In this week’s podcast, Patty shares golden nuggets on how to build a business that supports your lifestyle, how to leverage everything you do, the most important aspects of marketing today, how to use your book to get speaking gigs, books vs business cards, and more! This one is not to be missed!
Video version (If you can’t bring it up, check back, it may not be ready yet.)
Resource mentioned
Free Gift: M3 (Marketing, Media & Money)Biz Quiz
Patty’s website: www.PattyFarmer.com
21 Simple Strategies to Jumpstart Your Book Marketing Online, Proven techniques for Quick Results
3 Key Points
It is about your message always.
A book will make you money in revenue and it’ll make you money and opportunities
Strive to be a people connector and not a business card collector.
Transcript
[00:50] Ellen:
Hi, and welcome to Episode 74. Today, my guest is Patty Farmer. Patty is an award-winning marketing and media strategist, international speaker podcast, hosts magazine, publisher, and event producer, and works with small business owners, entrepreneurs, and speakers to attract and convert their ideal clients, so, they can make a big impact in the world and bigger deposits in their bank account.
Patty believes we all have a message and her mission is to help them master their marketing, leverage the media and monetize their business in a way that creates transformation for both them and their clients while designing a lifestyle they want to live.
Ellen: So, welcome to the call. Patty.
Patty: Thank you so much. I’m excited to be here.
Ellen: I am excited to have you. So, I’ve been following you for quite a while and you do some really interesting things. I know that you were buying land and you were going to do a whole, I don’t even know what it was, you can talk about it if you want, but then COVID hit, right?
Patty: Mmm-mm.
Ellen: You were all into some project and everything changed. So, that was interesting, but why don’t you tell people a little bit about your story, and then we can get into that and leveraging the media?
Patty: Absolutely. So, really the thing for me is that I believe that you need to leverage everything you do, right? I mean, for me, every single amount of my time really has a price tag on it if I’m going to be away from my family, although the total caveat to that is if it’s something that feeds my soul, right?
Ellen: Right.
Patty: So, sometimes these feed your soul and it doesn’t matter if you make money at it. Right? But the rest of the time, if I’m away from my family, it really does. And so for me, I had to be really, really clear on really being masterful at my craft. Right? And that’s really going from being an expert to an authority and a thought leader, and then really, how do you leverage it? Because really, honestly, you have your brand, but your brand, you have to be able to put it across all platforms and be able to go from told to sold, right? That’s how it really works. And so for me, I just learned early on how to use my voice, which I think happened because when I was a kid, my parents would say, “Patty, we’ll give you $5. If you could be quiet for a half an hour.” And I never once got the money. Right.?
([3:11]) But when I got older, I thought, you know what? I really think it’s important to be able to use our voice. And so, that’s where really where marketing and media came in for me, because I love helping other entrepreneurs to be able to use their voice in a way that does create transformation. But really, it’s all about lifestyle for me. So for me, everything starts with lifestyle and designing the lifestyle you want to live, and then building a business that supports that lifestyle. Not the other way around.
[03:41] Ellen: Right. I wish someone had told me that when I started.
Patty: Right?
Ellen: Yeah. Because when I started, it was like Teleseminar Secrets was the big thing. And it was like, you know, just do this and you’ll make money. And I was brand new; I didn’t know anything. And so, I listened, and I did it, and I made money until I was so exhausted, I didn’t know what to do with myself, and I wasn’t having the lifestyle I wanted. And then, the journey really started that was more about the lifestyle than about the money. Yeah,
[04:09] Patty: I think that’s what really matters. That’s actually really is probably my differentiator because not everybody wants to have the same lifestyle.
Ellen: Exactly.
Patty: I mean, somebody might actually make ten trips a year and I’ve had people who have said to me, “You know, I just want to be able to tend to every one of my kids’ sporting events and all the things they do- they’re not the same thing. But it is really, really important to start with that because I think if you do, it’ll also help people to stay on track and to be able to do the things that we don’t always want to do. Not every single aspect of our business is something we love to do. It just means it needs to be done. Right?
[04:42] Ellen: Right. That’s another thing. Yeah. Thinking that everything’s going to be a walk in the park or just walk away. Yeah.
Patty: Exactly.
Ellen: But you know, I was the opposite of you. I was the quiet kid.
Patty: Really?
Ellen: I was really quiet. Yeah. I mean, I went into books, I was a reader as a kid. And then when I got to be a teenager music, music was my escape.
Patty: Yeah. I love that though cause I know for me, I’ve always been a voracious reader, even when I was a kid. And when I got married, I remember telling my husband when we’re going to read, I’d say, “Okay, now I’m getting ready to read, and when I go read that means I don’t want you to interrupt me; I don’t want you to, chat while we’re reading. Right? It’s like Calgon, take me away with a book. Right?
