How Writing a Book Will Teach You Time Management and Productivity

Writing a book can be an intimidating task. Blank pages can stare at you mockingly for long hours that turn into days, weeks, and months before you make headway in your next chapter.

That is, of course, unless you work out a plan that has you making progress daily on your book. In fact, writing a book can help you manage your time more wisely and encourage productivity on multiple fronts. Here are a few things you can do to make more progress in shorter time when writing your book.

Consider Using the Pomodoro Technique When Writing

The Pomodoro technique is one in which you set a timer to promote short bursts of intense productivity. This method is effective because you operate in 25-minute increments. Set a timer for 25 minutes. During that period of time, focus on one single task. In this case, that task would be writing your book. Whether you’re blocking out a chapter or simply writing an outline for the next chapter(s). You don’t stop for anything other than house-fire types of emergencies until the timer rings.

Then you take a five-minute break before moving on to the next task, or chapter, as the case may be. After every four short breaks, you take a longer break. This gives you time to clear your mind, charge your battery, and refocus on the work ahead of you for the day. This is a key component in your efforts to stay focused on writing your book and stop splitting focus by multi-tasking and otherwise spinning your wheels all day long.

Prioritize Your Tasks

You have a lot on your plate on any given day. It can be easy to get caught up in minute tasks and quickly lose time to write during your day. The longer this continues, the more time you have to forget what’s going on with your book or abandon your book altogether. Steady progress is a much better way to go. Accomplish this by doing the following:

Decide how important your book is to your professional future and consider prioritizing your writing over some work functions by delegating or bringing on another team member to help take care of tasks that take you away from writing.

The reward for all this time management and productivity-enhancing effort is that you will discover you can write a book. How do you know? Because you just did. Now, it’s your turn to take a look and see what else you can do!

The easiest way to market yourself is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plans till you’re ready.

Write a Book and Grow Your Joint Venture Opportunities

Many people are surprised to discover one of the unintended or unexpected benefits of writing a book: Opportunities for joint venture projects. Other people in your industry or industries adjacent to your industry will often seek you out in hopes of starting a joint venture project together. This allows the two of you to leverage your combined knowledge to create an information product designed to appeal to all partners’ audiences and, perhaps, to help expand each partners’ influence.

How does the Joint Venture Process Work?

Joint ventures may involve one or more partners who come into the process and collaborate to create products and then promote those products to their email lists and within their social media circles.

The first step is the “meet and greet,” which can, and often does, happen in a virtual environment. One party approaches the other about a possible project collaboration. It helps if the interested party has a specific idea they’re interested in bouncing off the other person and then the magic brainstorming can commence from there.

Next you create the product, dropping a steady stream of hints and buildup to your respective audiences along the way, of course. Then you promote the products in the weeks leading up to the launch (then heavily in the days leading up to the launch) and then you launch your product and watch the magic happen as your wallets and your lists grow.

How does Writing a Book Attract JV Partners?

Writing a book lends huge amounts of credibility to your name in the circles where you travel. Most JV prospects will be in industries that complement your own very nicely. You’re not direct competitors but people who buy your products make excellent target markets for the JV prospect. In addition to lending credibility to your name within your industry, writing a book tells potential partners other things, such as:

In other words, it tells them everything they want to know about your abilities to get things done. Writing a book takes a lot of time and effort; there’s no doubt about that. The fact that you’ve not only written a book, but gone through the marketing process, built a list, and actively participate in social media makes you a hot commodity for JV partners. Just remember to vet your partners well so that you’re not left doing all the work while someone else reaps the rewards of your efforts without contributing much of their own.

Finally, there is no reason for you to wait for joint venture opportunities to present themselves to you. Look around in industries that complement yours. Seek out partners that inspire you or who you believe will inspire your audience and come up with a proposal to present to them. Present your proposal along with your own list of credentials and accomplishments (and perhaps a copy of your book). Then, see what kind of magic you can make happen!

The easiest way to find joint venture partners is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plans till you’re ready.

Jumpstart Your Signature Product Offerings by Writing a Book

Writing a book offers many benefits to professional coaches. You may be surprised to discover how the process of writing a book can help you jumpstart other projects, such as signature product offerings that gain you more business, a wider presence in your industry, and another avenue for helping others.

