Make $1,000 a Month Writing and Publishing E-Books with Lise Cartwright

Hi there!

The wisdom & knowledge in your own head can be enough to generate an extra $1,000 per month for your family and your dreams. Lise is the author of around 35 books available on Amazon and she'll show you how your experiences and your story can help change lives and make more money. It's easier than you think!

Some of this weeks episode highlights are:
11:40 Writing for me was a natural progression... from writing for other people, to then writing for myself, about things that I enjoy!
16:42 The term "Expert" has to be re-defined! Who is to say that you are not an expert in something that you have experience in? Who would you rather learn from? Someone who has walked the walk, or someone who theoretically understands it?
33:41 Where do you start? Consider what are the experiences that you have that you can share with other people to help them figure things out?

--- Full Raw Transcription of Podcast Below ---

Introduction (00:00):
The term 'expert' has to be redefined because who's to say that you, dear listener, are not an expert in something that you have experienced?

New Speaker (00:14):
Welcome to the SideHustle Lounge. If you're looking for flexible ways to earn income, grow your mindset, and live the lifestyle you've always dreamed of, you are in the right place. So lower the lights. Grab your favorite beverage and join your host. Founder of NotaryCoach.com and Amazon bestselling author of Sign and Thrive: How To Make Six Figures As A Mobile Notary And Loan Signing Agent, Bill Soroka.

Bill (00:50):
Cheers to our guest today, Lise Cartwright. Lise is a best-selling author, creative business strategist, and an amazing coach who is obsessed with helping others create and grow a business and life they love. Lise, Thank you so much for agreeing to join with joining us today.

Lise (01:09):
You're so welcome Bill! I'm happy to chat with you today.

Bill (01:13):
Yeah. I always love our conversations. I always come out of it feeling so energized and I feel like I can take anything on those of you listening today. We are talking about how to make a thousand dollars a month of writing eBooks, and you're going to get advice from a true expert in how to do this. Lise is the founder of https://www.hustleandgroove.com. It's the number one online source for getting clear on your business model and creating consistent income. And then through her books, training videos and coaching, she's actually helped thousands of people on their journey to creating an online business. That's easy, fun, and profitable. And I can speak from experience because Lise has coached me through to a while. I've only published two books and she's coached me through them. And there's a huge emphasis on the fun part. Lise - fun seems to be just an integral part of your life mission.

Lise (02:08):
It is. I mean, why start a business particularly in online business that you are running and it not be fun that doesn't make sense

Bill (02:19):
Does not make sense. Right. And it's funny, we were just talking about kind of the the fiascos that kind of go on behind the scenes. And you talk about it in a few of your books about the hustle that's involved. And you're oftentimes working you're up super early right now. Sometimes you're working late and if you're going to be pouring that much energy into it, you might as well love what you do.

Lise (02:41):
Exactly. I mean, it is it's so it's so interesting to me, how many people I chat to who have started an online business and they're not enjoying it. I'm just like, why, why would you still continue to do something that you don't enjoy? It does it doesn't, it's just my mind boggles because we have the ability to change what that looks like.

Bill (03:05):
Would you say to then that enjoying what you do is even integral to success. Have you found that through your coaching clients and your own expense?

Lise (03:15):
Yeah, for me, it's, you know, having an online business, I've been in business for coming up 10 years now, and it has evolved and changed because as human beings, we're not static. We don't just stick. You know, it's not just one thing. And particularly the more that I've dived into understanding who I am and how I operate and the things that really excite me, the way that I show up in my business and the way that I serve others is always aligned. If I'm doing something that's easy and fun, right? Like if I'm doing things that are just easy and fun for me, it comes across in everything I do. So it's, yeah, it's very much about doing the things that light you up and understanding that you can do that. You can do the things that you love and make money at the same time. It's not a one or other thing.

Bill (04:11):
I love that. So I think so many people get caught up, they think, Oh, if I have to make money, or if I have to run a business, it's going to have some hardship or it's going to be a burden or that's just the way life is, but it doesn't have to be there.

