This is the 9th in my ongoing series of interviews with small business owners. The goal is to tell a story in which other small business owners will find encouragement, ideas, and confirmation that what they are experiencing is shared by others!
These interviews are about extending our sense of community as small business owners.
Julie Salisbury ? the owner of ?Influence Publishing
You need three kinds of people in your life to be successful: fans, gurus (or role models), and coaches. Julie came into my life as a coach. I was just in the process of taking the idea of writing a book seriously. I had started some early writing and was trying to come to terms with the whole ?publish vs. self-publish? thing.
Well, after a few months with Julie it became clear to me that I didn?t know what I didn?t know. In a situation that parallels the E-Myth, I was a decent writer, but I had no idea how to be an author and didn?t even understand they were not the same thing.
Julie guided me through the process with an expert hand, humour, and experience.
What made me want to do this interview with Julie however was that her business has a strength that is as important as it is rare: a truly unique value proposition. Influence Publishing has developed a model that truly does take the best elements of publishing and self-publishing and has created something totally new. The resulting level of support combined with true North American distribution (which no self-publisher has access to) is a highly valuable asset for Julie and her clients.
Further, I love Julie?s ambition. She is interested in nothing less than creating a model to transform the non-fiction publishing industry and won?t stop at much to see that goal through.
Here?s the interview, accompanied by images taken by Kurt Knock who is now my partner in this series of interviews. For all interviews conducted in person (as opposed to long-distance telephone/Skype interviews), Kurt will be the photographer. Have I said I love my work?
Oh? and full disclosure: I didn?t ask Julie to say all that great stuff about my book (but I didn?t take it out either)! Clearly her instincts as a publisher just don?t quit!
Tell me about the beginning. When did you start this business? Why? What?s the story?
I came to Canada in 2005 as a new immigrant. While you wait for your residency process you are not?allowed to legally work so I took this opportunity to write my book. I soon realized I knew very little?about how much was involved in writing and publishing a book.
I have a background in marketing and product development. I brought those skills to the problem and?researched the process of writing and publishing. I had the luxury of that first year and made sure I used?it well, I treated it as a ?product? I was developing. As I began to compile and apply what I learned I?realized that I was developing a system with a unique approach of visualizing the end goal and working?backwards. I developed a product that consisted of a coaching program and an 85 page workbook. I?trademarked the product ?InspireABook?. That initial product has changed a lot over the next 5 years,?but that was how it all started.
I had everything I needed to start my business, the ?Pre-conditions? you talk about in your new?book Great Performances. There was a market and demand to help first-time authors navigate?their way through the process. I had time (plenty of that in the first year for research!) and I had?practical ?been there? knowledge. But as a new resident, I had very little money. My husband had been?supporting me and we were a year into debt as a result.
By 2007 I had my residency papers and started my own business. I began with small workshops teaching?people how to write a book. It became an instant success and in the first few years I had inspired?over a hundred authors. As the program grew, I had another transformational moment. As each new?author finished working with me and had a finished manuscript, they would head off to be published by?someone else.
I realized that presented a new opportunity. You mention in Great Performances that for a business to grow you need to consider your growth cycle. I was willing to take?risks and I had always been a visionary. Why not go the next step and develop a publishing company?that filled the gap that traditional publishers did not want to fill? A publishing company that?encouraged and inspired and coached first time authors?
In 2010 a British publisher who had published some of my authors? books, approached me and said the?quality of my authors was high but he didn?t really publish in many of my genres.. He offered to?mentor me and develop my own imprint under the umbrella of his publishing company.
By September he said the volume of books I was submitting was higher than anticipated and said I?would have to go alone. I panicked as we had three books in the pre-launch pipeline at that moment! I called my?husband (I was at a trade show in Calgary at the time) and he told me not to worry about it, he would?help. Building on his own background in web design, he jumped right into the role of typesetter and?book designer. My risk taking had paid off and now my business was expanding to include my husband?in the business full-time as my ?Technical Director? You mention in your book?thinking like a ?Casting Agent? looking for talent ? and there it was, right on my door-step! I now?constantly keep an eye open for talent from my authors and I am always recruiting. We have now?added 3 authors to the team working on our growth cycle.
One of the biggest gifts the British publisher gave me as we parted ways was to help me set up an?independent publishers Ingram account. Normally small publishers like Influence Publishing would?have to work for years to get a good deal with Ingram; you would have to have at least 50 books to?your name. But the publisher used his own reputation with Ingram to vouch for me, so I now have an?independent distribution agreement with Ingram US!
The publisher not only helped me set up my publishing company and the relationship with Ingram, he?also mentored my husband Greg in the process of typeset, book design and uploading books to the?printers and other technical aspects of the business. You talk about?about the importance of maximizing limited resources. I started the business with very little money?but I had time and people on my side. I?ve always kept a keen eye on the current cycle but it is?important to keep up with the growth too, and you don?t always have money for professional training or?paying salaries. I maximized my resources through healthy relationships, I gave my authors good support?and in turn they produced great quality content that other people wanted to help me publish!
I am able to support authors with developing a book concept, guiding and supporting the writing?process, getting the book ready for publication, and then publishing and distributing it. I don?t think?there are any other businesses like InspireABook and Influence Publishing that are able to provide that?range of services.
What is the biggest challenge in your business right now? What are you doing to deal with that?
