Latest / Imperfect Marketing / Episode 112: Repurpose Your Wisdom: Book Coaching with Nancy Erickson

Transcript

Episode 112: Repurpose Your Wisdom: Book Coaching with Nancy Erickson · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I am super excited today because we have Nancy Erickson, who is a book coach.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Nancy is the book professor coach's business right And you coach business professionals to become authors of high impact nonfiction books that establish them as experts in their fields, increase their credibility, help attract a following and expand their business.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: So you're able to go ahead and help people repurpose their books and their chapters and create other revenue, producing products that include seminars, workshops, online training, podcasts, online courses just a lot of stuff.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: I know it sounds like a lot, Yeah, and you, but that's awesome because repurposing stuff is key, So we'll definitely get into that.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: And then you're the owner of two book related businesses.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: You have the book professor and Stonebrook Publishing, an award winning nonfiction publishing house, And you were named a top 10 book coach in the US by the coach Federation.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: So very cool.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate the opportunity, Kendra.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: So how did you get started in being a book coach?
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh, it kind of sideways.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: My original career was in high tech.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: I worked for IBM and Oracle as a systems engineer And then I can't think it was in 2006.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: So a while ago my dad was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, so we knew he would only live about seven months And I quit everything.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: My folks were living in Florida at the time, so I went down there to be to help them through that time and to be with my mom for a little bit afterward, and then when I came home I was like, oh now, what am I going to do?
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: I quit my job, and it was.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: It was really a great opportunity to pivot.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: I had always wanted to be a writer And I thought, well, i'm going to hone those skills.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: So I was looking at writing courses and I'm like, it's all this undergraduate stuff.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: I'm like, well, i've already done that.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: So I ended up going back to school and getting a master's degree And writing.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: And when I graduated I did two things I joined the faculty where I got my degree because they asked me to teach writing, and I started Stonebrook Publishing, which was a nonfiction publishing house, and so I we actually had a couple of really great hits out the chute.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: But the first book I published was written by a Holocaust survivor who went to school with Anne Frank.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, wow, and we ended up doing our book release at their school in Amsterdam And I was like pinching myself.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: I was like, and the thing that was so cool about it is the only two things that were still there that were there in the 40s when the Nazis occupied Amsterdam was the school and then, across the street, the bookstore.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: So they had this big ceremony at the school for the I think it was 170 students who had been murdered by the Nazis, and then we went across the street afterward and did the book release.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: So that was really that was our first book.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Then the next book I, i know is crazy.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: The next book we published, we got back cover endorsements from Sir Paul McCartney and Cindy Crawford And I was like, oh, this is like really working out, yeah So.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: But there was a problem, and that problem was we were getting a lot of manuscripts that had a seed of what we were looking for, which is material that would save lives, or trade save lives or say, change lives or transform society, but they were so poorly written that we couldn't do anything with it, we couldn't edit our way out of it.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: I really created a conflict in me because the whole region I even wanted to get into publishing nonfiction was because we have a lot of problems in our world And like so many that we don't even really know how to name them anymore, much less solve them.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: But I absolutely, totally believe that the answers are trapped inside people like you and like your listeners And that when you simply tell your story and what you've done, what you've overcome, what you've developed, what you've invented, what you've gleaned through all of life's living, that you become the source of two things we can't live without, and those two things are hope and help.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: So here we were, getting these manuscripts that had a seed of that, but because the person couldn't write, they couldn't get their message out.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: So I felt the need to fix that, and so I took a step back and didn't publish anything for a year, and during that time I wrote this step by step by step by step by step by step by step process so that people who weren't writers could become authors.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: It's kind of a long story, but that's how I got into it.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: No, it's very cool, and the story about the, your first book that you guys published, gave me chills.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: I definitely had goosebumps.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: So that's just such an impactful story to be able to share and get out there.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about your process, because you said you wrote the step by step by step process, so tell me a little bit more about that.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Well, we always want to start off with getting really clear on your message.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: So we start with a series of foundational questions that are meant to crystallize your message, and there are things like why are you even doing this, what's your motivation, who specifically is your audience, and how will they be changed as a result of reading your material?
