ACERCA DE ESTE EPISODIO
Have you ever envisioned a life where each pivot leads you to greater innovation and success? Strap in as we chat with Steve Waddell, the visionary mind behind "Value Pernoers," whose journey from authorship to invention is nothing short of a strategic masterstroke. Waddell, a maverick in the business world, pulls back the curtain on self-publishing, revealing the highs and lows of creating a book that breaks the mold. He digs into the aesthetic details that make a book pop for visual learners and unpacks the method to his madness in scaling a business to the Ink 5000 list thrice over. This episode's not just a talk; it's a treasure trove of insider knowledge from a man who's turned every setback into a setup for a comeback.
Prepare to have your entrepreneurial appetite whetted as we step into the realm of creative marketing and strategic alliances. Waddell isn't just an author; he's a seasoned entrepreneur who's danced with reality TV's sharks and emerged victorious in the competitive arena of Steve Harvey's Funderdome. He shares the secret sauce to securing a grand win, including innovative promotion tactics like peer reviews and hosting value-packed summits. Steve translates his business acumen into actionable insights, teaching us to leverage our vulnerabilities into strengths by seeking collaborative expertise. If you're ready to level up your business game and learn from a man who speaks the language of success fluently, this conversation with Steve Waddell is a must-listen.
Thousands of first-time authors have already turned their ideas into bestselling books with our guidance. You could be next. Book A Free Consultation
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EN ESTE EPISODIO
MOSTRAR NOTAS 🔗
TRANSCRIPCIÓN 🔗
00:00:28.929 --> 00:00:50.236
I tried to start searching things about how do you write a book, how do you publish a book and all these things, and I found the favorite TED Talk of all time and in it you talk about how books change lives In the editing process.
00:00:50.236 --> 00:00:53.412
It took me a while to get it edited just like I want because I'm unique.
00:00:53.412 --> 00:01:00.442
I mean, I'm a visual learner, so I want my book to look attractive and I want it to be different than other business books.
00:01:06.829 --> 00:01:10.721
Hey, chandler, what we're here and joining me today is Steve Waddell.
00:01:10.721 --> 00:01:16.361
Steve, he's the author of a book called Value Pernoers.
00:01:16.361 --> 00:01:22.256
He's one of our authors here at selfpublishingcom Just recently published his book.
00:01:22.256 --> 00:01:27.629
He's also the inventor of the Nassani faucet and, yeah, check that out.
00:01:27.629 --> 00:01:38.990
If you're watching on the YouTube channel, you can see the book live on video here Value Pernoers it's an awesome looking book, ton of great just interior formatting.
00:01:39.151 --> 00:01:40.454
It's well-formatted, it's just.
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It's really, really good.
00:01:41.419 --> 00:01:48.990
And he's also, as VP of read integration and a past life helped him hit the ink 5000 list three years in a row.
00:01:48.990 --> 00:01:53.081
So, teaching what he knows from in the trenches doing this stuff, scaling businesses.
00:01:53.081 --> 00:01:55.317
We're going to talk about a few things today.
00:01:55.317 --> 00:01:57.310
You know, kind of fresh off the launch.
00:01:57.310 --> 00:01:58.615
We'll talk lessons learned.
00:01:58.615 --> 00:02:06.057
We'll go through the process of how he wrote and published the book in a relatively short period of time and it's just a really great quality book.
00:02:06.057 --> 00:02:10.990
We might even talk the summit that he's running and how he's doing that to sell books.
00:02:10.990 --> 00:02:12.417
A bunch of really fun stuff.
00:02:12.417 --> 00:02:15.789
Steve is a fun guy, as you'll learn.
00:02:15.971 --> 00:02:17.931
So, steve, welcome Great to have you here, janet.
00:02:17.931 --> 00:02:23.048
Thank you, it's awesome to be here, and it seems like just yesterday you and I were in Charleston together.
00:02:23.048 --> 00:02:24.776
Yeah, at Author Advantage Live.
00:02:25.350 --> 00:02:25.792
And that was.
00:02:25.792 --> 00:02:29.401
You had just started working with us, a couple of weeks right before that right.
00:02:29.729 --> 00:02:33.060
Yeah, that was part of my impetus for joining was to be able to go to that live.
00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:36.219
Chad is your salesman and he really sold me really well.
00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:37.853
Chad is great.
00:02:37.853 --> 00:02:42.122
He's the go what?
00:02:42.122 --> 00:02:43.150
So let's maybe start there.
00:02:43.150 --> 00:02:44.856
Why did you decide to write this book?
00:02:44.856 --> 00:02:48.019
How did you find out about us specifically?
00:02:48.019 --> 00:02:48.539
Let's start there.
00:02:48.872 --> 00:02:50.270
So I've always wanted to write a book.
00:02:50.270 --> 00:02:55.495
In fact I had a contract in early 2000 to write a book with J Ross Publishing on risk management.
00:02:55.495 --> 00:03:01.599
I was the risk manager for the aircraft carrier program building nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines and new point of ship building.
00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.781
And when it came down to it they told me business books weren't published in color.
00:03:05.781 --> 00:03:09.300
I said, look, I communicate visually with red, yellow, green and stuff like that.