I am starting two new divisions. One is a speaker?s co-op that will further support my author?s in the?marketing and promotion of their books. I am working to brand it and managing 3 authors who are now?working in the business to support the social media, marketing and telemarketing. So far I have employee?costs, but no revenue from that project. I am being creative with that too and most of the authors are?supporting a share of the cost by subscribing to the ?co-op? idea. They all know they will benefit in the?long run and appreciate the extra support and I?ve kept the costs manageable to just $60 a month. It?involves a lot of training, just because you are an author it does not mean you are a good speaker or?understand how to transform your book into a speech!
I have been looking at the market and asking myself ?How can providing speaking opportunities for?authors be done better? Where are the gaps in the market? How do new authors and speakers break?into the circuit without a lot of experience? And from the venue/audience side how do smaller events?find speakers who don?t cost a lot of money?? I see a big opportunity on both sides.
The second division will provide financial support for new authors. New authors need to be able to?buy their own books to use as promotional tools. Also, there are costs for the books themselves: the?coaching and training programs, proof-reading, promotional websites, and so on. I am working in?partnership with a company called FundRazr in Vancouver. It is a very successful platform for raising?funds using crowd-sourcing on Facebook. We are currently setting up a separate arm on their website?for authors. I believe in building strategic partnerships to grow my business.
Balancing all of this longer-term development with current projects is a real challenge but it is part of?building my business as an asset. As you stress in Great Performances you always need to?be thinking of an exit strategy. If you sell your business in the future, this all adds value.
My solution is to work with good people. Some of my authors have become project managers to do a?lot of the heavy lifting, they are familiar with my coaching program and my publishing company and I?feel confident delegating to them. I am careful to stick to my role of the entrepreneurial leader, and not?getting lost in the day-to-day details.
What is your biggest success right now? What was your role in bringing that about?
I am also proud that of the titles we have published, we have 8 best-sellers!
What I do is inspire people. I tell them writing and publishing a book is possible, and they do it! I inspire?people to be the best authors they can be. I empower them to seek the professional training and?coaching they need to succeed. A good writer is not necessarily a good author. Someone may be able?to write well, but that is a very different process than being the author of a book. Good writers don?t?always have that entrepreneurial spirit or unique knowledge. On the other hand, if you have great?knowledge and unique talent, you can be a great author ? you just need a good publisher and editor?to work with! A published book is an essential marketing strategy and gives the professional instant?credibility as the ?go to? expert in their field: it is a 200-page business card.
What concerns you the most in the business environment right now?
The world of electronic publishing, self-publishing and eBooks have made producing bad books too easy.
Too many writers and professionals who want to write a book don?t realize that they need a publisher to?bring the professional focus on the product of a book. For example, one of the biggest errors is that we?are told to ?not judge a book by its cover?. As a first time author you only have the cover to help people?understand what you are delivering. It is your ?product? packaging. A professional will spend time on?high quality business cards and web-design but then represent themselves with a poor quality book and?ruin their credibility.
Increasingly we are seeing small publishing houses nudged out because they are?not valued for what they bring to a book. Will this also lead to a general decline in the status of authors?and their products? Or will self-publishing implode, marred by the bad self-published books coming out.
Bookstores already won?t carry them because there is a lack of quality control. The world of electronic?publishing has no standards.
My response to that is to completely re-envision the nature of the book. In recent years, the shelf-life?of a book has been between 3 weeks to 2 months. Publishers have a 90 day sale or return-and-destroy?policy. Influence Publishing does not treat a book as a short-life commodity, but as a long-life platform?for the author and the ideas in the book.
By ensuring a good product, and then using tools like direct marketing and social media and supporting?authors in public speaking we are extending the life of a book to several years. Publishers must move?with the times. There is so much power in using a book to differentiate a business or a professional as?the authority in a field; using it to leverage and benefit from appearances in print media and radio to?extend the lifespan of the book. The book stands beside other platforms like podcasts and websites in?promoting the authority of the author.
There is a space in the market for this kind of approach. I am responding to that through marketing,?education, my InspireABook program, and Influence Publishing.
What?s next? Where do you see your next growth opportunity?
I am focusing on creating and marketing the speakers? co-op. I am expanding that platform.?I will be working to make it a lot bigger quickly. I also have some exciting developments working in?partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses.
I am working to send authors to conferences and to create conferences around Influence Publishing?authors. I can see opportunities for several authors working together on ?themed? tours, speaking on?business or health issues for example.
Coming up very soon is the official launch of your new book ?Great Performances? [September 24th at the ?Entrepreneurial Success Network conference in Vancouver]. Then we have?the West Coast Women?s? Show in Abbotsford with six of our authors there to speak and sell their?books from Oct 19th-21st. In between then and up to the end of the year we?ll have several more book?launches that will keep me busy.
All photos: Kurt Knock Photography
I work with business to redesign their futures. I help them become what their owners first?dreamed them to be? Want more out of?your?business??Contact me.?From my home base on Vancouver Island, I provide planning and coaching support to businesses across Canada.
Too shy to leave a comment? ?A?Google ?+1??or?Facebook ?Like??is sweet too.
Related posts:
great pacific garbage patch ben affleck and jennifer garner google privacy changes windows 8 preview leap year moratorium dwts season 14 cast
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন