The 6-Figure Book Funnel with Alinka Rutkowska: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Light that spark fire nation JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Marketing Against the Grain. Today, we're pulling a classic episode from the archives, and we'll be breaking down the six-figure book funnel. To drop these value bombs, I brought Alinka into EO Fire Studios. Alinka is the CEO of Leaders Press, a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling press, where she creates books for entrepreneurs and launches them to bestseller with a 100 % success rate. Today, Fire Nation will talk about thinking about your category and how you'll stand out.

0:38It will take a long time to produce a book, but it's definitely worth it if you have a six or seven figure asset as a result. And we'll talk about the best route to take and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Alinka and our sponsors. Imperfect Action, hosted by Steph Taylor, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Imperfect Action is a bite-sized online marketing podcast for business owners who want to get straight to the point. Join Steph Taylor as She answers all your business marketing questions.

1:08Recent episodes include five must-knows to sell your online course, program, or membership, and four steps to grow your email list for your next launch. Listen to Imperfect Action wherever you get your podcasts. Alinka, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. JLD, super excited to be here. Well, I think many people disagree when I say that I don't think you have to suffer and make sacrifices to achieve success. Instead, I think you have to be grounded, centered, focused, know where you're going, drive the vision, surround yourself with a great team that you can delegate to, have solid processes in place once you've figured things out.

1:59For example, the business I run, Leaders Press, is a seven-figure business. We're getting ready to scale to eight figures. And I work seven hours a day. I wouldn't even call it work. Like this is work, right? No, it's not. It's a great conversation. I do a complete email detox on weekends. But during the hours that I do work, I'm laser focused, all notifications off. I have a clear goal for the year, for the month, for the week, for the day. So my business is ALF by Joe Polish's standards. Easy, lucrative, and fun. I love this in Fire Nation. It is true what Alinka says. I mean, when people used to call me crazy for interviewing eight entrepreneurs in one day, you know, which I do usually two or three days per month every month since 2012.

2:46Now they're like, man, that is so much work. And I'm just like, you know what was work? Work was the 12 hours I spent sweating my butt off in Iraq patrolling the countryside. Like that was work, getting shot at, like all those crazy things, getting to talk to cool people like Alinka. I got to be honest, I enjoy this. I got my coffee right here. I've got my dog right here. Everything is kind of fun and enjoyable. And these conversations light me up, Fire Nation. So find the things that light you up. And hey, we're going to make this happen for you. Now, we're having an amazing conversation, as I shared in the intro, about the six-figure book funnel.

3:24So let's just get right to it, Alinka. Can you really make six figures from a book? Yes, absolutely. Not only six, but even seven figures. The thing that most people have in mind when they think about book royalties are exactly royalties from the book, so the front end. But a lot of people forget that a book is a funnel to your business. So there's a lot that can happen on the back end. And many of my entrepreneurial friends have made six and seven figures on the front and back end of their books, myself included. So it can be a fantastic way to not only increase your business, but to even create a business from scratch.

4:14Fire Nation, are you solving a real problem for individuals? And is it possible that you can provide the best solution to a real problem for individuals. If you have that, then you need to get this message out in multiple ways. Obviously a podcast, a show, YouTube, we have social media, but also a book. People love books. And this is how you can get people into your world, providing the best solution to a real problem. Now, what people don't need is just a history of your life. That's not what they need. They need the best solution to a real problem. And then that can usher people into your world into a funnel that makes six figures plus.

4:56But let's get down to the nitty gritty Alinka. What's the best way to publish a book in your experience? We talk in self-publishing, we talk in going the traditional publishing route, or what about a little bit of a hybrid? Well, I've done it all the three ways that you mentioned. So these are three very different ways. And the answer, which one is best would really depend on the individual's goals. So what we know historically, traditional publishing was the way to publish. And the way you had to do that was first find an agent. Once you've found an agent, and that's not so easy or fast to do, the agent pitches your manuscript or your proposal to the publishing house.

