my community.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously I'm keeping everything on brand here.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: The Daily Writer is obviously the branding that I'm going with.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And this book called The Daily Writer will come out in a little less than two years.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: And this will be 366 daily readings, each one of those very short, about 250 words or less.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: And this book is designed to be a daily companion for writers.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you can read the short entry that'll only take like a minute to read.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it'll give you a little spark of motivation or inspiration for writing that day.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm thinking very long term with this book.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking like, in fact, I told somebody the other day when I was describing this book project, I said, I'm I'm thinking like 10 or 12 years out into the future, is that I want people to use this book for 10 years.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to read through it every day for a year and the book be so good that they think, wow, I'm going to repeat this, and this is going to be kind of like my daily companion.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to, I'm going to take Kent with me everywhere that I go, every day, and I'm going to read a little bit of something that he wrote, which is going to help me with my writing.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now you might hear that and think, well, Kent, why would you have the audacity or the arrogance to think that you would write a book that a writer would read every single day for 10 years?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is, yeah, I think I can do that.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: I really do.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm working on Monday through Friday on this podcast.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Every one of these episodes that I'm doing on this podcast, Monday through Friday, those are going to be included in that daily writer book, which will come out in a couple years.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm writing this book.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm writing five of those daily meditations every single week, and I'm sharing those with the podcast.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: That forces me to write the content and it forces me to create it as I go.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also test driving it because I can look in my podcast stats and I can very, very quickly see people love that episode.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't like this one.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time, that's due to titles.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really learning a lot about copywriting on this podcast because people will listen to an episode based on the title and whether they think it's interesting.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: So just this past week, in fact, I was looking at my stats and I immediately saw that there were a couple of episodes that tanked, like people were not interested in them.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: There were a couple episodes that were really, really popular.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: People loved them.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think just based on the title.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: So titles mean a lot, and I'm learning a lot about you know, marketing and copywriting and titles just through the podcasts.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the point being that, yeah, I do want to create something special for writers.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm playing the long game with this book.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is very much tied into my business.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, that book will help promote my daily writer community, and vice versa.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: And this all this stuff kind of ties together.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: So as you can see, I have a whole ecosystem for my content.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot more work that I need to do to get this all much more fine-tuned, but it's a good solid start.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, for me, the podcast is really the hub of everything that I do.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where I'm creating the daily content, answering these questions like I'm doing right now, that helps me think through content and it helps me to realize that my audience is wanting more information about this or this or this.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's surprising.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: I I think this is a big reason why you should do Q ⁇ A's with your audience, because you then you learn what people are struggling with and what questions they have.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: The things that I assume people are interested in are not always the things that they're actually interested in.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why you need to have some open lines of communication with your audience.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that was a super duper long-winded answer to that question.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: But I think all this is really helpful, at least I hope it's helpful, uh, as I share the things that I'm working on and the strategy behind those things.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that helps you to think strategically as well.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: So to kind of wrap up this question, as you think about what books you want to write, this is again, this is why I say, what are your other bigger goals?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how your book ties into those and can help you accomplish those things.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Again, a book has a value on its own, but it can also be a funnel that leads people to something else more profitable that you're doing.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: A book is a marketing tool for other things that you're offering.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to kind of put put on your business and marketing hat to do this.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: So don't write a book and just let it be an isolated thing.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the bigger thing you're trying to accomplish and how the book can help you accomplish that thing.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now, speaking of marketing, and this is our final question here.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Catherine asks, Do you have any tips for marketing or how to build a platform?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is yes, definitely.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of thoughts on this.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: But first of all, I want to say, Catherine, thanks for asking about this.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: This shows a huge amount of awareness on your part.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of writers don't really ever think about marketing, but marketing is just telling people about something that will help them.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's sharing your enthusiasm.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I want to share a few principles that I think really do work.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Three things specifically.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is define who you want to reach.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Your message is not going to be for everybody, and this can be really hard for us sometimes because it involves saying no to some people.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, in my case, I am targeting writers.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: Writers are who I am targeting with my message.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to target plumbers or attorneys or or anybody else.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to target writers.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if that plumber or attorney happens to be a writer, I think they'll get a lot of value from my podcast and my platform and books and so forth.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I am targeting writers.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's who I want to serve.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that means I filter everything that I do business-wise through that lens.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: So my question to you is who is your target audience?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you trying to serve?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: So define that.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's really important for you to make a decision about that.