#191: How to Launch a Book and Ecourse with Matt Tommey

Welcome to the Author Audience show, the podcast that helps you reach more people with your message, create a book, connect with your audience, change lives. Here's your host, Shelly Hitz.

Welcome to Author Audience, where I'm on a mission to help you reach more people with your message. It's time to let your light shine. And today I'm rolling out the red carpet and inviting you to join me in this expert interview with Matt Tommy. Welcome, Matt.

Thank you so much, Shelly.

Thank you. Excited to have Matt here. I'll share a little bit more about him, but I'm Shelley Hitz. I'm the owner of Author Audience Academy, and I'm a true believer that success leaves clues. Therefore, I'm excited to introduce you to authors and experts who have amazing success and are willing to share their tips and strategies with you. So today I'm hosting Matt Tommy. Let me just tell you a little bit about him. I've actually been in his online mentoring program for, oh, a year and a half now. Something.

Spoken at your conference gathering of artisans. What's your mastermind like? Really just have gotten to know you. Matt's the real deal, but he's a sculptural basketry artist. Say that 10 times fast and exactly.

Total tongue twister. Right?

I know. And from Asheville, North Carolina, internationally known motivational speaker. And all of you will be excited to know he's an author of four books. So that's awesome. And his passion is helping artists, which include writers, learn to thrive spiritually, creatively, and financially so they can live the life they were divinely designed to live. In 2018, Matt was recognized by Professional Artist magazine as one of the best artist mentors in the country. And you can check him out at his website, Matt Tommy, mentoring.com. so welcome, Matt, and I'm so excited for you to share a little bit about your own success.

Absolutely. It's funny when, you know, I don't often get introduced as an author because I'm with visual artists mostly, but I never intended to be an author. It just kind of happened. And so this is funny that I'm being interviewed on an author's podcast, you know?

Yes. Which. And it's awesome because your books have impacted so many people and God's used them in so many ways. But today, I just want you to talk a little bit about your most recent book, Created to Thrive. I read that book. I actually also took the e course you did with that. And so it was just a really impactful book for me. And I know many artists and writers, but I just want you to talk a little bit about the thought process that went in to this book and the content and how you then even repurpose the content into other things and how that worked for you.

Yeah. So Created to Thrive is kind of the next step in my journey. I always try to write out of and teach out of the things that are going on in my life now. And so my first book was Unlocking the Heart of the Artist, which was this kind of me coming out of all the stinking thinking I'd had for years, a lot of woundedness and trauma and that sort of thing and kind of aligning with who God it made me to be. Created to Thrive is really the next iteration in that and really was about the practicality of strategies and tools that I realized in my own life and also in the lives of the artist that I was mentoring in the Creative Thrive mentoring program. And so it was. It's kind of a compilation, I guess, of a lot of different things, which is typically how I've written books in the past, because I never set out to be an author, you know, per se. I didn't really know how you're supposed to do it. And so I really was taking in all my books, really. I took kind of disparate messages that I had either spoken at conferences or blogs or things like that and. And tied them together with my own personal story. And so Created to Thrive is really the fruit of that. It really focuses on renewing your mind, what's possible, how your brain works, practical ways to see change happen in your life. So I love it. It even has some practical tips at the end about what artists can do right now to start thriving in their life, you know, in their own art business.

Yeah. And I love that. And I think those of you listening, you know, I talk a lot about repurposing, and Matt just talked about that. I've done that too, where I've taken presentations that I've were well received and then I turn it into books and the slides become like the outline and. Or blog posts. You know, you can blog a book and so look at what content you already have and see what you can repurpose. But talk a little bit about how you. You did the audiobook, you did the ebook, you did the print book, but then talk about the E course and the workbook that you did with this as well.

