Rise and Climb

Today's very special guest is an author celebrated for all of the real estate that he's been able to amass over the last 44 years. He owns multiple hotels and apartments and single-home dwellings where he's been able to help people find places to live.

He's bilingual, even though he grew up in abject poverty with very constrained speech delays. You won't believe the trauma that this man went through.

He is truly a testament to the adage that where you come from and what you've been through doesn't matter as much as what you believe.

He took nothing but an idea and a condemnable shack and turned it into a legacy for generations to come.

If you're stuck and the words won't flow freely, try Tip #1: Give your brain a break. Unplug. Go for a walk or take a shower. Do whatever you enjoy that gives your brain a break. (I like to have impromptu dance parties to 80's hits!) Tune to this episode to learn about my other two top tips ...

When you know you have at least two books inside you, which book should you write (and publish) first?

The main thing that you need to remember is that a published book is for your audience--not for you. Otherwise, you could just write it and keep it as a diary or journal.

You need to ask, "What's in it for them?"

Write the book for your audience first.

Give your audience the goods, teach them the lessons, get them what they need and then you can write another book letting your audience get to know you on a different level.

If you missed the first conversation that Elizabeth and I had, stop right here and head back to episode 46. It was so inspiring and fun that we will now be having a monthly series!

In this episode, Elizabeth Adams talks about moving from a successful side-hustle to a full-time career as an author of romantic comedy for both historic and modern settings.

Tired of hearing her complain about how terrible self-published books were, Elizabeth Adams' husband challenged her to write a better one. She knew absolutely nothing about self-publishing, so--even though she was a full-time student raising three small children--she figured it out. She hoped to sell five books, but within the first two months, she made $10,000 on a five-dollar ebook in a very niche market: Jane Austen Fan Fiction. No one was more shocked than she was.

The parent of an adult child with autism, Leisa Hammett has a fresh perspective on navigating the unknowns.

Below are a few statements directly from the episode.

I don't believe that we've snapped our fingers and changed, I think we're in for a lot of change, I think positive change. But it's gonna take time. We've been through a really rough period and it's gonna take time to transition.

Last year, the pandemic was about re-invention. If we didn't drug ourselves out, you know, with television or alcohol or whatever, not that I'm knocking any of that. We hadn't, I think even still, we all had an opportunity whether we wanted it, whether we embraced it or not to go within.

I think we still have that opportunity. I think we had to take a long look at many things that weren't working in our lives and that I feel like I've come out. And what I'm hearing from other people is we're coming out into creation, a year to create and what a better way to give back to the world than every person saying, you know, I've come out of this.

I'm clearer, I've cleaned my house, and I'm on purpose. I'm going to create those things that I've maybe thought I weren't good enough to do and put on the back burner. There are some other things ... radical self-care ...

Yeah, you do not want to miss this one...

I guess when you are six years old, people do not think that they need to tell you that a penpal letter is not meant to be edited and sent back with corrections.

Jennifer didn't stay my penpal for very long, but it is sure exciting to think about when I really first got into editing.

Fast forward a few years and dozens of books later, and I am finally doing it full-time and loving every second of it.

I paid a lot of money to learn from the great Jack Canfield, and when you listen in you will hear all about why the co-author of my upcoming book wasn't going to write it with me unless my name went first on the cover. Jack set us straight.

I also was able to get such an incredible affirmation that I am doing things the right way with my editing business and giving my own author clients the directions that they need to continuously show up on the best-selling charts.

Oh, and did I mention that this was the most money that I have ever spent in a weekend?

Crank out 25,000 words (or more) and you could join Michelle Cunningham as a bestselling author!

Michelle Cunningham knew she wanted to write a book, but everyone she's met who said they were writing a book would say things like: "I'm taking the year off. I'm going to be writing a book."

She says, "Legitimately--people take a year off for this!"

A mom with two small children who had built an 8-figure sales team with a direct sales company, she now runs a successful business teaching her strategies for success with other network marketers.

There was no way she could take a year off to write!

But during the early part of 2020, she thought, "I need to write a book. I don't know when I'm going to die. I'm not dying anytime soon, but you know, you don't know."

Michelle began writing and figured out a way to get to those twenty-five thousand words by writing for one hour and at the end of the day she figured out she needed to be writing for just 24 more hours.

She is now the proud author of the international bestseller Do It Anyway, Girl.

Experts, authors, influencers ... they're all afraid of the same thing: What if I give away too much?

They're afraid that if they give it all away, then their clients won't pay them for what they know.

Should authors give away the farm in their books, laying out their entire system? Or should they hold back?

In this short solo episode, we'll explore the reasons why authors don't have to worry about giving away too much.