Lise (04:26):
Definitely not.

Bill (04:27):
It can be fun and make you money. Exactly. Right.

Bill (04:31):
Well, tell me how, what led to you even starting an online business and then, well, let's start there and then we'll move into the writing company.

Lise (04:39):
Yeah, sure. So 2011 let's go down back to what that looked like. It was 2011, I was working full time and I just remember, you know, on this side of the world, we have our kind of summer holidays over the Christmas new year break cause it's summer. And I remember coming back to work after having you three solid weeks off and just feeling pretty ill about going back to work and to the point where I, you know, TMI guys, if you're listening to the point where I was actually physically sick getting up and going to work in the morning. And I was like, okay, this is probably not how I want to continue my life. And so it really just sent me on a journey of, okay, well, what's possible. I knew that I didn't want to just find another job and in three years time be faced with exactly the same kind of scenario, cause I'd already rinsed and repeated this type of scenario about three times in the last decade. So 2011 was the year that I really learned. Okay. Now is the time to make a different decision and not continue to keep repeating the same and expecting a different outcome. And so I really just explored lots of different options. I spend a lot of time researching and looking online and landed on freelancing. So freelancing is basically, you're still trading time for dollars, but you are now in full control of your time. And for me, that was the first step was I wanted to be able to go to the gym when I wanted to. I wanted to be able to take a two hour lunch and not have to be back at an office just because my boss told me that that's what I had to do. I wanted to start work early, finish work early. You know, I, I just wanted full control of my time. And freelance writing was the thing that I felt was what I could do. And so in August, 2011 is when I started doing that as a side hustle. So I still was working full time and I was freelance writing on the side, but by June, 2012, I quit my job and I have not looked back. That was the last time that I worked full time as an employee. And it's has been a wild ride since then.

Bill (07:13):
I can only imagine, but do you see there's any way of going back? Any regrets?

Lise (07:18):
No regrets. You're certainly in terms of the last 10 years, you know, you make mistakes, but that's how you learn. So I certainly wouldn't change any of that. I might've done a few things a lot differently, but then I gain my who I am and kind of my personality and the way that I work. I don't know that I, I could have done it any differently because I thrive under pressure and I need, I kind of pressure cooker situation for me to, to kind of make leaps and bounds forward. I'm not someone even though I am super organized and super planned, I can plan things out, but unless I have a really hard and fast deadline, I will just pretty much leave things to the last minute, which is super interesting. When you hear about how many books I've written and what that looks like, we can unpack that in a second.

Bill (08:13):
Well, I can't wait in fact, well, I mean, I think that's a perfect segue there. We were joking before we started recording. I lost count looking at all the books you have written and publish on Amazon.

Lise (08:25):
Yeah, I think I'm at ... I have lost count myself because contrary to popular belief, I'm not sitting there counting my books, but I think I'm around this 33 mark. I'm working on my 34th book at the moment. I believe it might be 35. I'm not sure. Because I've done a couple of co-authored books as well. And I always forget about those ones. So yeah, it's either 24 or 35 that I'm coming out to. So yeah, I I've been writing books since 2014 and no special degree. I want to highlight that in your even going into freelance writing, I had no writing degree and I want to kind of let you know that you don't meet a writing degree. And I'm not saying that anyone listening to this who does have a writing degree, that that means that you're, that I'm better than you are.

Lise (09:20):
It's nothing to do with that. I believe when it comes to nonfiction in particular, because that's why I write that if you truly had to help somebody and you have the ability to share your knowledge with a, you have a writing degree or not, doesn't change that. It's more about learning how to communicate that information in a way that makes, sense to the person reading it. So I just wanted to kind of let you know that there's no, I definitely have no special degree from that perspective. And really for me, I have always been a writer. I've always had a diary. I've always been able to communicate better when I write and I, my husband and I joke about the, well, I joke about it. My husband probably doesn't think it's funny, but I think it's funny because I'm just, I would love to be able to just pull in an argument and just go 'hang on a minute. Can I just write this?' There would probably be comebacks. If I write them down, then he's, you know, he's so quick on his feet. I'm not, I'm like, I just need a moment to write this down. I'll have an amazing comeback for what you just said.

