Build a Business from Your Book | Author Spotlight with Author Benjamin Preston

Are you working on a book and planning to build a business around that book? If you're relatively early in your business building or you're just curious what it's like to write a book and then build the business around the book, then this Author Spotlight video is for you. Hey there, I'm Julie, the book broad from Book Launchers. We're your professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and promote a nonfiction book that will help you have a huge impact on your readers. And done right will also help you grow your brand new, build your business and make you money. The best part, you keep all rights and royalties. Writing a book to build or support a business is a perfect topic for me to introduce you to Mr. Benjamin Preston. He was starting from the beginning when he came to us and was building everything as he went. My team has loved working with him because he was just there to soak up our advice and implement, which is a recipe for success. Now that his book is out, he, he's going to share what the experience of writing a book to build a business is like and what you should do and maybe what you should not do, if that's your plan too. So please meet Mr. Benjamin Preston.

Hi, my name is Ben Preston. I recently published a book called Harness yous Butterflies the Young Professionals Metamorphosis to an Exciting Career. It's a career development, professional development book for young professionals who want to accelerate their career and move up the ladder as fast as possible and, and create an exciting career along the way.

All right, so Ben wrote the book first and built the business second. Ben, tell us what that was like.

So before I came to Book Launchers, I knew that I always wanted to have this entrepreneurial sort of thing. I wanted to have my own business. I had a goal in mind that I wanted to be a speaker. I wanted to be a thought leader. I wanted to challenge a lot of the opinions and sort of mainstream thoughts about professional development because I don't think a lot of them are correct. So I had this goal in mind, but I didn't know how I wanted to do it. So I decided to build my business first by starting writing a book. And I use book launchers with this, obviously. And I call myself a book preneur, like an entrepreneur, but for books. So, Julie, I don't know if you want to use that, but Bookpreneur is what I call myself.

Oh yeah, I'm totally going to use that and I love it. So from this moment forward, Ben Preston, the Bookpreneur is going to Give you some advice on what works and what doesn't as you write a book first and build a business second. Second. Okay, carry on, Ben.

I had this disconnect where I had a goal in mind of building my authority. I wanted to write this book, had no clue how to write a book. But Book Launchers was really fantastic in that because they help you from start to finish. And Julie, I know your team is amazing. Helping me go from start to finish, where really all I had to do was pour out my thoughts and pour out my thought leadership into this book, which made it really easy for me to focus on the business aspect and building up my business and not having to worry about how am I going to publish this, who's doing my cover design. I don't even have my own bio done. So all of that stuff was taken care of. And it was fantastic for me because I got to focus on building my business, which is really why I got into this idea of building my authority in the first place, was because I did want to run my own company. And it really streamlined the process for me.

That made my day because that is exactly why I started book Launchers. Subject matter experts and business owners should focus on what they do best and let us handle their book project. As one client said to me early on, I'm a great writer, but writing is not the best use of time. Get me a writer. Smart and successful people leverage the expertise of others so they can do what they are best at. Ben is obviously smart and well on his way to big success as well. Every adventure has lessons, so I asked Ben to share his advice for you. If you. If you're going to venture into speaking courses, workshops, consulting, and you're using a book to kick that off like Ben has, here's what Ben said. So you may want to follow in.

His footsteps here, being very confident with your product and your segment because a lot of times it ebbs and flows. A lot of businesses, a lot of entrepreneurs run in circles trying to figure out what their product is or what their segment is. So when you're writing a book, it's very important that you know who your segment is and you know what you're going to be offering them. And. And you have a point of view with what you're going to say and not pretending that I knew everything, because I absolutely don't. I still to this point will call Julie's team and be like, I don't know what I'm doing. You don't need to have everything figured out. But you need to be open enough to say, I don't know what I'm doing. I need help. And you will find someone that can help you.

Great advice. Know who you're going to serve and what your point of view is for serving them. When this translates to your book, it's your hook and your ideal reader, which is vital for business and for a great book. And always be willing to ask. Ask when you don't know what to do next. You're not expected to know everything about everything yet so many people pretend now for the big things he'd do differently next time.

The faster that you network or the sooner that you network and you start building your profile and start building your email list, the better that your business will go when you actually get ready to launch. The other things that I would do sooner is start building a community that's really important and start looking for opportunities outside of your book. For me, I thought most of my business was gonna be book sales and speaking and. And obviously Covid happened. So I had to adjust my business, which is totally fine. Had to pivot my business and figure out what other ways can I bring in money for my business. So I had to start thinking outside of my book. And I think if I would have started thinking about that sooner, I would be in a better position today.

