6 Business Things Every Author / Coach / Speaker MUST Know

A “Thought Leader” is a person who trades in intellectual property; i.e., you take your knowledge, experience, perspective and insights and sell them in the form of books, coaching, consulting, training, courses, etc.?

When people buy from you, they're not buying a physical item (though you may have tem) as much as they’re buying the transformation that comes from what you’ll share.?

For example, I sell books - but you’re not paying $20 for the pages and ink. You’re paying for the result of what will change in your life from reading the book. The physical book itself (or audiobook or digital book) are merely the medium for getting the message to you.?

What you're reading is directed specifically at those working in this space.?

These are the six KEY things you must not only know, but understand and apply to your business.?

1) The most important thing you do is give value while selling NOTHING.?

I spent my first 5 years online in this mode.?

I was sharing basketball training tips and drills with up and coming players who were ambitiously looking to move forward in the sport. I didn't have anything to sell, and didn't even know how to sell anything online, even if I had had something to offer.?

You don't need to take that long. You can give value mixed in with selling. The only reason I went as long as I did without offering anything to sell is because I didn't know what I didn't know. But, that “unconscious incompetence” served me, because when I finally did have something to sell, I had a hungry and ready audience that already knew me, liked me, and trusted me – which made my sales immediately take off.

What made my sales take off was not the amazingness of my product, but the 5-year investment I had made into my audience while asking for nothing in exchange.

I built such a strong base with my audience that many would stay with me for years, even as I pivoted to more of a mindset focus, then into entrepreneurship, and then dropping basketball as a topic altogether. Many of those original audience members are still reading my articles to this day.?

By the way, this was all via word of mouth. I launched my first-ever ad campaign in 2018 or 19. Before that, my audience grew simply because the people who found me, then told their friends about me.?

Putting out good material that a specific audience badly wanted was my entire marketing strategy.?

Now, let's talk about why they were telling their friends about me…?

2) Building the know / like / trust connection makes selling easy.?

My first products — two skill-based self-training programs for basketball players— sold immediately. I already told you why: I’d built a strong relationship with my audience over several years. I was giving them value and asking for nothing in exchange. I did so for so long, that when I did finally ask for something in exchange, it was a no-brainer for my audience.?

This is not to say my audience felt like they owed me something; just to be clear. It is because I had a dialed-in offering that supplied my audience EXACTLY what they needed and solved the EXACT problem they knew they had.?

How did I do that??

Because: I had spent so much time dealing with my audience that I knew exactly what they needed. I wasn't guessing as to what to sell to them; they had already told me. I read all the comments, emails and DMs. Due to this focus, coming up with an idea was EASY. Plus, my audience didn't have to question if they could trust me or if I knew what their problem was; they already knew the answers to both of those questions via the free stuff I’d been putting out.?

Are you seeing how these pieces fit together?

Let’s keep going…?

3) Even AFTER you’re selling stuff and making money, you need to keep doing points 1 & 2.

Keep dealing with your audience, giving them value, responding to their challenges and questions.?

Why? Because they are telling you what the NEXT thing is that they will need after the last thing you gave them.?

For example, I’d given aspiring basketball players training programs to get better at dribbling, shooting, dunking, etc. Guess what they wanted next? A program for getting their bodies in shape. Then they wanted the mindset to help put all this stuff into action.?

Guess what I created next? Exactly what they asked for. Do you think it sold well??

As long as you are paying attention, actively listening, and staying engaged, you will know exactly what your audience needs next.?

The biggest challenge I see with this for some is that you are talking to too many different people, who have disparate needs and challenges. Therefore, you get confused as to what you should do next, because there is more than one answer.?

The Solution: Get focused on who your IDEAL client is.?

If you could pick just ONE of your customers, out of all of your audience, who is the ideal person? If you had a thousand customers FOR LIFE, but the catch is they are all the same as ONE person, which customer would you pick to clone 999 times??

