The biggest benefit of having your book, is... having your book!
It may sound obvious, but it's easy to forget about all the different ways you can use it when you're caught up in creating it.
Once it's finished, it becomes the flagship asset, the 'thing' you can offer, reference, and refer people to, in many different campaigns.
That's what we're talking about in today’s show as we take an hour to talk with Focus James.
Focus has just finished her book ‘How to Have a Healthy Love Affair' and with a speaking event coming up in the next few weeks, we look at all the ways she can use her new book to amplify her message, compel the audience to take the next step, and get into a conversation with all the people who are interested, but not quite ready today.
Focus has a model, a framework to help people, a passion to share her knowledge, and now has her book, her manifesto to help spread the word and identify all the invisible prospects... people she can help and would love to work with her.
This is a great show, and another opportunity to create ideas for a real-world example.
Links:
Titles Workshop: 90MinuteBooks.com/Workshops
Ready to get started: 90MinuteBooks.com/get/started
Interview Shows: 90-Minute Books Author Interviews
Questions/Feedback: Send us an email
Extra Credit Listening: MoreCheeseLessWhiskers.com
Connect with Focus:
YourHealthyLoveAffair.com
Transcript: Book More Show 059
Stuart: Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Book More Show. It's Stuart here. And, today we've got a great guest lined up. We're going to be speaking with Focus James who's just written a book called, How to Have a Healthy Love Affair.
Focus and I have had the option to speak by email a couple of times, but this is the first time we've spoken in person. And I know the guys, every time they have option to speak with Focus, I always hear about it because it's always such a great experience. She's got such a passion in her language, so I'm really looking forward to this episode. I think we're going to get a lot out of it as we get Focus's book out there ready to hit the world.
So, Focus, thanks for your time today. I'm looking forward to this call.
Focus: Oh, you are welcome. I'm so glad to be here. And I love your accent. So I can talk to you all day long.
Stuart: Focus and I have got a bit of a connection because she's outside Philadelphia, which is where my fiancé is, so in the not-too-distant future we're going to be a little bit geographically closer than we are now, separated by about three and half thousand miles. So, hopefully, we'll get a chance to meet in person, and you can listen to my accent and I'll listen to yours, and we'll catch up over a coffee.
Focus: Absolutely. I look forward to it.
Stuart: Fantastic. So, a bit of background for everyone else there listening again. And so Focus jumped on board about six weeks ago, I think now maybe? A little bit more?
Focus: Yes.
Stuart: She's got an event coming up in the next couple of days so the team was focused on getting everything up and learning ready for this event so that there was something physically available to meet this audience.
The book, as I mentioned, is called How to Have a Healthy Love Affair. And I think it's a fantastic perspective on an issue that a lot of people suffer with or struggle through. So I want us to start by start talking about with A) I'll ask Focus in a second to give a bit of background in her own words, but one of the early things, I think, we should talk about is just this slightly different perspective. A lot of times, as people are coming into the process, they may be struggling to think about what to write about or how to choose the subject.
So, Focus, let's start with what your background and kind of what brought you to writing the book, and what you do, and how it supports you and your business.
Focus: Awesome. Yes. Thanks. Great question. So I actually got married at 18 as a Christian trying to solve one problem, and created 10 more. I was so young. I was so young. I definitely didn't know who I was and sure enough couldn't pick a partner for a lifetime. So I really ... It got clear to me that I just didn't know what I was doing about three weeks into the marriage when the clothes were piling up, and my husband looked at me and I looked at him, and we were like, "Who's washing those clothes?" Right?
And I remember saying to him, "Wow! That's a big pile of clothes." And he looked at me, and I saw it in his face. You know, he was like, "You're supposed to do that." And I'm looking at him like, "I'm supposed to do that?" Oh, it was just a hilarious moment now, but at that moment, I felt a lot of pressure 'cause I was actually walking out the-
Stuart: Right.
Focus: Yes. As a full-time student from 8:00 to noon. And then working from 1:00 to like 7:00 in the evening at a part-time job. So I was an athlete, an academic. So my mom fed us, made sure our food was ready, our clothes were washed. So I spontaneously, you know, got married and she definitely told me I wasn't ready. So this is where the birth of this book comes from, 'cause the tagline to, How to Have a Healthy Love Affair is, "You could be happy or you could be right, but you can't be both."
Well, actually, when I called her about three weeks into the marriage asking her how to wash clothes, she took a deep breath and a sigh that said to me, "You are wrong. I told you, you were not ready for marriage."
Well, you know, for the better part of the marriage, my life was dedicated to prove her wrong, 'cause I was an athlete. I was offended, Stuart. So I had to prove her wrong.
Stuart: ... a little motivation.
Focus: Yes. Yes! So you can imagine how that marriage went. You can imagine how our conversations went about marriage. It was all about competition and me trying to prove to be right and make her wrong, right? So no love between here, no real mentoring there, because of my stubbornness. But you know, out ... And in that marriage ending, I learned so much about, you know, the interaction of humanity. And it really was confronting and caused me to have a hunger to read and go to seminars and workshops, and listening to YouTubes, and really try to understand the dynamics of humanity.
So that's where it came from. It actually got birthed out of pain with the husband that I married, and a mother who gave me life source. She did not know how to navigate with humanity. So I'm actually, you know, the poster child of what not to do, to have a healthy love affair.
And then just really sought and got hungry for how to master communication in a way that caused a win-win.
Stuart: So, when people come on board with us, this is often the first time that we've spoken to them. And a lot of the time we're working through some of those steps to pick a title, dial in that single-target audience, and the subheading kind of amplifies the subject. I think, when we started working with you, all of these things were in place already. Your subheading that you can be happy, you can be right, but you can't be both, is such a fantastic ... It just amplifies and delivers such a strong message of the promise that the solution and the key issue that people face as they go through it. Is that something, that subheading, is that something that you've had for a long time? Was that the early manifestation of it, with those things you realized? Or what was the kind of genesis of that subheading?