Writing Stimulates Creativity

Writing is an utterly creative process. Regardless of the endless hours you spend researching and outlining your book, the time you spend in front of the keyboard pounding out chapters is an entirely creative time that actually serves to feed your creative tendencies. These are the times when ideas, plans, and processes for other projects will come to you.

Take a little time to jot a note so you don’t forget about these new ideas, then get back to work on your book. You want to make sure you don’t loose track of these signature ideas but also that you do not get lost in planning that project rather than completing your book.

Create Mini Classes or Group Coaching Sessions Based on Topics Your Book Covers

Your book offers a straightforward guide your readers can follow to achieve real success. However, diving in deeper to some of the topics your book covers through group coaching and mini classes can help your audience accomplish so much more. Jot down outlines for these classes and group sessions as you are writing those chapters for your book. Your mind is fresh with the details and you can get double rewards for the information you’ve researched.

Consider Developing a Book Series

If not a book series, at least consider creating a workbook series or supplemental planners that are based on your book or topics related to your book. That offers you opportunities for greater profitability while helping your audience transition the principles in your book into actions in their lives. The more books, workbooks, planners, and other products you have available, in addition to your book, the more opportunities you have to earn greater profits from your existing audience.

Kick Your Price Point Up a Notch or Two

Books build confidence and trust among your audience. Now that you’ve written a book, it’s time to consider the value of the courses, products, and coaching sessions you offer and re-evaluate how much you’re charging for your time.

Books create authority and expertise in the eyes of your followers. Make sure the prices for your new items reflects the added value your time and talent now command.

Also take this time to review existing products for ideas about updates and upgrades that can make them more valuable to audiences and help them command a greater price from consumers.

The more time you spend creating products, reworking existing products, and planning out new products for the future, the easier the writing, planning, and publishing process will become for you. The key is to actually start and see how quickly it all comes together for you.

The easiest way to market yourself is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plans till you’re ready.

5 Ways Writing a Book Can Grow Your Business

Writing books might seem like a Herculean task but it can provide impressive results for the growth of your business with minimal effort on your part. These are just five ways you can grow your business by writing a book.

  1. Profits from Book Sales

Financial gains from book sales involve money you can then reinvest into your business fueling growth. Not only can you buy better exposure on the World Wide Web, you can hire people to help you do the tedious things that tie up your time and take your time away from the aspects of your business you are most passionate about. Leveraging your time and talents this way alone makes writing a book well worth the time and effort it took to get it written and ready to go.

  1. Gain New Clients, Followers, and Subscribers

There is a certain amount of prestige that goes along with writing a book. Even if you self-publish your book, you will gain a great deal of respect within the coaching and business community simply for having a book available in the marketplace.

This respect leads to new social media followers, email subscribers, and paying clients who need the invaluable service you provide. It all started with a blank page you filled with possibilities for yourself and your future clients.

  1. Expand Your Expertise

The fact that you’ve written a book on a subject makes you an expert in the field as far as most people are concerned. But the value of doing so goes deeper than that. In the process of researching and writing your book, you’ve become an expert in your field. You’ve put in the time doing research, expanding your knowledge, and breaking it down into digestible information you share with your readers. That will draw more people to you as a coach and to your book as avid readers look to improve their lives.

  1. Increased Opportunities for Exposure

Exposure comes in many forms. When you write a book, you get even more exposure on multiple fronts. In addition to a wide range of accolades from the book itself, you have the opportunity to tell your story to an even wider audience through:

These are just the beginning. Once you’ve settled into life after the first book, you might even want to consider increasing your exposure by working on a follow-up book, granting interviews, or booking speaking engagements.

  1. Expands Your Reach Allowing You to Help More People Quickly

One on one coaching is a time consuming process that only allows you to work with so many people in a day. A book is something that allows you to help more people with your limited time.

Writing a book won’t solve all the challenges the average coaching business faces. It can be instrumental, though, in helping you to expand your ability to help others while also expanding your own customer base and bottom line at the same time.

The easiest way to market yourself is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plans till you’re ready.

