November ‘21 Newsletter

During the past month and through November, I have been and will be immersed in doing my first product launch.  It has been an incredible learning experience, and I thought I would share some of the lessons I’ve learned from it.

a. Doing a launch takes much more time that I had anticipated.  I’d say I’m easily spending 3 hours/day 6 days/week and I’m barely keeping up with the list of tasks for the launch to be successful.  My launch consists of 4 components:

• A giveaway, to help me build my list of business owners and professionals interested in writing and publishing a successful book (that ended October 24);
• A 5 Day Challenge, which runs from November 8 – 12 (see more about this below);
• A Masterclass to be held on November 15 (see more on this below); and
• My Fastrack Your Book program to accelerate the writing of a book that can then be used to help achieve business goals.  That program starts on November 29.

Each of these components requires an online registration page and thank you page, contacting colleagues to promote it, a series of promotional emails, emails to affiliates to promote the component to their audience, emails to those who register, videos, social media posts, graphics, etc.  It’s probably a good think that I didn’t know what it would take before I embarked on this journey.

b. One of the smartest moves I made was hiring a launch manager.  I am using Mynders Glover, owner of Beyond Productive, who has done countless launches.  He is very well organized and has all the worksheets, templates and other materials to help me get things done.  Without his help, I’m sure I would have missed several key elements, done things wrong, and spent much longer to get things done had I not had his guidance and templates.

c. Mynders helped me build a ‘story arc’ that connected the 4 parts of my launch so that the participants of one component would logically be interested in the next component, thereby building up to the purchase of my Fastrack program.  That helped me to determine the theme for each component, and thus how to create the content for each one.

d. Mynders has given me a tool called ToDoist, an app that keeps me focused by showing me exactly what the next task is that needs to be done.  I get daily email reminders from the app of what’s overdue and what’s on the day’s agenda.  I can leave messages in the app for Mynders if I need assistance, or to advise him where I stand on the tasks.  He can then respond to my messages to help me get the tasks done or re-prioritize the tasks.

I understand that the next time I want to run a launch, it will be much easier.  I will have built the framework and much of the material during this launch, and will be able to tweak that material and framework to incorporate lessons learned from this go-round.  Nevertheless, being not quite half-way through the launch at this point, I am feeling swamped as I juggle my daily work for my clients with all the work for the launch.  Hopefully, it will pan out and I’ll be glad I put in all that work.

1.  Upcoming Events

This month I am hosting a 5 Day Challenge called “Publishing Profits:  5 Day Journey to Create a Path to your Book’s Success”.  This event will run from November 8 – 12.  Writing a book takes a lot of effort, which is wasted if your book doesn’t help you gain the results you want.  This challenge is designed to enable you to create a plan that, when implemented, will get you those desired results.  Spend just 30 minutes per day for the 5 days so you will know what you need to do for your book to be successful.  To register for the challenge, CLICK HERE.

Following the challenge, I will be hosting a Masterclass on November 15 called “Get Your Book Done NOW!  Overcome the 3 biggest blocks that stop most authors from actually publishing their book.  Discover what they are and what you can do to overcome them so you can write your book that will help you grow your business and live the life that you dream.”  Yes, it’s a super long sub-title and sub-sub-title, but it tells you exactly what you’ll learn.  I’ll be offering the Masterclass twice on November 15, to accommodate people’s schedules:  at 11:30 am ET and 7:30 pm ET.  The registration page will be up soon.  If you want to make sure you receive the registration link, email me at judy@skillbites.net and I’ll send you that link.

Some of my colleagues have programs coming up that might interest you as well.

• Kimberly Weitcamp has a Masterclass called Swipe Copy Secrets Masterclass: How to Avoid the Top Copy Mistakes that are Killing Conversion, Cashflow and Client Retention.  She is offering it three times:  on November 3 @ 11 am CT, November 4 @ 1 pm CT and November 8 @ 4 pm CT, so you can find a time that is convenient for you.  Reserve your seat here
• Anne Gordon is running a Giveaway called The Retreat Leaders Success Giveaway through November 21.  This giveaway is geared to support retreat leaders to create successful retreats, and includes everything you need to create, fill and lead a successful retreat.
• Mitchell Levy is running a 5 Day Challenge from December 6 – 11 called Being Seen as Credible:  Become the Magnet that Attracts the Right Prospects. You can’t be credible externally until you’re credible internally. This challenge covers simple steps to be done daily for 5 days to get you on the path to become the magnet to attract your prospects. >>> Join this 5-Day Challenge Today <<<

2. New Authors

SkillBites will soon be publishing Linda Melconian’s first book, Lay It On The Table:  A Change Agent in Action.  Linda assisted the late Speaker of the House, Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr., in all three majority leadership offices.  She was later elected the first woman majority leader of the Massachusetts Senate. Originally written for her Masters thesis, this book is her first-hand account of Tip O’Neill’s extraordinary leadership and diplomacy skills in getting the votes to end the Vietnam War.  The book comes at a much-needed time given the current political climate.

