High-Trust Business Podcast

Julia Carlson runs a wealth management firm and hit a familiar problem. After 20 years building her practice, she's spending more time running the business and less time with the clients she loves helping.

She needed a way to scale her expertise without burning out on back-to-back meetings. Her solution? Write a book that helps people get started with their finances while positioning her as the logical next step.

This conversation digs into Julia's thinking process, from identifying who she really wants to help to structuring her book so it naturally leads to deeper conversations. You'll hear how she's positioning herself not as another salesy financial advisor, but as someone who genuinely wants to help people take their first steps.

If you're in any service business where you're trading time for money, this is worth your time. Julia's approach to using a book as a relationship starter, not a sales pitch, is exactly how authority-building should work.

Show notes: https://mrstuartbell.com/podcasts/htb/024-getting-started-with-julia-carlson/

About Julia Carlson: Website | LinkedIn

30 Strategies to Build Your Business with a Book — The playbook behind 1,200+ books that start conversations and bring in clients. Yours free. Get a Free Copy

This week Dean & I talk about Information Goldmines. The knowledge you have at your fingers today, that will enable you to create a book that reveals invisible leads and starts conversations.

Even if you don't know where to start, there is a simple process to identify the most pressing questions in your customer's mind and follow up by answering the questions the should be asking.

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You already know more than you think. After helping create more than 1,200 books, I can tell you the biggest mistake isn't lack of expertise. It's not recognizing the goldmine of information you're sitting on right now.

Your customers ask you the same questions over and over. You've solved problems they don't even know they have yet. That's your book.

I'll walk you through a simple process to identify what's actually pressing on your customer's mind. Then we'll talk about the follow-up questions they should be asking but aren't smart enough to ask yet.

This isn't about becoming a better writer. It's about recognizing that you're already the expert someone needs to hear from.

Show notes: https://mrstuartbell.com/podcasts/htb/023-information-goldmines/

Is Your Book Ready to Collect Leads? — Most books sit on a shelf. This scorecard shows you if yours is set up to start conversations and bring in clients. Take the Scorecard

This week we've got a deep dive episode looking at the options to Recycle Reuse Record other content in your book.

We'll occasionally speak to people who want to turn a presentation, or series of blog posts into a book. While this can give your campaign a boost, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. In today's show we look at the pitfalls of recycling, the opportunities of reuse & the easiest way to record to create the most effective book.

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You're sitting on a goldmine of content. That presentation you've given 20 times. Those blog posts that got great engagement. The workshop materials gathering dust on your hard drive.

Most people think they can just copy-paste their way to a book. Wrong move. There's a right way and a wrong way to repurpose your existing content into something that actually converts readers into clients.

I'll walk you through the three Rs: when recycling content backfires, how to reuse material strategically, and why recording fresh content often beats everything else. You'll learn why your existing presentation might be perfect for a book, or why it might sabotage your entire campaign.

If you've been putting off writing because you think you need all-new material, this changes everything.

Show notes: https://mrstuartbell.com/podcasts/htb/022-recycle-reuse-record/

Is Your Book Ready to Collect Leads? — Most books sit on a shelf. This scorecard shows you if yours is set up to start conversations and bring in clients. Take the Scorecard

Creating a book is one thing, but how you use it is where the magic starts to happen.

In today's show Susan & I talk about several real world examples of authors using their books to engage potential customers, be seen as authorities and change lives by providing useful, accessible information to an audience excited to hear what you have to say.

We often get the question 'What now?' from people. In this show there are some great examples of how to use your book and if you haven't yet started, some great ideas of the outcome to help you simplify the process and get started faster.

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You wrote your book. Now what? That's the question I get more than any other from authors who've finished their manuscript and are staring at a stack of books wondering how to turn them into business results.

Susan and I walk through actual case studies of authors who've figured this out. You'll hear how a financial planner uses his book in client meetings, how a consultant positions herself as the obvious expert before prospects even pick up the phone, and how a coach turns book readers into program participants.

We break down the specific ways these authors distribute their books, the conversations they create, and the follow-up systems that turn readers into clients. If you're still thinking about writing your book, these examples will help you plan for what comes after.

The authors who succeed don't just write better books. They think differently about how books fit into their business.

Show notes: https://mrstuartbell.com/podcasts/htb/021-using-books-in-the-real-world/

Is Your Book Ready to Collect Leads? — Most books sit on a shelf. This scorecard shows you if yours is set up to start conversations and bring in clients. Take the Scorecard

Print advertising is often look at as the poor, unsophisticated cousin of online.

In a world where it can be easy to get swayed by the abundance of vanity metrics, it's easy to forget that effectiveness is the really important metric & in certain markets, print can still get through where 'banner blindness' turns online into an ever increasing numbers game.

Inspired by a 1/2 page print ad I saw over the weekend, today we're looking at a real life example print ad being run in a national newspaper.

There are some great takeaways here you can use to engage cold leads.

Remember, this is a Profit Activator #2 tactic: Identifying invisible leads. You're not trying to convince people to do business with you (yet). This stage is all about compelling them to join a conversation with you.

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While everyone's obsessing over digital metrics, there's a stairlift company quietly crushing it with old-school newspaper ads. I spotted their half-page ad over the weekend and it's a masterclass in lead identification.

Print isn't dead. It's just ignored by most businesses who think sophisticated means digital. But when your prospects are getting hammered with banner ads they don't even see anymore, sometimes the most effective path is the one nobody else is taking.

This stairlift ad nails what most businesses get wrong. They're not selling stairlifts in the ad. They're identifying people who might need one and giving them a reason to raise their hand. That's the difference between shouting at strangers and starting conversations with the right people.

You'll see exactly how they structure their message to cut through the noise and why their approach works better than most online campaigns.

Show notes: https://mrstuartbell.com/podcasts/htb/020-in-the-paper/

Score Your Own Funnel — Find out where your funnel is strong, where it's leaking, and what to fix first. Takes two minutes. Take the Scorecard

This episode we talk about the Call to Action on the back cover of your book.

If the most effective use of your book is to identify invisible leads, then the back cover is key to encouraging your reader to take the next step.

It's easy for this to be an afterthought and try to 'convince' people to call for an appointment, rather than thinking strategically about the next Minimum Viable Commitment step you can ask people to take.

The benefit of this second approach is to sift & sort hotter leads, by having them self-select as more interested, as well as giving still invisible readers, those who get a copy without opting in, an easy way to make themselves visible.

Show Example

It's important to understand neither is wrong (or right for everyone). Instead, think about the context of how you plan to use your book. What is the 'job of work' you’re trying to achieve and pick a back cover call to action that best supports that goal.

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Questions/Feedback: Send us an email