Yeah, so this was kind of the biggest thing that I. I'd ever done when I did Unlocking this was in 2011. So I didn't Know anybody doing E courses and all that kind of stuff back then in my world. And so we did a thing. It was great. But I knew that I wanted to do that this time because I was seeing in the mentoring program the power of community. And I really. I knew that lasting change happens in people's lives in the context of community. And so doing the Experience course, we called it, with a workbook and all of that was really a very powerful way to take the things I was writing about in creative thrive and then flesh it out with activation ideas, journaling opportunities, art projects, things like that. And then I kept having people ask me for the audio version, which is hilarious to me, because when I hear myself talk, I'm like, are you kidding me? I sound like a country bumpkin. But people. People wanted me to. I feel like Gomer Pyle sometime.

Hey, y'. All.

You know, people really wanted my voice on there. And I think that's been one of the biggest things that I've heard over the years, that people that have read my books, they said when they read my books, I can hear you saying it. And so the audio version now created to thrive, that's really helped to build a really deep connection with people because they'll throw it in when they're working out or riding in the car on a plane or whatever. And it's just another way for that information to get in. And so again, you're taking a book that you wrote and you're. I turned it into the E course, the workbook, the audio version. And then with the E course, the Experience course we did, I think it was seven or nine videos that were for each week. You know, it was like a seven or eight week course. And I did a little teaching video, about 15 minutes for each one of those that corresponded to the workbook. Again, just going a little deeper than what I did in the book, leading them into the exercises in the context of the workbook. And so I'm a big believer in batching everything. And so we recorded all those at one time here in the studio, and it was great. It really, I think more than anything that I've done so far, has been a really great tool to bring people into the power of what the book talks about. Not just in a mental kind of, you know, only your brain way, but really in a tangible way through, you know, all the art exercises and journaling and all that. So I loved it.

Yeah. And I was part of that. And so I thought it was just a great idea, Just such a great idea. I Might have to steal it at some point.

Well, none of us, none of us are original. I mean, I think that's the thing about community, is that we all stand on each other's shoulders. And even right before when we were sharing, you know, just kind of visiting before the podcast, it's like, you're doing things that I'm not doing, I'm doing things that you're not doing. And none of us can do everything. And so I think having that teachable spirit for all of us is so important to really do the fullness of what we've been designed to do. So.

Yeah, and like I said, success leaves clues. And so you charged a higher price point for the E course, and so it was an income generator. But then also, I love the workbook. Like, there's something. There's so much research, research that shows there's something powerful about writing things out. And I have to admit, at first I thought the art things were kind of like, projects were like, oh, you know, like, you know, because I'm like a. Okay, practical entrepreneur, you know, and I'm just getting into the visual arts stuff. But they were powerful when I did it, like, and I went through. And I'm selling some of those things that I created, like, and so anyways, it was just a really powerful experience. But then I also watched as you marketed this, and I think if I remember correctly, you started with a 30 day art challenge leading up to your book launch, Is that right?

I did. And that was just a wonderful way to kind of heighten everybody's awareness. I think in Facebook land and in social media land, you know, there's so much great stuff going on all the time that unless as an entrepreneur, you kind of raise your flag from time to time, you can't do it every day. But there are some seasons, two or three times a year that they will do that. I'll raise the flag and say, hey, pay attention. We're all going to do this together. And then I use that sort of as a Runway now that I have people's attention and I'm building relationship with them to talk about what my next opportunity is.

Yeah, and I've, you know, I've done challenges a lot, you know, the writing week challenge and different things. And it's powerful when you can do it live like that together in a group. And one thing I noticed that you did, and I do as well, is like, do a couple live videos throughout the time as well. So people are seeing your face, getting to know, you know, like, and trust all of that. So you did the 30 day art challenge and that was a huge success. And then talk a little bit about some of the other things you did to market your book.

