How To Find A Ghostwriter For Your Business Book

All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Mike Sano with us. He is an author, speaker, and publisher, and is an Amazon number one ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. So welcome to the show, man.

Thank you, great to be here.

Of course, great to have you on. So we like to go in deep on the first one on this show so we can get to know you. So the first one is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Well, you know, you know, you know that whole thing of first you get the whisper, then the tap on the shoulder, and then the 2x4 upside the head. My version of that was I just launched my business. I'd always been an entrepreneur. I'd always been an employee, and suddenly I'm a small business owner, and I don't have an MBA. I didn't know what I'm doing. So I found this conference out in California that was for people to help people learn about LinkedIn. And get really into that. So I fly out there and I'm talking to all these heavy hitter business types who have multi-million dollar operations. And I talked to about 45 to 50 people over a 7 or over a 3-day period. And they'd say, what do you do? And I'd say, I'm a writer. And I tell them I've done this marketing writing stuff and I write novels and blah, blah, blah. No elevator pitch, didn't even know what one was. And after the first or second person I asked or who asked me what I did, I do and I told them what I do, they say, gee, Mike, have you ever thought about ghostwriting books for business owners who need a book as kind of an extended business card? And I'd say, oh no, I should look into that. That'd be a great idea. And then about 2 hours later, I'd be talking to some other dude and I literally had the exact same conversation. Like, Mike, what do you do? And I go into my thing and they'd say, "Gee, Mike, you know, you should ghostwrite books for entrepreneurs who need a book to expand their platform," or however they worded it. After about the 4th or 5th one, all independent of each other, who said this to me, I'm starting to think like there's a modern version of Candid Camera. Like, are they all pals? Is this a prank? So I flew back from California going, "Okay, message received." And then I started to have to try to find those people. And then I got a client and then I got another client. And the— not the last book I just finished, but the one before that was a business coach out in Missouri who needed help with his book. And he wrote parts and I wrote some of it as well and then dialed in everything that he needed to be fixed. And within the first week or two after he launched the book, it went to number one in one of the categories on Amazon. So Yeah, then number one Amazon bestseller, uh, ghostwriter has been the category. That's kind of the branding now.

Yeah, dude, it's awesome. And like we were talking about before, I have— like, it baffles me, truthfully, and I mean this, like, it baffles me how somebody like yourself can write— I can write somebody else's book in their voice, you know? Like, it is so beyond me of like my comprehension. So I'm going to go to the next question, but then I also want to ask you after that, like, how do you even start? Like, how do you go about— like, what is the process of working with a ghostwriter? Because I think a lot of people, especially business owners— that's who I work with a lot of times as well— um, like, what's the process? Because I think there's always a balance beam. Like, they're like, should I write it myself or should I get a ghostwriter? Will that ghostwriter actually be able to capture my voice? Um, so actually, let's just— let's actually— let me ask you that now, actually. So like, what is your process? How do you— how do you do it?

Yeah, I didn't go out and try to interview other ghostwriters and find out how they do what they do. I came from this marketing writing background, so I kind of already knew like, how do I deliver somebody's message in a way that's compelling, that's going to be basically in their voice or get the message out directly from them? And I would, I would interview them and get quotes from them so that I would use those. I would use all the best quotes. So I was— I got really good at gleaning all the gold out of a ton of stuff, knowing some of it's garbage, some of it's kind of in the middle, and then the gold is— it just becomes easier and easier to find because you just recognize it right away after years of experience. So when I started ghostwriting books, I said, look, I can turn around this project for you in 3 months, as long as you've got the availability. And what that means is, you know, I created a program and it was like, look, 8 to 10 hours max of you talking to me. So I'm going to interview you. We don't have to do it all in a day. We can talk every couple, 3 weeks, whatever, but I'll get the information from you from that. And part of that is also going to be a program that I created, which is giving you information about publishing and marketing in the book business so that I'm not just going to be like write a manuscript for you and then later you're on your own with everything else. I want to help you along the journey so that however you're going to publish, you're going to be in good shape and not just have a manuscript that's been completed. And sometimes people have content as well and they want to deliver that content to me and have me work that into the project, and that's great, that's fine. But if they don't have that That's okay too. Does that make sense?

Yeah, so no, no, it does. So you are also kind of, um, a one-stop shop in a sense. And you also too, like, you've just come up with a formula. Like, you know what questions to ask to get what you need out of them to create the manuscript for them. So I think that's like, that's pretty big. And maybe was that like a lot of trial and error? Like, was your first book you did smooth or was it pretty rough?