Bill (10:31):
This is so relatable Lise. I used to, I used to say, can I just write you a letter? Let's take a break. And I'd like to write you a letter about how I really feel about this that did not go over.

Lise (10:41):
No, no, it doesn't mean if it goes over well, so it's, it's interesting when I, when I think back, I never ever thought about writing as a career in any way, shape or form because you know what, when we're, when we're in high school and then we go into university or college, whatever you want to call it, it's that same more as an, an art, you know, type of thing. It's not seen as something that you would actually make money. And then when you're looking at it from a non-fiction perspective, it's even less of a I'm not sure how you would word it, but, you know, fiction is we have most, but when you, when I tell people that I you know, that I'm an author and they say what, what have you written? And then I, you know, walked through what I've written and there's no, ahhhh.

Bill (11:28):
It wasn't Harry Potter. They don't care!

Lise (11:29):
They're just like, Oh, you're not a novel writer. No, not at all. I would love to write fiction, but my brain is not wired that way. I'm going to say, yeah. So writing for me was an, was a natural progression after I did freelance writing. In your eye, I was, had been doing that for about two and a half years before I got to another kind of fork in the road where I was like, okay, I'm really not enjoying writing about tires and I'm not enjoying writing about finance anymore. So what, how can I do something different? And so that was when I started the same thing. I started going down a research process of, okay, how can I write? But not for other people, you know, you kind of, I think as a freelance writer, you do get to that kind of point where you're just like, Hey, I'm kinda sick of writing for other people.

Lise (12:21):
I, I want to write the things that I want to write. And so that's when I started understanding and learning about self publishing. I think it was Steve Scott's that I really, that really paints my curiosity. He, at that stage, he had written about 10 books and publish them on Amazon. I was like, man, how did he do that? And I do remember being quite intimidated by the thought of actually writing a book. So if you're sitting there going, I can't do this, I can totally feel you because I just remember thinking, how does this even come to pass? Like, how do you format everything? Like, how do you actually just put everything together? Like, I, I look at books and I can open a book and go, okay, cool. There's this flow, but how does that happen? And so I, in 2014, after we'd just gotten married, I turn around and say to my husband, sorry, I want to invest in this program. It's going to cost us about $4,000. and we're still paying off our wedding. Yeah, this is what I wanted to, and, you know, he, he's amazing. He's always being super supportive. And I learned the process of, you know, writing publishing and launching a book. And at the time I thought this just might be something that I do as another side hustle, but it really turned into something that I did full time. So from 2014 to now, that's how I've written 33 plus books.

Bill (13:57):
Wow. 33, 34, 35. You have as many books as I do business failures. That's a whole other podcast. What I I love what you talked about here, and I want to go back a little bit just to the fear part, because I love that you brought up that you don't need a special degree. A lot of people go right to the degree, especially if you've been raised in a house where that level of education has been imposed or encouraged on you. But there's, there's something to our story and how, and I think it's important that everybody realize, especially in the non-fiction world, that we have a story inside. Can you speak to what it's like to tap into that story and your experience and how you share it?

Lise (14:52):
Just remember when I first kind of sat down and was in the mind mapping phase, like when you kind of sitting down to think about a book that you're going to write, I remember sitting down and coming up with about 30 ideas for books, right? I remember sitting down just going, well, I could talk about this. I could talk about this. I think it's important to know that we are all different people and the way that I approach this will be very different to the way that you might approach this and the way that Bill approaches it. So what am I about to tell you? You might think, well, I can't do that, but it's just because this is me. I am doing the things that are easy and fun for me. And I want to, I want to highlight that before I dive into this.

