Get Published and Grow your Business!

Hello, everyone.

I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and coach. And I am tickled tonight to be with Karen Strauss, who is the owner of Hybrid Global Publishing. She's actually the woman who is making my book a reality, even though I'm, I'm really behind on finishing the writing part. And she's the delight. Karen, thank you so much for being with us this evening. How are you?

My pleasure. It's so wonderful to be here, Katie. Thank you.

This is so much fun. And I want to out ourselves because this is actually a promo to a much longer conversation that we are planning on Sunday afternoon Eastern Standard Time on Clubhouse, where you and I are going to be going on and really helping people figure out if a book would be a good business strategy for them to grow their business.

Exactly. We want you to come at one o' clock Eastern time or whenever you can and, and ask us any questions you might have about publishing. Is writing a book worth, you know, worth your while? Is now the right time? You know, how, you know, Katie's fantastic at strategies for growing your business as a whole. So anything you want to ask us or even talk about if you've published a book before, what's been your experience with the book? You know what, let's just brainstorm and get some great ideas going.

Yeah. And it's going to be so much fun. It's going to be really interactive. And for those of you who are tuning in with us right now, welcome. We're streaming this to both of my Facebooks, to LinkedIn and to YouTube and we want this to be interactive. So if there's anything that we say that you have a question about or you want a question on a completely different topic, please do pop it in the comments. And just so you know, we're on Streamyard, sometimes Streamyard acts a little squirrely and doesn't show us all the comments. So if I'm not calling you out, it's not that I'm ignoring you. You did nothing wrong. It's just the technology is failing us. But please, if you have any questions or have something to add to the conversation, please do comment here. But again, if you want to have a more in depth conversation, be able to talk about Karen and me on Sunday. We're offering that space on clubhouse at 1pm Eastern, as Karen said. And we will be posting that link tomorrow so you'll be able to save it and add it to your calendar and all the things. But Karen, I wanted to dive right in because I know when I first Started my journey, you know, running my business. I thought, yes, I will eventually write a book. And. But in my mind it was, I'll write a book to make money on the book. And I got very quickly opened up to the idea that that is not actually how you make money as a business owner in writing a book. Typically.

Typically. That's absolutely true. The average, sad to say, the average. If you're not published in a traditional manner, the average sales you might make are maybe 500 copies of the book in a year. And so, yeah, we don't write books to. To get rich on the sales of the book. It's how you use the book that. That is. Might make you rich, actually.

Right, right. And so, of course, we'd all love to be in the J.K. rowling position where you have this immense hit that makes you a billionaire and you're able to give someone away. So you're no longer a billionaire, but you're still a multimillionaire. Probably not going to happen in this situation.

Unlikely.

Unlikely. But there are ways to monetize your book, to support your business, to increase your income and influence with your business.

Exactly.

I would love to pick your brain just so people can get a sense of how that works.

Sure. So writing a book really is about content, and you can repurpose your content any which way you want. So we've had authors who write books, and then they start a consulting, you know, agency or, you know, coaching. And so they. Or they create a. A course around their book. And so you can bundle your book and your online course, people get to know you. The book is really the entry point of how people get to know who you are.

Yeah.

And so what we're talking about is, you know, giving you the authority and the credibility so that people will want to work with you. So that if you figure the return on investment of writing a book, let's say it might cost you $5,000, let's just say to actually do the book by the time you edit it and get the COVID done and, you know, all the things that you need to do, don't think about how many copies you need to sell to make that money back. What you need to think about is how many clients do I need to get. How many new clients do I need to get to make my money back? The answer is usually one, maybe two. And. And if you can't add one or two clients, maybe you should think about doing something else.

Absolutely. And, you know, we both have a person in common, I who wrote a book and you know, paid for a ghostwriter, did all thing. I'm not going to name him because I don't want to out the number, but spent about $30,000 on a ghostwriter and all these things that is really common in the industry and, but was able to get in the door for a very well paying corporate client and immediately made it back at like twofold.