No, it was pretty smooth. It really was.

Really?

Well, part of it was because he had content. It wasn't just— Got it. Getting everything. So I already knew I had content that had to be shuffled into it. But the thing that was so great about it was that he wanted this thing to have some stuff in it that he knew he couldn't do. And that's a big part of what I try to offer people as far as like what's valuable info within your industry or within your area of expertise kind of thing. With me, it's that there are people out there who love to do work that you either can't do or that you don't want to do. And I— it's the least glamorous possible analogy that I could give you, but, uh, but everybody understands it. I always liken it to plumbing. Yeah, I have a problem that's a basic plumbing problem, like a toilet problem. I can go call my buddy Beantown Bob the handyman, and he can come over here and we can struggle and lay labour and try to get the thing fixed, knowing that we might mess it up, but we save money. Or I can call a skilled professional and have them come fix it and pay them. Believe me, I've done both and I'll never do it again with my buddy being Tom Bob. He doesn't want to do it either, by the way. Yeah, I love that. Call an expert, have them come do it, and they're great at doing it and they love doing it. Yeah, that's how I view this stuff.

Absolutely, man. So next one, what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

Yeah, it's literally the simplest thing in the world, which is stuff that your parents might tell you to stop worrying and just do the work. And I mean, you know, it's not a glamorous sounding thing, and I'm sure you've heard variations on that from people over the years, but it's also the, the piece of advice that I would give myself if I were looking at me when I was a kid or a young guy doing this or that, because I am just a world-class worrier. And I'm so much better now that I'm— I'm not old and wise, but I'm getting old. I'm not— I'm well past the halfway point, most likely. Don't worry about stuff the way I used to. My first instinct is to do that, and then right away I go, how important is it? You know, where's the benefit in worrying? And there's literally none. It's never going to solve a problem. It's never going to help you. So maybe you have to compartmentalize that, put that aside, but try not to do it. At least try not to worry. Just try to do the work. And then, you know, maybe you have to hire skilled professionals to do things. Maybe you have to spend some time doing all the things that leaders know, know to do. Spend some time meditating, spend some time exercising. But number one, try not to worry about stuff because that's never gonna help.

Yeah, dude, I couldn't agree more. And I think the biggest thing for me is just, just doing, you know what I mean? Like, all this stuff up in your head, I mean, it's good to strategize, all that stuff's good, but at the end of the day, what's worked best for me is just trial and error. Like, I fail so many times, but then that's what's led me to a few successes that allows me to live the life I want. So it's like 3 wins out of like 1,000 errors. You know what I mean? So, but that's just the way it works.

I'm not a big sports guy, but I love that Michael Jordan quote about— I think it was Michael Jordan about like, I've, you know, yeah, I know the one you're talking about. And it's like, yeah, yeah, you miss a lot. And home run hitters miss a lot too. And that's me. I look at myself as like a home run hitter. They strike out a lot too. That's why they're home run hitters because they take that swing. Yeah, I've hit some home runs. And I'm thrilled with that, but I know I'm going to strike out a lot, and I don't like that. I want to hit a home run every time at the plate, but that's absolutely—

yeah. So my next one for you, and I, um, is in your opinion— so kind of going a little bit down different path— in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

Oh, it really comes down to being able to accept what your limitations are once you've figured out what they are. And that's not a good piece of advice for the young people because they're— they might be be easily ready to say, okay, well, you know, I can't do this, I can't do that. No, give it a shot. I mean, go ahead and try. But if you beat your head bloody against the wall a few times on something, you shouldn't be doing that 9 more times. You should find people to help you. So the key to happiness to me is really find a middle way. Realize that, okay, you shouldn't be miserable, but you're not necessarily going to be— yeah, I can say this on your podcast, right? A little naughty. You're not going to be in orgasmic ecstasy all the time. A friend of mine used that expression in a private conversation years ago. He's like, I'm not going to be in orgasmic ecstasy all the time. So, okay, recognizing that and recognizing that you don't want to be miserable all the time, what's the middle way? And one of the things that's great about being in my 50s now and knowing that, yeah, 60s are coming up, the pendulum doesn't swing wildly back and forth the way it used to because I've had some of these failures and I've gotten frustrated about them. Man, you know, I did all this work and I should have got— I should, right? See, that's a keyword, should. No, no, drop that word out of your vocabulary, right? I thought I was going to get this fantastic success on a certain level in a certain area and I didn't get it, but I've gotten a level of success that was acceptable in areas. And, and I'm still working hard and I'm still making great connections. And there's some successes to come that I don't even know about yet. They're going to, that are going to be fantastic for sure, man. By the way, one of the keys, one of the major keys that has to do with all this is if you, if you find something that you're good at and you don't hate doing it, That's a pretty good thing. If you find something like me that you're really good at and that you love doing, you should definitely put some energy into that for sure. And right now, in the middle of this timeframe that we're in today, I am doing the best work I've ever done and I love it. And it's so good. It makes me cry sometimes. And I'm not a crier.

