Navigating Loss While Building a Publishing Empire | Everett O'Keefe

Can writing a book truly transform your business and elevate your authority? We promise you'll find the answers in our enlightening conversation with Everett O'Keefe, founder of Ignite Press and a seasoned hybrid publisher. Everett's compelling journey from a vocational rehab counselor to a bestselling author and publisher offers invaluable insights into the power of publishing. From co-founding a marketing venture to creating a bestselling book on video marketing, Everett shares the pivotal moments that led him to recognize the profound impact of authorship on business success.

What happens when you lose a business partner and best friend? Everett opens up about the emotional and logistical challenges he faced after the loss of his business partner, John. With the help of a supportive mastermind group, Everett navigated through complex decisions, from closing business divisions to managing cash flow issues. He shares how strategic choices about outsourcing and in-house production, along with assembling the right team, were crucial in steering his business toward a profitable future in publishing.

Discover the transformative benefits of mastermind groups and the often-overlooked advantages of writing a book. We dive into personal stories and real-life success cases, like Cindy's remarkable rise in the medical tourism industry. The episode underscores how books are more than just marketing tools; they build trust, enhance your profile, and attract better clients. Learn how authorship can significantly boost your credibility and open new opportunities, making this episode a must-listen for business owners, coaches, and consultants aiming to leverage the power of publishing for growth.

Everett O'Keefe: Ignite Press

Company Website: https://ignitepress.us/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/everettokeefe/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ignitepress/

Book Offer For Listeners: https://mypodcastperk.com/

Book: hhttps://www.amazon.com/Blue-Collar-Kings-Blueprint-Success/dp/B0CMY2GC95/


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Michael's Book: https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/books

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Power of Small Business Pivots
• 8:41 Business Challenges After Losing a Partner
• 15:31 The Power of Mastermind Groups
• 22:54 Benefits of Publishing a Book
• 28:59 Boosting Business With Book Authorship
• 39:50 Mastermind Groups for Small Business Success

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast designed for small business owners. I'm your host, michael Morrison, a small business coach and founder of BOSS, where we make business ownership simplified for success, so that you can own a business that runs without you. To learn more, go to businessownershipsimplifiedcom and be sure to hang out until the end of this episode for my recap and free Coach's Corner. Our guest today is Everett O'Keefe. Everett is an international number one bestselling author, having authorized six Amazon number one bestselling books. He has also helped create and launch more than 45 bestselling books for his clients.

Speaker 1: 0:42

Everett speaks across the nation on the power of publishing. He is the founder of Ignite Press, a hybrid publishing company that specializes in helping entrepreneurs ignite their businesses by becoming best-selling authors. Everett has overcome trials and tribulations to build a successful business and he is eager to share those bumps, bruises and significant pivots with us. Today let's get to Everett so you can learn how the right pivots can significantly change the trajectory in business and life. All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivots. Today we have a very special guest from around the world, and I know that no one can introduce yourself like you, so your name and where you're from your company what you do.

Speaker 2: 1:27

Thank you so much, michael. I just appreciate being on here. Everett O'Keefe is my name and I'm the founder of Ignite Press. We're a hybrid publishing company located in Central California and serving authors around the world. And serving authors around the world and I'm fortunate to be a Wall Street Journal and USA Today and Amazon bestselling author and we have had the joy of publishing, at this point, about 150 bestselling authors over the last decade and just love helping people get their messages out to the world, especially if they can leverage it within their business and benefit from the authority that's created by that.

Speaker 1: 2:11

Yeah, that's powerful and I can't wait to get to that part. But I know that most business owners have had some trials, tribulations growing up and if you had some, if you don't mind sharing how you overcame those. I know for a lot of business owners, mindset is what blocks us from success. So when we become adulting people, sometimes those things can hold us back. So what were some challenges that maybe you had and how you overcame them?