00:03:09.300 --> 00:03:10.622
It has to be in color.
00:03:10.622 --> 00:03:12.836
They wouldn't do it, so I canceled the contract.
00:03:13.070 --> 00:03:15.900
But I've always wanted to write a book and just haven't ever done it.
00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:22.027
And I had a gap between grants that I'm working on and I knew I would have some time.
00:03:22.027 --> 00:03:26.441
And you know what I said I'm going to bite the bullet because I've turned 60 last October.
00:03:26.441 --> 00:03:31.818
So before I turned 60, I said it's going to be my bucket list goal to get it done on my 60th birthday.
00:03:31.818 --> 00:03:34.579
And you asked me how I learned about you guys.
00:03:34.579 --> 00:03:39.296
You know I tried to start searching things about how do you write a book, how do you publish a book and all these things.
00:03:39.296 --> 00:03:45.531
And I found the favorite TED talk of all time and it's yours, you know.
00:03:45.531 --> 00:03:52.581
So that was just a great TED talk and then you talk about how books change lives and just fantastic talk.
00:03:52.581 --> 00:03:54.576
And I found your book published.
00:03:54.576 --> 00:03:56.170
I bought your audiobook as well.
00:03:56.170 --> 00:04:00.846
I'm, you know, I'm all in man, so did you finish by your 60th?
00:04:00.846 --> 00:04:01.730
I did so.
00:04:01.730 --> 00:04:01.992
I turned.
00:04:01.992 --> 00:04:03.377
Like I said, I turned 60 in October.
00:04:03.751 --> 00:04:06.977
The book was published last month, so it's in my 60th year.
00:04:06.977 --> 00:04:08.990
So it's only been out for about six weeks.
00:04:08.990 --> 00:04:11.390
It achieved Amazon bestseller status already.
00:04:11.390 --> 00:04:13.770
We've got 81 five star reviews.
00:04:13.770 --> 00:04:14.909
I'm on the way to 100.
00:04:14.909 --> 00:04:15.500
I'm only a hundred.
00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:20.096
I'm only a thousand one hundred and so behind you on.
00:04:20.096 --> 00:04:20.838
That's awesome.
00:04:24.913 --> 00:04:30.009
Well, talk, talk me through what was so obviously you cancel the contract back in the day.
00:04:30.009 --> 00:04:31.257
What?
00:04:31.257 --> 00:04:33.509
Once you started Googling around, found the TED talk, all that stuff.
00:04:33.509 --> 00:04:34.254
What was the?
00:04:34.254 --> 00:04:38.750
What was the trigger point where you're like, hey, it makes sense to work with self publishingcom.
00:04:38.750 --> 00:04:41.060
And then, maybe what was?
00:04:41.060 --> 00:04:45.298
Once you got into the process, what was?
00:04:45.298 --> 00:04:50.889
What was maybe the toughest part of the process, like after you made that decision, to say like all right, I'm all in.
00:04:51.694 --> 00:04:54.050
So the first thing I did was I started writing my book right.
00:04:54.050 --> 00:05:02.766
I started going through and figuring out what the structure would be and how I would work it and I decided I would get an editor and just fill it out and see if he thought I had something right.
00:05:02.766 --> 00:05:07.309
And I did that before I signed on with you guys and I sent them the manuscript.
00:05:07.309 --> 00:05:11.389
He reviewed it I found him on Upwork, by the way, and there were things in it.
00:05:11.389 --> 00:05:17.069
He said this really belongs in a memoir and I hired him to go through and do a first round developmental edit.
00:05:17.069 --> 00:05:23.389
And so we stripped things out, reformatted and it just started liking how the book looked and I said, ok, I'm going to get serious about this.
00:05:23.389 --> 00:05:26.206
I think I can turn it into something, you know.
00:05:26.227 --> 00:05:28.750
And that was kind of the impetus to move forward.
00:05:28.750 --> 00:05:39.769
And then I knew I would need help, you know, especially in things like editing and not editing, and formatting and getting it uploaded to Amazon and all the things that you guys do great.
00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:45.913
And also we started out a little rough early on the cover with the first cover designs and I rejected those.
00:05:45.913 --> 00:05:49.584
But this one that we ended up with unbelievable.
00:05:49.584 --> 00:06:00.079
It just attracts tons of interest when anybody sees it, and so I'm ecstatic with the cover design your team did and working with together with me, that we came up with.
00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:02.466
I just I love how the look of the book is.
00:06:02.826 --> 00:06:04.552
One of the unique things about the book.
00:06:04.552 --> 00:06:14.651
You know you had to come up with a made-up name if you wanted your own publishing company, and I don't even know if you know about this, chandler, but my wife and I rescue German shepherds and we have two.
00:06:14.651 --> 00:06:23.072
One's name, rose, one named Thor, and my wife actually made up a name in an online system called Rosenthor, and so I liked it.
00:06:23.072 --> 00:06:24.620
It sounded like something out of Game of Thrones, right?
00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:36.370
I called it Publishing Company Rosenthor Publishing, and a percentage of the proceeds will go to Southeast German Shepherd Rescue for all the sales to help rescue German Shepherd.