Want to Be a Social Media Darling? Write a Book…

Are you looking for new ways to become the life of the party, gain a lot of attention, and be more relevant in the world of social media? Writing a book is the best place to begin. There are many benefits of writing books that dive deeper than the social media front, but your decision to write a book can definitely give your social media presence a massive boost. Here’s what you need to do.

Writing a Book Establishes You as an Expert; Use that to Your Advantage

By the time you finish doing all the research and study required to write a book that is informative and compelling, you will be an expert on the topic. Followers understand the effort that goes into researching and writing a book and that is attractive to them and will attract them to your social media postings where they can learn even more from your insights.

The easiest way to market yourself is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plans till you’re ready.

You Get to Publicize Your Book with Fun Social Media Events

Have you ever noticed how the public hangs on every word, every style tip, favorite lipstick shade, and fashion choice of famous socialites like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton? Everyone likes to be around someone who is the life of the party. It attracts them to you and has them hanging on your every word.

As an author, you have the opportunity to become the life of the party in your industry leading up to the official launch of your book. Build excitement with pre-launch parties and events plus  celebrate post-launch milestones as well. Your followers will adore you for it. Plus, they will share the love by inviting their friends to follow you as well.

Keep the Messages Going Even After Your Launch

Don’t allow the momentum of your book launch die in a post-launch slump. Even if you plan to take a break for a few days following the main event, make sure you have social media messages lined up and ready to go during your downtime. Try to spend a few hours a day, though, reading through comments and responding to your followers to keep interest in you and your book lively.

Respond Directly to Your Followers

Responding to your social media followers is important if you want to become a true social media darling. Reading a book gets you the attention you desire, but building relationships helps you sustain it by making your followers feel important to you and letting them know they can turn to you for advice.

Publicize Local Appearances, Speaking Engagements, Etc. on Social Media

Let your fans know where they can find you. It’s more important than you realize and can make a huge difference for your social media presence and following. Some people have a hard time being the center of attention, but the bigger your following, the more potential for new clients, speaking invites, and joint venture projects.

The great thing about building a bigger, better social media presence is that it is a gift that will continue to give back to you and can be built upon even more through consistent effort with your followers. Whenever you need a big boost, you can always write a new book to net new interest and new followers.

5 Ways Writing a Book Will Build Your Marketing Chops

Writing a good book is step one. The next step is getting it to sell. Gone are the days when the big publishing houses scheduled your book tours, television interviews, and radio spots. Exceptions are made for big name authors, of course, but most authors are responsible for their own marketing plans, and having a plan in advance may even assist in winning a publishing contract.

  1. Put yourself in the spotlight.No more hiding behind the keyboard if you want to make book sales! Be proud of what you’ve produced and tell the world. Not a single soul will know about your book unless YOU tell them about it, via social media, press releases, and publicity events. And just remember: You can’t please everyone so keep your target audience in mind. Don’t listen to naysayers; pay attention to the reaction of your fans.
  2. Perfect writing press releases and newsworthy pitches.What better way to tell the world about your new book than to write a press release. But to keep your press release from getting hidden at the bottom of the pile, learn how to write it so your book is seen as newsworthy. In media pitches, mention how you are also different from the competition and why you’re the best choice for interview guests. Yes, you want the publicity, but word your releases and pitches so it comes across as a win-win relationship.
  3. Practice your scheduling acumen. Scheduling interviews, live readings, book signings, your book launch party, and social media promotions takes lots of planning and a calm, patient personality. Add some traveling into the mix and you may want to consider hiring an assistant and/or travel agent to handle the airline flights and hotel reservations. National interviews can be cancelled or added at the drop of a hat so you may have to prioritize on the go. Always have a backup plan if a scheduled event is cancelled so your time isn’t wasted.
  4. Continue connecting with your social media followers.Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to connecting with your followers online. It’s all about building a trust relationship so your fans know without a doubt that you are credible and not trying to fleece them. Build that relationship, share parts of your life and/or business, be silly, and of course talk about your book. Just don’t hit them over the proverbial head with sales posts consistently. Show them that you’re a real person who cares about helping them more than about selling your book.
  5. Start planning early and use a mind map to guide your marketing plan.Nothing says unprofessional quicker than a half-baked marketing plan or, even worse, no plan at all. If you want to sell books and expand your reach, planning is vitally important. Start early by brainstorming your ideas and then decide which of these ideas you can pull off based on the date of your book launch. Consider outsourcing any tasks you don’t know how to accomplish so you can move forward with your marketing methods. Save those tasks that you love or at least know how to finish for yourself.

If you’re apprehensive about this solo marketing approach, consider hiring help, either an assistant with marketing and publicity experience or a PR/marketing firm. Keep your budget in mind but also weigh the benefits of each and decide which option will provide the bigger ROI.

The easiest way to market yourself is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plans till you’re ready.

5 Ways Writing a Book Will Teach You about Your Fears and Your Habits

Which of these scenarios best describes you?

Scene A: You wake up refreshed to start your day and can’t wait to sit down to write another chapter (or four!) of your latest book. You adore the writing process and can easily enter your “zone” where time just stands still and your fingers move like the wind across the keyboard.

Scene B: You wake up refreshed to start your day but you do everything else on your to-do list first instead of writing a chapter of the book that you know will boost your business. Procrastination is your friend and the “reasons” you give yourself for not writing are simply excuses.

Writing a book is certainly a great way to boost your credibility, increase your name recognition, and increase your profits but it’s also a mirror we can use to deeply examine our greatest fears and work habits. If writing a book were easy, everyone would be published. Acknowledging and understanding these fears and habits can greatly improve the writing process which, in turn, will make life much easier when you decide to write your next book.

  1. Examine your work habits.Are you a procrastinator or a “get it done” person? Are you an early morning person or night owl? Can you work with music or podcasts playing in the background or do you need total silence? Every writer has a different method of working and you might just discover something new about yourself during this process. Maybe you prefer nature sounds or white noise as opposed to music with lyrics. Or maybe you can focus better in a coffee house setting instead of in complete silence. No matter what your preferences, use those to your advantage to be more productive.
  2. Discover your fears about the writing process.Do you dread that blank page staring back at you? Do you fear hearing negative feedback or reviews? Do you fear hiring an editor only to get your manuscript back terribly marked up or changed considerably? Remember that once upon a time even big name authors had to start with a blank page and editors who changed their words. Start your manuscript with a chapter outline and remember that you’re paying an editor good money to make your book its best.
  3. Analyze how disciplined you are when it comes to writing.There’s no right or wrong method here but knowing if you can work in the zone for hours on end or if you get easily distracted and need to take breaks makes planning your day much easier. If you need to take breaks, incorporate the Pomodoro method into your day. Simply set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on your writing until the timer goes off. Take a 10 minute break, then get back to writing for another 25 minutes. It’s a simple method but you’ll be amazed at how focused you’ll be during those writing sessions.
  4. Is writing your passion or do you fear this will be a wasted effort?What if you don’t make sales or the response from your audience isn’t as glowing as you had hoped? This is a valid fear, especially if you’re depending on this book to increase your earnings, but you’ll be prepared to conquer this fear by doing market research prior to writing the first page. Is this book topic something your market needs and wants? Can you offer a different spin on this topic that others may have already written about? Whether you feel a passion for writing or you’re certain this will be your only book, you’ll always benefit by doing research.
  5. Acknowledge your insecurities and admit your weaknesses.No one is perfect nor can you be an expert in everything so if anything about the writing process or the marketing activities scares you, embrace that fear and either conquer it or hire an expert to help you through it. Under this type of spotlight, you may be surprised at what makes your knees shake and what you can handle like a champ. Just don’t let these insecurities sideline your book.

As you can see, writing a book is a wonderful self-discovery tool in addition to a business-builder. Take these discoveries and work with them during this process; you’ll only improve your business and your work habits going forward.

5 Ways Writing a Book Will Help You to Unlock Your Hidden Creative Genius

How often have you thought to yourself, “I’m not creative?” Have you marveled at the creativity of young children playing, wondering where on earth they come up with these crazy ideas? Creativity doesn’t disappear completely as we get older; we simply don’t exercise it quite as much as we did as youngsters. Traditional classroom schooling also doesn’t place a priority on creativity because teachers are so focused on teaching the curriculum and scoring tests. If you want to spur your creative juices once again, write a book.