Speaker 2: 2:38

Yeah, we um, so uh had a pretty interesting experience. I was uh successful as a vocational rehab counselor for, for I don't know, 25 years or something like that, and the state of California changed the way they were going to do some things and it basically was going to force my industry to sunset, completely change it. And so I had a staff of nine people at one point and, over time, just watched it. And so I had a staff of nine people at one point and, over time, just watched it. What happened? Okay, this person's going to. I got to lay this one off, this one is by attrition and all of this. And around that time a friend of mine came to me and he and basically he said you know, you're really good at marketing yourself, and what if we started a business where we helped market other people and other businesses? And we kind of knocked our heads together and we came up with a business called the Solution Machine and the idea was if your business has a challenge, we will find a solution, and we focused on marketing stuff. So at that time we were helping. We started helping businesses with video marketing, with text message marketing, email marketing, you know, basically focusing on online, online marketing and using unconventional methods and unconventional delivery, and we had a blast doing it.

Speaker 2: 3:58

In the midst of that, we started to learn a bit about publishing. We'd gone to a number of conferences where people were talking about different launch strategies for books and using a book for a business. So we decided well, let's do one. So I actually called my business partner up. I was on the way back from the conference. I said hey, john, let's write a book tomorrow. And he goes really. I go yeah, let's meet in the conference room at 10. He goes well, what are we going to write a book on? I said I don't know. Let's figure that out tomorrow at 10. So we sat down in the conference room and we started writing down the frequently asked questions that come up in our in the video marketing side of our business. You know, how long should a video be? Do I have to be funny on the video? What kind of sound equipment do we need? Does it have to be super high tech? Do I need to have moving graphics? All these just different questions. And then we started dictating the answers to those questions and that became this book here called the Video Tractor Meme. We wrote that book rapidly. We launched it.

Speaker 2: 5:02

30 days later, a transformation occurred. It was a really unusual thing. Keep in mind, this book was just a proof of concept. This was not. We were actually not trying to get more video marketing business at the time. We were trying to test out the publishing method.

Speaker 2: 5:19

Michael, it was pretty funny because when the book first went up on Amazon, it was like and you've experienced this, michael, so I'm sharing this with your audience the book goes up on Amazon and I'm looking at Amazon going wait, I'm on Amazon. What the heck is this? This is cool, I like this. When the book first showed up, it was like okay, there's a book in my hand that I wrote with my business partner. Well, this is amazing. And then we started our launch sequence. We employed the launch sequence that we had learned. Pretty soon, I saw my book on the same page with just some icons that I really admired, like John Maxwell and Malcolm Gladwell and Andy Andrews and Dave Ramsey and all of these people. And then, pretty soon, during our launch, I started seeing my book above those people. And then our book is the number one book in small business marketing and entrepreneurship over all of those authors, and it blew my mind.

Speaker 2: 6:21

I gotta say I can't imagine, you know, and and of course we were employing the strategy to accomplish this, but still it, you know, this was a test. It was, it was incredible and it brought about many unexpected benefits. And, michael, you and I were talking before we went live here about a little bit about your book and some unexpected benefits that happened For me. There was, we started getting people saying, hey, that's amazing, how'd you do that book Congratulations?

Speaker 2: 6:51

John was in a McDonald's and someone walked up to him and said hey, aren't you kind of a big deal McDonald's? Yeah, and he's standing next to his wife and he started to say, well, it's not that big a deal. We sat down and we did, and his wife and he started to say, well, it's not that big a deal. We sat down and we did, and his wife nudged him like you know, no, just shut up, just take it, take the compliment, you know. So this unexpected benefit really happened, where it really changed our internal posture Some, you know, because we were breathing rare air. We were among a very small elite that actually had published a book and seen it launched, and and were bestsellers, and then other stuff started happening. I mean, our first five digit clients came as a result of that book and, by the way, it's a cruddy book.

Speaker 1: 7:40

We, we all, are our worst critics. I assure you, I can't even read mine.