00:06:36.490 --> 00:06:41.298
That's awesome, oh you asked me some of the what other struggle that I have in the editing process.
00:06:41.298 --> 00:06:44.466
It took me a while to get it edited just like I want, because I'm unique.
00:06:44.466 --> 00:06:52.732
I mean, I'm a visual learner, so I want my book to look attractive and I want it to be different than other business books.
00:06:52.732 --> 00:06:56.992
So I had unique things about the book that your team had not done before.
00:06:57.473 --> 00:07:04.076
And so it took us a while to get through it all, but they persevered and they did it for me, finally.
00:07:04.076 --> 00:07:10.093
So I'm just ecstatic with the result Hard covers in color, the paperbacks in black and white and the Kindles in color as well.
00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:11.620
Cool.
00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:14.550
Yeah, we were talking about this right before the interview.
00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:25.389
I know you challenged the team to really level up, which I think in the midst of that is like can be kind of tough and it's like, oh man, there's a lot of revisions and all the things.
00:07:25.389 --> 00:07:35.444
But then what's cool about projects like yours is it just raises our capability and so now it's like all right, we've learned a new skill set and we've got the process and we just keep dialing it and making it better.
00:07:35.444 --> 00:07:37.750
So it was cool to go through that process with you.
00:07:37.750 --> 00:07:40.771
You talked about the editing being a tough part.
00:07:40.771 --> 00:07:49.367
I think that's a tough part for a lot of folks and so it sounds like you were kind of already working with an editor and that was the point that you joined and decided to start working with us.
00:07:49.367 --> 00:07:57.364
What were the biggest lessons learned from that editing process and tips for other people who are maybe stuck in that editing process on their book?
00:07:57.403 --> 00:07:58.927
I actually use multiple editors.
00:07:58.927 --> 00:08:09.028
So I hired a developmental editor off Upwork, then I went with an editor on Readsie and did the next level edit and then I went back to my original developmental editor.
00:08:09.028 --> 00:08:13.625
Because at first, during the middle of the process, my book was originally called Legends Execute.
00:08:13.625 --> 00:08:24.245
And the interesting thing is, in a conversation I was on with Jason Pfeiffer Jason is the editor and chief of Entrepreneur Magazine and Jason said you know, I think your book needs a different title.
00:08:24.245 --> 00:08:33.582
Everybody knows execution is where it's at, because my book was all about what are the steps to develop a product from idea to concept, and the whole thing is about execution, right?
00:08:33.582 --> 00:08:37.651
So he pulls a book off his shelf and he said have you ever heard of the book called the Third Door?
00:08:37.651 --> 00:08:38.635
And I said no.
00:08:38.635 --> 00:08:40.341
He said have you ever heard of it, chandler?
00:08:40.341 --> 00:08:41.324
I don't think I have.
00:08:41.324 --> 00:08:51.244
So what he said was the guy made this metaphor about the Third Door he said picture this you're standing in line to get in a bar and the bouncer may or may not let you in.
00:08:51.244 --> 00:08:56.661
So the only other way to get in is the VIP entrance, unless you're in the know and there's a third door.
00:08:56.661 --> 00:08:58.366
So because I think you need something like that.
00:08:58.776 --> 00:09:07.788
Well, you know, I had been invited to students down in North Carolina and I'm gonna show this graphic on what it's like about behind the scenes of Shark Tank to really take a product to market.
00:09:07.788 --> 00:09:16.265
And I created this graphic and if you look at it, ideas at the top and it's full of risk, and that's because ideas are a dime, a dozen right and I'm racking my brain.
00:09:16.265 --> 00:09:17.145
What am I gonna call the book?
00:09:17.145 --> 00:09:17.774
What am I gonna call the book?
00:09:17.774 --> 00:09:24.278
And as I looked at the whole process again, I realized it's really all about how do we add value, how to create value.
00:09:24.278 --> 00:09:29.989
All the steps we take in the process called the value-driven product development process are all about creating value.
00:09:29.989 --> 00:09:36.326
I'd also read another book about Marketing and it said sometimes you can take two words and put them together and form a new word.
00:09:36.326 --> 00:09:39.144
So value and entrepreneur became valuepreneurs.
00:09:39.144 --> 00:09:41.716
And.
00:09:41.735 --> 00:09:42.818
But back to the editor.
00:09:42.818 --> 00:09:56.634
The other thing was when I went back to the original editor the first one, the developmental guy when I changed the focus from legends, execute to valuepreneurs and I made some other minor changes, I was integrating the business model canvas at that point, which I had not done.
00:09:56.634 --> 00:09:58.720
He told me I need to do that in the second book.
00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:01.186
Go with what you got and do a second book.
00:10:01.186 --> 00:10:01.947
And I didn't want to do that.
00:10:01.947 --> 00:10:06.475
I said I want to get the first book right and so I went to the Readsie editor instead of using him.
00:10:06.475 --> 00:10:11.985
She helped me refine it and then when I went back to him he loved all the changes, did one more to final edit.
00:10:11.985 --> 00:10:26.134
But he goes you're gonna need another final line item edit 300, 400 bucks, right, and I hired this guy off of Fiverr to do that and then I thought to myself I'm paying him almost 400 bucks, he's not gonna find anything, man.