Of course, before you start writing the Great American Novel, prepare an outline and know what topic you’ll write about. If you’re an expert in a particular field, it makes sense to write about your expertise so your business will grow. But even if you want to test the waters with a fictional novel, approach writing a book with a plan.

Here are just a few ways you can unlock your hidden creative genius by writing a book:

  1. Use the brain dump method to empty your mind of too many ideas. Experts have proven that multitasking actually diminishes productivity, so instead of trying to write your book while all these other ideas are swimming around, take a journal and just start writing everything down. And I mean EVERYTHING, including calling the dog groomer for an appointment to calling the pharmacy for a refill. Whatever is taking up space in your brain should be on that paper. Now that you’ve released these thoughts onto paper, focus solely on writing your book. You’ll discover the writing process is easier when you’re able to focus on just one task instead of one hundred.
  2. Pop the creativity cork to release other ideas. So often we get stuck with one idea in our minds and it’s hard to concentrate on anything else. Release that one big idea into a book…then pay attention to other creative ideas that surface afterward. There’s a subconscious reason why you can’t move past your book idea and focus on other things; it’s your brain’s way of telling you to follow through and see where it takes you. When your book is complete and you have some time to relax is often when you’ll get your next inspiration.
  3. Writing itself is a creative problem-solving process. When was the last time you made a pros/cons list to help you make a decision? Or a to-do list to track your daily tasks? Or mind mapping to illustrate the growth of your business? These are simple examples of how writing is used to solve problems. Writing out the details of our problem allows us to clarify exactly what has to happen when and it’s then easier to see connections and solutions to these problems.
  4. Practice makes perfect. Even if you’re not aiming for perfection, this old adage holds true. The more you write, the easier the process becomes. Writing content for your audience will become easier because you have the practice and you’ve done the research to know what your audience is seeking.
  5. Embrace the idea of learning something new every day. The best books are those that are well researched, so embrace that research phase to spur your creativity. Discover new facts, new resources, or new theories. Carry this idea over into your personal life and mix up your daily routines to try new things. Explore your surroundings, take the long way home from the gym, or explore a new town you randomly choose from a map. Your brain will thank you for making it work differently, simply because you mixed things up.

Creativity is hidden inside each of us. The process of accessing that creativity and using it to create a business you love will be unique for every person but promises to yield great rewards.

6 Ways to Become a Local Celebrity with Your New Book

Even if you have built your business primarily online and that’s where you find the majority of your clients, local marketing should not be overlooked. In addition to your online marketing efforts, promoting your new book locally can bring you “local celebrity” status while increasing your fan base.

Keep in mind, these ideas may not bring in hefty sales but they’ll go a long way to expanding your name recognition within your local community. Instead of book sales, you may gain some new clients and you’ll definitely gain more social media fans.

  1. The easiest way is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plans till you’re ready.
  2. Hold local book signings at libraries or book stores. Don’t forget your hometown roots! Publishing a book is quite an accomplishment not everyone can claim, so toot your own horn to the people who know you best. Meet and greets at any locale allows you to promote your book while also growing your fan base.
  3. Appear at Community Day events. Many local communities or towns hold Community Day events and festivals during the summer and fall months. Check those calendars well in advance and be prepared to invest a nominal fee to set up a table with your book available for purchase. Print out bookmarks or other handouts that include your social media handles so they can connect with you after the event; or be proactive and connect with people instantly at your booth.
  4. Speak at local schools about your path to becoming an author. Many middle and high schools hold career days so watch for those events or call the schools directly to inquire. This isn’t so much a chance to sell your book but to tell about your path to becoming an author. Carry handouts with your name, book title, and social media handles so the kids can pass them along to their parents. This is also a great opportunity to leave information at the schools for the faculty. You just never know where your next client will come from!
  5. Volunteer locally with your Chamber of Commerce or other business networking groups. Many Chambers have different committees on which to serve and other business groups (such as BNI) have executive officer positions available every year. Again, these types of positions are not about selling books but offer you the chance to give back to your community while expanding your name recognition.
  6. Use your book as a fundraiser. Choose a cause that’s close to your heart and dedicate a percentage of sales to be donated. Donating to a local charity or a local branch of a national charity may stir more interest because of the hometown roots. Or donate a copy or two of your books to auction events held by local PTAs, scouting troops, or religious organizations. Very often these organizations will distribute a list of their benefactors, so that’s yet another way to increase your name recognition.

Marketing your book should be a continuous cycle, both online and offline. The more people you can reach through the differing avenues, the more likely you’ll see increases in sales, new clients, and social media fans.

6 Ways to Get a Million New Fans with Your New Book

Everyone wants to know how we got 15 million subscribers so quickly.  So here are a few tactics that you can use to promote your own book or business.

Even before you’ve got your book written, you can start shouting from the rooftops about your book because if you don’t tell people about it, they simply won’t know it exists. And contrary to popular belief, just because your book is available on Amazon doesn’t mean it will show up in millions of Amazon searches.

Part of becoming an author these days also means becoming a marketing expert. Hiring a public relations firm is certainly one option, but for many authors – especially first time authors – PR firms are not budget-friendly. The key is to gain national recognition and get your name in front of as many people as possible, which requires writing pitches to those who have access to your ideal audience.

  1. The easiest way is to join our community and become one of our active contributors.  You can book in a chat to find out how we can help you achieve your goals, or just start out with one of our subscription plan still you’re ready.
  2. Schedule a national book tour. This type of scheduling requires lots of footwork and research mixed in with some travel expertise to be successful. Target big box bookstores as well as independent bookstores in areas where your ideal readers are located. Bookstores are interested in how your book will bring people in to their stores so include a synopsis of your book in your pitch. Also, outline your social media plans and how your plan will align with their current social media campaigns. Keep in mind: Scheduling tours in big cities is best done well in advance due to the high demand. Have a tour schedule ensures you’ll get your written and published in time too! There’s nothing like a deadline to make you get things done.
  3. Schedule television and radio interviews. While planning your book tour, take some time to reach out to local television and radio stations to land interviews; of course, finding the best contact is paramount so you’re not wasting time. Decide which type of segment you’re best suited for and do your research on specific programs, hosts, and producers. Make yourself stand out from the rest of the pitches by including any relevant fun facts or ties to that local area. And don’t think any show is too big for you to land; I knew a virtual assistant who landed an interview spot on The Dave Ramsey Show simply because she took a chance and answered an open call specific to her industry.  You can subscribe to sites like HARO to get opportunities to contribute your expertise.
  4. Arrange blog tours and podcast tours. Don’t discount blogs or podcasts as part of your promotional efforts. A blog tour is simply a written interview which is published on a blog but they usually include contact links to your website. Podcasts are audio recordings, similar to traditional radio talk shows, available for free from platforms such as iTunes and Stitcher. Research who the influencers are in your industry and check out their numbers of readers and listeners. Many blogs or podcasts have national reach so those are the ones to target with your pitch.
  5. Create social media events around your book launch. If you’ve been doing our training, and know a few people, you already have a following so don’t forget about inviting them to watch parties or other local live events. Tell them about your new book; go live and read a chapter to build interest; create custom hashtags and ask you followers to share about your book and live events; create an online panel discussion with other authors or colleagues to discuss your book’s topic. Being consistent and present on social media when your book launches is vitally important to build up your momentum. All of your fans want to know more about you so don’t disappear.
  6. Embrace new social media platforms and/or advertising avenues. Utilizing as many social media platforms as possible will greatly increase your chances of gaining new fans but only if your target audience uses those platforms. Perform some market research first before learning another platform. If you’re happy with your current social media choices, focus instead on their advertising features. Facebook, for example, offers ads along with Sponsored Posts. Knowing the difference and how best to use them to target your audience will find you many more fans.

Once you have an awesome book, it’s time to show the world how much you know on the subject and how much you can help your audience with this information. Planning any kind of national publicity is time-consuming but a worthwhile effort when you think about how many people you’ll attract to your brand.