Ellen: Yeah.
Patty: I really want to get in, and I feel like no matter what’s happening in your life there is a book that can help you understand and take your way whether you need to just kind of have an escape or whether there’s something going on in your business and it’s that. And you’re just like, “Oh, let me just do that.” There’s always something. And I feel like a book, it’s just something about a book, right?
Ellen: Yeah. Yeah. I was a huge Nancy Drew fan as a kid. I read Nancy Drew books.
Patty: Me too!
[6:03] Ellen: Oh, that’s so funny. So, tell me a little bit about, well what happened with COVID? And then we’re going to get into leveraging the media.
[06:10] Patty: Well, the biggest thing that happened for me, I was already working from home, so that wasn’t a thing, but I do events too. Right? Part of what my business in is producing events. And so, of course, we stopped doing that, and we stopped traveling to speak. And I think though, sometimes, when you stop doing and you start being, you know, everybody keeps talking about the pivot. Right? You know? But I really think that for me, I was traveling so much out of the country- about twelve times a year; and that was wonderful; and I can’t wait til can do it again, but having to stop and be quiet right? At home. And just where it was quiet, I think for me really made me realize, “What does it mean my business that I really, really love the most and let’s do more of that.” And so…
Ellen: What was that?
Patty: Yeah,
Ellen: What was that?
Patty: For me, it was really like, “How can I serve one-on-one?” Now it’s really kind of funny because most coaches, and I’m a marketing coach myself. right? It’s like, “Oh, get away from one-on-one and do one to many.” But one of the things I realized is I love working one-on-one because I’ve been marketing and media, and nobody has the same business. And I really love getting my hands in their businesses and stuff. So, for me it was how could I still work one-to-one but do it in a way that I didn’t need to do a group program or I didn’t need to try to teach, fifty people all at the same time, the same thing and hope they got something out of it; I’m an educator.
And so, coming up with the ways to do that were challenging, but exciting and creative for me. I’ve always been called a visionary and I didn’t really step into that and I didn’t get it. I thought, “Oh, that just seemed really big.” Right? But really, a visionary is just somebody who can see the vision first, and then can actually break down all the pieces to make it happen. And actually, once I actually understood what that really I realized, I think I’ve always been that; that has always been me, but I’ve also always been a rebel because I really want to do it my way.
Ellen: Me too. Me too!
Patty: That’s why I always say, my favorite clients are people who are rule-breakers, like the ones that are going to say, “No, I don’t want to do it like everybody else. I want to do it my way.”
Ellen: Yeah, yeah. And that’s why I always have had a problem when I’ve taken courses from other people. After I got Teleseminar Secrets and I had my basic stuff and then, I dabbled with other coaches and everything. It was always like, there was always this kind of like, “Well, how can I tweak that? How can I change that? How can I make that so I’m more comfortable with that, yeah.
So, I agree with you 100% it’s because no two businesses are alike and I’ve had that same challenge. Like when I do #1 bestsellers, for people, my hands are in their business. I’m fixing their copy; I’m pulling stuff out of them. And I think, “Well, how could I even do this in a group without… even if I did it in a group, I guess I’d have to limit it to so many because I still have to look at how they implemented it because if it’s not working, it’s not going to work. Right?
Patty: Exactly.
Ellen: It’s not going to work If it’s not laid out, the copy, in the right way.
[09:28] Patty: Well, do you ever l talk to someone and while you’re talking to them and they’re telling you about their businesses, it could just be like just a regular call.
Ellen: Yeah.
Patty: You’re having a conversation and the hair goes up on my arms and it’s like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t wait until I want to have my hands in their business.” Right? And sometimes, I’ll listen to somebody. I always like to say that my zone of genius, which I would never say to somebody…
Ellen Right.
Patty: But really honestly, my secret power, so to speak, secret sauce, is sometimes I can talk to someone and they’ll tell me about their business. And in five minutes I’m thinking to myself, I don’t say it, but in my head, I’m thinking you can stop talking. Now I’ve already figured out how to make your mirror.
Ellen: Right. Yeah. Me too. And you know what happens is, authors always want me to read their book, and what they don’t understand is I don’t have to read your book to know how to help you. You know what I mean? I have to make them feel that I get what they’re talking about. And so, I will read part of it. But there is that thing where I already know I can…I already know what I have to do.
[10:21] Patty: Exactly. And who would want to take on a client if you didn’t think you could help them?
Ellen: Right, of course.
Know, I mean, those days of, I mean, it’s been twenty-plus years that there’s ever been a time that I thought to myself, “Oh, I know I can help them, but I don’t really love what they do.” I always say, “Get rid of that right away. Nobody should ever work with somebody that’s not the right fit. Right?
Ellen: Absolutely.
Patty: Cause they’re interviewing you and you should be interviewing them.