Speaker 2: 7:45

Now I'm so embarrassed but having published, you know, 150 plus books, I can look back at this one and go no, it objectively is a pretty cruddy book, but it accomplished everything we wanted it to accomplish and it's proof that imperfect action can result in great impact. It completely changed our business. But then some things took a turn, michael, and this is where we talk about a pivot. I was in another conference down in San Diego and I got a phone call from my wife who had told me that my business partner, john, who was also my best friend and my mentor he was my young life leader in high school. He was a big part of my life he had passed away that day. He sat down. He was in the middle of a volleyball game, he was 54, sat down in the middle of the game and just died right there on the pavement.

Speaker 2: 8:38

Things changed right. It was very hard to lose. I mean, to lose your business partner is one thing, to lose your best friend is another, and to lose both is something entirely different. And that brought about some real challenges. We immediately wanted to take some steps to do what we could for, uh, for John's wife, uh, and his kids.

Speaker 2: 9:06

Um, you know, at the same time we had to make decisions regarding the business Um, my mastermind group that John and I had started together really came through. But that was a pivot point uh in, uh in my life and uh and in the business. We um it was, uh was super challenging to continue with some of the projects. Especially John at that point was the video guy, not me, and we were doing video marketing, but we were also testing out this whole publishing thing and it really caused the whole business to lean to publishing instead of the other things we were doing, which, in the long run, has been a really great move, a great decision. But that was an interesting, you know an interesting time where, you know, I didn't know where things were going to go, you know at all.

Speaker 1: 9:59

How hard was that to pivot, with all of that going on? I mean, how did you think clearly? Because I know for a lot of business owners that we work with I'm a business coach and lack of clarity is almost the number one problem, or their mindset, it's usually always the business owner that is in the way, if you will, from the success of the business. So how did you get through that transition and make sound decisions, I guess?

Speaker 2: 10:28

I, I will say I was meeting every two weeks with our mastermind group and our mastermind group we had started it just about a year before um was intimately acquainted with what we did and and we could speak clearly about it, you know, without pretense, uh, and I think that helped tremendously. The other part is, a certain level of clarity was just forced on me because the logistics of the matter were here's my business partner and you know, business partnerships are always challenging, right, you, you, you know there's no true thing as as about as balance, right, just like in a marriage, right, there's no, there's no equal, everything just logistically. Knowing that he was the guy that was really about video and I was the guy that was really taking us down the publishing road made it really clear that some divisions of our business had to close. The text message marketing of our business had to close. The main of our business had to close. The text message marketing of our business had to close. The main street marketing aspects had to close.

Speaker 2: 11:30

And instead our clientele that we needed to focus on were business owners, coaches, consultants, speakers, professionals, those who would recognize how powerful a book would be within their business and brand. That helped provide just the logistics of that provided great clarity. It's like we had to prune the tree. We had to prune the tree to the things that I knew we could be productive with, and prune off the ones that were going to be really hard without John. The sad part is now I look back and I'm like, oh man, john would love what we're doing right now and I'm like he'd be, we'd be having so much fun together you know, but yeah, that was definitely a journey going through that time.

Speaker 1: 12:16

What would you say was kind of the time period, because you went from a solid business doing video to the unknown of publishing and then that happened, but you still didn't have this business model created yet. How long did it take you? I mean, what were those immediate steps that got you afloat with a brand new product?

Speaker 2: 12:35

Yeah, it was an interesting time too because we, john and I, had started a map, this mastermind group, as a paid group, and we were doing mastermind retreats as well, and we have just hit our stride in those things. Just hit our stride, um, and the publishing we hadn't, we hadn't yet for it really took. Uh, it really took a few years for things to truly iron out, um, and for us to, you know and I say us because I feel like John is still in business here with me and of course we have our employees and other team but for us to really hit it, you know, and really focus on the publishing side. So, yeah, it took some time and some cashflow, some time and and and and some cashflow situations, as you can well imagine.