Focus: Yes. It actually is. And I just had to get there. I can argue well. Okay? I can argue well. My first degree is in early child education. My second degree is in communication. So I can make you feel like a little boy real well, right? And that doesn't bring anybody joy, right? So I have the psychology of how to talk to people, and I wanted to use it powerfully. So how can I build people up and be able to deliver well, so that there is a win-win?
So that's where it started from. As I was going to college, I was realizing that there is power in words and, you know, how you raise your voice and lower your voice, and lean in when you talk to people, and your body language. So I quickly got the concept, but still in my immaturity trying to figure out how to use this, and temper myself, and know how to control my own self inside of dynamics when someone says something to me. Am I responding? Or am I actually reacting, right?
Stuart: Right.
Focus: So a lot of nuances in learning how to, you know, dance to dance, called being with humanity.
Stuart: It's fantastic. It's such a great example. And I think, for ... as people are listening to this, even if even if someone's coming to it from maybe a financial services background or something that's very kind of academic or numbers-based rather than their emotional-based subject. Just thinking, just leading the words, and seeing that the subheading amplifies the message of the title so much. And really kind of encourages people to raise their hand, 'cause it delivers the promise of a solution. I think this is just one of the best examples that I've seen for in a long time. And it's really fascinating that you came to it. It all came to us with this already. It's not something that we had to work through. So I think the book falling under the ... Or the content in the book falling in place after people kind of open it up and found that title to that subheading to the chapter outline. All of it is so coherent and leads towards the ... kind of it calls for action in the back. And the next steps, it's ... It really is such a great model.
And listening to you talk and the framework, and particularly it's something that I pick up on is that difference between responding and reacting so often.
Focus: Yes.
Stuart: It's that taking that second ... Slow thinking, I think, is another term that I've heard people talk about in the same kind of context. But taking that extra moment to think about, "Okay, are the words that are bound to come out of my mouth just an emotional reaction to it? Or is this the best possible response I can give to you to have an outcome that's beneficial for everyone?"
It's fascinating.
Focus: Beautiful. Beautiful
Stuart: So-
Focus: Yeah. I couldn't say it any better. I think one of the things I had to really get present to it, and the bodies I was leaving behind, Stuart. I was like ... as you know, you can't justify doing, "I was right! I got my point across." I told my truth, which is a truth, but doesn't mean it's the truth. And where am I leaving people? What am I up to? So it created a whole empire inside of me of how I want to offer that to other people, that you get to be who you are authentically, and in a way that works and get you the world and the love that you want.
So it transcends not only to relationships, but to business. So I have a component to go where the teaching train in the business, where I have what's called, A Lunch and Learn. So I ... You know, the boss buys the lunch and I teach right? And they get to learn. And then outside it, you get to either, you know, become a ... they hire me as a coach or a consultant. And a course with families, singles, unloved partners as well. And a course in married couples. And definitely our divorcees, right? They're going to be connected financially or with children for the next 20, 30 years. They also need a way of being with each other that works, that's authentic, and get that the marriage failed, "But now where do we go from here?"
So it's all encumbersome, right? How to have a relationship matters in every area of your life. It's like nowhere, you cannot not have it. Even the geek in the back, you know, of his mom's basement. He got to sell it to somebody. So he has to know how to communicate, right?
Stuart: And it's so true-
Focus: So what?
Stuart: It is that all of those different relationships and elements that ... Divorce, one that you mentioned there is a great example. I think it's really not the thing that's thought about because coming together in a relationship, it's so much about coming to the together element, but the separating is so much about the separation. But it's impossible to completely separate. There should still be, or often has to be, some kind of connection. And advocating the different dynamics.
I think ... I'd really like for you to write the kind of fact that it's not a zero-sum game. Just because too many people think about winning as a flip side to losing. And it's ... That's a problematic way of thinking about it. It's really-
Focus: Exactly.
Stuart: You know, it sounded like a cliché, but what's the outcome that can be a win for everyone? Think about it in the bigger picture, I guess. The kind of... the overall battle. Not the individual campaign.
Focus: Exactly. Beautifully put.
Stuart: So you were talking about your business, the way that you're set up. That's more one-on-one consulting? Or group consulting? Or remote consulting? I just wanna give people a bit of background so they can kind of position where you are, when they compare with where they are.
Focus: Absolutely. Yes. Thanks for asking. So, absolutely. If I'm local, I can come to a business or a small home-based business and/or a corporate. Actually, of course, I can travel as well. We live in this awesome country. You can fly at least anywhere, right? So I can get technology, definitely.
So a lot of my clients, I either FaceTime with them, Zoom, whatever they feel comfortable, Skype. So either way, you can, and some people are old school. They don't wanna do any of that, so they'd rather have a conference call or we come sit in their home with them and their spouses, them and their children. So whatever way works for you, I'm definitely open and I wanna make sure you're the most comfortable. But I find most of my one-on-ones are over some type of technology.
Stuart: Right. I think you're answering that extra element. It's slightly more dynamic. It's more flexible for people, and I guess as part of the relationship challenges that people have got either in the workplace or at home, one of those elements is juggling all of the commitments and things that people need to do. So being able to deliver your element of the coachings for ... and training and guidance in a way that's kind of reactive and ... or responsive, rather, and it takes that into consideration. It just makes it all the more likely to be successful.
Focus: Yes. I agree 1000%. I wanna say people work to win, right? So whatever works for you to get the content. 'Cause it takes something to generate yourself. When you hire a life coach, it's already confronting. You're already going to, you know, have to rebuild what things that don't work. So I don't wanna make the travel to and fro any harder. So if we can hop on media, you don't have to park or drive and vice versa. And we can jump right in and get into it. And without you leaving your home or finance babysitters, it's just a win-win. That's the whole goal.
Stuart: Yeah. Absolutely. So let's look at then, moving to the ... So we've got the event that's coming up in ... I think it's next week as we record this-
Focus: Yeah.
Stuart: ... in fact. So this episode is going to be episode 59 in the stream. So I think that's going to ... a week on Saturday as we record. So I think you should be in the middle of ... in the kind of throes of the event as this goes live. So we'll definitely have to do a quick follow-up afterwards.
Focus: Awesome.