Lise (15:35):
So, you know, I remember sitting down in mind mapping and I had 30 ideas for books, and I've never once really thought I can't write this because I don't have a specific skill degree in this area. I have always written from experience. And as a coach, I think it's where it's inherent in us, that we, are here to teach and share knowledge. And so that has always been at the forefront of my mind. So for me, it has always been, I have to share this, I have to share the story so that I can help others not make the same mistakes, or if they do make them those mistakes, that they know how to course correct, or they know how to pivot and tweak based on their unique way of doing things. So that is how I've always approached it. I've never ever sat there and gone, well, I can't write this because I don't have a specific degree in it, or I'm not this ""expert"" and you can't see me, but I'm using air quotes around ""expert"".

Lise (16:42):
I think the term ""expert"" has to be redefined because who's to say that you, dear listener, I'm not an expert in something that you have experienced, and it's very different to go to university and theoretically learn something than it is to turn around and, and experience that same thing. Who would you rather learn from - someone who's actually walked the walk or someone who's theoretically understands it? And I'm not saying that your degree is a complete waste of time. I have two, but the reality is is that I would rather talk and listen to someone who has experienced, who has walked something, because then I can ask questions and they can then speak from that experience. Does that make sense though?

Bill (17:37):
Yeah, that makes total sense. And I'm in 100% agreement, complete moot points. You made that. And I love that because, and I think that's such a, it's a tough realization to get through for a lot of people, but once you make that break through and they re and you realize that your story does matter and you can make a difference to other people, and it might surprise you on that. Have you, and your experience been pleasantly surprised when you hear back from your readers about your story or something that you teach.

Lise (18:14):
Absolutely. I mean, it's always my hope that people will learn and implement. I'm a massive action taker. So it's, I love it when someone reaches out to me and says, hey Lise - I read what you wrote. I mean, actually put it into practice. But it still surprises me, right? I am in Australia and I'm, you know, actually I'm an New Zealander. So New Zealand is this tiny little country on the other side of the world. And when I first started my writing books and stuff like that, when I was in New Zealand, I remember someone reaching out to me. I'm just like, I do not know this person. And I have been able to impact that person's life through a book that I wrote and published on Amazon. It is mind blowing to me to think that you can have that ability, but that's exactly why self publishing, in my opinion, is just such an amazing way to reach an audience that don't even know you exist.

Lise (19:15):
But then when they do like in your have other, the other thing that comes to mind is that people worry that, you know, markets are saturated and all those types of things. Well, I don't know what the last head count is for world population. I'm pretty sure there is enough people in the world that it's not saturated, right? I that's neither, again, never been a concern of mine because I know that my particular voice, the way that I write a book will connect with a very select market. And I know that that I'm not for everybody. And so when you understand that, cause it's the same for all of us, we're here to impart knowledge and we will connect with the people that we will commit. We are not trying to connect with the entire world. And so I think when you understand that it's even easier to just be like, okay, I'm writing this book for the people that I am uniquely here to impact. And I know that that's not going to be the entire world if it happens to be that way. And you're the some major publisher picks your book up. Amazing, amazing. But how amazing is it to still impact a thousand people or 2000 people, right? Like, and that's possible with just one book.

Bill (20:38):
It is. And I think I love what you are, where you went with this because without the book, without taking the step without getting in the arena, that voice and that message doesn't get heard, would you say Lise that if somebody has that story inside and they do have just a vision and a mission to help other people, would you say that writing a book is almost imperative?

Lise (21:05):
I think so. Because a book opens doors, right? So I can't, again, I'm from New Zealand, it's like 6 million people in that country. That's it? So it's, you know, when, in terms of marketing yourself and being able to impact others, it, the platform that self publishing gives you and that having a book gives you opens doors. And after about my third book, I started getting invited to speak at summits. I started getting invited to do podcast interviews. I started getting invited to do guest blog posts, all of those types of things. And that would never have happened. Had I not had a book or two or three at that stage, you know, like it really people, if you think about it from a particularly, you know, let's talk about you bill from a podcast perspective, you need people to talk to. And most people start by jumping on Amazon and looking at authors. So to interview, because if someone's written a book, they've got something to say. So I think it's, it's just a really good platform to start from, to build from, in terms of getting your message out there. And a book is like one of the easiest ways to do it, rather than trying to start your speaking career. For example, it's easier to have the book and then, you know, use that to platform into speaking and everything else that you might want to do.