Well, that was a huge part of it. We took that, I think we. I don't know, I'm thinking we took in between on that one, between 2 to 3,000 new members in our free Facebook group, the kind of public Facebook group. So that was just incredible. And then with that, you know, with the art challenge, I always do a guide for that. So if you want the guide, you can download it from our website. And that allows people to get on our email list, which then allows me to contact them, you know, in the context of the offer that I'm going to be making later on. So again, it's just a. You're trying to, in the best way you can, connect with people and let them know what's going on and get them out of. I think as wonderful as Facebook is, I think some things have to be communicated outside of Facebook. Email is a much better way to communicate with people about an offer, about a launch that you're doing or an E course or something like that. So I want to use Facebook for what it's great at, but also want to bring people over to my email list so that I can begin to build relationship with them not only during the launch, but also afterwards. So for my podcast and for other articles, many other books, or, you know, an opportunity to join the mentoring program, the email list becomes kind of my go to place for that. Whereas Facebook is more about building relationship.

So yeah, and that's super smart. I always tell people, like, even if you have a free Facebook group, have them sign up for an email list to get access, you know, or to download some sort of worksheet or, you know, ebook or something that goes along with it, because that's long term relationships. We miss things a lot on Facebook. You know, you don't see everything. Email marketing is definitely not dead. And it's been one of the biggest ways that I sold books and been able to follow up with people who want to hear from me. Oh yeah, that was huge. So you did the art challenge. You built a Facebook group of several thousand people. You also built your email list at the same time, which those things continue to work for you and you continue to follow up with people from that. Now I also saw during the process you decided to do a free KDP promotion. So talk a little bit about that.

I was scared to death.

Was it your first one?

Yes. And I was like, there is no way that I'm going to give away books. I mean, you know, because I'm like, I just. That was not in my, you know, not on my radar.

Right.

I was reading so much about it, and I was like, all right, I'm just going to do it. And so we gave away, gosh, I think over 5,000 books in three days. Kindle version.

Yeah.

But the thing I kept remembering, you know, in my book, I mean, the beautiful thing about Amazon is you get this huge audience. The bad thing about it is you have no way to contact any of them. But the thing that we've done in our. In all of my books is that as you're reading, I continue to offer you opportunities to get a free resource to connect with me online, that sort of thing. And so throughout Created to Thrive, I know that people are going to have that opportunity. The other thing that I found really interesting is that book sales during the freebie giveaway spiked in a huge way, and we went to number one in all these categories. And it was just really amazing to see how that works. So I sold a ton more than I thought I would just by giving away the Kindle version, because lots of people, even though they want the Kindle version, they want that. That print version as well. And so it was just a. I don't know, it was. It was amazing to me. First one I'd ever done, and I'll definitely do it again. So.

Yeah. And for you, it makes sense because you have other products, and I'm always talking to authors. Create other streams of income, create other products based upon the content, you know, other small courses or different things. And you have your mentoring program, which is a. But then you also have your E course, but just other things that. And probably more things coming.

There's always something coming when you're an entrepreneur. Right?

I know. So you were able then to also market and share about your mentoring program.

That's right. Yeah. That was a wonderful opportunity. I think it gave people. I'm always trying to connect people to community because I really believe that that's where real growth and lasting change happens for people. And so the mentoring program is really just the next iteration of that. Hey, if you like the book and if you like. You want to see these things actually start happening in your life, there's a process that you got to go through, and we want to connect you with people that are going through that same process as you are. And the fruit that you. That I've seen in people's lives through that has just been absolutely incredible.

So, yeah, yeah, it's amazing. And I've seen it in Author Audience Academy as well. People are like, this Facebook group is the best for all any writer groups that I'm part of and the community here, and it's just amazing. And so there's something really special when you create a community like that and people feel safe to share and get feedback and all of that. We're on a podcast and talking about these things. So share a little bit about your podcast that you have.

Yeah, so again, that was another thing that I was like, I am never doing a podcast.

Never say never, right?