Stuart: So that's in ... That element of using the book as part of the overall funnel ... We'll get to that in a second. I don't know. It could get, again, give a bit of background to people and think about your lead generation activities at the moment. The people who kind of come into your world, you know, for see you can do and what you're doing for quite some time.
So are the majority of people coming to you because of a personal referral? Or from some other advertising or marketing activity that you do it?
Focus: Yeah. Great question. So, generally, anywhere I go I pick up a client. But I can't be everywhere. And it's the birth of the book. So, generally, if I'm at a networking event, I'm going to pick up a client. Just from my being able to hear what's not being said, and being able to see what's not been yet told. So I get in a conversation with a person and walk out the event, I'm going to have a client.
But I knew I definitely needed another way to be able to reach the masses, 'cause like masses ... 'Cause I can't be everywhere at the same time. But if I had something like an amazing tool like a book, people can immediately, you know, kind of feel my spirit, my mindset, where I'm going with what the coaching is about and then raise their hand and say, "That me." So, yes. And also referrals. So as I coach different couples and singles, if you will, they go, "Oh, and I know someone." And then that's how it kind of rolls along as far as being able to get new customers, if you will, or clients.
Stuart: Fantastic. And I think that, there's an age for so many people, maybe two-thirds of the people that we deal with, or certainly that I deal with. Obviously, the team is in place and with a lot of the day-to-day interactions with people, and we've got all of the individual team members looking after their own discipline. I'll often talk to people in terms of strategy calls or some separate projects that we're doing. But those conversations very much refer around, or evolve around, that personal connection. And not doing things on a huge scale. I can't think of a ... really, any example where we've got people talking about, "I need to ... this thing to work at a huge scale." And I'm just looking at the numbers. And at the end of this funnel, I want there, automatically, just a handful of people to pop out at the bottom. Almost anyone I can think of, we're dealing with some kind of personal interaction, if not actually one-on-one. Or so if you're from an email point of view or keeping their finger on the pulse. And I think that's what really makes a big difference.
I was just talking to someone yesterday about that, and the kind of, the difference between still a scalable but a relatively high-touch way of dealing with people as opposed to kind of like a burn-and-churn type, like particularly an ad where it's ... all the way, it's just trying to get lots of people at the front end, and then push them through a couple of steps and, hopefully, the ones who have expressed themselves an artist pop out of the bottom.
I think one of the real benefits that having a book gives you the opportunity to create is many more of those individual touchpoints, many more opportunities to kind of make that personal connection using the book as the primary asset, as the thing that you can refer back to, as the kind of the opportunity to have a talking point that can then lead on to something else. It just makes all of the ... It amplifies all the lying, gives a lot more opportunities.
Focus: I agree. And that's what also gave me the oomph to write the book. When I got the engagement ... Well, one, I was actually headed out to Chicago with Les Brown for a speakers' camp. It's called, Inspired to Speak.
Stuart: Fantastic.
Focus: And my daughter has a good friend in her class, and I asked the mom, can she take my daughter to and fro one of those days I would be there. And she said, "Well, what's up? What are you doing?" And I told her, "I'm a life coach. I'm going for a speaking certification by the Les Brown. I'm really excited about it." And she said, "DivaGirls. DivaGirls. You got to find out about DivaGirls, Philadelphia." I said, "I sure will, when I come back." And when I get back, I have a financial coach. That's called a coup, everybody that's listening. Oprah has four couches.
So I said to my financial coach, he wants me to go to an event, and here comes Pete. And I'm like, "Sure, I'm there. This man has saved me a lot of money, so I'm there when he says, "Let's!" I say, "Go!" So he said, "DivaGirl." I'm like, "DivaGirl. Wow!" So he was like, "Yes. The founder's going to be there." So it was so perfect that I got connected in two areas of my life. And that's the event we've been talking about. May 5th is DivaGirl, Philly. They're having their fourth annual event of the women empowerment and fitness that I'll be speaking to. So, for me, I was like, "I need to get a tool out, because there's going to be 200 women there. As much as I can talk, I wanna be effective. So what's a good tool that can also get out there and have people have a conversation with me that I might not be able to touch each and every one of them? And so that's when the fire got lit underneath me that I need to get this book out.
And my speech is, "You can be right, you can be happy. But you can't be both." And then the founder, her name is Magette, she actually tagged it with, How to Have a Healthy Love Affair. We had an amazing conversation, and I said to her, "What do your women need to hear?" 'Cause I believe you don't wanna get in the way of what you wanna say to what the actual audience needs to hear.
Stuart: Right.
Focus: And that's what she said ... She said, "How to Have a Healthy Love Affair." And I was like, "I could definitely work with that."
Stuart: And that consistency. So we've got a talk that's labeled with the same language as the book. And we've got a follow-up sequence, after people request a copy of the book, that talks about the same... that talks about the elements in the same way. There's a ... The material, the whole framework, often talk about the eight profit actor's frame ... I can't pronounce my words. I often talk about the eight profit activators framework that we use across all of the business on this side. And one of the super strong benefits there is it's consistent, and it gives people eight hooks to kind of hang their hat on and understand why they are through. And I think that's very similar to what you've got in a consistent model, a consistent language, a consistent message. And as you look in it engaging more people, it's just a way of bringing them through, and not necessarily introducing new words or new terminologies or new things at each different stage.
It just really streamlines that process through to the point that you've got an opp there, have a call with them and get on the phone, or an email, or that one-on-one interaction. Such a great opportunity.
Focus: It's been really a ... mm-hmm (affirmative).
Stuart: So what I wanted to do today, and just to make sure that you're getting some value out of this and it's not just me talking in your general direction, is to pick up on some of the beyond-the-book stuff. So in the last couple of weeks of Outcast, we've been talking about this a lot. What can you do, once you've written it, to have it there effective at the end of the day? If it was just something that was sat on the shelf, it might be an interesting exercise, but it hasn't really ... isn't turning into that much new business.