Bill (22:42):
Yeah. And let's talk about that a little bit, cause you brought up self publishing and I think, you know, self publishing has come a long way. First of all, just in quality and reputation and ease, ease of use with technology and stuff. But there's still, there's still a lot of people who think that when you write a book, you have to go the traditional publishing route. So for our listeners that maybe don't know the difference. Can you explain that a little bit and then let's move into how the self publishing your process works?

Lise (23:11):
Yeah. So I think the biggest difference between self-publishing and traditional is that self publishing you have full control as in you have full control over everything you have full control over pricing, full control over your cover, like full control. Whereas if you go the traditional publishing route, you literally have no control. The only piece that you really control, and even I'm using air quotes again around the word control the words that you've written and even in those will be molded into whatever the publisher believes is going to sell. They also, you know, traditional publishers control the cover. Yes, you might have a say, but at the end of the day, they're the ones forking out the money for the books. So they're going, gonna control what the cover looks like. They control pricing. So you can never, you know, put your book on sale.

Lise (24:04):
They control all of that. And I think the other piece that's important to understand is that traditional publishes will typically only pay you a royalty top royalty of 15%. And that's one five, whereas on the self publishing side, from an ebook perspective, you get 70% and that's seven zero. So massive difference in royalties. Now, yes, if you go the traditional publishing route, you will get a lump sum upfront, but you will only get a decent lump sum upfront if you have an existing platform. And I think this is what a lot of people don't understand is that if you have a small email list and you're really just at the starting point, a traditional publisher is not even going to look at you. You need to have a platform first. So I actually know quite a few people who have gone the self publishing route initially, and then that being picked up by a traditional publisher because they've proven that they have books sells.

Lise (25:09):
They've got a large platform. And what I mean by that is they have an email list of at least 20,000, 30,000 people. They have a social media presence. They're active, all of those things. So a really good example of this is Hal Elrod of The Miracle Morning. I've worked with Hal before - I've interviewed him. And Hal initially started out self publishing. So The Miracle Morning is self published. It is not traditionally published and I'm pretty sure Hal's not too concerned about the fact that he sells 10,000 plus copies of books and gets to keep 70 percent of the royalties. I'm pretty sure he's too concerned, but he wanted to do the experiment. So I spoke to him about two years ago now with his other, his next book, The Miracle Equation came out and he decided to traditionally publish that because it was a good time for him to do it. And he made the decision based on his family. They gave him a sizable up front amount, right? This massive lump sum that he knew he would be able to still make money long term because he had a platform. Now, when I say platform, Hal has a hundred thousand email subscribers. He has millions who follow him on Facebook and Instagram and The Miracle Morning is what, 10, 11 years old now. So I think it's just, it's good to kind of see that, that stage, that traditional publishing might be something that you work towards, not recommended to do upfront and how he made that decision. But he, you know, at the same time when they were talking to him, they wanted to take on The Miracle Morning. He said, no, I make way too much money to hand that over to a traditional publisher. So I think it's, you just have to look at it from a context perspective. Do I have the ability to market my book because that's, the other thing is even though the traditional publisher is going to give you a lump sum upfront you, dear author, potential author, are still responsible for marketing the book.

Lise (27:27):
This is what they don't tell you. So if you don't have a platform, it's going to be extremely difficult for you to make back that money because that advance that lump sum that they give to you. You don't start receiving a royalty until you have sold that many books to pay that money back. So I hope that that gives you enough. And I personally, I wouldn't never ever go the traditional publishing route for all of those reasons and that you just have full control. I want the ability to have full control and be like, you know what? I feel like giving my book away today, or I feel like putting my book on sale. Never ever can you do that with a traditional publisher.