00:10:26.134 --> 00:10:31.447
He found a ton of ways to make the writing better, just different little minor tweaks.
00:10:32.076 --> 00:10:32.697
And at the end of the day.
00:10:32.758 --> 00:10:35.904
I loved everything he did and he found a lot of things.
00:10:36.265 --> 00:10:37.028
I couldn't believe it.
00:10:37.196 --> 00:10:38.520
I thought I was paying him for nothing.
00:10:38.721 --> 00:10:39.706
Yeah, that's cool.
00:10:39.706 --> 00:10:47.764
Well, I think that the the takeaway there for a lot of folks is hey, editors are worth it, and Multiple rounds of editing will make the book better.
00:10:47.764 --> 00:10:49.157
That's good.
00:10:49.157 --> 00:10:52.686
And and remind me, because it's part of your, were you on Shark Tank.
00:10:53.046 --> 00:10:54.517
I know you mentioned Thunderdome.
00:10:54.517 --> 00:11:00.887
I applied for Shark Tank and I got to the second round video submission round, yeah but they had like 50,000 people apply.
00:11:00.887 --> 00:11:02.534
It was just a very small percentage.
00:11:02.534 --> 00:11:07.894
But I did apply for Thunderdome and I actually got flown out to CBS television studios.
00:11:07.894 --> 00:11:25.860
I was on stage with Steve Harvey competing against another entrepreneur for the audience vote and I won 50,000 dollars and that allowed me to create my MVP, which then led to investment of $600,000 by an investor couple out of Minnesota and a second round for 250,000.
00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:27.995
And then, of course, you know, we launched at the start of COVID.
00:11:27.995 --> 00:11:29.534
This is with my product for Nasoni.
00:11:29.534 --> 00:11:31.097
But we launched at the start of COVID.
00:11:31.097 --> 00:11:33.423
Worst possible time couldn't get out market.
00:11:33.423 --> 00:11:34.927
The product had to consume.
00:11:34.927 --> 00:11:39.294
Our marketing budget Is operating capital and so you have to learn to pivot, and this is in my book.
00:11:39.294 --> 00:11:43.000
And in the pivot my wife says you need to think about a grant.
00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.167
I'm thinking what am I going to do with a grant and a faucet?
00:11:45.167 --> 00:11:47.626
My product was a fountain faucet.
00:11:48.081 --> 00:11:50.428
But, one day I was introduced to Dr Lisa Kaperna.
00:11:50.428 --> 00:11:57.272
She runs Old Divine University Monarch Physical Therapy and she says, man, if we had a sensor version of that, we could help spinal cord injured patients.
00:11:57.272 --> 00:11:58.615
So I applied for a grant.
00:11:58.615 --> 00:12:00.240
I won $259,000.
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.610
I finished the clinical trials last May, Very successful.
00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:12.530
I won a $2 million phase two last September and I'm about to win another $2.58 million from the National Institute of Aging for Alzheimer's and dementia.
00:12:12.530 --> 00:12:13.373
All that's in my book.
00:12:13.373 --> 00:12:15.663
How do you pivot when you have to right?
00:12:15.764 --> 00:12:18.911
Yeah, wow, that's incredible the power of the pivot.
00:12:18.911 --> 00:12:21.486
I hope you're loving this episode so far.
00:12:21.486 --> 00:12:28.388
So, if you're serious about writing and publishing your book, we would love to chat with you and help create a custom print.
00:12:28.388 --> 00:12:31.827
So all you need to do right now is go to selfpublishingcom.
00:12:31.827 --> 00:12:33.152
Forward slash schedule.
00:12:33.152 --> 00:12:37.529
Schedule a 45 minute consultation with one of the experts on my team.
00:12:37.529 --> 00:12:42.331
Let's implement what you're learning in this episode and let's see how we can help with your book.
00:12:42.331 --> 00:12:45.369
Go to selfpublishingcom forward slash schedule.
00:12:45.369 --> 00:12:48.428
So, obviously, check out the book and learn the story.
00:12:48.428 --> 00:12:49.841
What are the cliff notes?
00:12:49.841 --> 00:12:58.804
On the funding, the grant funding piece how did you get on the Fundadome show, first of all, and then how have you gotten these millions of dollars in grants?
00:12:58.804 --> 00:12:59.687
That's incredible.
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:01.344
Well, Fundadome was just.
00:13:01.344 --> 00:13:06.185
You know, you gotta have energy and you gotta be fun, right, and that's a show, it's a reality show, right?
00:13:06.185 --> 00:13:09.772
And so the videos I submitted at that time.
00:13:09.772 --> 00:13:13.466
You know I had a lot of fun with it and they selected me to move forward.
00:13:13.466 --> 00:13:19.192
Now it also doesn't always work, because I was also asked to be on a show called entrepreneur elevator pitch.
00:13:19.192 --> 00:13:25.044
You get to go out to California, you get on an elevator and you got 60 seconds to pitch to the judges at the top.
00:13:25.044 --> 00:13:26.504
If they like you, they open the door.
00:13:26.504 --> 00:13:27.067
Let you finish.
00:13:27.067 --> 00:13:28.783
If they don't like it, it thumbs down.