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: And so there's about 12 of these questions, and we distill those down into a purpose statement for your book, and that simply is one sentence that says the purpose of this book is to do this particular thing for this specific audience period, because you can't put everything you know in a book.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: You can't put everything in your book.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: You have to be able to prioritize what's going to be in this book.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: You may have more books, right.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: So after we have that purpose statement, then whatever you're considering putting your book, we measure it against that And if it helps lead the audience to realize the book's purpose it's in, if not, let's set it aside.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: We may be able to use that somewhere else.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: So then I take you through a process that I developed called book mapping, and a book map is a visual representation of everything that's going to be in your book.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: It is not an outline, it is like a mind map And there's a couple of the different versions of it.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: No-transcript is for your own personal story, because you have to really ingratiate yourself toward your readers or they can't learn anything from you, like people can't learn from you if they don't know you.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: So we want to get your own personal story in there that shows how you came to be in the position you're in now to be reaching out and giving your message out to your audience.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: And then the second book map is that's how we create your chapters.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: And so we create your chapters in problem solution sets, where you name the problems that your clients, your audience, is likely to have, and then, through a very story driven methodology, you present your solutions.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: So you're telling stories and stories and stories.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: It's very story driven.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: So once you have all of those chapters mapped out, then when you sit down to write, there's no such thing as writer's block, because writer's block is just simply sitting there and thinking oh my gosh, i don't know what I'm supposed to do, you know.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: But then you can be in execution mode at fingers on the keyboard, button, the seat, and write your first draft.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: But we were talking about repurposing earlier, kendra.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: So when I love repurposing because my clients ask about that all the time- well, who wants to do things over again?
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: Right, I like to do it right the first time and then reuse it to death And so um.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: So once you have all these chapters written, once your book is out, then you can take each, because, because each chapter pertains to one problem and one solution.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: And so what are chapters are simply containers for information.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: You should be able to take each one of those chapters and repurpose that material to expand your brand and your message across multiple venues, because not everybody's going to read a book.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I hope you know that right out the shoot.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: But why miss your market when there are other places?
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Let's meet your market where they're already engaged.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: So if they are listening to podcasts or if they are taking online courses or showing up at seminars and workshops, you can repurpose those chapters for those you know different venues.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, no, I love that.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: I love the idea of repurposing, especially because you're going to invest so much time and effort, blood, sweat and tears into the book.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: And again you were talking about how people can't learn from you until they know you.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Well, that's doing business with you too.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: People do business with people that they know, like and trust.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: So a book is a tool right that allows people to build that know, like and trust factor And then, if you can put it where they're at, even more power to it, right.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the book should do three things for you, as we mentioned earlier should you establish you as an expert, should increase your credibility and help you to attract a following.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: But it's only going to do those things if it's really well done.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: And I laugh because people give me their books all the time that they've self published.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: That's pretty impressive that somebody wrote a book.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: It's not easy to do, But nine times out of 10, i'm like, oh my gosh, please don't give this to anybody else because they don't know what the proper elements are to professionally published book.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: And publishing is a really old industry And there's a lot of conventions that you need to adhere to And unfortunately, they may have spent just as much money to do it.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: And self publishing there's a little bit of a misnomer, so a lot of people think it's do it yourself publishing.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: It really means that you're in charge of the entire process And that you're in charge of hiring professionals to be editors and proofreaders and covered designers and layout designers and all those kind of things.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: And you know, if you've never done that, i don't know how you would know what to do.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: It's it's.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: It's kind of complicated.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it sounds it.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: So how do you help business people be seen as experts in their field?
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Like, if they've got a small idea, are you able to help get that out of them, or if they have, like, i want to write a book.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: I don't know what it's about yet.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and we have a lot of clients like that, and the book is already inside you And the process that we take you through this, particularly with those foundational questions that I mentioned, really draws it out of you And your mind will be starting geared towards.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: So here there's a funny thing about what happens, and it's this and happens to everyone.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: It's what that?
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: that while you're working on your book, your book is working on you And when you give it time to become and to come from you, you're going to be amazed because this stuff is already inside of you.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: It's just needs to be kind of pulled out of you and organized and structured in a way that you can follow while you're writing your book and that your reader will be able to follow as they're reading.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: So about how long does it take the average person that you work with to write a book?
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Well, it's going to take you a year.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: And I hear objections that, oh my gosh, a year, and I'm like, well, how long do you think it should take?