Well, I just couldn't. I couldn't figure. I mean, you know, I'm a marketing guy professionally, and I'm a branding guy, but I just could not figure out what is the purpose of this podcast, how am I going to fit this into my schedule and all that. So I have to admit, I pushed it down on my to do list for a lot of years. But once I developed a team to really run the mentoring program, because we've got over 900 people on that now, and there's no way I can do it by myself, it really freed up more time for me to develop the podcast, which is called the Thriving Christian Artist. I really wanted to. There's so many great podcasts out there, yours included. And I wanted to make mine a little different in that a lot of people that interview artists are always interviewing kind of the superstars. And I really wanted there to be a voice for emerging artists, for people that are in the trenches, that are going through the growth pains. You know, I was here and now I'm here, and here's how I did it kind of stories. And that's been the most encouraging thing for me, is, you know, you get tons of emails and Facebook and YouTube, all that, you know, people commenting. But it's been so encouraging to see people get encouragement in their own life from these stories that are not the superstar stories that, you know, you think, gosh, that's totally unattainable. But, hey, I'm just like this person, and that sounds like my story, and I love that. I really try to be. And it's not a. A marketing shtick. I really kind of am the everyman. I did not know that I could be an artist. I did not ever think ever that I would be doing what I'm doing now. And God completely changed my life and revolutionized my art, and I've tried to share that with others. And as I Tell those stories of other artists that are having that same experience. It's really transformative and inspiring. And so that's what I try to do on the podcast.

Yeah. And so I encourage you. You know, I know it sounds like it's for artists, which a lot of people think visual artists, but, you know, artists include writers. And so definitely check out Matt's podcast as well and check out his website and all the resources he has@matttommymentoring.com but as we kind of come to a close today, you shared a ton of really great information and just some things that you've personally done and succeeded with. What would be like a take action tip that you would give our listeners today.

I think, you know, especially for somebody that is writing a book, because so many of your listeners are authors, begin to look at ways that you can repurpose what you're doing, you know, an E course, although that seems like really, oh, my gosh, it's so huge. You know, it's really not. You're just taking the chapters in your book or the general subjects that you're talking about and thinking about, how can I go a little bit deeper with that? And I think one of the things that holds people back in thinking about doing an E course for a book that they've written is, you know, all the technology. And nowadays it's so easy, even with a nice iPhone or whatever, you know, and a good blue YETI Mic or whatever, you know, to really record some cool things. And I think people nowadays, I've just, I came into this really thinking, you know, that there had to be this huge level of, like, tv, like production for things. And I've just realized that is just not true. You can start where you are with the context and the content that you have and get out there in the water. So many people wait until everything's perfect and just get out there and do one. And if you screw it up or if you do it in a way that, you know, you think, gosh, I would have done it better next time, then do it better next time. But at least you got one under your belt and you're going for it.

Yeah, I just want to say preach it because it's so true. And like, right now we're recording on Zoom. And so anyone can sign up for a free Zoom account up to, I think, 40 minutes or something. You could just use your web. I have my Webcam and my MacBook Pro. I have a blue YETI Mic here. You can just record your videos for your E course. You can do screen share on Zoom. You can do Talking Head. It's free. Like you can do this. You don't. It's like 15 minutes like you said per week or whatever. And so I love that. And I'd love to see all of you just brainstorm ideas of what you can do for an upsell an E course and even help people apply the information even deeper. Really change their life and transform their life. So thank you so much for being here today, Matt. It's such a privilege to have you on the show.

Oh, I've enjoyed it so much and.

Thank you all for listening. I hope you were inspired. Share this podcast with someone that you know and I will see you next time. Bye Bye. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Author Audience. I would like to invite you to attend one of my free trainings on three proven book writing formulas every nonfiction author needs to know. This is a fun and fast way to write a nonfiction book, but also a book that you're proud of. Plus, I will give you two free gifts just for attending. No credit card required. First, you'll get my 10 nonfiction book title templates and you'll also get my ebook titled Brilliant brainstorming. It's a 28 page ebook and both of these bonuses are yours at 90, no charge. Just for joining us for the training, you can sign up for my free training by going to shellyhits.com formulas. That's ShellyHits S H E L L E Y h I t z.com formulas. This training and the two bonuses are free and I would love to help you write your note next nonfiction book.

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