Speaker 1: 13:28

Yeah, right, yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:29

And I know that's something you help your clients out with a lot. I remember one of your other podcast episodes and you're like hey, cashflow, we need to talk about some cashflow, yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:40

If you're if you're a business out there or business owner out there listening and you're wondering what you should be working on. If you're a business out there or business owner out there listening and you're wondering what you should be working on. If you're actually wondering that it needs to be sales, like cash, you need to go get more sales. If you're wondering what you should be working on. So what would you say were some of the key elements that you implemented to transition quickly to where you were a profitable publishing company, because you mentioned cashflow was obviously now you had. You had businesses, but they were in video. Now you have a whole different clientele that you need to reach out to. What were some of those key points that you?

Speaker 2: 14:19

Yeah, I think getting the getting the correct team uh uh, was critical, especially because I had to backfill. It wasn't like we could just abandon the clients that we had in the video side or the text messaging side, so I had to backfill the video production side and at that point it was making some decisions about, well, what do we want to outsource versus what do we want to fulfill in-house, and I think, ultimately, making some decisions about contracting some pieces was really good and that also helped us manage cashflow. Whether it made sense to just be hiring some people on a project basis to fulfill pieces made a huge difference and just finding ways to manage our money efficiently. And you know, leverage we have a global economy and sometimes you've got to leverage that global economy to get stuff done. And John and I were very good about leveraging tools like Elance, which is now upwork, and tools like Fiverr and 99designs and things like that some unconventional ways to get some really great stuff done and I think that really helped.

Speaker 1: 15:31

What would you say today? You're obviously successful. What would you say today is one thing that you're doing that other business owners should be doing as well, cause it's working so well for you.

Speaker 2: 15:43

You know, I have to go back to one of those things that helped us through that transition. I cannot I just cannot speak too highly about mastermind groups, about masterminding with other people, whether they're in your industry or they're in adjacent industries or, I suppose, even completely separate ones. That I mean I still meet every two weeks with the same people that I've been meeting with for 10 years and, of course, some people have come and gone, but some of those core people we've been together now for over 10 years and anyone who's been in business and you know this, I know, michael absolutely has to be in a mastermind group. They need to be networking with their peers in a transparent way, like an exposed way you talked about, michael, by sharing things in your book that you wouldn't have shared. Not sure you would have shared. That needs to happen in a mastermind setting where people can be real with each other. Not just my business is doing great, you know, look what I'm doing. Ha ha, ha ha. Instead, it needs to be guys, I've got this challenge, you know I need help. That needs to happen. Guys, I've got this challenge. I you know I need help. That needs to happen. And if people are not already in a mastermind group. They need to find a mastermind group or they need to create a mastermind group there needs to. You need to have something like that. In fact you just.

Speaker 2: 17:04

What triggered me on that was one of your other interviews, so with Mr Dacey. He was talking about how lonely it can be right and it's funny. Most people think about lonely as like a solopreneur. Like how lonely being a solopreneur is. It is lonely being the executive, anything in a business, I don't care how big the business is. That is lonely too, because nobody else understands the stresses and the challenge and the decisions that have to be made. There's no one in your company that you can, that you can just let it all hang out with.

Speaker 1: 17:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:43

You know you need someone outside of your company that you could just be real with.

Speaker 1: 17:47

Totally agree. I've owned companies with my wife and for those that are always going oh, I could never work with my wife. We worked well together, but she was not an entrepreneur. She worked for our business, she was awesome, but she wasn't. She's not an entrepreneur, and she says that herself. So, even though my wife worked in our business we had about 80 employees and she was part of the day-to-day operations she and I still could not relate on the difference between an employee and the entrepreneur. I, even at that time, and still to this day, have my own business coaches, mastermind groups, things like that.

Speaker 2: 18:25

It's, it's powerful you got to have. You got to have that kind of support. And this is one thing I love, michael, is that I know that that's a resource that you help with is providing people that kind of that kind of education and and coaching and access to information. Because, yeah, I mean, there's some business decisions I've made that my wife would never have endorsed, but had I not done them, we would not be in business at all.