That is amazing. Yes. So, yeah, I mean, you have to think about how, what are ways to grow your business? So one of it is to write a book and for, for instance, if you want to be on speaking stages or you know, get, get a, get an interview on a podcast or radio shows and you know, and to be more visible. So writing a book is one of the best ways to do that. If you're an event planner or you're a producer at a, at a radio show, I know you. They actually have a sigh of relief when they've written a book because particularly radio show hosts and podcasts, it's like, oh great, now I know what to ask.

Right.

You've got the content and if you wrote a book, you must be somewhat credible and know what you're talking about.

Right.

So, and in if you want to get on speaking stages, event planners and people who book speakers or always one of the first questions is, have you written a book?

Right.

And they want to see it because they really want to want to believe that you're an expert in your industry. And so you're much more likely to get that gig if you're competing against someone who hasn't written a book.

Right, right. And for those of you who are like, oh my God, like who am I to write a book? This is the topic that I was talking about yesterday. Who the hell am I to do this thing? Well, if you know enough things that you could write a book on it, you, you're at this level, you need to be doing this. Okay? You, you absolutely are that person, are that authority. If, if the amount of thoughts you have about something could actually fill up, you know, 100 pages in a book, that's enough.

Exactly. I mean, you know, that's, that's one our number one, one of our number one misconceptions or, or you know, a failed belief basically. Right. So that who am I to write a book, you know, well, you know, I don't have a PhD, I'm not a writer, you know, you know all of those things. And so. But you are an expert in your field. If you have a business, if you're an entrepreneur, it's clearly something you must be passionate about, something you're helping other people with. So think about how you're helping other people doing what you're doing and then what your method is. Do you have a signature program? Do you have five steps or six keys to achieving, you know, whatever it is? And that's a book.

Yep, 100%. And this book, I mean, it lands in the hands of people. I mean, one of my coaches wrote a book and it's literally the reason why it ended up being his client, because he gave it as a gift to me. And it was just kicking around my apartment for, I don't know, six months. And I, every time I thought I'm like, oh gosh, like, and I never even read it, like, no offense, I'm sorry I read the first chapter. But I'm like that with books in general. I get excited and I buy them all and then I don't finish half of them. But it just kept that person top of mind for me. And every time, like, I'd get stuck on something or frustrated or feel like I wasn't moving ahead fast enough, I think, you know, you have this person, this person is offering a service that will move you along faster.

That's true. And you know what's interesting is Amazon has become the number one search engine for people's, for solving people's problems. What is the pain point they're going to go that they, they actually took over? They, they, they are 56% of all product searches now versus Google, which is. I can't do math. Like 44%.

I can't do math either. You're in good company.

Oh, my God.

If I could go back to my math teachers who were like, you're not going to have a calculator at your fingertips all the time, I'd be like, hello, of course we are.

Unbelievable. Now we can do it on our watch.

Exactly.

Yeah. Yeah. So, so, exactly. So if I'm looking on Amazon, it's how do I want to lose? How can I lose £20, right? Or you know what, how, you know, what's the best way to do my taxes? You know, whatever it is I'm looking for, how do I grow my business? So I type that keyword phrase into Amazon, you know, and you want your book. Want, you want your book to be on the first page and then they click on you. And then again, like I mentioned before, is the easiest and most cost effective way that people are going to get to know you. What you believe, what your philosophy is and they're going to click on it, probably buy your book or your ebook, you know, and then it's highly likely they'll get in touch with you as well. To talk to you.

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, and it's, I mean, to be discoverable online, I mean there's a lot of talk. One of my marketing guy Tyler and I were talking about this previously that some, some security changes are happening with Apple and so it's going to be a lot harder to be discoverable online. So the more ways someone can discover you online organically by being able to purchase your book or SEO or having an effective blog or being present on social media, it all helps. And having, having an asset like, like a book is just such an easy thing on social media. Just go back and talk about all the time.

Exactly. You can take, you can take, you know, one step, two step, three steps, just talk about the little, you know, the little nuggets and, and do postings on LinkedIn or Facebook, you know, you can do little two minute tips, you know, and just do it on video, you know, and start posting that. So you can have a whole YouTube channel just on tips, you know. So yeah, I mean there's a whole lot of things that you can do with books. Like one of the things we do is if we're at a speaking event, for instance, and are we familiar with the concept of lead magnet?