I'm like a late man. Yeah, and that's why you got to follow what you actually enjoy, because that's the only way to get longevity out of something. And that's because I always like— you got to explain it more when people say like, don't follow the money, because it's like, okay, I totally get that, you know, you got to pay your bills. So no matter what, you got to pay your bills. Totally get it. But at the end of the day, if you're doing something you don't like for— but it's paying the bills, that's fine. But you also need to realize what you do like and try to slowly maneuver yourself to doing that full-time. Because dude, you'll never do that thing you hate for money forever. Like, you can't. Like, and if you do, dude, you're probably— it's unfortunate to say— you're probably gonna die young, honestly, because like it's gonna stress you out. You hate it. And there is totally— it's a totally different life to live doing what you love every day and live doing what you hate to afford the weekend or something. It like, you know, I think we've all kind of lived in both maybe, or at least me and you have, I believe. So it's, dude, it's night and day, man. The other one to me ain't even worth it, even worth living that way. Like, it's bad. So I don't know, I get you got to pay the bills. My only point is just like, you can slowly, with those extra hours after the 9 to 5, you can start to, you know, you could ghostwrite for 4 hours a day, have a couple clients, and then once you like replace the income, fully move yourself over. And it takes time. So talking about books, what's the best book that you've read and what's the number one thing you learned from it?

I gotta, I gotta give you two. Can I give you two?

You give it to him?

Yeah. Because I'm, because I'm a novelist, so fiction category, and I go back and forth because I've read a zillion books. Sophie's Choice.

Okay, never heard of it. Tell me more.

Brilliant movie out of it starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline and all these great people. I saw the movie, I loved it. Then I heard people didn't like the movie because the book was so good. Okay, great movie, really? So then I read the book, and I was already a literature guy, and that book, it's one of those books that'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry. It's, it's an epic, humongous novel, and it's, it's incredible. I couldn't even— we could spend a whole podcast with me trying to tell you what I learned from it. I'm not even sure I know, but it's great.

It was good.

You, you better read those guys, you know, that guy's books. Yeah. For sure, if you're a novelist.

Got it.

Business book, which is probably what most people would say on these types of podcasts, The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon. It's a business fable, and I was not familiar with that format, and I loved it. It's great. It's a very positive message. It's a classic. It's an older book, like '70s or '60s, and it helped me learn how to write a business fable. So, you know, I hadn't written that, and so it helped with that kind of project. And yeah, it's good stuff.

Nice. All right, I like it. Yeah, I'll have to check out, uh, both of those. I haven't heard of either of them, so that's cool. That's not— normally does that happen. Normally when somebody tells me the book, I've heard of it. I'm an avid reader. Haven't heard either of those.

All right, well, The Energy Bus you can blast right through, but Sophie's Choice That's a commitment. That's a monster. It's a door.

Harry Potter. Gotcha. So next one, what is your favorite quote and why?

Oh, I, I was gonna look this up, uh, because it comes from World War I or something, and it's an interesting history if you look it up, but it's "bash on regardless." What we were talking about before, keep hammering away what you're doing regardless of the circumstances. But I think it actually comes from a war situation.

Got it.

Very British. Bash on regardless. I love that. Great, dude.

I love the podcast from full circle right there. That was perfect.

Yeah.

Um, so, uh, so yeah, thank you so much for coming on. Last one, I'm sure, because I think I mentioned this to you before, a lot of my listeners are actually authors or aspiring authors. So Where can they find you online if they're interested in ghostwriting and/or they just want to connect with you?

If you Google my last name, S-A-H-N-O, Sano, yep, most of the front page of Google results will come up with all my stuff and website, all that. So however people want to connect— some people want to text me, some people are shy, they want to connect through social media— so whatever works, they can find me. That way.

Okay, perfect, man. Thank you again, really appreciate it.

My pleasure, it's great. Thanks for having me.