5:43Once the publishing house has accepted, you will get on board and will probably be published within the upcoming two years or so. And the publishing house basically controls everything and you end up getting royalties of about 7 % and great distribution usually. So you do get the distribution. This is the traditional route. Then self-publishing came along and suddenly anybody can publish a book. So people started publishing and some of them found out that they really weren't selling too many copies because now it's no longer the gatekeeper that makes the decision. It's the market. So there are many authors who are absolutely crushing it, self-publishing.

6:33However, they do have limited distribution. So they don't get to work with the traditional distribution channels that really get the books everywhere. However, they take all the profits home. And then comes hybrid publishing. This is what I did with Leaders Press, the best of both worlds. The author has control as well as the publisher helping the author, but definitely not taking the control. And we do a big launch for the book and also offer traditional distribution. We partner with one of the large traditional publishing houses to offer distribution. There's one more difference, of course. with traditional publishing, you usually get an advance.

7:26Now, these advances are in the range of, let's say, starting with$2 ,000 and on the other end of the scale, we're looking at six figures. Whereas with hybrid, there's an upfront investment. So these are the three ways to publish. have you experienced the three? I have actually gone through the first two. I have self-published a book, which I had great success with. It's called Podcast Launch. I sat down over one weekend. I wrote a book. It was probably like 10 ,000 words, I would guess in total, maybe even a little bit less. And I self-published it. And that book has sold thousands and thousands of copies.

8:12And I haven't made much money on it because I put it for$2.99 on Amazon, but it is an amazing lead into my funnels for Podcasters Paradise. Just last year, I actually signed a six-figure advance contract with HarperCollins to publish traditional, my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success. And that actually launched back on March 23rd of 2021. So that was a very enjoyable experience. But just like there's pros to going the traditional route, There's also cons, you know, and I loved the team that I worked with, but there were some, you know, timelines and some other things that I was kind of scratching my head at, but you know, that's the traditional route.

8:50I've never done the hybrid though. And you know, Hey, maybe the next time I do a book launch, it could be that hybrid to really get a full taste for all three. So that's kind of been my experience, Alinka. And again, I've enjoyed that both the self-publishing and the traditionally publishing route. And it's really interesting to hear the pros and cons of all three of these. And so Fire Nation kind of figure out where do you fit right now, make that make sense for you. But let's just answer a question pretty directly, Alinka. Does the world really need another book? Your world does. This is a great question.

9:28And it is a valid question. Another one could be, you know, there are so many books on this topic. Do I really need to write another one. Well, let's see. The best way to figure that out is to go to Amazon, think about your genre, your niche, and find it. Find a category on Amazon. So let's say we're going to write a book on leadership. So we go and look at the business section and then drop down menu, we look at leadership. Okay, there it is. So we've got the overall leadership category and then maybe we want to drill further down and find something even more detailed. So if we're able to find a category, either a broad category or a narrow category that our book fits in, that's already a good start.

10:21Because we do want to write a book that there's an audience for, right? So that's the number one thing. And then we want to look at the competing titles. So what are the other books that my book will be on the bookshelf with. And, you know, once we have these, we obviously want them to sell well. So we look at number one, two, three, four, and so on, on the Amazon list. Those are our competing titles, and we know that we fit in. And then to answer your question, we know that we should write another book, if our idea stands out. So So if we're able to convince the reader with our topic, with our title, that they should read our book and not the other ones listed there.

11:09And obviously, they will probably read many books because, you know, when as entrepreneurs, we're researching a topic, we want to learn something new. We're not going to just pick up one book. We're going to pick up many books and take some nuggets from each of them. So if you're able to find a category that you fit in and your idea stands out, then yes, you should write a book. Fire Nation, what I love about Alinka is she's just breaking this down for us step by step. Like, what does it look like to self-publish? Who should? Publish traditionally, do a hybrid. Does the world really need another book?

11:42This is how you actually find out how. This is how you find out if the world actually needs a book. And I want to go back to something that I shared at the beginning of the conversation. Hey, if you can honestly say by looking at your competition by looking around, you know, the different markets like amazon, etc And you can honestly say I have the best solution to a real problem in the marketplace That needs to be a book that needs to be a book that's in that marketplace because now it's the best solution And it's going to be a great lead generator for you for a lot of things that you could do And now there's still a ton of excuses that entrepreneurs find to not do a book.