We are, but there may be people watching who aren't. So let's flesh it out for them because I want this to be useful and I want it to really make sense to everyone watching.

Great. So, so if you're speaking at a conference and a lead magnet would be something you might give away for free quiz or a poll of some sort, if you're an author, you might give away a chapter of your book. So what happens is you post a link in the chat and say, come get my first chapter on my book, you know, it's for free. Or, or you download my ebook, it's for free. And then what happens is they click on this link and they usually come to some kind of landing page and they're going to fill in their email and maybe their phone number, but certainly you're going to get their email and then they're going to click and they're going to get the download, whatever that might be. And that's called a lead magnet, which means when you have a book and you're speaking at a conference and there's 500 people there, 200 or 300 people actually might Come to your launch page, download your, your chapter. You're going to add now two to 300 new people to your list. And then what you're going to do is you're going to get in touch with them and say, I noticed, you know, that, that you downloaded a chapter or my ebook. I would love to have a conversation with you. And you give them your calendar link and you know, that's how you get new clients from books.

Yeah. And I also want to tie into, you know, if they do download the chapter and you're like, oh, this is good, I should go and buy the book. You've just sold a book for one. And I don't know if this number has changed, but I think like seven years ago I heard that this fact, and I know it's true because this is how I buy is someone who buys from you once, even if it's a very small thing, it's something like 70% more likely to buy from you again versus someone else. So even if you're selling a $12 book and then you have a $2,000 group program and then like a $12,000 one on one program and then some elite thing, like oftentimes a buyer will start with that smaller thing and then jump up to the next one and then jump up to the next one and then jump up to the next one. If they continue to get value and grow with you.

It's true. Well, people do business, you know, as we know, with people that they know and they like and they trust. Right. So it's the mantra and the, you know, a great way to get to know someone is by reading their book.

Right?

Right. And if it's a Kindle, it could be 99 cents, it could be $2.99, you know, whatever it is, you know, it could be under $10. And it's, it's a great way, it's a great introduction.

Right.

You know, to who you are, what you're about and what you do or you know, and how you serve people.

Right, Right. And it's so funny, you know, as we're talking through this, I'm like, I'm trying to remember all the selling points, why I decided to work with you. And really, when I showed up to our call, our sales call, I'd already decided that I was going to work with you because my coaches said you have to work with Karen. And so I want to talk really quickly about, you know, there's. Because I could totally write something and self publish. That's a lot of work. And I know so far, I mean, the COVID of my book is already designed.

Yay.

Freaking beautiful. I'm so excited for it.

You have to start posting the COVID.

Am I allowed to?

Oh, yeah, I want you to.

Oh, okay, great. I didn't know. Okay, so everyone, you're gonna keep an eye on my. For my book cover. So that'll, like, get the firelit. You know, you did this beautiful job of helping me figure out what the outline needed to be and the things that I needed to cover and the things that, like, really, I don't have to throw in the book. Help me figuring out what the title is and all those things. But what are the other benefits to working with a hybrid publisher?

So the. You know, with most of us as hybrids, there are different. One of the things I just, I just want to give your audience a tip, which is, you know, there are many different types of service publishers out there, hybrid publishers. You know, if you're not going to self publish, what you want to do is make sure that they're legitimate, you know, publishers or service people. And so a great thing to do is to check out the Independent Book Publishers association, ibpa, and they have developed a whole criteria for what constitutes a legitimate hybrid publisher. So one of those things is, you know, that. That the author owns the rights to their books. No hybrid publisher is going to take your rights. And as entrepreneurs, you know, that's very important to us. So it is. It is kind of not a great thing about traditional publishing, you know, because they do buy the rights to your book, and then you don't own any of your content. So, you know, as entrepreneurs, a great way to go is hybrid, so that.

Anytime you want, you can take chapter three or chapter seven and make it a lead magnet and pop it online, and it's no big deal. No one's going to sue you.

Exactly. Right.

Perfect.

Right. So you can do a trailer. You can do what? And you don't need anybody's approval to do it. And I think we, as entrepreneurs like that.

We do, yes. I think, like entrepreneurship, I think it goes towards people who are either type A or control freaks or both.

Or both. Right, Yeah, I think one goes with the other.

I know.