Speaker 1: 18:52

I can relate, I can relate. I can relate. You're listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is sponsored by Boss, where business ownership is simplified for success. Boss helps business owners create a business that can run without them, with business consulting from business coaches who have actually owned businesses before and small business loans, some in as little as 24 to 48 hours approval. Also, online courses, workbooks, classes and much, much more. Go to businessownershipsimplifiedcom to learn why small business success starts with Boss. If you're enjoying the podcast and want to stay up to date with all of our episodes, make sure to hit that subscribe button and give us a thumbs up or leave a positive review. Let's get back to our guest now. Well, let's talk about publishing. So you know that I wrote a book. I'm not proud of it. I'm proud that I wrote one.

Speaker 1: 19:47

I was going to say you should be Because most people want to write one and they never do so. I'm proud of that. But uh, and I was hesitant to release it because it's a memoir. It's called do not start or run a business my way, and so lessons that I learned and things you know. But I know for for how powerful that book was for me, and I want to say upfront that I did not make a lot of money on this book and that's that was not the intention, so I'll get that out front. But it had so many benefits for me writing. What are some benefits? That you see the people that you write for what, what, what can someone expect to once they have a book?

Speaker 2: 20:27

Yeah, I think. I think it depends on the focus. But most of my clients come to me and their intention is not to try to make a bunch of money selling books. Their intention is, while they'd love to be in every bookstore and in the airports and everything like that. That is not the goal. The goal is to leverage the authority that comes with being an author and therefore they make their ROI back, not one or two digits at a time. They make their ROI back four or five digits at a time, depending upon the scale of their business. Because the ROI comes in new clients, it comes in new opportunities, new relationships, it comes into access to an entirely different level of clientele that you could never access if you didn't have the authority with authorship. And so that ROI comes back. You know, in spades and in fact many people make way more money giving their book away than they ever do selling their book, and yeah, that's it and you think about it.

Speaker 2: 21:37

So you know, I wrote this book the Power of the Published and it's how rapidly authoring a book can ignite your business and your life. Okay, and I wrote this because it's all about the power of books, about what a book can do for your business or your brand. Well, what do I do? I give this to absolutely every prospect I speak to, and this book helps move those people from prospect to client more frequently and more rapidly than I would without it. And so, just calling to a couple benefits, there is you're going to convert more prospects into clients and you're going to shorten your sales cycle. If you combine the math on just those two things, if you could convert let's just say you converted 10% more of your prospects into clients and you converted them twice as fast. Okay, what is the math on that over the next couple of years? It's pretty dramatic for most people's businesses and the truth is you're probably not going to convert 10% more of your clients or prospects. You're probably going to convert 50% more and that's huge.

Speaker 2: 22:54

But there are other benefits Like. I love this because I discovered that books not only create more clients, they create better clients, they create a higher level of client and they allow you to train them. This is what like. People don't talk about this as a benefit of a book, but I love this. If people are going to read your book, they're going to spend some substantial time with you, with you whispering in their brain your expertise, and it also allows you to tell stories about clients that went off the rails, like clients that didn't follow your direction and therefore the result wasn't exactly what you wanted. You know, or something along those lines. It allows you to tell stories that are going to really craft these prospects into becoming your best clients, because they're going to be more compliant clients, because they've heard the stories of what happens when people aren't compliant clients. So it's like this whole thing If you're going to create new clients, you might as well, at the same time, create better clients, and there's so many other benefits.

Speaker 2: 24:05

One of the things I love about books is it is the most durable marketing tool you'll ever create for your business. We know the value of a podcast. Podcasts are amazing. I think podcasts are one of the most powerful tools you can do for your marketing, and when our authors ask, what should I do now that I have a book. I say you should be appearing on podcasts or hosting podcasts, okay, and I love it because podcasts are durable. I can record this today, right, you and I are talking and you know you're going to release it when you're going to release it. But years from now people may discover this podcast books. It could be generations from now that people discover, right, it will always be here.

