There is a question most expert authors do not actually ask, and you must get your head around it.
In 1993, I worked at Waterstone’s mail order department. During the evenings, I shipped my self-published book from my spare bedroom.
I now realise that I was obsessed with the wrong things.
I was only interested in the number of copies I was selling. I tracked the money coming in and going out. Yet, I never paused to ask a simple, powerful question about my business.
The question you need to get clear on is: ‘Who are your customers becoming when they learn from you?’
I had been learning from hustle marketers; you see them all around. They are the ones who focus on selling you the latest tactics.
It took me years to get a firm grounding in non-coercive marketing.
Most expert authors focus on the wrong things when they start. They come up with an idea for a product, create it, try to sell it, and then move on to create another product.
Worse still, there is a trend among authors to write to market. They spot a valuable niche that lacks attention. Then, they write a book for it, often with no expertise, piecing together ideas from others. They are more like reporters than authors.
Operating like this is a soul-destroying way to run a business. To live a free and fulfilled life, you need a lot more than money.
You need to focus on soul work and see your author business as a service to the world.
Change begins with one person. So, by using your expertise, you can make a difference in the world.
Who are the people you serve? What will they become after they read your book, take your online course, or attend your live event?
Because if you’ve done your job right, you will change people, and that is a big responsibility.
The psychopath marketer will ignore that responsibility and not care. They’ll hustle through life, making one bad business decision after another.
When I set up Eatweeds I didn’t sit down and think, ‘I want to sell foraging courses.’
I imagined who I wanted people to be when they entered my world. I wanted them to walk past a hedgerow and not just see food or medicine, but also to feel a deep connection to their place.
I wanted them to trust their senses instead of deferring to some expert on a screen. I wanted them to feel capable and free in a landscape they had walked through blindly for years.
As expert authors, we do not sell a product description; we sell transformation.
When we view our business this way, something magical occurs. Once you understand the transformation your customer experiences, the product almost creates itself.
You stop second-guessing because now you have a clear point to measure against.
Does the thing you’re creating move someone from where they are to where they want to be?
Most authors and course creators ignore this aspect completely.
They write the book first. Then, they create the online course. After that, they scramble to figure out how to market it.
That’s completely arse over tit. It’s back to front. Marketing drives the transformation, while the product is the means to make it happen.
Today, ask yourself: dig deep into yourself. If you succeed, who will your customers have become? Not what they would have bought, but who will they be.