Yeah. But I think as I've gotten older, I've gotten less type A because.

Yeah. You mellow out over time.

Yeah, yeah, a little bit. So, yeah, I'm a little happy about that.

Yeah.

So the, the key thing about a good. Working with a good hybrid, though, is they give you the experience of what it would be like if you were publishing in a traditional way, which means that you have a whole team of people with you. And it's the one thing I learned about being in business and to grow my business is you must have team around you. You cannot do this all yourself. So just like that, if you're self publishing, you're all alone. So you don't know who to hire as an editor. In fact, there's so many different kinds of editing, what's developmental editing, ghost writing, line editing, copy editing, you know, you have to know the difference, right? And so, and then you, you know, you know, we have a team of people that, that do that and then of course with the interior design as well. So, so we have the vetted people, the, you know, the good hybrid publishers will have their team of people that they've worked with for years. And so you don't have to go around asking or, or checking on Google or hiring someone, you know, from, from another country that you're not really sure that they're, they're going to show up.

Right.

You know, so, so that's really the key thing about a hybrid. So we're kind of soups and knots. We can help you write the book, we can help you, you know, and then we make sure it's edited and the interior design and the COVID design and you know, all the things that are production things that you don't want to do yourself or why should you do yourself if you're not an expert at it? You shouldn't do it. Like I would not do my own taxes, you know, wind up visiting me in jail. So like, what's the point? Things you just can't skim skin about. And that's one of them, you know, in my opinion. And then the all important marketing. And so that's why I'm saying to you, Katie, that to put up your cover is the very first, you know, point of marketing, right? Pre marketing your book. People are going to love it, they're going to comment on it, they're going to look for it. And so yeah, it's so funny because.

I saw it and I was like, oh, this has to be a secret because it's not published yet. And so I texted it secretly to like my best friends and my business BFFs who are part of my crew and my coaches and my parents and everyone's super excited. But I was like, oh, but I can't post it online yet.

Oh, and we didn't talk about that. But yes, you can post it online whenever.

Okay. Good to know.

And it also makes it real so that, you know, you have to get your book done then.

I know. Right.

Promised it to the world.

I know. And I told everyone. And now every time I'm on a client call my clients like, oh, how's your book coming? I'm like, shut up. Stop talking right now. We're talking about your business.

No, you don't. You have to change your, your whole thinking. It's. I know I have a cover. You have to see it.

Yeah. You know, it's funny. It's. I think it's kind of the curse of having add. I is really hyper focused. But also I know when I start working on something, like it's going to take over the whole day. And so it's like I have to block off like whole days of time to devote to the book because also I have a hard time when I know there's an interruption coming and I'm doing creative work. It's really hard for me to get really into the creative work. When I anticipate, okay, at 2 o' clock I have to stop.

Gotcha.

You know, it's, it's really funny. So, and just a little PSA for people with add. If you are planning on doing some big creative project and you're having a hard time getting in, you know, by doing it right before work or something, just know it's super normal. It's something that I've learned to kind of schedule around in my own ADD ness.

Very smart. And also what's nice, you don't have to write your book in a linear fashion.

Right.

So, you know, when I was writing mine, it was, okay, I'm, I don't want to be creative and write about marketing now. But what I want to do is I'm more in the head of, let me do some research.

Yeah.

You know, find statistics. So I'm going to start just right. You know, on Google, you know, or my definitions of editing and what is typesetting, what is metadata? So that was, you know, that's when I'm in my, in a different kind of headspace. So, So I didn't write the chapters in a linear fashion, but the key to getting the book done is the outline.

Right, right, right. And I love what you said about vetting editors because in my mind I think, okay, cool, absolutely. There are a million kinds of editors out there. I could write my book and it's meant to tell people, hey, I'm an authority in my space. Here's some information about what I do here's some instruction, but really, like, if you want more of this, this is the window into you working with me. Whereas if I'm working with a publisher like you who's already vetted an editor who understands that that is the business play here, they're going to edit towards that purpose. Whereas a different editor could be like, oh, well, you're telling this really nice story about you and your mom, right?

It's a memoir.