Which product, service, or offer would you stick with, if you only had to sell only ONE??

The answer to these is where your focus should be; everything else should support and grow out of that, or go away. This level of focus is what many entrepreneurs lack, and it's the reason why many entrepreneurs can work really hard – yet never get close to achieving their goals.?

Focus is a force multiplier. Distraction is a force divider.

Now, let’s talk about some harsh truths about the thought leadership business…

3) You’re targeting 2-5% of the population.?

That’s all, amongst 8 billion, that will actually want + consume + apply what you share.?

(Some larger percentages may want + consume but will not apply).?

Understand what you're actually doing: You are sharing knowledge, information, and material that helps people GET better and DO better. Most people are NOT interested in that!?

Changing people's thinking is an exercise in futility; I’d suggest you stay out of that business and focus on the already-converted. Stupid people tend to stay stupid. Poor mindsets tend to remain that way. There are exceptions, of course – exceptions PROVE the rule, not debunk it.?

You are in the business of finding those who are already aligned; i.e. who WANT to get better and are willing to invest in doing so, and preach to that choir. So you have to be smart and selective about choosing where you go, who you're talking to and who you're attracting.?

(By the way, 2% of 8 billion is 160,000,000 people. There IS a market for us.)

On that note…?

4) Who you are is more important than what you sell.??

You are not the only person on the planet talking about the topic that you're talking about.?

I didn't invent practicing basketball. I doubt anyone would say I’m the best player in the history of the game. But I built an audience and a business doing it – because the players connected to me the PERSON just as much as (if not more than) me the PLAYER.?

Today, there are lots of people talking about mindset. Many more talking about business. A lot of talking about how to make more money. There are tons of relationship coaches, a whole bunch of personal trainers, nutrition experts, and thousands talking about some aspect of development and growth.?

None of us is 100% unique. Which means, you will not, and should not try to, separate yourself by simply being “better” than the others. Most people cannot objectively tell who is better than the other anyway, and frankly, most people don't care.?

Burn this on your brain: People choose you based on WHO YOU ARE, not the quality of your stuff.?

The quality of your stuff is secondary. Maybe even tertiary when we consider how you present yourself. You are in the self-aggrandizement and personal marketing business as well as the thought leadership business.?

Your background story (and how you tell that story), how you present yourself, and the thoughts / emotions / reasons behind what you do matter MORE than your “expertise.”?

I know this firsthand.?

Let me tell you what people tell me when I ask them, “why me?”

“You’re honest and direct.”

“I like how you keep it real.”

“I like how you get to the point.”

“You say things that people are afraid to talk about.”

“Your delivery style resonates with me.”

Notice what they DIDN’T say:

“You’re the best basketball player I’ve ever seen.”

“You invented discipline, confidence and mental toughness.”

“There are no other entrepreneur coaches alive, so I had no other choice.”

This should create a HUGE shift in focus for many of you.?

6) The most important point: You are in business.?

Specifically, the marketing and sales businesses.?

The only way money moves in your world is for you to market and sell something to someone.?

It is only THEN that you get to do your thing – whether that thing be speaking, coaching, healing, mending relationships, helping people lose weight, etc. You can't do that thing that you love or are great at, UNTIL you sell something.?

This is why, as a thought leader, you need to focus on the BUSINESS more than you need to get better at doing the thing.?

Translated with an example: Your ability to sell yourself as, say, a professional speaker, is more important than how good you actually ARE on the stage as a professional speaker. Because if you can't SELL yourself into a speaking gig, it doesn't matter how good you are – because you’ll never be on a stage.?

Do you get it??

Most thought leaders mistakenly focus so much on their ability at the thing – but not nearly enough on the BUSINESS. This is why their business doesn't do as well as they want them to do. If you want your business to do better than it is doing right now – regardless of where it currently is – your focus needs to be on getting better at BUSINESS, not getting better at the THING that you serve with.

This is the mindset of the entrepreneur vs. the mindset of the artist.?