Business Brain Food

Books can be a very powerful way for an entrepreneur to arrive in their marketplace, as well as a brilliant journey of self discovery. Every entrepreneur should consider writing a book, but how do you go about doing it?

On the show this week we have Joanne Fedler to walk us through the process. Joanne is an international bestelling auther of 10 books (selling over 650,000), one of which even outsold Harry Potter for a short time to top the Amazon bestseller chart. Joanne is now a specialist writing tutor, so it really was a privilege to get her practical advice for free.

Read on for Joanne’s top tips:

**  Don’t wait to be chosen by a publisher, choose yourself! Self publishing has never been more possible.

**  Don’t rush the writing of a book. For something that will have long-lasting value, you should expect to be spending 1 - 2 years from beginning to end.

**  Get the best editor you can afford. Most of the best creativity comes from teamwork.

**  Understand your why. If you don’t establish why you care so much about an issue to write a book about it, you will never focus properly.

**  Create a routine for writing. Break down your big idea into digestible chunks.

**  You don’t need to write your book in chronological order. Write what comes naturally and decide on the order right at the end.

**  Publishing a book is as simple as buying an ISBN number from Bowker and spending a couple of hundred dollars with Ingram Spark who will upload your book to Amazon and all of their distributors.

**  Books can be printed on demand. You will never have to gamble with a big initial outlay.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  How long it takes to write a book that has substance

**  What stops people writing

**  The power of deadlines

**  How to use your defining moment in life to empower your writing

**  How to find a publisher

**  The optimum routine for writing a book

**  How to get an ISBN number

**  Affordable self-publishing options

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Maxmyprofit is looking for Business Excelerators. Could you step up to the plate to help business owners build the business they imagine? Find out more here.

**  Joanne’s personal website is here

**  Other sites mentioned in the episode: IngramSpark, Bowker, Createspace, 99designs, Upwork

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

 

Call to action:

As Joanne says, “everyone’s got a book in them”. Now you know how to write it and publish it, what’s stopping you?

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000


We all want our business to be featured in the media, right? But there inlies the problem. Because everybody wants the same thing, a journalist’s inbox is absolutely inundated every day, so how do you stand out from the crowd and get that coverage for your business?

We get the answers from Jason Feifer – a man who has spent most of his career being courted by people wanting him to write about them. Jason has previously been the editor of Men’s Health, Maxim and Boston, and is the current editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, so he knows better than anyone what it takes for an entrepreneur to be featured in the publications that matter to them.

See below for some of Jason’s top tips:

**  A lot of people think they should get press “just because”. This really isn’t the attitude. You must try and get press with a focus.

**  You are never doing a journalist a favour. Don’t adopt that attitude!

**  Understand the audience of each publication and tailor your pitch accordingly. You shouldn’t just copy and paste your pitch and click 'send'.

**  What makes your story unique? Starting a business is not unique and being successful at business is not unique; but maybe a stunt that you pulled is unique.

**  Don’t assume a PR person will be able to make your story fit for a publication. You still need to have that focus yourself.

**  Approach the people in an organisation who are empowered enough to make decisions, but not so powerful as to be too busy.

**  Think about following a journalist on twitter and reading their previous work. That way you can engage them from the beginning of your correspondence with your views on what they’ve done in the past.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  How to get into the media for free

**  The value (or not) of PR

**  Does Linkedin work for getting coverage?

**  Who you should contact in a media organisation

**  Do we need press releases any more?

**  How to send the right emails

**  Elevator pitches for journalists

**  How much you should follow up

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Maxmyprofit is looking for Business Excelerators. Could you step up to the plate to help business owners build the business they imagine? Find out more here.

**  Find Jason’s excellent podcasts, “Problem Solvers” and “Pessimists Archive” here.

**  Check out Jason’s own website: http://www.jasonfeifer.com

**  Jason’s article: Pitching your business to a journalist

**  Jason’s article: 5 ways to stand out from the crowd

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

 

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

 

Call to action:

Don’t forget Jason’s immortal words, “press releases suck”. If you want to get coverage, you must think laterally and do something different!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

 

Direct download: BBF168_Why_press_releases_dont_work_with_Jason_Feifer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:42am AEDT

This week on BBF we will share some great advice that EVERY business owner could benefit from. With us on the show is Bernadette Schwerdt, who offers us an excellent insight into the online sphere thanks in no small part to her experience writing her book “Secrets of Online Entrepreneurs”. For the book she interviewed 100 of the most disruptive online marketers in the world, so she certainly knows from the best how a business can stand out in a crowded marketplace.

A copywriter by trade, Bernadette has created campaigns for the likes of Apple, American Express and BHP and is the founder of the Australian School Of Copywriting. And what’s more, Bernadette has actually appeared on Neighbours a total of four times!

See below for some of Bernadette’s top online-marketing insight:

**  60% of small businesses in Australia don’t have a website. This seems incredible, but if your business is part of that 60% then it’s time to get with it!!

**  Retailers who already have an offline presence actually are in the best possible position to succeed online.

**  Think offline before you go online. Make that product, make that sale. Don’t try and reach out to a thousand customers if you don’t even have one customer.

**  Understand your metrics. You may not be an SEO expert but you may need to manage one, so you have to know enough to be able to measure the performance of marketing professionals effectively.

**  Make your content sharable. If you make your content good enough to share then you won’t need to pay silly money for advertising.

**  The best way to shape your content is to ‘answer' the questions your customers/clients ask most regularly.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  Ways to create lead magnets

**  The concept of purchase cycles

**  The importance of content

**  SEO explained

**  How to stand out in a flooded online market

**  Income goals V global disruption

**  The power of A/B testing software

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Build the business you imagined with coaching from Maxmyprofit

**  Check out Bernadette’s website here

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

 

Call to action:

Getting noticed in a flooded online marketplace might seem daunting, but if you follow Bernadette’s simple advice you cannot fail to make progress!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

 

Direct download: BBF167_How_to_build_an_online_business_with_Bernadette_Shwerdt.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm AEDT

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