Yeah, it's a memoir. Or someone else could be like, no, you need to expand. Tell them every single little tiny step they need to do in this. And it's like, well, I'm giving them really good value. I'm giving them really good insight as to what is important here. But also, like, this is something I cover with my paid clients. You know, it'd be a disservice to them if I gave it all away in this book for $12.

Exactly. Well, first, there are two things I have to say about that. One is I think it'd be impossible really to give everything away that you teach and all the value that you give in a book. However, I'm also of the mind that I can give away my best stuff and I could speak about it and I could write it down in a book. And the truth is, most people can't do it themselves anyway, Right. And so this is great, brilliant stuff, but they're going to need me to help them actually bring it to fruition into life. Right. I mean, other people feel differently. My. My feeling is, let's share. Let's do it. You know, not, you know, obviously, if people are paying a lot of money for a high mastermind or a high, you know, there are, There are some key things you.

And there's in that as well. Like, there's what is. What is going to work specifically for my business, my circumstances and my personality.

That's right. That's exactly right.

In a book.

It won't come across in a book, but it gives you an idea of how, how I could work with you, you know, to, to. To customize it.

Right. It's so funny. We're talking about this and I'm thinking about during the pandemic, I bought. I went to the bookstore and I bought a ton of plants because, you know, or I'm book on plants and I ordered a bunch of plants because, you know, I was kind of depressed and I needed something to take care of before I got the puppy. And then I bought a book on. On two books on how to run, and I read them Both cover to cover. And have I gone running since? No, no. Just because you buy the book doesn't mean you're going to take the action.

I think I have 70 cookbooks in my house, so I live in New York City, for God's sakes. My kitchen's like this big.

So you have every restaurant available to you within walking distance.

Absolutely. But I do love to cook, you know, but, but. And I love cookbooks, you know, so. So I have them all. And, and when I can. When B.C. the other, you know, the modern B.C. before COVID Yeah. You know, I did like to do some entertaining and I had a house in Pennsylvania with a huge kitchen, my dream kitchen. And so that was really fun. So then I got to use some of my cookbooks.

Yeah. That's so nice. Yeah. I mean, and so. So many things coming through my brain right now. Yeah. So when thinking about writing your book, think about, can you do it on your own? And I can tell you, as someone who actually is very self driven, I generally can't do stuff on my own. I need some hand holding. So there are options out there for you. And also, don't be afraid to share too much because people probably aren't going to act on it anyway. It's not like we're going to be like cannibalizing your own business in this way.

Never.

Right.

You won't be. In fact, they're going to be more drawn to you if you give away good stuff. They're going to go, wow, this is great value. You know, if I talk to them in person, what more could they do for me?

Right, right, right, right. So. So you work with a lot of coaches. Who, who is your ideal client?

You.

Oh, thank you. Yeah.

In a lot of ways that's true. You know, that, that I like just better with deadlines. Better with deadlines. Exactly. I like high energy people who are really serious about growing their business and book is top of mind for them.

Yeah.

You know, and they understand the value of. Of what a book can do for them and their business.

So.

So that really is my ideal client. And, you know, I don't expect anybody to be a writer, you know, and although as somebody said the other day, it's kind of like, you know, they've come out with a book and they say, you know, so I've written this book, but I'm not a writer. And then the guy goes, you are a writer, you've written a book, so you're a writer. So I wouldn't worry about not being a Writer. Because that's what we're here for. We can help you, you know, enrich it and edit it, you know, put it together so that it makes sense. It's really more about what's in your brain, what's in your, you know, how are you servicing your clients. And so I love to work with people who are really doing good in the world. They understand their purpose, you know, and what their end goal is, and they understand how a book can fit into that.

Right? And I love that comment. It's. It's funny. Everyone has a different definition of what makes a writer. I post to LinkedIn almost every day, and my dad seems to think that it's, like, this really serious blog, and a friend of his has a daughter who works for LinkedIn, and he, like, made sure to tell her about me, and I'm like, no, don't you love dad?

They're so supportive. I love it.

He's gonna bust when. When the actual book comes out, he will.

Well, let's do it.