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: Again, that's hard because sometimes we we like to think that what we do is for everybody, but I promise you, what you do is not for everybody.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's only for a certain segment of people.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And the the more specifically you define that, the more that's going to help you to create books or products or opportunities for those people.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is build an email list.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Email is it's very old technology.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: I understand that.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's not quite as old as like uh the Morse code, but it's still pretty old.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Email is still amazing, though, because most people check their email on a daily basis.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: And your email is going directly to that person.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Social media is great.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love Instagram, I love all that stuff, but you've got to have an email list.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's like absolutely essential.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: So make that one of the first things that you do after you listen to this episode is make sure you set up an email list on your website.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: You do need to have a website.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about that previously in this episode.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to have a website, and on that website, you will need an opt-in box where people can put in their email address in exchange for something that you give them called a lead magnet.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: And a lead magnet is something that you give away in exchange for that email address.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's something of value.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: You can't expect people to just put in their email address because you're saying, hey, sign up here for my newsletter or sign up here for regular updates.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, nobody cares about the regular updates.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: What people want is something that you're giving them a value.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh now, unless it's like your mother or you know, your siblings or your kids or something, most people don't just want updates.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: They don't want more stuff clogging up their email inbox.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: What they want is something that solves a problem for them.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: So give them an ebook, uh a small course, a PDF checklist, or something else that solves a specific problem for your audience.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: I personally recommend using ConvertKit as your email marketing service.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's lots of others, including AWeber, MailChimp, Constant Contact, SendFox, and lots of others, but I love ConvertKit and that's what I personally recommend.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: So number one is define who you want to reach.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, build an email list.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: And number three is expand your network.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Here are some ways to do this.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can pitch podcast hosts to be a guest on their show.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when you do that, make sure you're a good fit for that podcast.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not going to pitch myself to an auto-repair podcast because, you know, that's not my audience.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: My audience is writers, business leaders, artists, creative types, anybody who's interested in writing.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm I'm probably not going to pitch, you know, podcasts that are on radically different topics.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: So think about who your audience is and what kind of shows they listen to, and then pitch yourself to podcast hosts who run those types of podcasts.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, second thing to do to expand your network is introduce people to each other who can help each other.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: I do this constantly, like multiple times a week.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'll think of people and I'll say, hey, you know, so-and-so needs to meet so-and-so.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: I did it several times this past week, in fact.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was interviewing someone for a client book that I'm working on, and this person's assistant has kind of a platform and does some work in a specific area.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: And a friend of mine who's writing a book does something kind of similar.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I connected those two.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the friend who's working on a book that I just mentioned, um a couple weeks ago, I thought, hey, this friend needs to be connected to one of my other clients who I think would enjoy having this friend who's working on a book on her podcast.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I introduced them to each other and they're going to be on each other's podcast.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: So just do things like that.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Think of people in your life who need to meet each other, who could add value to each other and just make an intro.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the third thing you can do to expand your network is to attend speaking, uh, attend events and also do speaking events.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is how I got my first ghostwriting book last year.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: By going to a very small speaking event where I was actually one of the speakers.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: There was just a handful of people there.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I met somebody there who introduced me to my first ghostwriting client.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's still events happening, but of course, COVID has impacted this a lot.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of keep that in mind.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: However, there's also lots of virtual events happening right now, or getting on podcasts again is a great way to do to accomplish the same goal, but not necessarily go to an event.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can also do guest posts on other people's blogs.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can write articles for those or have them write articles for yours.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great way to network.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then the final way to expand your network is to get active in a few Facebook groups around your topic.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: That can be a fantastic way to add value to people and to meet new people.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say, Catherine, the number one thing here, I know I'm giving you a lot to think about.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: The number one thing is just pick a couple of things that you can do well and do them really, really consistently.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let it stress you out and focus on the things that work for you.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'd also recommend that you go back and you listen to an episode from September the 8th called The Introvert's Guide to Networking.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: That was a podcast episode I did.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: And in that episode, I give you a lot of great strategies for networking.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you're not an introvert, even if you're a crazy extrovert, not that extroverts are crazy, but um to introverts, extroverts have a crazy amount of energy.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I mean.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, even if you're an energetic extrovert, you're gonna find a lot of value in that episode.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: All right, my friends, I hope that this episode has been helpful.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: I have had a blast answering these questions, and if you have a question for next month's QA, you can email me at kent at dailywriterlife.com.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to this episode.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, remember that your writing has the power to change lives.