All right. His comment on networking earlier, it made me want to ask what he's done since the book launched to network that worked. So I emailed him after I got his video and here's his advice. So basically he said I still need to be doing a lot more networking, but the things that have worked really well to date is first joining groups that your audience is a part of. Which for him has led to a panel opportunity. He thought he would just be finding topics for his YouTube channel, but he's actually been finding speaking engagements and panel opportunities. So that's cool. He also has found success networking with corporations and people in business that can use his book. And he's working on some bulk sale arrangements through those opportunities. And again, both of these things has largely been through LinkedIn groups on LinkedIn and people on LinkedIn that he's messaging and connecting with that way. And then finally, he's also been networking with other coaches, getting tips and ideas for how other businesses are handling the COVID situation in particular right now. So those are some great tips. Thanks for adding on for me, Ben. All those things are smart things because if you don't already have a platform, then your best marketing option for your book and your business is the platform of other people who are serving the same or similar audience to you, but doing it in a different way. And as Ben mentioned, LinkedIn is one of the great places to find those people. Now, one of the things I've heard loud and clear from you, my YouTube friend, is that you want to hear direct from our authors what their experience working with book launchers has been like. So I asked Ben that very question, and here's what he had to say.

My experience with book launchers has been phenomenal. I had really, all I had to contribute was the writing and my thoughts and opinions about the process moving forward. And Julie's team did the rest of it. And I think for me, it's been a lifesaver because I can focus more on my business and I don't have to worry about the nitty gritty details of publishing that I'm not super interested in. I'm more interested in the big picture. So I have time and ability to think about the big picture while some of the micro stuff is getting done that I'm not necessarily very interested in. And I think for new authors, especially if you've never done this before and you've always wanted to write a book, hire book launchers. Take the time and invest. It's really not worth your time and money as a new business owner to try to figure out not only your business, but also your book. Trust me, it was the best decision I've ever made to say I'm going to hire someone who knows what they're doing, who has the expertise, who knows how to do this the most efficient way possible. You know, let them run with it, give them the book, give them your info, give them your content that you want. You know, you write out your content, they do all the copy editing, they do all of the COVID design, your bio, all of that stuff, and you focus on building your business.

Whoa. I'm actually blushing. That was really, really kind. Thank you, Ben. My team has really enjoyed working with you. Putting your trust in us means everything, and I'm so proud of the book you've created and the business you're building around it. Okay, so whether you hire book launchers or you make the uninformed decision to work with another company, here's what bookpreneur Ben Preston suggests so you can make the most out of working with a self publishing services company.

Think of book launchers like an investment. You are investing money in a company that's going to amplify your efforts and help you be successful in the long Run. Even if it takes a little bit of time to get started. For me, it took a long time to even write my book. But once you get going and once you get that momentum, this investment is going to pay off and pay off and pay off.

And my favorite question, what has been the biggest surprise since you launched your book?

Ben, the coolest thing that's happened to me is the amount of opportunities that have come to me. I've obviously been hustling my butt off to try to get in contact and network with people and try to get out and be speaking and things like that. But the amount of opportunities that have found me because I start sharing my opinion and I start sharing my ideas. I recently did a speaking engagement and I found out that someone from the United nations was on the zoom call that I was doing the training on. I was networking with an Ethiopian entrepreneur and she was preparing some presentations for the African cdc. She was doing some leadership trainings for the African CDC and asked me to contribute to some of her modules. So that type of stuff to me is so cool. And I would have never had the experience had I not launched a book and had I not put my foot down and said I am the authority in this space. And it really is, it's cool once you kind of get yourself out there to see the opportunities that come in and just the networks that are created and like the serendipity that is business to me. It's super cool.

That is so exciting. I really can't wait to do a follow up in a year and hear what Ben is up to. All right, bookpreneur. Ben, where can people go to hire you, buy your book and otherwise connect?

You can find me on any major platform, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. I really like to keep up my YouTube presence. So if you go search Benjamin Preston on YouTube, you'll find all my content and my website, which is benjaminpreston.com and with that I just wanna say thank you Julie. Your team is awesome. I really appreciate all the work that you've done and I would not be where I am without your help. Thank you.

Woo hoo. Thank you Ben. You are awesome and your book should be in the hands of everybod, every young professional starting their career. Keep up the great work you're doing now. Give Ben a little love for doing this video by sharing a comment below and of course smashing that thumbs up button on your way down to make that comment. Go ahead, try it. It feels so good. Now if you didn't catch that Ben is on YouTube and is a YouTube bestie of ours. Guaranteed he'll be posting a comment or two or three here so please subscribe to his channel. I think we'll have that here or here or somewhere around here and if you have questions for them, post them here or on his channel. I know he's going to get back to you. And of course if you post on this video the day it's released, you'll be entered to win some sweet book launchers swag like our noboringbooksmug or our oh so soft journal. You're really fun and I've sure enjoyed spending time with you today. Can we please keep hanging out? I have this Incredible video on 7 Ways to Make Money from your book which will help if you want to be a bookpreneur like Ben or or. This video right here is the one YouTube really thinks you'll like. Either way, click on one and let me make you a cup of tea or coffee and I'll see you on the next video.