Bill (28:11):
I love that, that difference. And thank you for tying Hal Elrod's book in there too. Miracle Morning changed my life completely. What you're saying. Completely jives. Actually I was just on Clubhouse the other day and I was listening in on the conversation that said, you know, these traditional publishers, they are really good at some things and not so good at others. And they are really good at book distribution, booking you on you know, news programs, and things like that. But where they fall short in a lot of cases is the marketing component and actually selling the books and that does fall on the author. And now that I've had the experience of self-publishing, I just don't see how I could ever go back either. The royalties are incredible. And like you said, sometimes you just want to cut the prices on the book and have that creative control of the book. So this publishing is now that self publishing is here. That's not a hindrance. The barriers are down, they've been lowered for you. And Lise can you talk a little bit about, I mean, if somebody was going into self let's just talk about what's the next process. How do people make a thousand dollars a month writing eBooks now? What's it look like?

Lise (29:31):
Yeah. So I think it depends on what your goal is with the book, right? So my approach, again, always different is for me, I'm looking to, you know, from a side hustle perspective, I'm very much about having multiple streams of income. So I never want to have my eggs all in one basket. So I took that same approach. When I started self publishing, I was like, okay, how can I make money from writing books? Like, what does that really look like? And I really followed Steve Scott's model, where he was consistently publishing. And so for me, I was like, okay, what would it look like if I published a book a month, what would that look like? Well, that looks like about four to five K a month. If you'll consistently publishing, that's the word there consistently publishing is key. Now it does depend, you know, Bill, you have a couple of books, they're very niche.

Lise (30:27):
They're very specific and it's a very specific audience. So if you have that type of book, you don't need to write a book a month. You just need to market that book on an ongoing basis. So for me, it was okay. I have lots to talk about. I want to, you know, I had those 30 plus books mind mapped when I first initially started. I was like, lets start there. So I was like, okay, I had heard somewhere I can't - I can't remember where it was that if you published consistently that this was basically triggering Amazon's algorithm. And for those of you listening, yes, Amazon has an algorithm just like Google, just like every other major online platform. There is an algorithm. And with Amazon, their algorithm is this 30 day windows. So when you first publish a book, you have 30 days of love from Amazon, basically where Amazon just loves on you.

Lise (31:27):
It's like Amazon just wants to promote fresh content. That's all they care about. And I think that's important to understand is that you're publishing on an ad platform that is owned by a company that wants to make money. So if you help them make money, they will promote your book. So in that thirty day window, you have the ability to trigger a whole bunch of different things like a hot, new release bestseller, all of those types of things. And if you do that, then your book can earn really good money. Now, being if you're doing that every month, you now start to build a back catalog of your books. And so there's a whole what is it, 'a rising tide lifts all ships' applies to your books. Every time you publish a book, it lifts the visibility of your other books. And so I learned this pretty early on you know, I'd written in 2014, I wrote two books.

Lise (32:24):
And then at the beginning of 2015, when I was sitting down and writing out my goals, I was like, what would it look like? Like how could I trigger the algorithm in a massive way? And so I had decided, and this is extremely a, do not recommend it to write seven books in seven weeks, definitely don't recommend doing that. About what was it the third book in? I was like, Whoa, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. I did it though. I did seven books in seven weeks and that really kick-started my entire earning ability on Amazon because I had done that. I, you know, with within sort of a five months timeframe, I was earning three to four K and then it just built on top of it. And so I was a full-time author the two years just writing a book a month basically.

Lise (33:18):
And I loved it, loved it, but I'm most multi-passionate. So that's why I didn't continue to just continue doing that every month because it was like, I want to do other things, but it really just was about sitting down and going, okay, what is it that I can, or theoretically talk about? You know, not I've just learned to sing now I'm going to teach it. It was what are the experiences that I have that I can really share with somebody to help them figure this stuff out too. And that's where I started. So if you're sitting there going, what am I going to write about? We'll just think about, you know, what is it that you want to help somebody with? That's really the question to ask yourself. And then the whole mechanics, the whole process of publishing on Amazon as relatively easy people think it's a lot harder than it than it actually is.