SkillBites will soon be publishing the second book of Laura Miele, a children’s book that she wrote several years ago but hadn’t published.  Last year, Miele, as sports psychologist, hired SkillBites to publish her first book, Psyche of the Injured Athlete, which is now an Amazon bestseller.

The story of Fluffy and Cinnamon is a story of friendship.  Two stuffed animals are left alone on the top bunk bed when their owners go back to school in the fall.  Fluffy the dog and Cinnamon the Koala bond over adversity and become forever friends.

3.  The SkillBites Show

Each month, we bring you an expert to help you get your book done, leverage your book, grow your business or improve your life.  The shows are recorded, so if you can’t listen to one live, you can listen to the recording by clicking here.

On our next SkillBites Show our guest will be Deb Coviello, trusted authority on guiding CEOs through Operational Transformation.  Deb is the author of CEO’s Compass – Your Guide to Getting Back on Track and host of The Drop In CEO podcast. In this episode, she will talk about her book writing journey and her 7 key indicators for CEOs to stay or get back on track and gain peace of mind.

Last month, my guest was Kim Speed, founder and CEO of Purple Moon Creative, Brand and Marketing Boutique.  Kim provided a simple strategy for building a brand that will elevate one’s reputation and differentiate one’s business from the competition.  Kim offered listeners her book on branding, which can be downloaded at brandingonashoestring.com.

If you missed this presentation, you can listen to it by clicking here, or you can read a summary of the show on the SkillBites blog by clicking here.

SAVE THE DATE:  Next month, my guest will be Shirlene Reeves.  Shirlene will be talking about how to turn your $10 book into $10,000!

Shirlene was awarded Top Motivational Speaker and Top Business Coach 2020 and Empowered Woman 2021 by the International Association of Top Professionals. She is the four-time Award-Winning, International Best-Selling Author of Selling Through Your Heart, Empowering You to Build Relationships for Financial Freedom. In 2019 the Women Economic Forum Honored Dr. Shirlene with the Exceptional Woman of Excellence.

As a dynamic, results-driven leader, she runs the Authors & speakers Visibility Playground Facebook group, including a free weekly business referral mastermind.

While serving as the CEO of her own nationwide California Corporation for seventeen plus years, Dr. Shirlene proved her ability to grow her own business from zero to multi-millions, employing over 23,000 people working on her team. Shirlene aids her clientele in transforming their businesses with intuitive step-by-step Heart-Based Profitability program development and Heart-Based Sales while building confidence in media training and marketing visibility.  This is a not-to-be-missed episode!

Do you have expertise that you believe would benefit the SkillBites community of entrepreneurs and authors?  If you would like to be the guest on the monthly SkillBites Show, contact me at judy@skillbites.net or 610-783-4519.

4.  Tip of the Month: KDP Development

Until recently, Amazon only offered authors the opportunity to publish eBooks and paperback books through its publishing arm, KDP.  While Amazon sold hardback books, those books had to be published through a different entity, with a third party providing the fulfillment services, thus cutting into the author’s royalties on the book sales.  Now, KDP is offering hardcover publishing!  This option is available for books between 75 and 550 pages.  You can:

• Reach more readers. Feature your hardcover alongside your eBooks and paperbacks and let readers choose their preferred format.
• Earn royalties. Continue to earn the same royalty percentage on hardcover as you get with paperback. There will be an adjusted printing cost for hardcover.
• Publish your hardcover books your way. Choose from two cover finishes, three interior types, and five trim sizes. When you enter your book’s trim size, page count, ink and paper selections, you’ll receive a custom cover template that you can use to create the book’s cover, sized to your book’s specifications.

The holidays are coming.  With printing and shipments much slower than they used to be, make sure you leave plenty of time to order copies of your book, especially if you have critical time-sensitive events coming up.

5. Earn Commissions For Referrals

Do you know anyone who has been wanting to write a book but has been stalling?  Let them know that SkillBites offers a variety of services to make book writing and publishing easy, quick and convenient.  When you sign up to be a SkillBites affiliate, you can get a commission for each person who signs up to purchase SkillBites services through your unique referral link.  To obtain more information and to sign up for our referral program, click here.

Thanks for supporting SkillBites.  If there is anything you think we ought to be doing better or anything we should be doing that we’re not, please let us know.  We value your input.

Cordially,