Speaker 2: 24:47

And then another benefit of the book that people don't think about is the power of the unread book. So there's a chapter in my book, the Power of the Published, that just talks about the power of the unread book, the power of the book that someone has. It sits on their desk, it sits on their nightstand, it hangs around their office forever. Because what do we do with books? We don't throw them away, right, right, yeah, we're like allergic to it, like somebody once told me.

Speaker 2: 25:23

You know that there's this built-in thing in our psyche that says destroying books is a bad thing. Yeah, that's true. So we keep them, and every time someone sees your book whether they've ever opened it it screams your authority. It says Michael is the expert at this topic. You know, and I think so. I love your. By the way, I love the title of your book. Do not start or run a business my way. Business and life lessons I learned the hard way by Michael D Morrison. I love that, thank you. Um and uh. And every time someone sees that book, it means Michael has authority on this topic. Um, if they never do anything more than look at the front cover or see your name on the spine, or even just know that you wrote a book, you're already head and shoulders above. You know the vast majority of the populace and the vast majority of people in your space. Yeah, so there's more where there's more benefits.

Speaker 2: 26:23

It goes on and on and on.

Speaker 1: 26:24

Yeah, I've one key benefit that I found, like you, there's many and we could talk forever, since I've had a book. But the one benefit I found to be the most beneficial was the trust factor, and it was brought to my attention by another publisher on a podcast. I don't remember who it was. This was before I even wrote my book and he said if you think about it, once that book is published it better be accurate because once it goes on that shelf, it's not like the internet where you can go tweak some words or change this story. It's like that's factual, that's factual in somebody's bookcase and if you're not accurate or not telling the truth, you've lost all authority. But if you are telling the truth and your message is the same, all of a sudden they trust you more than your competition, because you can't change the words. Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 2: 27:20

And for most people. Most people are looking for something to distinguish them from other people in their space, right, To give them a leg up. There's nothing like a book. Right, there is nothing like a book. And the irony of it is, michael, is that we live in this age where it's easier than ever to publish a book. There are more authors than ever, and yet we still have this special place in our minds for authors, like that is. It is still so highly regarded. It is still breathing rare air.

Speaker 2: 27:56

Funny story I was speaking, uh, my mom said, come speak to this women's group that I'm part of and about books. I go okay, I'll do that. So I'm, I, I'm standing there and I said, okay, I want everyone to raise your hand if you've met a doctor before, and everyone raised their hand. I go okay, everyone raise your hand if you've met an attorney before. Pretty much everyone raises their hand. I said, okay, raise your hand if you've met an author before, and like two hands went up, wow. And I said okay, how many of you have met a bestselling author before? And only one hand stayed up, and that was my mom. So this is still so, the whole thing about breathing rare air and being able to leverage this I have. If you've got time, I've got a quick story about one of our authors. All right, so I have this client. Her name is Cindy Now the names have been changed to protect the innocent in this case.

Speaker 2: 28:59

Cindy approached us and she said Everett, I'm going to a conference in Dubai in a few months and I've written this manuscript and I would love to have this book in my hands so I can take it to this conference. And it was on medical tourism, I think. And she was just going as an attendee and I said, well, let's see what we can do. And so we took her through our process, we published her book and when she left to Dubai, she had like 10 copies of her book with her or something like that. So the first day of the conference she handed out copies of her book to some key people that she wanted to have her book, and then she told me later that night she was walking through the hotel and she happened to notice a couple people were sitting in different places. They were reading her book and she's like okay, this is pretty cool. The next day, one of those people came up and said hey, you know what. I read your book last night and I want to talk with you about hiring you.

Speaker 2: 30:02

The fallout of that conference was that by the end of that conference she had struck up, through the book, relationships with multiple organizations that decided to hire her and engage her. And over the intervening year, over the next year, one of them asked her to be a contributor in a college textbook on the topic and think about this no-transcript. And then another one of those people became a very significant client to her and hired her to go back to that conference the following year as a sponsored speaker. But basically the book launched her onto the world stage where she, instead of just attending this international conference, was speaking at this international conference the following year as a result of her book.