Lise (34:12):
If you are able to Google information, if you are able to watch a video on YouTube, you got this, right. Like you can totally publish on Amazon. And yeah. So for me, I, again, I am, you know, deadline driven. So I intentionally put a pretty tight timeframe when I'm writing a book intentionally, because if I don't, then I'll just take forever to write it. So I typically will write my first draft in a two week period. Now I can already hear people going, Holy crap, that seems like a lot, but it's not. When you understand that you're not trying to write a 90,000 word book, you're really shooting for 60,000 words or less. I personally believe the sweet spot is 20 to 30,000 words, which looks like around 200 to 300 pages in a six by nine book, which is pretty standard. So from an ebook perspective, if you understand that if someone's buying the ebook version, you're accessing it on the Kindle or the Kindle app.

Lise (35:23):
As soon as they are in there on their Kindle, it actually tells them how many hours it's going to take them to read it. And so typically 30 thousand words is going to be about three hours, which is great, right? You do not want the person from a... and this is non-fiction - fiction is a whole other thing, but non-fiction perspective. Like I want information quickly. So I don't want it to take me too long to get to that point. So I apply the same thought process to my books. If I want to help my reader, I do not need to fill pages full of fluff and choose a point. I'm like, do this, do this, do this right. And so if you think about it, that way, 30,000 words, if you sat down and went, I kind of, well, I can probably carve out an hour a day.

Lise (36:07):
And then you find out how many words you type, or how many words you speak, because you can speak your book, right? You can actually speak it and get it. It can be transcribed. I use Otter.AI To do that where you literally are speaking into an app and it's typing away as you speak. Book written, right? It doesn't take very long. So, you know, two weeks at an average of 1500 words an hour, if you're writing it, doesn't take long to get that first draft. So, you know, if you sit down and go actually six weeks, six to eight weeks, you could very, very, easily have a book ready to publish in that timeframe.

Bill (36:49):
That is incredible. And it sounds so much easier than my first book. Where were you leasing? The very, in the three years, it took me to sit down and write that thing. Gosh, don't even get me started on that. That's a different world, but absolutely. And I love what you talked about, first of all, I just want to clarify, did you say Otter? O T T E R

Lise (37:13):
The animal, but there's an app and it's yeah... It's also Otter.ai. These it has changed the way that I'm in. Like I'm a writer first, but I have found that I, I use Otter for everything now. So if I'm out on a walk and an idea pops into my head, I immediately speak it straight into Otter and it types it out for you. It does well for me, it took a little bit of training it to understand my accent. But for any of you that are in North America, you'll be fine. On the sensor, I seem perfectly, but it, so it keeps the recording and it types out immediately for you. And we speak so much faster than we write. So if you're sitting there going, I'm not a writer, I hate writing. Great. You get to speak your book, no excuses.

Bill (38:05):
That is, that is so powerful. And I think I'm going to use that for the next one. I love how you also said don't fill this thing with fluff. On the other side of that, what's your opinion. What's your opinion or advice on delivering the value? Like just given the goods. Do you recommend holding back to sell something later if they're building a course or a product, or just give it all to them in the book?

Lise (38:24):
Awesome. In a book that's my approach because the reality is this is human nature. We will read a book and I've done this. I've, you know, you'll read the book and maybe 10% of your readers will actually implement the information, but for most people that read it and then go, wow, I need some accountability. I need some handholding. So if you're thinking about offering a cartoon program, or if you're thinking about offering courses or workshops or anything like that, don't hold back. Because what you're actually also doing is highlighting all the things that need to be done. And for most people that is overwhelming, but the reality is it's in a book. So it's a great starting point. And then you can use the book to create your course or use it as the piece for your coaching program, because it's already there and you can walk someone through it. You can always be referring them back to the book and say, Hey, on page blah, blah, blah. This is where you'll find it. And let's talk about that on our next call. So I, yeah, I personally believe to just include all the things. Why not?

Bill (39:37):
Yeah. I love that. And I think too, you know, your book, it's for a lot of people, it's the beginning of your relationship. And I think your authenticity and your willingness to just share all the things as you put that, love it. When you say that it tears down walls and builds a relationship with that person, even without being in the same room. And if you hold back, I think your readers can feel that it'd be almost like sitting at coffee with a person who's not being totally engaging. Or you can just tell they're withholding information or enthusiasm or personality.