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Nobody knows.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: And the reason it takes a year and I've seen things online that are write a book in a weekend or in 30 days or something like that.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know what they're exactly writing, but it's different than what we do.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: First of all, the process that I described to you is chunked in a way that really busy professionals can get it done.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: So every week you have a little bit of homework and you do that, and then we're just building on it week after week after week.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: And the other reason that it takes a year is what I just said while you're working on your book, your book is working on you, and you are going to be amazed at what comes into your life during that period.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: That will really make your book stronger and richer and deeper.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: That's great, And I think it makes a lot of sense to set expectations because, yes, I have been scrolling through my Facebook feed in the past and seen write a book in 30 days And it's like I don't think it's going to be very good.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't know.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Sometimes my blog posts take that long.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I know, well, i know, and I don't know, for some reason, you know, people like to change definitions of things.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: A book isn't a little PDF that you download off your website.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: It's a product.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: You're developing a product that is marketing you and your ideas And, when it's done right, it can be a fantastic addition to your marketing tool set.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: And then, like I said, when you repurpose it, you're extending your brand beyond the book.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: But it's also, it blends with your book, so you're delivering that same face across different channels.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: So you can be seen, because if you want a bigger audience, you need a bigger platform, and so many of us end up well, you're the expert on this, but my experience is, when you're marketing, you just kind of keep doing it to the same people and over and over and over and over and over again, and you need to get outside of your own circle to reach a whole new audience, which is something that the book and the repurpose material allows you to do.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Yes, no, definitely.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: And you know again, as you have repurposed material, again, you're reaching different people because you're creating things on different channels, where they're at, which is important.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Right, that's so important.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Is there anybody that you ever turned down and said no, i don't want to work with you, or I don't want to make your book, or I don't want to help you write your book?
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Well, i don't turn them down, i refer them to someone else.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: But yes, you know, and I mentioned before, all of our books are intended to offer the reader hope and help.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: And on occasion somebody comes across my path who just wants to write a book.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: That's kind of like all about me, all about me, and it just is to glorify themselves and it doesn't seem particularly helpful to anybody else.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: So that kind of material doesn't have any life in it for me.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: So we usually make a referral, you know, to somebody else who would be happy to take their money.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: But the people that we work with we work with so many business owners and entrepreneurs and coaches and consultants and people who are doing both B2B and B2C, and the reason that they are in the line of work that they're in is that they're offering hope and help within their own area of expertise.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: I think that's what we're all doing.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: We're all doing the same thing, just within our own you know realm of expertise.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: So we work with a lot of business people who are intent on helping other people, but they want to.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: They need to find new ways to market themselves and to reach new audiences.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: So it's been a great boost to them to be able to have a book product.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Speaking of those people that have had the boost from the book, do you have a success story or two that you could share?
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: There's a client I think we released her book about a year ago.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Her name's Nicole Bell.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: She's an MIT brainiac, both she and her husband, and I mean they're into like development of medical device technology.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: I don't even know what all they do, but anyway her husband was starting to get act weird and forget things like things like the alarm code on their house, you know, and stuff that's like why aren't you remembering that you know, kind of thing.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Anyway, i'm going to make a really long story short.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: He went through a lot of medical diagnoses and they said that he had early Alzheimer's, but she, being an engineer who wants to dig and dig for answers, did not believe that And he continued to decline.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: She continued to do research.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: When it came to the point where they actually discovered what was wrong with him What was it, the root of this dementia It was too late to help him.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: The root of it was Lyme disease, which she had suggested at the very beginning of his diagnosis journey.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: And anyway, he passed away about a year ago And since then she has turned her efforts into a startup company where they're developing testing technology for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses so that it can be diagnosed.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: By the way, if he'd gotten the proper medication at the time, he would've been fine, it would've been a nothing.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: But he was like 50 and ended up just, you know, not recognizing.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: You know just the worst case of dementia that you can think of.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: So she's been on The Today Show and on USA Today and all kinds of things, And her book launched her into this.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: It gave her.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: it was a credibility piece that showcased what she had been through and what her now pursuit was.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: That's just an amazing story And it's so good that you were able to help her get that out.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: It was so gratifying I mean so yeah, so one of my clients is a Vistage speaker.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you're familiar with Vistage, but it's CEO mastermind groups, i guess, i would say.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: And so we did.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: His book called.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: It was called CEO Tools 2.0.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: And he used that book in his Vistage talks and he got so popular He ended up being the top Vistage speaker in the United States two years in a row And in Canada it's called Tech, and so he won that two years in a row.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: And then, as he used the material from his book to work with these CEOs, i mean he sold over 10,000 or more copies of the book And it's revitalized a lot of other businesses because as they implement the practices that he puts forth in the book, it transforms their business.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: So I'm proud of that one.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: I'm proud of all of them.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: Anybody, it's like don't ever ask me my favorite.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: It's like asking which child is your favorite.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: No, that's amazing.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: It's just such great stories, and I think what's important to take away from this is that you have a story to tell that can help people, and it's about getting out what that is, and you can use it as a tool to grow and expand your business, exactly Because that's ultimately what it becomes All right.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: So, nancy, i was gonna just mention one other thing.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: We also do a lot of another type of book, and I call these Overcomer books, and these are stories of people who have overcome incredible odds and done amazing things with their life, and they wanna just reach back and help somebody else with what they've been through in their journey, cause they've always found that when they were in that spot they didn't have help.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: And one client I'm working with right now we're not finished with this book, but he grew up in the foster care system and was bounced around and didn't get into college and blah, blah, blah, fast forward to now.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: He's the head of a major bank and he's got three graduate degrees and wins all these awards and such, and so he wants his story to motivate others and to give them practical steps that they can put into place to overcome where they are now.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: And so that again, what's the hope and help?