So I think if we focus on the event of the seekers, and that's coming up in a couple of days, and how you can use the book at the event, and the follow-up sequence afterwards. But I also want us to quickly talk about the kind of networking and referral side of things, because I think one of the biggest opportunity, both for yourself and as people are listening to this, is looking for that low-hanging fruit. It's all well and good to think about this whole new campaign that you could set up and a whole new funnel, and the book is a whole new thing. But actually, if you can use it to amplify or tweak, or command some of the things that you're doing already, that low-hanging fruit means at least you're getting some movement, some additional benefit, and then think of the bigger things, the more complicated things afterwards. So I wanna make sure that we've got time to touch on both of those.
So, starting with the event, do you know how many people are attending? How many attendees there are?
Focus: Yes. The goal is 200. 200 women.
Stuart: And do you know if you'll get the opportunity, so that some of that is structured slightly in a different way? Some of them you'll get the name and email address in the delegates anyway, just as part of being a speaker. Or do you know if it's more of an opportunity that you don't get those details, so you've actually got to make a connection with anyone who were to want to raise their hand in the event?
Focus: Yes. Great question. So no, I don't get those ... their data. But their database, I should say. But I do have ... I'm a presenter, so I'll be speaking for 20 minutes. I also opted in this to be a vendor, so that I can roll out this book, so it's almost like my first rollout. I'm also going to have T-shirts and bookmarks. And I'm also having ... I love Hand & New Stone. That's a massage place here, so they're coming to do massages. So, in order to get the massage, they'll give me their name and their ... Now if you go of interest. But also I'm going to use the Google client technology, where you can ask them to text you their information as well, when I speak from the stage. So that allows anybody that's already in the room to make sure that I get their information and they also get connected to me, so I can have follow-up emails about the event. So that's the technology I'm using right now.
Stuart: Fantastic. So I think that's going to be perfect, because from stage, it's a relatively small room. It's not like you're trying to pull a cast of thousands of people. It's quite small and intimate. And there are a couple of opportunities within that 20 minutes to both put that text-to-join number up there, and say, "Hey. I'd love ... You're the first guys to ever see this in the world. This is a substitute for a book tour. This has just been captured. I've had so much feedback about the way that we frame the Healthy Love Affair model, that a number of people have been bugging me for ages to get this written down. So I said, "This is hot off the press." I really wanna share this with you."
I know that we just put in all the three that ... So that has just arrived. So the number ... I don't know how big that order was. That order wasn't enough for a physical copy for everyone at the event, was it?
Focus: It is not. It's 60 copies, so I'm going to set up free orders. Don't really know how to do that technology-wise. I know it's probably an option to do that on Google Client, where people can log on there and maybe pay for it. And that's something I'll need support from, maybe from our group and Jim, a Google client. But I'm wondering how to do that. That would be a great idea. How, once I run out of books, to allow people to still purchase, and I kind of ship them out to them, and do they cover the shipping? You know, I'm curious as to how to set that up.
Stuart: Yeah. It comes down to, a lot of the time, just the price and effort, and each person is different. It depends on how much effort they can put into it.
There are two options, basically. One option is to make the book available on Amazon, and just point people in that direction. And then, Amazon fulfills it. But the problem there is that you don't get any of the details. Amazon doesn't share the contact details with the purchasers with you in any way. So that's okay, but it's not great from a lead generation point of view. So, really, you're looking at fulfilling the orders yourself, and whether that is ... Unfortunately, you know, CreateSpace, which is the actual printing of Amazon, they used to have their own storefront?
Focus: Okay.
Stuart: So that it was always possible for you to get some more information and order through a slightly different channel, but that's no longer the case, unless you find another print-on-demand company, which is debatably worth the ... That's a lot of overhead. So it would definitely have to be worthwhile to do that.
In this particular saga, there are 200 people at the event. You've got a certain number of books there anyway. A subset of people are going to be interested, even if it's a relatively high subset because there's a good audience match. So you're probably only talking about, by the time you've used the copies that you've got, maybe fulfilling 100 additional orders, if that? To be honest?
Focus: Yeah.
Stuart: So I would probably just deal with those people directly. And whether you set up a shopping cart yourself ... So one of the easiest ways of doing that is there's a website service called Squarespace, and it's almost like a plug-and-play type storefront. Or whether it's just a case of emailing, "Email me your details and here's my PayPal email address, and send some payments through," and that's the way to go. And then just fulfilling them yourself, because the numbers are relatively low.
The other thing that might be worth thinking about is ... And again, it's a cost benefit analysis type thing ... is whether it's worth giving the copies away to that particular audience, have it as a bigger launch if it's a group of female entrepreneurs locally in your area already.
So that group of people, as opposed to something kind of out of area or a group that wasn't as dialed into what you offer, if the match wasn't quite so good, these guys are going to be the hottest of hot prospects, in the sense that the audience matches the closest to the service that you provide. So you might wanna consider having the books at 2.15 each plus shipping, so that maybe works out at, like say $3.00 each. 'Cause 200 people there, so whatever that math extrapolates out to, it might be worth using the opportunity to promote it as a ... as giving it away, as giving it to ... or maybe say there's a fixed number of them that you can give away.
But without having to, for this particular group, without having to charge like a per book price, I wonder if there's a way of kind of amplifying the benefit a little bit more of saying, "I wanna give you a copy of this because it's so important for me to get this message out there. I know that it can help. So head over to the store in the back. We've got a certain number with us. But if we can't ... If we run out of them and you can't get a copy, I'll be sure to put a copy in the post to you afterwards." 'Cause that's going to be a way of getting their name, email address, phone numbers, address details, and really connect ... make that be a connection.
So, for the mental overhead of trying to set up a store and do all of that in, well, what's really only seven days now before the event, it might be-
Focus: Okay.
Stuart: The bad choice might be just to bite the bullet on the cost of the books, and then say that you'll give them away.
I was thinking about the follow-up. No, sorry. Go for it.
Focus: We also have the PDF version that could be given away. Yes?
Stuart: Yeah, exactly. And you make a ... That brings up an interesting point because, in another scenario, if the group wasn't as ... Am I might be misrepresenting as well? This might not be the hottest group of people, so if I'm going off on a bit of a tangent, I mean, just correct my error. If it was another environment. So let's say you had this event this weekend, and then the following weekend, it was an event that you were doing at the university as part of a mentoring program for the students that are going through that. So that second event, hypothetical event, might not be as dialed in. So for ones like that, I would typically say to people, "Go down the digital route, because the costs are lower. If the audience isn't such a direct match, then it's not worth the cost of ... like the physical cost."