Speaker 2: 31:10

And I just love that because it's that whole thing of the book helped her take her accomplishments and her knowledge that she learned over a career and really get them out in a way that suddenly she could leverage and take advantage of, kind of like you know you ever hear the Beatles, right? You know people talk about the, you know overnight, you know overnight sensation, et cetera. And they don't know about all the years that the Beatles spent playing together in Hamburg. You know where they were playing, like three or four sets a week and sleeping backstage you know, perfecting their craft. Well, there are a lot of us that have been doing that work in Hamburg and you know three or four sets and sleeping backstage and we just need something to get us over that. Next thing and sometimes that's a book, I concur.

Speaker 1: 31:59

Having written mine. Going back to the trust factor for business owners out there that are considering a book, I encourage you to consider it even more, because people buy from those they know, like and trust, and a book gives you that authority, it gives you that trust factor, and so I'm all on board on this. What's kind of the steps that someone would take just so they kind of know what that process looks like to publish a book?

Speaker 2: 32:22

It doesn't need to be as hard as people think. Obviously, writing the manuscript can be a challenge, but now there are strategies and tools available to help make that happen. You know pretty quickly if you want it to. But typically when books come to us, the manuscripts are usually more or less complete when they come to us, and if not, then I can help them with with the manuscript creation, and then we'll typically take them the rest of the way. So we'll provide the copy editing. Uh, we'll provide the interior layout design, the cover design. Covers we do through a cover contest, which is a blast. Artists from around the world participate in it and cool yeah. As a result, our authors get set of like two or three variations from an in-house artist. They'll get like a hundred to 200 variations to choose from and then we publish it.

Speaker 2: 33:13

So it appears on Amazon, barnes and Noblecom, walmartcom, apple iBooks, google play you know literally thousands of outlets online. And then we leverage print-on-demand publishing, which a lot of people need to know about, and that is simply where, instead of Amazon housing your book, amazon houses the files for your book, and when someone orders your book tomorrow morning, they print. Amazon prints and ships that one copy of the book. It's crazy. Amazon prints and ships that one copy of the book. It's crazy. And they do it so affordably so that you can also order your own book author copies of your own book, and very often it's $3, $4 a copy and you can order five or 10 or 500, you know whatever fits your means.

Speaker 2: 33:57

And if you're speaking, have them drop shipped to where you're speaking. Wow, it's such a great. I mean, the technology really facilitates what we do. And then we carry our clients through an Amazon bestseller launch so that they, for a period of time, are dominating their competition and they can experience what I did where I sat and watched my book above Dave Ramsey and John Maxwell and Malcolm Gladwell, and you know all of these people that I so respect. Yeah Well, I say, and we we typically accomplish all of this in about 90 to 120 days If the manuscript is complete before it gets here. And so if people have an idea for a book, they're not waiting for next year or two or three years, which is common in traditional publishing. Instead, we're usually launching that book next quarter.

Speaker 1: 34:48

I want people to think about this, or imagine this going to a conference and where there's a speaker the ones that don't have books you're like, yeah, they were okay. But the ones that have a book, you're like, okay, for some reason they have a little bit more authority. But when there's a speaker that has like a whole table of 10 to 20 in the back of the room, you're like, okay, that's my guy or my girl, that's who I'm going with and I get no monetary. We don't do publishing, so I don't get any currency for advocating for publishing. I'm just sharing how powerful it can be from my experience as well.

Speaker 2: 35:23

All right, thank you and we maybe wrap with this this. You know, people need to be the one. You want to be the one who wrote the book, not the one who read the book.

Speaker 1: 35:31

Yeah, Good, that's good. Well, how can people best get ahold of you? Is there a social media platform? You prefer that they can really follow you, or should they just reach out?