12:21And also, what if you can't write? Can you still publish a book? We're going to tackle these legitimate questions and more when we get back from thinking our sponsors. I remember searching for the perfect CRM when I first launched Entrepreneurs on Fire, and it's tough to know which platform is going to be right for you and your business. Being in major startup mode, I wanted to choose a CRM that could keep up with my big growth goals. If this sounds like you, then take it from me, from marketing and sales to supporting content to everything in between. HubSpot's all-on-one customer platform has startups covered.

12:55And with the HubSpot for Startups program, you can save 30 to 90 % on a platform that scales right along with you, increase leads, boost revenue, improve your customer experience. HubSpot for Startups helps you do it all. Not sure if you can handle implementing a CRM at this stage in your business? Don't worry. HubSpot's 24-7 customer support has your back. To see if you're eligible to join HubSpot for Startups program and take your growth to the next level, visit hubspot.com slash startups. Have you ever considered hosting on Airbnb? Kate and I Airbnb'd one of our places here in Puerto Rico, and we love it.

13:30It not only allows us to share this magical island in our community with those visiting, it's also a great way to earn some extra income. We've had a number of guests rave about how special their vacation was as a result of staying in a place that is so beautiful that it felt like home. This is a big reason why we originally got into hosting. We know what it's like to travel and want to have a place to call home. So we figured why not create that feeling for others. Next month, we'll be traveling to meet up with friends on the West Coast and knowing how easy it is to host on Airbnb. We're considering putting our own home up on Airbnb while we're away to earn some additional income.

14:03Maybe you have an upcoming trip planned as well. While you're away, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. So Alinka, we're back. And as we kind of teased before the break, entrepreneurs, they find excuses for everything. I'm one of them. I find excuses for things all the time. But what are some of the excuses that you found that entrepreneurs use to not do a book? Well, with working with so many successful entrepreneurs, I've heard quite a few excuses. And some of them will probably be something that you can resonate with. And some of them you might laugh at, but they're all legitimate excuses.

14:47And let's go through them. One of the most popular is not now. Not now. I'm waiting for my exit. I'm in a transition period. I just got a new partner on board. I'll do it when I'm retired. And so to this, I usually like to say that you will never be done until you're dead. And that is going to be too late. Do you know that thought leader, speaker and author Brian Tracy has written 87 books? He most certainly wasn't, you know, waiting until. So not now is probably one of the easiest to overcome because the idea that you have now needs to be written now. Now, another one is I'm too busy. And so this to me is a very weird excuse because are you saying that you're too busy to create something that could bring you, we mentioned earlier, six figures, even seven figures?

15:46And then I would recommend looking at your to-do list and delegate anything thing that's not in your genius zone to someone else on your team. And then we're solving the too busy issue. Another thing is that there are different ways to actually write a book. The standard way is to sit down and write it. But now there are many other solutions. Something that we do is interview the author. And it can take 12 to 15 hours of interviews. and that's the whole commitment on the author's side. Then we do everything else. So the too busy goes away pretty quickly. Another one is I don't have that much to say, but that's, I think, the entrepreneur being way too modest because anybody who got to a certain level of success, built a company from the ground up, they have a lot to say.

16:44Even if they think they don't, what seems so obvious to many of us isn't to the people around us. So there definitely is a lot to share, even if you think you don't have too much to say. What else? It's too much work. That could be another excuse. But then again, you want to look at the pros and cons. is 15 hours too much work if you're able to actually to dictate it and then hire out the rest or be interviewed and outsource the rest. It takes too long could be another one. But again, we have the same consideration. It might take long to produce the book, but it definitely is worth it if after that time you have your six, seven figure asset, the thing that will allow you to grow and increase your business.

17:44Another one, although this one we're hearing less and less, is finding a publisher is difficult. You know, once upon a time, we talked about the gatekeepers needing to find an agent, and then the agent has to pitch your manuscript and get the publisher. But right now, you can just go to kdp.com, and anybody can publish the book. That doesn't mean it's the best solution for you, because then we have the other excuses, like it takes time, and it's difficult to write it, but we can actually get it done. Another one is nobody ever told me I should write a book. I really like the story of Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, who got 144 rejection letters before finding a publisher for Chicken Soup for the Soul.