For this group though, if this group is really ... If this group represents 200 of your ideally perfect prospects, then it might be worth thinking about the physical one. Just in a differentiation, so the book and the knowledge are ... So, the knowledge that's in the book is the same, the physical version to the digital version, but the psychological value of the two is slightly different. That's how you kind of put the wood behind the right arrow, or I can't think of another metaphor. But put the effort into or sacrifice the cost or the expense or the ... into where it's more worthwhile.
But the digital version, absolutely, that's the case. And you could ... You mentioned Google before as the CRM platform, the tool. So we've got ... Already we've got the website set up for the books, the main one that we're using, which is yourhealthyloveaffair.com and we talked about that as being the place where you can send everyone. Because Google makes it very easy to sell to new landing pages. In theory, you could buy another domain, which was phillydifersloveaffair.com and then duplicate the landing page in a very similar way so the process is the same. But tweak the words on there, so that the words are absolutely dialed into that audience.
Focus: Got it.
Stuart: And on the back of the ... Or the other thing to do is just kind of time shift it. So, knowing that yourhealthyloveaffair.com Although, I mean, we're talking about it now in the podcast. It might get some people who are listening in, opting in just to see what the process is. But apart from that, what you could say to yourself is, "Okay. That demand, so you've just gone live. No one else really knows about it. For the next two weeks, I'll tweak the words on there so they're specifically tailored to this event, 'cause I know most of the traffic is going to come from this event. And then two weeks down the track, I'll make it more generic."
So the option of tailoring it and dialing it into this audience, and a cohesion, all of the psychological ... the pre-suasion type hooks of closing the gap between, "I am the person that you saw speaking on stage, and maybe we had a quick conversation getting coffee afterwards," on this landing page. Now, how do you remember it's me? We've spoken. There's a familiarity before to the process.
So that would be another option as well, to ... If you did wanna go down the digital route of just tailoring either that landing page or a dedicated landing page. And then equally the follow-up sequence as well. So you know there are people who fill out the details to this hypothetical Philly divas, have a Love Affair landing page. You know those people have come from that source, so the email follow-up sequence can be absolutely dialed in as well. And maybe make references back to the event or put the connections in there that will connect them in that experience on that day to the thing that they're now reading. And we call to you later.
Focus: I love it. Yeah. I think that's a great strategy to make sure that they get access to the content, 'cause again, that's our goal, right? It's just to raise the conversation. Here's the conversation, and have someone read the hand that's called that invisible audience to raise their hand and go, "That's me. I need your service “or,” I like that," to kind of play that that's a book and all purchases that the Go version or both, of some kind of combination.
Stuart: Yeah. Another option might be doing things like I'm thinking about life events, generally, now. So it might be the opportunity to add something to it. So, maybe say that there is a draw element to anyone that requests a copy, and the event here, "I'm giving away," or not. Choose better words than, "giving away," but, "I'm going to do to you, 15-minute calls with two of the people who have opted in." And then add, "If your time is more flexible, if you've got ..." 'Cause you're doing this, eh? It's like me doing these calls. It's enjoyable and easy for me to do. And I like talking to people and kind of brainstorming different ideas.
So if an event offering more of my time, it's not ... there isn't kind of a direct correlation with costs. So adding something like that into kind of ... I wanna say incentivized people, but engaged people is probably a better way of saying it. Engaged people are a little bit more with taking the decision to take the first step now. So that might be an option. Particularly, again, if these guys are the hottest because they're the closest to where you are.
Focus: Yes. So what we have is that's a table. We'll have one side of the table, it says 15-minute consultation, and then the other one is saying 15-minute registration. So, for someone that still has a ... you know, an objective, a question, a concern, they can sign up for actual consultation. That within the next 72 hours I'm going to call, we're going to have a conversation, get any clarity they need, objective, or maybe they need to talk to a spouse and all three of us on the line, and either get started and it's a fit, or it's not a fit and they might wanna still just be part of the newsletter, blog, or, you know, you know. So that's also how I'm getting the opportunity to stay connected. 'Cause it's a busy packed day, so I want anyone that wants the opportunity to connect with me to do so. But it might not work for them. They might have all of their classes, boom, boom, boom. And there's also fitness going on. It's lots of vendors ... about 20 vendors and about 18 speakers on that day. So I wanna give them plenty of opportunity... Say it again?
Stuart: Yeah, that's a lot going on in the event. Yeah.
Focus: Exactly. So I'm going to be walking the floor as well. And I'm going to be meeting people. I'm going to refer them back to my table. I have five ladies working with me. So I'm always going to have a lady with me. 'Cause those conversations get pretty, pretty thick, and I can imagine it. And people wanna pull you to the side, Stuart, and start telling you their story, which ... I am so open. I love to hear people. "Sorry. However, that wouldn't be the right place." So I have a lady that can come up and go, "Hey. Let's get you back to the Focus table. We can set up a personal call where you all can talk later, and like really dig deep," right? If she wants to spend that time. So that way I can keep moving throughout the floor as well. But I also wanna honor that female, 'cause it's an all-women's event, and I wanna honor that female and make sure she has the time that she actually wants as well. So that's what we created, that whole system. So that someone's always with me to pull them back to the table and get that contact versus sitting there. And I can't spend 20 minutes with one person, you know, in the middle of the floor.
Stuart: Yeah. Exactly. It does get such a squash on everyone's time. And it's sad. There's so much going on to be able to have another person to kind of step in and keep things moving. Fantastic!
Do you have here a kind of a follow-up sequence in place already? Like an email follow-up sequence to move people on in the conversation after they've opted in?
Focus: Yeah. Great question. So I see that option in Google Client. So I've been looking at the videos to try to learn how to do that, which I think is very unique. It's a great way to do it to keep the conversation going. And I see you and Dean shot me some emails. Very short, but yet it keeps the conversation and you copped it. So I will definitely be setting that up.
Also, what I have is starting May 9th. So then it's May 5th. One of the options on Opera. But those that don't know me or love me yet, but they're interested in what I'm talking about, I have a six-week course called, Create Your Life With Focus Through Affirmation. Through Affirmation. That's one of my tools. So for six weeks straight, we're going to take one area of life. I have a will of life that's in the book. It's called, The Focus World of Life. So we would take, for instance, money, finances. And that hour we'll talk on Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:00. And we'll talk about finance and generate a higher level of thinking and create actual affirmations. And they'll be able to then, the last 20 minutes, and we'll go ... We'll have a Facebook page that they'll be able to post their affirmations and talk about what they're looking to do through it, or what may have already happened.
So that's also the follow-up, that they can register for that right there, in the event, and/or throughout those 72 hours that I'm going to be talking to those people, I'm going to offer the coaching packages. And so those that are ready to start it. If not, you know, what the world of the Focus of Love is. They can also register for that affirmation course as well.
Stuart: Fantastic. So that affirmation course, is that a lower level paid course? Or is that a free introductory?
Focus: Yeah. I love what you're asking. So that what I will offer free is the consultation. If someone's really interested and we talk for hat 15 minutes and now they wanna pull their spouse? I will offer them an actual 30-minute consultation. So those ladies that, from their Diva event, you get ... so the Diva event at no cost, right? So that's the free.
Of the lower rate, like you just share, yes. That's normally a higher cost, but for the Diva Girls' event it only going to be $287 for a six-week-course. And so that we all get together and really create our life inside of that. So they can take away that nugget whether they bring me as their coach or not.
Stuart: Yeah. Fantastic. So I think with that having a hard start, they ... on the 9th. Thinking about that email follow-up sequence that really guides towards that as the step. So you've probably seen it on some of our emails. And, where else might you have seen it? It's on the More Cheese, Less Whiskers podcast, if you've ... I think you're on that list as well.
Focus: I know.
Stuart: So the signature that's on all of the emails that goes out, the way that we structure that email campaign is once a month. Probably not on the podcast one, but the book one for example, as you were talking about, those three or four emails that specifically are in that channel, in that direction, is it and a media and very specific follow-up sequence that guides people towards a next step.
So with the book one, it's to what starts in the book. For you, I think it would be ... That day of May the 9th is a very specific date. There's a start date for something, so having the follow-up sequence, they guide people towards that as their next step, is-
Focus: Okay.
Stuart: I think that should definitely be the email sequence, the also responder should be around that. And then you can draw people into the broader campaign. And the broader campaign, which is just regular updates, as regular as you can make it. So, for us, it's around the podcast. But all of those have got a PS, and a super signature in there that says, "By the way, here are three or four ways that I can help you whenever you're ready.
Number one: It's make sure you complete a copy of the Focus of Love With the Wheel of Life and send me a copy of that.
Number two: It's join this local-level program. A kind of what we refer to sometimes as a mafia offer. A way of people starting with you at a lower commitment.
And then, number 3: For those people you really wanna get started now, here's a join, and here's the way of getting involved in the coaching program, and really stepping forward.
So does that sound ... Does that make sense? That, I think, with the 9th being a hard deadline on something that is starting, the audience for the opt-ins at the moment, know you specifically what you're talking about and what you're leaning towards because they will have seen you talking about it. So that follow-up sequence being dedicated to that outcome. I think that's the best for this next couple of weeks. 'Cause that's a consistent-
Focus: Yeah. I think that's perfect. I think that's ... It's very streamlined. It keeps the conversation going, 'cause no one gets a confused mind and do nothing. So I wanna make sure that it's very spelled out and is very clear.
Stuart: Yeah. So I think just diving into a bit of detail of what that email campaign structure might be. We did a podcast I asked you to listening to, so I think you would have been two shows before, where we were talking about specifically that email follow-up sequence. So there's a bit of a deeper dive there. If you haven't had a chance to listen to it, it'll be episodes 56 or 57, I think? So in there what we wanna do is move people along. So if we know that we've only got four or five days. Well, really, actually, three or four days really for people to get started. So what we wanna do is kind of amplify the message. And then consistently give them opportunities to take the step and get onboard. But we don't wanna just send an email that says, "Hey, remember me? I'm great. You should join this program." What we wanna do is give them more. 'Cause they should know that already. So what I wanna do is give them more value, and kind of ... again, as we said before, kind of amplify the message and go a little bit deeper into it.
So, looking through the Chapter structure of the book, there's obviously the chapter structure mirrors to a certain degree, the status of the wheel. We don't really have enough time to go into each of them in any detail, because it's only a short period of time. It's only a couple of days.
So what I'd be tempted to do is pick the two that you know resonate the most with people.
Focus: Okay.
Stuart: Obviously, some of them will resonate more than others. That's just typically the way things work. And go deep into those a little bit more. Now, because in theory all of these people have got a copy of the book and have read it, you've got the opportunity in the email to refer back to the book, and refer back to the thing that they've already got.
So rather than having to reinvent the wheel and create an email campaign of brand new stuff, you can just refer back to the stuff that they've already got. And then kind of slowly make the point that, really, you wanna dive into this a little bit deeper, and you want to give yourself a way of ... give yourself the time and the gift, if you like, of putting some dedicated effort into this. But I think you can do that by going deeper. And again, it depends slightly on what is the easiest way for you to create additional content.
So some people it's writing. Some people it's talking on audio. Other people it's videos. Some people it's graphics and images. So, depending on what you're the most comfortable with, taking one of those ... or taking two of those elements over that three- or four-day period, and going deep into them and following up with an email and saying, "Hey, Focus. I just wanted to follow up with an email. I got a lot of great comments and feedback after the event and one of the common themes I saw were people asking about this particular element on the page, whatever it is, of the book. So I just wanted to take this opportunity to reach out and share with you some of my thoughts that I was able to share with the people who were asking me that question directly."