Lise (40:12):
Yeah. And I think, you know, people are savvy now we are, we've been exposed to lots of things. So you can just tell, right? Darn think that your readers can't tell, I take the same approach to, if I'm writing a blog post, my blog posts are always at least 2000 to 3000 words because I include all the things. I don't want to hold things back. I want to empower, and equip people to figure things out for themselves if that's what they want to do. But then I, I'm also like, you know what? I also offer support. So that for those people that just like, you know what, I actually just want somebody to also help me along the way. So you're able to then serve both types of people by doing that.

Bill (40:59):
Yeah, totally. I love that you used the word serve there too. Cause that's exactly what we're doing here as we, before we actually wrap up, because this has been amazing. Thank you so much, Lise. Let's talk a little bit about the feeling after publishing, what's it like to publish and what's the rewards both internal and external,

Lise (41:21):
Sorry, the first time, actually just a little bit before you hit publish, because you get a proof copy of your book. And I highly recommend, like, we've talked about e-books, but when I say book, I really talk about ebook and your paperback, because I always recommend that you do both. So for me, it was actually physically holding my book in my hands was the, the first time that I was like, this is actually real because when you have an online business, everything's so esoteric, like you can't touch it and feel it, but we knew when you publish a book ebook book you actually have the ability to get that physically in your hands. And I don't know, it's just such a sense of accomplishment that you've actually published a book. Right? And you can now walk around going, yeah, I am a published author.

Lise (42:19):
Here is the proof of it. So there's that, but then when you actually hit publish inside your KDP account, and it goes out into the world, you kind of get to the top of this mountain and you're just like, Holy moly, like all this potential and possibility in front of you. Right. It's like, it's very euphoric. And then lots of marketing, right. Then you're just like, okay, now that I've been published, that is really just the start. You mean you've actually got to do all those other steps. So from an internal perspective, it's that sense of accomplishment that you actually did? The thing that you set out to do, and you physically have proof that you've done it because you now have a book in your hands and then you're the rewards. Ah, if you do, if you launch right. And you've, and you've really done your research around the right keywords, and you understand where your audience is, all like all the things that go into marketing a book at the same as they go into marketing and business, right? Things are very similar. Then you will start to get money from Amazon, right? Like they pay out every month. Now for most new authors, the kicker is that you won't get that for almost three months. That first payment, I love how Amazon don't really tell you. It's a very small button.

Lise (43:41):
I see that money sitting in my KDP account. When's that coming to me? Oh yeah. We don't pay you until almost 90 days later. It's hilarious. But it's so it's not just that though. It's also recognition. People start to recognize you. You start to get emails from random strangers. Who've picked up your book and they have a question. And that is an opportunity to now connect with people on that you would never either have had the opportunity to do. And so, yes, there's the financial reward, but I feel that if you are here and listening to Bill's podcast, you're here because you want to make an impact and you make an impact by connecting with people. And to me, that has always been at the forefront of why I write a book. I'm always, when I'm sitting down to start writing, I'm writing to one person. Like I have a very clear picture of that person. And that's how I write. And that is why people reach out because they can, they feel they can reach out. I, I want people to feel like they can approach me because I'm approachable. I genuinely want to help.

Bill (44:55):
I love that Lise. And that is why I invited you to be on this show. I love your enthusiasm, your energy, and we're scratching the surface of a huge industry and opportunity here, but what a great way to bring it to a close that we can make an impact and make an income through writing these eBooks. If you are interested in learning more, Lise has generously offered her a free ebook, The Side Hustle Blueprint: How To Make $1,000 Per Month Writing e-books. You can get that at hustleandgroove.com/SHLgift. And there's also a link inside the VIP room at the SideHustleLounge.com. So you can check that out. Lise, thank you so much for being here today.

Lise (45:44):
So welcome Bill Thank you so much for having me . I totally loved having a chat with you.

Bill (45:50):
Likewise, and I can't wait for our next one!

- Bill

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