18:32And they then became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. So not only were they not encouraged, they were actively discouraged 144 times. And that book sold more than 8 million copies worldwide. And now the best one, the one that you mentioned at the beginning, I can't write. Well, you know, neither can Stephen Covey, Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca, Donald Trump, John Maxwell, Richard Branson, or Sam Walton. they have all acknowledged that they used ghostwriters to write their best-selling books. So Can't Write didn't stop them from writing books that have influenced us all. Fire Nation, there's a lot to take away from here.

19:20I mean, I hope that almost all, if not all, of your potential excuses have been debunked here by Alinka and that very last one about, hey, not being able to write. And I'm going to be honest here. I'll be very transparent. I interviewed multiple ghostwriters. I was considering going down that route, not because specifically I couldn't write because I know that I can and part of me wanted to, but it was going to take so much time that I was like, could my time be better spelled elsewhere running other parts of my business? And after, you know, interviewing some ghostwriters, I was like, there's fantastic ghostwriters out there.

19:51That's a really, really interesting and cool route. You can take Fire Nation. I, you know, encourage people that it's right for you. Like, check it out if it's right for you. At the end of the day, I was just like, you know what? This is my book to write. I've interviewed 3000 successful entrepreneurs. I know what the foundational 17 principles are that we all have in common. I want to write the book, the common path to uncommon success. I want to share the 17 step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment. I wanted to write that book. And guess what? I paid for it. Meaning I paid for it by sweating blood and tears into 480 writing hours, which turned into 71 ,000 words, 273 pages of this business book.

20:38But I can tell you holding it in my hands, man, I am so proud of what I created here. So that's the route that I chose and went, but I hope openly considered a ghostwriter because I thought that might be a better use of my time and I could still get a great book out to the world. So that's a lot of great stuff coming from you, Alinka. Let's end with a bang. What do you want to make sure Fire Nation really gets from this entire conversation about the six-figure book funnel? Bring this home for us. Share anything you want to share about this topic that you think that we maybe need to tie up any loose ends or something you really want to end strong with, and then we'll say goodbye.

21:15And I love that you have 17 steps because my framework for writing a best-selling book is also a 17-step. Oh, wow. Cool. We have that in common. Yes. Yes. Well, the first thing is think about your category and then think about how you stand out. Because when you have that done, you already have the idea for your book. And then what you want is a roadmap. And I have something for you that we'll be sharing at leaderspress.com slash fire. and that is a copy a PDF and audiobook because I bet you like to listen so you have an audiobook of my guide outsource your book and it has 17 steps that you need to go through to get your book done or outsource so you can actually outsource the various steps or you can outsource the whole thing and if you decide to outsource the whole thing, I do hope that you consider Leaders Press because we're really good at what we do for entrepreneurs.

22:23And Fire Nation, Alinka would not be on Entrepreneurs on Fire if she wasn't great at what she did. So anything else you want to share before we let you go, Alinka? Write a book. The world needs your book. The world, Fire Nation, needs your voice, needs your message, needs your mission, needs your book. LeadersPress.com slash fire. Head over there. Get outsource your book. The 17 steps to getting your book done. Done, signed, sealed, and delivered. LeadersPress.com slash fire. And Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with AR and JLD today.

23:06So keep up the heat and head over to EOfire.com. type Alinka in the search bar and her show notes page will pop up with everything we've talked about. Best show notes in the biz, timestamps and links galore. Alinka, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you, JLD and Fire Nation. Hey, Fire Nation. Today's value bomb content was brought to you by Alinka. And if you are ready to rock your very own podcast, check out our free podcasting course where I teach you how to create and launch your podcast for free.

23:42Freepodcastcourse.com. That's freepodcastcourse.com. I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. Imperfect Action, hosted by Steph Taylor, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Imperfect Action is a bite-sized online marketing podcast for business owners who want to get straight to the point. Join Steph Taylor as she answers all your business marketing questions. Recent episodes include five must-knows to sell your online course, program, or membership, and four steps to grow your email list for your next launch. Listen to Imperfect Action wherever you get your podcasts.