What I find is ... And then, why I do the thing is to amplify the message. Now the easiest way might be to do that in audio. And I know we've done that as part of the initial follow-up. So it might be to do more of the same. If that was easy for you to create, 'cause there is a time constraint around doing this. But it might be similar, allow you to amplify it a little bit, and dive a little bit deeper. And the PS in the first email, just say, "PS. If you wanna join the program, then do it here." And then on the fourth email, which is probably going to be about the day before the event, then take someone. Then you can have the more direct message. You're saying, "Hey, Focus. I'm going together with a group of people to run through this. Did you wanna join us?" And just send a kind of short personal expecting a reply-type email to then directly ask them.
It's a bit like the Gary Veiny show kind of jab, jab, jab, right hook type thing. You know, of give, give, give, give some more information, and then ask.
Focus: Yeah. I'm thinking, well, this is amazing.
Stuart: Yeah, yeah. I'll ... So this podcast isn't going to go up until you're at the event, so I'll send you the audio of this, obviously afterwards, and then you can refer back to it as well. So I'll make sure to get that to you.
Focus: Thank you.
Stuart: I've just realized the time and, as always with these podcasts, I talk far too much, and the time goes far too fast.
So, I did wanna quickly touch on the kind of referrals and networking element quickly. Or maybe just the referrals one, actually. 'Cause the networking one is kind of broadly similar to what we've just been talking about. It's just in a slightly different context. So maybe let's hit the referrals one.
Just before I jump off, what we've been talking about though, was there anything, any element of that follow-up sequence or any questions or anything that you know that's happening on the event that you wanna ask about that we didn't have a chance to mention?
Focus: Yeah. Well, you definitely spoke to it. And very quickly, and that is what's a giveaway and what's the sell, if you will? 'Cause I know most of the time, people sit up straight when they buy something. They show up on time. They show up on time, they stay later. Versus you give it to them, they come late and leave early. So my channels of that psychology is that if you give it away, they don't have a stake in the game to pay attention and most likely won't get the most out of it. So as much as I wouldn't even mind giving out all the books, but my experience, especially here in this tri-state area versus the other places I've been to, when a stake is in the game, they're in. You know, they're dedicated. They wanna bleed everything out of it, which I ... Listen, I'm filled up. I'm ready to deliver with my overflow and would love to give all I have.
But what I noticed is that, in this particular area, it doesn't work that way. People kind of fall back. They don't see the value as much, Stuart. Can you speak to that? And we can definitely end. And I heard you say that the time is near.
Stuart: Yeah, definitely. So, typically, what we say is that don't let non-five-star prospects get in the way of five-star prospects. So throw away the tie kickers that are out there. It would be unfortunate, or a mistake, to not give something to someone that did fit into a five-star prospect, just because the majority of people aren't five-star prospects.
So that-
Focus: Brilliant.
Stuart: ... is something that we think about as much as possible, the job of work of this first stage of the process. So the eight Profit Activator models that we've got. Number one ... Profit Activator one is selecting that single-target market. Number two is then identify and getting people to raise their hand. And then number three is educate and motivate them over time to make a decision to interact with you, to buy with you, or to take that next step.
So oftentimes what people do is join together number two and number three. They try and do the ... They try and convert and identify in the same step? And that is ... That comes across in the way that you were saying there that there's tie kickers are separate from the five-star prospects. But still, if the job of work of Profit Activator number two is to identify the people, knowing that not everyone's ready today, then someone who you give something to, but doesn't necessarily respond immediately, they're either a tie kicker and will always be a tie kicker, or no, it's just not the right match. Or it might be that they are a good prospect. It's just the timing isn't quite right. So if you didn't have the opportunity to collect their name and email address details, you'd never know because that path would separate again.
If you do collect their details, even if they don't respond immediately, if you are doing this thing like we do with the podcasts, particularly, of having a regular reason to reach out to people and get the message in front of them, then they might be ready in six months' time. And therefore, if you didn't catch their details, you would never know.
So that's usually the principal of we're coming from. One option even it might be ... Just bearing in mind that if you can do some sifting and sorting, and tell the difference between colder prospects versus hotter prospects, one option might be the digital version versus the physical version.
So if you've got a way of packaging the physical version so that it adds more value. So give the digital version away. Say to people, "Hey. If I want to get this in ... We're all in the room now. I'm talking from stage. The door's closed in the back. I really wanna get this message out to every single one of you. But obviously, it's impractical to give everyone a physical book because think of the trees." Not everybody. "But I wanna get this message to all of you so I'm going to pull you off, right. And everyone wants a copy of the book, then feel free, head over to the website, text to join. I'll make sure you get your copy of the book. I know there are some people this is really resonating for, and those guys we can really make a difference. And I just wanna make sure that you guys get some like even more, even more powerful, even a quicker start so that you can actually grab and run with. So we have got some physical copies of the book here. In addition to that, I've also included something else." And it's something of low value.
So what you're trying to maybe do is move the price point of the book from ... I mean, we know that it costs 2.15 to print, so maybe we're trying to move it to $10 because, at the end of the day, it's a nice round number and then you're not messing around with change and $10 is a round number that people can grab.
But adding something to it. So maybe have ... If there's the Wheel of Life in the book, then maybe you've got some assets already, some things already that more graphically represent the Wheel of Life.
So maybe you can print some of those off and create like a little pamphlet or a booklet, or maybe there can be ... maybe you can put this audio example that we were talking about. Maybe you can dive into detail on how to complete the Wheel of Life so their Wheel of Life life workshop. Maybe position it as a workshop that you did with some people and you recorded your kind of presentation section of it. And then just write that in as a link in the pamphlet thing that you give away with the books. Or say, "With the books, I've-
Focus: I love this.
Stuart: ... written in the front cover, a URL that you can go to, a secret URL that you can go to where you can listen to the presentation I made about, completes in this exact thing." So, increasing the value of it without going crazy. It's not like you're trying to say to people, "Hey, it's $100 for the book, and there's all of these other things with it." But it's just differentiating. You've still got the opportunity to collect all of the weeds, but you've got an opportunity to kind of sift and sort, and differentiate into the hotter leads.
Focus: Excellent.