00:13:28.783 --> 00:13:29.286
You go back down.
00:13:31.860 --> 00:13:39.850
I fly all the way to California, this time on my own nickel, and I decided I'm going to put my faucets on a shelf, cover them up with not letting anybody see them.
00:13:39.850 --> 00:13:41.745
Now we had made my prototype.
00:13:41.745 --> 00:13:46.924
We had just won the best of the kitchen and bath industry show, People's Choice Award, the month prior, in January.
00:13:46.924 --> 00:13:52.772
So it's February and I get on this elevator, I hide my faucets, I tell the judges my 60 second pitch.
00:13:52.772 --> 00:13:54.804
I said look, we reinvented the faucet.
00:13:54.804 --> 00:13:56.828
It's amazing, so amazing.
00:13:56.828 --> 00:14:04.096
We won the best of the kitchen and bath industry show, People's Choice Award last month patented, and we're at the goal line and, with your help, we'll cross the finish line.
00:14:04.900 --> 00:14:06.307
And you know, I'm getting sent back down.
00:14:06.307 --> 00:14:07.666
I'm like what the heck happened?
00:14:07.666 --> 00:14:09.306
Wow, why am I going back down?
00:14:09.306 --> 00:14:13.789
And two weeks later the show airs and in fact I'm flying home asking God.
00:14:13.789 --> 00:14:15.905
I'm saying God, you know I have a limited budget.
00:14:15.905 --> 00:14:21.524
Why did the end of my life of flying out here and spending this money when I needed to spend it elsewhere, if I'm going to fail?
00:14:21.524 --> 00:14:22.442
Well, I didn't know.
00:14:22.442 --> 00:14:29.145
God had another door, because what happened was two weeks later, the show airs and I see what happened.
00:14:29.167 --> 00:14:35.528
And what you see behind the scenes is one judge looks at the other and goes oh, that's mean, I really want to know what it is, that's what I was hoping for.
00:14:35.528 --> 00:14:39.551
But the other judge goes yeah, this world really leaves you wanting more.
00:14:39.551 --> 00:14:43.065
And the other judge goes yeah, he didn't show us the product, he doesn't tell us what he wanted.
00:14:43.065 --> 00:14:44.063
So I say thumbs down.
00:14:44.063 --> 00:14:53.750
But what happened was a lady in Richmond that works for the Small Business Administration saw that air, called her friend Ben and said Ben, you need to really meet Steve.
00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:59.544
Ben calls me and asks me about the product and he says would you like to meet my investor friends in Minnesota?
00:14:59.544 --> 00:15:00.403
I said yeah.
00:15:00.403 --> 00:15:05.485
So next thing, you know, I'm talking to the investor friends in Minnesota and they tell me, listen, we like what we hear.
00:15:05.485 --> 00:15:08.269
If we're going to go any further, we think you need to fly to Minnesota.
00:15:08.269 --> 00:15:15.365
My wife and I flew to Minnesota that August and within three months we had received 600,000, or 25% of the company.
00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:17.104
So if I hadn't gone on the show and failed.
00:15:17.585 --> 00:15:20.943
I never would have had that next door open to meet that investor.
00:15:21.505 --> 00:15:24.126
Yeah, that's wild, that's wild.
00:15:24.126 --> 00:15:30.904
Well, let's talk book stuff some more, and then I want to kind of close with some things you're doing to promote the book.
00:15:30.904 --> 00:15:35.210
First off, you mentioned, hey already, 81 reviews in six weeks or so.
00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:36.623
How'd you do it?
00:15:36.623 --> 00:15:38.544
Anything that's worked well for getting reviews.
00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:39.923
So a couple of things.
00:15:39.923 --> 00:15:41.763
One is your process teaches.
00:15:41.763 --> 00:15:51.110
We build a launch team, which I did, and I had over 100 people, but a lot of them just failed to do what they're supposed to do with doing their reviews.
00:15:51.110 --> 00:15:53.626
So maybe half of them did reviews.
00:15:53.626 --> 00:16:00.225
But the other thing you teach us in your process I learned about Puppy, for example, I've gotten 28 five-star reviews.
00:16:00.284 --> 00:16:03.091
Well, two or four stars, but the rest were five.
00:16:03.091 --> 00:16:07.142
And it's funny because they love the book and they don't give you a comment as to why they were ducted.
00:16:07.142 --> 00:16:10.153
A star Doesn't matter, it makes it all real.
00:16:10.153 --> 00:16:11.581
So, yeah, puppy.
00:16:11.581 --> 00:16:17.084
And then getreviewcom I think it is the other one, the getbook review, so some of those online sites.
00:16:17.084 --> 00:16:18.687
Puppy has been very, very good.
00:16:18.687 --> 00:16:20.231
I've enjoyed using that.
00:16:20.231 --> 00:16:21.605
You got to review other people's book.
00:16:21.605 --> 00:16:31.530
And then the other platform is at getreviewgetbookreviewcom I think it is, I can't remember offhand, so I actually you have to go in and select somebody else's book so you earn snaps.
00:16:31.530 --> 00:16:35.889
That's the way it works, right, and by earning snaps you can then put your book out to get reviewed.