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: The hope is him, his story, where he's come, and the help is actually giving them a path to follow so that they can walk out of where they are to where they want to be.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's so good, so good, and I think it makes an impact on people And that's, you know, I think, ultimately, that's why we're all here is to make an impact, right?
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Yes, so let me ask you my favorite question before we start to wrap up, and that is the show is called Imperfect Marketing, because we know marketing is anything but perfect.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: So what has been your biggest marketing lesson learned with these businesses?
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Oh gosh.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Well, i have to say that all of my marketing has been imperfect marketing And I have spent oh well, well over six figures in marketing my own business just the book professor, and my most important lesson was just work with professionals.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Stop trying to do it myself.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: Find somebody who's good at their niche and let them take me through their process, because I don't know about marketing And people like you, kendra, who can really help people develop like what a plan is and what they want to do, Instead of this little shotgun.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: I think I'll try this now.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: Now, i'm going to try this Now.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, here's another shiny object kind of thing But to be able to figure out who is your audience and how are you going to get your message before them.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: So I've discovered that I'm good at one pretty much only good at one thing, and so I'm going to stick to the books And I'm going to reach out and let other people help me with their areas of expertise.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: I think that that's a really good lesson learned because, you know, even even me running my business I'm so close to it I sometimes can't see what's in front of me, you know.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: And then you hear these stories from people about, well, i did this and I did that, and you're like, okay, well, maybe I need to try that and try that and try that, and that's like you never give anything enough time to make it work Right, which is frustrating right.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Right, and so we kind of need chair leaders and accountability on those things to keep us in the right lane.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Yes, No, definitely.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: So before I let you go, Nancy, I do have a question for you on if somebody that's listening is looking to write a book, what's their next step?
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Well, I would love for you to contact me.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: We we work on our books in group masterminds and cohorts of about five people And we're forming one now.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: And if you just want to talk about your book idea, please reach out to me.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: You can go to my website, the book professorcom, and there's a link across the top that says schedule a call with Nancy.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: And again, the book professorcom And I know you're going to have that in the show notes, but let's talk about it.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: But if this has even piqued your interest, you know, if you, i and they say about 85% of people have thought about writing a book, and you know that if that's you, you're feeling it right now.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: So reach out and we'll just have a half hour chat about your book, about your book ideas.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Oh, that sounds great.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: So you know, stop putting off creating your book, writing your book, because it's going to take you a year.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: So it's going to pass by anyway, right, you may as well have a show for it.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: You're going to wish that you start.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: That's one of those things.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: what is it I wish I started yesterday?
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Yes, Not the quote, or whatever it is.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: You'd be so much further along.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: So yeah, so if you're interested in my new book, Yeah, and I was going to say it's really chunked in the way where you can get it done, just small bites all along the way.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: That's great And again, you know.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: So stop procrastinating.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: If you are interested in writing a book, definitely try and connect with Nancy.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: We'll have her contact information and website in the show notes, for sure, and in the description of the video.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: If you're watching here on YouTube And I appreciate you guys listening If you learned something from this discussion with Nancy, it would really help me if you would rate it and subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening or watching.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: If it's on YouTube, you can ring the bell.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Or if you're an Apple or Spotify or anywhere else, it would really give us the hand if you would subscribe and, of course, rate it, and I look forward to having you guys tune in to another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Have a great rest of your day.