Speaker 2: 35:42

Is there a social media platform you prefer that they can really follow you, or should they just reach out? I mean, we're on most of the socials. The best way. If you're interested in a conversation, just go to IgnitePressus. That's IgnitePressus. And then also, if people want a copy of the Power of the Published, I set up a link for you, michael, on the podcast people. They just go to mypodcastperkcom. They will get a free digital copy of the Power of the Published. That's mypodcastperkcom and happy to provide that to people as well.

Speaker 1: 36:15

Excellent. Well, we'll put all these links and the books that we talked about in the show notes, so make sure you check those out in the descriptions. If you were to be in front of an audience of small business owners, what is the one piece of advice that would be applicable to all of them, that you feel like you could share? That you've learned?

Speaker 2: 36:35

We've talked about both of them and I just have to go back to them it's masterminds and it's a book to them it's masterminds and it's a book. I just don't. I just, you know, we need, we need the community and the coaching that we in our lives and and the authority of a book. Those two lessons it's hard, it's hard to sidestep them or had to very insightful.

Speaker 1: 36:55

You've been a blessing to many ever and I appreciate your time and we'll see you around. Thank you, michael. Welcome to the recap of our episode today and my Coach's Corner section, where I share actionable advice for you to implement in your business to move the needle. In this segment we recap the enlightening conversation with Everett O'Keefe and how his journey from a vocational rehab counselor to a successful publisher is truly inspirational. He shared how industry shifts led him to explore new avenues, ultimately resulting in the creation of the Video Tractor, a best-selling book on Amazon that transformed his business. Everett provided key insights into the significance of small business pivots and how to take decisive action. He highlighted the significance of small business pivots and how to take decisive action. He highlighted the significance of mastermind groups in offering networking opportunities and support for business leaders. Additionally, everett discussed the transformative power of book authorship in establishing authority and trust, turning prospects into clients and opening doors of many new opportunities. Moving into the Coach's Corner, let's focus on the pivotal role of many new opportunities. Moving into the coach's corner, let's focus on the pivotal role of mastermind groups, as discussed by Everett. These groups can be a game changer for business owners, offering valuable networking opportunities and a supportive environment for transparent exchanges among peers.

Speaker 1: 38:17

Here's your actionable item this week Join or create a mastermind group. Here are a few quick tips that can help you find or create a mastermind group faster. Number one identify your goals. Determine what you want to achieve by joining a mastermind group, whether it's gaining new insights, solving business challenges or expanding your network, having clear goals will guide your participation. Number two find the right group. Look for existing mastermind groups that align with your industry and goals. You can find them through professional networks, online platforms or local business associations. Websites like Meetup, linkedin and even Facebook can be valuable resources. Or call my company boss. We can help you as well.

Speaker 1: 39:04

Number three create your own group. If you can't find a suitable group, consider starting your own. Invite peers who are at a similar stage in their business journey and share common objectives. Set regular meeting times. Establish group rules and ensure everyone has an opportunity to contribute. Number four engage actively. Be an active participant. Establish group rules and ensure everyone has an opportunity to contribute.

Speaker 1: 39:24

Number four engage actively, be an active participant, share your experiences, offer feedback and support others. The more you put into the group, the more you will get out of it. And, lastly, leverage the power of collaboration. Use the group to brainstorm solutions, share resources and hold each other accountable. The collective wisdom of the group can help you overcome challenges and accelerate your business growth. Mastermind groups can provide the external support system and accountability that many business owners need to survive. By joining or creating a mastermind group, you'll be taking a significant step towards achieving a business that can run without you, supported by a network of like-minded professionals. Also, be sure to check out our plethora of support resources Boss has to offer by visiting our website.

Speaker 1: 40:15

Thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots. Please don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast. If your business is stuck or you need help creating your business to run without you, go to our website, businessownershipsimplifiedcom and schedule a free consultation to learn why small business success starts with boss. If you want to talk anything small business related, email me personally at michael at michael d morrisoncom. We'll see you next time on small business pivots.