00:16:35.889 --> 00:16:40.335
And it can be a pain if you don't want to take the time to review someone else's book.
00:16:40.335 --> 00:16:41.211
But guess what?
00:16:41.211 --> 00:16:42.884
I go in there and guess who I find?
00:16:42.884 --> 00:16:49.643
Nate Hambrick Crusher, kryptonite I just reviewed that one this week, matter of fact.
00:16:49.884 --> 00:16:54.283
That's cool so you guys, practice what you preach, what you're telling us, when you're doing your stuff.
00:16:54.625 --> 00:17:01.437
Yeah, and for those that don't know, Nate's on the sales team here at selfpublishingcom Also written published a book called Crusher Kryptonite.
00:17:01.437 --> 00:17:37.418
He just passed a thousand reviews on that book and the Trench is done awesome work with his book.
00:17:37.418 --> 00:17:40.012
He's working on book number two as we speak.
00:17:40.012 --> 00:17:40.836
Let's talk.
00:17:40.836 --> 00:17:45.402
Hmm, I want to talk outside the box ways that you're marketing this book.
00:17:45.402 --> 00:17:47.848
You've got this idea to product summit.
00:17:47.848 --> 00:17:49.351
That's a big summit that you're doing.
00:17:49.351 --> 00:17:57.644
You got the, I guess, the proclamation from the governor, mayor, somebody, about the summit, all this stuff.
00:17:57.644 --> 00:18:01.903
What are some of the outside of the box things that you're doing to market the book successfully?
00:18:02.244 --> 00:18:11.517
So one of the things in your program you advocate is getting an interviewed on podcasts, and certainly I know a few podcasters that I was able to get interviewed on.
00:18:11.517 --> 00:18:16.189
I'm like man, I just don't want to beg a hundred people to be on their podcast.
00:18:16.189 --> 00:18:20.769
I thought I got to do a different way and in the past I have run symposia.
00:18:20.769 --> 00:18:25.727
They were in-person events and I learned about virtual summits and I thought you know what?
00:18:25.727 --> 00:18:33.371
I'm going to create a virtual summit and the purpose of my book is to help entrepreneurs overcome the 95% failure rate of new products going to market.
00:18:33.371 --> 00:18:38.395
According to Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, 95% products fail.
00:18:38.395 --> 00:18:39.579
And so I thought you know what?
00:18:39.579 --> 00:18:45.783
I'll create a summit with that same approach how do we help entrepreneurs overcome that 95% failure rate?
00:18:45.783 --> 00:18:46.786
And I'll invite speakers.
00:18:46.786 --> 00:18:50.483
But I'm going to make it a three-day event and it's going to be structured around the book.
00:18:50.483 --> 00:18:52.971
First day is idea and concept development.
00:18:52.971 --> 00:19:02.388
The second day is prototype and MVP and the third day is launch and market introduction and investment storytelling for investors and things like that in grants.
00:19:02.388 --> 00:19:18.173
And so you know, by doing so I end up introducing the book to a lot of people that I talk to and I meet new people that way and when I had done these symposia in the past, I had gotten local mayors to get involved and come to the event live and speak and do a proclamation.
00:19:18.415 --> 00:19:31.522
Well, for this event I want to step my game up and so I decided to ask the Virginia governor I can't even think of his name right now, governor of Virginia, yonkin, glenn Yonkin and he couldn't be on a Zoom call so he wrote a letter.
00:19:31.522 --> 00:19:39.296
This is the letter he wrote welcoming everyone to the event from the for the Commonwealth of Virginia and for entrepreneurs, you know, all over the world even.
00:19:39.296 --> 00:19:42.184
But I also, at the same time, was worried I might not get him.
00:19:42.184 --> 00:19:47.164
So I asked the lieutenant governor when some Sears to also be a part of it.
00:19:47.164 --> 00:19:48.591
Well, I ended up getting both.
00:19:48.591 --> 00:19:50.721
They don't talk to each other about this stuff.
00:19:51.101 --> 00:19:52.825
So I got both and actually went.
00:19:52.825 --> 00:19:53.266
Some Sears.
00:19:53.266 --> 00:19:57.105
I had on a Zoom call this morning and I sent her a copy of the letter.
00:19:57.105 --> 00:20:00.979
I said maybe you can reference this in your welcome and had her.
00:20:00.979 --> 00:20:05.256
We did a live welcome with her this morning for the event and just fantastic.
00:20:05.256 --> 00:20:11.371
And the cool thing is I sent her the link to the summit and the summit anthem, the song that I created for the event.
00:20:11.371 --> 00:20:15.073
She loved it and she's going to share the event on their website.
00:20:15.254 --> 00:20:15.776
That's cool.
00:20:15.776 --> 00:20:16.378
How do you?
00:20:16.378 --> 00:20:17.301
How do you do?
00:20:17.301 --> 00:20:24.206
It seems like one of your superpowers is connecting with people, I mean, and just like whether it's our investors.
00:20:24.206 --> 00:20:28.243
And then over here at Grant writing okay, this TV show, okay, this governor, all the stuff.
00:20:28.243 --> 00:20:30.149
What's your secret, steve?
00:20:30.149 --> 00:20:30.811
How do?
00:20:30.832 --> 00:20:31.273
you do it.
00:20:31.273 --> 00:20:38.904
My secret is knowing where I'm weak and finding how to fill those gaps with people right, because there's people that can do anything you want.
00:20:38.904 --> 00:20:41.011
And it started for me in 2014.
00:20:41.011 --> 00:20:42.657
I reinvented the faucet.
00:20:42.657 --> 00:20:48.176
My background was not in plumbing, I had no idea how faucets were made, but you know this.
00:20:48.176 --> 00:20:48.939
This is the faucet.
00:20:48.939 --> 00:20:54.804
When you rotate the lever, it becomes a water fountain and I thought, okay, how am I going to design and engineer this?
00:20:54.804 --> 00:20:58.017
And so I first started using freelancers in 2014.
00:20:58.057 --> 00:21:05.788
I had heard about freelancers back then, but that's part of what you called superpowers understanding how to find the resources you need and bring them to the table.
00:21:05.788 --> 00:21:09.805
You know, and, in fact, once I got the design done, I thought I needed to patent it.
00:21:09.805 --> 00:21:18.243
I again went and found that attorney in India that worked with the US patent office to save cost, always looking for ways to save money, you know, and the same cost it's the.
00:21:18.243 --> 00:21:30.851
It's the ability to network, go out, find the people you need, and you're always learning always learned, because when I held events before the symposia that I talked about, we had two speakers that would always stand out head and shoulders above others, and I asked him.
00:21:30.851 --> 00:21:35.482
I said is it the National Speakers Association where you learn to speak so good, or is it Toastmasters?
00:21:35.482 --> 00:21:38.555
And what he said was NSA will teach you about the business of speaking.
00:21:38.555 --> 00:21:44.642
Toastmasters will make you a better speaker, and so I joined Toastmasters and I became a certified competent Toastmaster.
00:21:44.742 --> 00:21:45.264
That's cool.
00:21:45.264 --> 00:21:47.413
That develops a skill set of speaking.
00:21:47.413 --> 00:21:49.602
I've heard a lot of great things about Toastmasters.
00:21:49.602 --> 00:21:50.686
I've never done it personally.
00:21:50.686 --> 00:21:52.072
What, um?
00:21:52.072 --> 00:21:55.443
I ask a couple of final questions and then we'll wrap what.
00:21:55.443 --> 00:21:57.748
What was the most helpful part about working with this?
00:21:58.149 --> 00:21:59.721
Wow, there's so much you know.
00:21:59.721 --> 00:22:02.894
And and my coach, Scott Allen, it's fun, he's in Japan.
00:22:02.894 --> 00:22:04.461
I love the fact that he's in Japan.
00:22:04.461 --> 00:22:08.796
He's international, he's actually speaking with me at the summit, as is Chad.
00:22:08.796 --> 00:22:25.673
I've met so many great people and it was really fun for me to come to Author Advantage Live to get to meet you and others in person, build a little bit of a personal relationship and, uh, and then have this, the team you know to answer questions, and even the Facebook group right where you have over 4,000.
00:22:26.255 --> 00:22:36.234
Authors all trying to achieve the same goals and we post our questions in there and you'll get an answer from somebody you know like so I couldn't get something around Ingram spark or I couldn't get something on Amazon eat some help.
00:22:36.234 --> 00:22:38.104
You know people will share their answers.
00:22:38.104 --> 00:22:48.314
It's the power of teamwork right that you have enabled by building that community, you know, and and so that's been very helpful and having people to turn answers to and having that process.
00:22:48.314 --> 00:22:49.927
You know your book is great.
00:22:49.927 --> 00:22:50.814
I love your book.
00:22:50.814 --> 00:23:02.917
So all the processes you put in place and I know you're all about process improvement yeah, because I think the the thing you had said too, was if it takes longer than ten minutes, we're gonna automate it.
00:23:02.957 --> 00:23:04.242
We're gonna we're gonna write a process.
00:23:04.242 --> 00:23:05.997
Mm-hmm, I love that.
00:23:05.997 --> 00:23:08.022
Yeah, cool, that's great.
00:23:08.022 --> 00:23:10.026
Let's see a couple final questions.
00:23:10.026 --> 00:23:11.268
One is from a listener.
00:23:11.268 --> 00:23:18.431
Leah Says what inspires you to focus your career on helping entrepreneurs create value with their businesses.
00:23:18.912 --> 00:23:19.534
That's a great question.
00:23:19.534 --> 00:23:26.346
It's the fact that I learned so much along the way by mistakes and Everybody always told me you need to write a book.
00:23:26.346 --> 00:23:32.094
You know, again, as I mentioned, I got a patent as soon as I figured out how I would design the faucet, and that was way too early.
00:23:32.094 --> 00:23:39.944
I spent thousands of dollars that were wasted because we changed the design and I thought I can help so many people If I write it down.
00:23:39.944 --> 00:23:41.434
What are the right time frames?
00:23:41.434 --> 00:23:50.522
We build a process and in the process we tell you the right approach and time frames on when to do things that will save thousands and so giving back.
00:23:50.522 --> 00:24:01.514
You know, as I mentioned, I'm 60, so it's time in my life to share with others and help others Do the things that at least some things I've learned from, and achieve their goals too, because it just feels good to help others.
00:24:01.835 --> 00:24:02.317
That's cool.
00:24:02.317 --> 00:24:03.943
What, and guys?
00:24:03.943 --> 00:24:10.164
If you want to submit a question for a future episode, all you have to do is leave a comment on this video on the YouTube channel.
00:24:10.164 --> 00:24:21.881
You can save the podcast to your favorites on Spotify or Apple podcasts and you can also, if you want to drop a question there in a review, we can ask those for future guests.
00:24:21.881 --> 00:24:25.375
Would love to feature your question on a future episode, steve.
00:24:25.375 --> 00:24:32.876
Where can people go to find out more about your book, your business, like whatever would be most helpful To send?
00:24:32.896 --> 00:24:33.137
people.
00:24:33.137 --> 00:24:42.548
So a couple of things one Nasoni, nas O and I, and, as a Nancy, dot-com and an ASO and I, dot-com is for the faucets that I reinvented.
00:24:42.548 --> 00:24:46.694
If you want to learn about valuepreneurs, it's just the word value and entrepreneur added together.
00:24:46.694 --> 00:24:49.063
But valuepreneurscom is the website.
00:24:49.063 --> 00:24:50.971
But I also have a personal website.
00:24:50.971 --> 00:24:55.601
It's s Waddellcom, so SW a, d, d, ellcom.
00:24:55.601 --> 00:24:57.204
And then, lastly, I'm on LinkedIn.
00:24:57.204 --> 00:25:01.401
You know it's linked in dot slash, in Slash, steve Waddell, so connect with me.
00:25:01.401 --> 00:25:03.630
I'm happy to connect with anybody, if any are interested.
00:25:03.871 --> 00:25:04.754
Cool, love it.
00:25:04.754 --> 00:25:09.384
We guys check it out Steve's new book valuepreneurs.
00:25:09.384 --> 00:25:13.786
You can check out the Nasoni faucet as well.
00:25:13.786 --> 00:25:16.536
But yeah, check out the book, read it.
00:25:16.536 --> 00:25:17.679
I hope you benefit from it.
00:25:17.679 --> 00:25:23.521
And if you're ready to get your book published, if you want our help, like Steve had, go to self publishing.
00:25:23.521 --> 00:25:26.136
Comm forward, slash talk Book.
00:25:26.136 --> 00:25:30.174
A call with the team will talk to you about your goals for your book, your challenges with your book.
00:25:30.174 --> 00:25:31.540
We'll start to put together a plan.
00:25:31.540 --> 00:25:34.734
So that's self publishing comm forward, slash talk.
00:25:34.734 --> 00:25:38.725
We'd love to chat with you and help you with your book.
00:25:38.725 --> 00:25:40.398
Steve, you're the man.
00:25:40.398 --> 00:25:44.133
Thank you for being here so fine, being part of your journey.
00:25:44.133 --> 00:25:44.696
Man, it's.
00:25:44.696 --> 00:25:45.780
The best is yet to come.
00:25:46.175 --> 00:25:47.781
Shaler, I'm so excited to be here.
00:25:47.781 --> 00:25:51.134
Just after having been with you at author advantage live and now having the book published.
00:25:51.134 --> 00:25:54.971
I just I'm so ecstatic it's here and that working with you guys was fantastic.
00:25:55.132 --> 00:25:55.554
That's awesome.
00:25:55.554 --> 00:25:56.697
Thank you for sharing that book.
00:25:56.697 --> 00:25:57.278
Change lives.
00:25:57.278 --> 00:26:03.174
Thank you so much for watching, or listening to, this episode of the self publishing school progress.
00:26:03.174 --> 00:26:05.554
I know there's so many places that you can be spending your time.
00:26:05.554 --> 00:26:09.698
There's other podcasts that you can be listening to, youtube channels that you'd be watching, so thank you so much.
00:26:09.698 --> 00:26:10.360
It means the world.
00:26:10.441 --> 00:26:12.466
Now I want you to do three things right now.
00:26:12.466 --> 00:26:16.042
If you found this episode helpful I don't know if you know this, but we've got a YouTube channel.
00:26:16.042 --> 00:26:18.319
It's a companion channel to this podcast.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.667
All the video versions of the episode are on the YouTube channel.
00:26:21.667 --> 00:26:23.859
So, number one subscribe to the YouTube channel.
00:26:23.859 --> 00:26:28.635
Number two, if you're listening this podcast wherever, whether this is Spotify, apple Podcast.
00:26:28.635 --> 00:26:32.805
Number two, I want you to subscribe to this podcast right now so you don't miss a future episode.
00:26:32.805 --> 00:26:37.134
And then, number three, this is probably the most important leave a review on the podcast.
00:26:37.134 --> 00:26:41.548
All right reviews are super important and help this podcast get discovered out of people.
00:26:41.548 --> 00:26:43.654
So, number three leave a review on the podcast.
00:26:43.654 --> 00:26:44.879
Thank you so much.
00:26:44.879 --> 00:26:46.607
I'll see you in the next episode.