So to make sure people know if. If. So everyone who's watching and everyone who's watching now, or if you're watching this replay, I want you to think really, really long and hard about what is going to serve you in your business best. And having a book builds such incredible authority. I mean, I already know, you know, post Covid, when the world really, really opens back up and we're back to normal. Like, I can already imagine the pride of being at a. A holiday cocktail party and someone asking me about what I do and say, oh, well, I'm a published writer and. Or a published author and I run a business and all this stuff. Like, I can already feel that smell in my chest, and I already know that it's going to pay off for my business big time. And it's barely done. Okay, so the cover's done. I'm still writing it. Like, all this stuff, it's. It's. The energy is just so incredible. So think really long and hard about whether or not you want to do this. If this is something that you want to be able to say at those cocktail parties. And if you do want to get in touch with Karen. Karen, what is the best way to get in touch with you?

Email me@karen hybridglobalpublishing.com okay, put this.

Because I can comment, but you can't, so let me.

No, I can't comment. Exactly. Karen at Hybrid Global. Oh, you have me at Strauss Consultants, but that's okay, too.

Oh, okay, got it. Sorry.

That's okay.

All right, we can from my email.

Sorry, straussconsultants.com that'll get to me too.

Okay, great.

And do it now. I mean, do it now. And I'd love to, you know, get in touch with you and, you know, and talk with you about seeing if writing a book is a good fit for you.

Yeah, I'm just seeing if I can get your other email, where is it? And I can speak, I can speak very honestly about the process here, having someone holding your hand through this process. Because here's the thing about doing anything new. Oftentimes people chicken out very early on because they're like, oh, well, I just don't know how. I don't know how. And like they don't want to get it wrong and they don't want to waste time or money or energy or all three. And it's really easy to do with a big project like this. You know, there are a lot of different ways that you could, you know, go the wrong way. And I can say, like, from all the recommendations I had of Karen before I started working with her, I feel so comfortable that I'm in the right hands to support me through this whole process.

Thank you.

And no. And it really does, like, it gives some validity to what it is that you're doing because so many people can say that they're writing a book and it never happens, right? Well, a lot.

In fact, the statistics are, you know, about 90% of people, if you ask them, you know, they say, I want to write a book someday, I want to write a book. And really maybe 2% get it done.

Right.

So, you know, it really, really needs to be like I said, top of mind. But it's not as hard as you think it is. And in fact, if I can mention, we do these two day retreats called the Big Leap Retreat, we just came off one this weekend where we teach people in two days we actually get our outlines done and the talking points and where we're going to add stories and we do one on one coaching with you and then you actually get to talk. You write a synopsis of your book and you actually do a two minute talk to a panel of experts on your book so that it becomes really real. And it's amazing the breakthroughs people have and the amount of ideas that flow through. And having an outline is like your GPS system. You wouldn't think of taking a long distance trip without your GPS system. And that's really the key to writing a book, is having that outline.

Yeah, yeah. Just like writing a research paper in college.

Right. I wrote a lot of those.

Yeah. Yeah, same here. I always did the night before, though. So this whole thing. Yeah, this whole procrastinating thing is, like, really on brand for me, I guess.

Well, I always got a lot done under a lot of pressure, so.

Right, right.

So I guess we have to put a deadline for you.

September, you have to start getting a little mean. Well, you don't have to be mean, but. Yeah, like maybe, you know.

Maybe more insistent. Yes. Yes.

Okay. Well, anyway, thank you so much for joining me this evening. This has been so much fun. I hope we get to do it again live. And I'm so excited for our Clubhouse on Sunday. That's going to be so much fun. And again, for those of you who are watching and you have any questions about writing your book, publishing it, leveraging it to grow your business and make more money and have more impact, you want to show up to that. We're going to be posting those links tomorrow on all of our social medias, and that's going to be at 1pm Eastern Standard Time on Clubhouse. If you don't have the app, you're going to have to download it for that day. Anything else you want to add, Karen, before we end for the evening, I.

Just want to thank you, Katie, for inviting me to be on the show. You're so much fun and I can't wait the next time you're going to have the book done so we'll be able to sell some here.

I know. I am so excited. All right, well, thank you again for joining me. And everyone, thank you for tuning in this evening. If you're watching the replay and you want to reach out to Karen, the email is in the comments. Thank you again. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and coach. This is Karen Strauss from Hybrid Global Publishing. Have a great night, everyone.

Bye.