Stuart: So that is that one. The referrals one, I just wanted to quickly mention, just 'cause this has come up three or four times recently. I'm going to do a separate podcast on it. We did touch on it briefly a couple of weeks ago, but I just wanted to dive into it in a bit more detail.
So the referral opportunity for anyone who's doing referrals already or who has business already, there's that opportunity to kind of amplify the book's launch by sending a communication, an email, to your existing customers, and say, "Hey, I just wanted you to be the first to know. So we've worked really closely together. I've loved every minute of it. We've got a good relationship, and we've done a lot of good stuff. I wanted you to be the first to know that I've written a book that covers all of it. I'd love to send you a copy of it." And then you can send them the digital copy of it. Just say, "Reply and let me know and I'll send you a digital copy of it." But then also say, "I know that a lot of people wanna share the message with their friends, but sometimes they struggle to get it in the right context or use the right words. So if you've got a friend that would get a lot from this book, just let me know and I'll send you a copy of it that you can give to them."
And the reason we say do that, rather than, "Give me their email address and I'll send them a copy," is obviously people are resistant. They don't wanna give up their friends' details. So if you've got a copy of kind of facilitating that orchestrated referral, that personal referral, through the book, it's probably, in most cases, it's worth the money of giving the book to someone to then give it to someone else.
So the challenge then, or the trick, is that you haven't got that final person's details immediately. So you wanna include with it a next step that that person can take, the third person can take, in order that you can capture their details. So that might be something like having a downloadable version of the Wheel of Life. Or saying, "I'd like the audio version that we've ... the audio companion thing that we've already done." Just write in a quick note into the book or include a note in the book that says, "Hey, I'd love to show you some additional stuff. This is a bit of ... Again, a bit of a secret thing that I did for some people else, some other people, so it's for a different scenario, but I wanted to make sure that you've got this. So if you head over to this landing page and send me the details, I'll make sure you get a copy."
So then you're not asking for their details in the first instance, but in the second instance, there's an easy low-commitment way of collecting those details.
So, for an orchestrated referrals, that's often a very good way of doing it because it isn't asking for friends to give up their friends' email addresses. It's allowing-
Focus: I like that. What a great way of, yeah, of evolving the relationship. There's the being forceful. I like that. I like to be a rolling. I want volunteers. There's a volunteer hand!
Stuart: Yeah, exactly. It's that passionate army of people who are really dialed into your message and the way you're thinking about it. Yeah, it's a great opportunity. And, I mean, at some point in the future, we'll have a chance to talk about testimonials or follow-ups, and using the book as the, kind of, the thing to start a whole load of other conversations around.
But, yeah. How was that? I think we covered a lot of things. I'm always conscious about talking too much and giving too many, like overload, and not giving people too many ideas. I give people ideas all day. But overloading.
I think those that we've talked about are the good. That's going to be a great start. Particularly given that, in the timeframe in the next couple of weeks, there are some specific things happening.
Focus: Yes. Awesome. And I'll end with this, with my two cents of it all. I love the Google Client phone numbers that you can have. So I've got the 855 Focus 2 u. Right? That's my number, where people cannot only text their emails to, which is really cool, but those that don't actually wanna talk to someone. But I love that there's a tool there that they can actually listen to an overview of my services. And then, it's a couple of options to press to get more detail of different things. And/or leave me a voicemail. I love that, 'cause it allows people to kind of get to know without actually calling and having to speak to a person directly, and feeling like it's going to be a hard sell, which is ... which I'm not into that. I want you to be transformed as much as you wanna be transformed, so I don't anticipate working harder than you, so...
But I love that it gives that distance. Enough for a person to kind of, you know, dip around and get some education and see if they wanna go further, versus there being any other way. So I love that tool on the Google Client.
Stuart: Fantastic. And then, like you say, it's such a ... I've got to know, kind of the minimum viable commitment. It's just helping people take that minimum viable commitment step by step by step, that eventually gets them, when they're ready, to the point that they're as committed to their outcome as you are. And then the whole thing is a lot more successful. Yeah.
Focus: Exactly. Exactly. Brilliant! All right!
Stuart: Perfect. So I'll ... What day is it now? So a week on ... As we've become to know, next week this will go up. So as people listening to this now sort of have a ... take a moment to think about Focus, 'cause she'll probably be talking like this on stage. If anyone wants to see the book that we're talking about, and it's really is a great read. I just loved the positioning of it. So head over to yourhealthyloveaffair.com and then you can see some of the things that we've been talking about. I think that's a great step.
And anyone that's in the Philadelphia ... And we all, I guess, even not in the Philadelphia area, if you're listening to this and resonate with the message that Focus has got, definitely reach out to her. And, yeah, and it's, I think, this is just such a great framework. You've got such great opportunity, particularly with the event coming up now. But the whole message is so dialed in. It's ... I'm really excited to see where this goes.
Focus: Awesome. Thank you, Stuart. And everybody's been wonderful at 90-Minute Books. So grateful. When they told me I had to put my head down for about six months to write this book, I said, "There's got to be another way. Everybody's not doing that! There's got to be another way!" Thank you for having ... for you and Dean, and where he was when he got the notion to have it. I really appreciate it.
Stuart: You're welcome. I'm glad. Well, thank you for being so great. It's, as we said just before we started recording, this is the first time that we spoke, although we've emailed in the past. But it's definitely not the first time that I know the team speaking to you, because every time they do I hear about it, 'cause it's such a great ... Your passion comes across and comes through.
And so, thanks, Focus. Thanks everyone for listening. If you wanna see this show though, it's then hardycrustin90minutebooks.com/podcast
If you wanna be a guest on the show as well, we can talk through some of your ideas, whether you are partway doing a book already or whether you're just thinking like, "I can't get started." Then follow the Be a Guest link on the podcast page there. And we get some of these schedules.
As Focus said, rather than dedicating six months in a cabin with a candle writing your book, then obviously the easiest way to get started is to follow the Get Started links on the90minutebook.com website and we can then get a call with you in a couple of months time and see how your book can best be used.
So thanks again, Focus. I'm looking forward to speaking to you again soon. And thanks, everyone, for listening. We'll keep you posted.
Focus: Awesome. You're welcome.