Ellen: Right.
Patty: So, I only work with clients that I get up every day and I’m excited and full of joy for what they do. But I think part of that is asking good questions. And then for me, it’s also knowing how I’m going to leverage it. I’ve had, as a matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago, somebody had a conversation with me and as she’s telling me about her business, I said, you know what I said, “I love it. It’s exciting what you’re doing, but I don’t think I’m the fit for you. I don’t think what you’re saying that you want to do is really where I can help you the best, but I’ll introduce you to somebody.”
And then, we kind of just kept talking, and then I was like, wait a second, “What did you say you want to do?” And then, when she kind of told me that she wanted to create this, I’m like, “Oh, I can help you do that.” And so, she did hire me. And, I’m really, really clear about who I want to work with because I also want to help my clients work with each other and how to help them collaborate. So, really, for me, it’s always about big picture and not just, “Oh, here’s how’s the way we could do this,” because when you’re leveraging right in today’s business environment, I think, and with COVID, it’s even more, relationships are the currency in today’s business.
[11:49] Ellen: Absolutely. If I’m on a post and are commenting and they’re looking for something that I know would be good for one of my clients, I always connect them or, or at least ask if they want to connect. Yeah.
But if you’re willing to share, I would love to hear it your tips on how you were able to work one-on-one and make that work.
[12:11] Patty: So, for me, what I did is I decided that I would rather do it in, so I have one-on-one class. I’ve always had one-on-one clients, but I’ve always limited it to eight.
Ellen: Right, me too.
Patty: I could only take on eight one-on-one clients.
Ellen: Yeah, I only take five.
Patty: Just so I know that I could really serve them. But then, and obviously, I have a podcast and a magazine and I do events.
Ellen: You do a lot.
Patty: Right. But for me, I really love the mastermind experience a lot, but I wasn’t really happy, to be honest, with some of the models that people use. And there’s a lot of models for a lot of things. Right?
Ellen: Right.
Patty: There’s a lot of models for speaking. There’s a lot of models for things, but I just didn’t love the regular basic model for masterminds. And I was like, “What could I do to tweak that, to make it better?”
[12:57]: And so, I just designed my whole new thing. I’m actually going to be rolling it out in January. So, you’ll hear about it.
Ellen: Oh, good. Okay. Yeah.
Patty: So, I’m going to be doing that, but really honestly, I’m really excited about how I’m going to be able to serve in that way and still be able to help people to leverage cause that’s really what it is. I mean, marketing is one thing. It is fabulous and you have to do it. And people who right now during COVID are thinking they don’t, but they should be doing it even more.
Now. It’s even more important that you’re marketing to the right people. But then, it’s really about how are you leveraging the media for that? And you know, let’s just talk about books. Right? So, when you think about a book, a book, isn’t just a book it’s like 20,000 to 50,000 words that you use that you could use that are content, right?
[13:48]: When you have books, right? There’s all this content. So, a lot of times you can take content and make that a book. Right?
Ellen: Right.
Patty: And then, there’s times that you have a book and then you can repurpose that into content. Right. So, it goes both ways.
Ellen: Yes, it does.
Patty: And the leveraging that is so important, whether it is, Oh, and I have to say, a little sidebar here, when I just purchased your ebook thing, I didn’t know anybody did that. I’ve never heard of anybody doing it for eBooks. I’ve only seen people do it for books. So, I love that you did that. I can’t wait to share it with everybody in my network because I think that’s awesome. But with that said, being able to take a book and make an ebook, like just now recently I have five books…
Ellen: You’re talking about the workbook, right?
The Real Easy eBook Workbook?
Patty: Yep, the Real Easy eBook Workbook. So, for me, I have five books, but they were all collaboration books.
Ellen: Oh, uh-huh.
Patty: So, my first five books were all ones that I did in collaboration. Once, as time went on, it’s like they’re still for sale, and they’re still amazing. But all of a sudden, I realized, “Why am I not taking my chapter and you know, making it more robust and turning it into an ebook and putting it on Amazon? I have five books. I didn’t have an Amazon page. I was like, “Why don’t I have an Amazon?”
Ellen: Oh my God, you have to have an Amazon page.
[15:09] Patty: I know, it’s like, “Why haven’t I done that?” So, I feel like, I’m really working-that’s like another way to leverage. It’s just so smart. But I hadn’t seen anybody really teaching that until I saw that ebook thing that you had. So, I thought, I had the twenty-one strategies that you have. That’s an amazing book.
Ellen: Oh, thanks.
Patty: Right. But yeah, that’s really leveraging a book. So, I think that when,
Ellen: Oh, wrong one wrong one, wait a minute. That one,
[15:34] Patty: There you go. That one. So, I think that’s important because I believe that if you have a book, you should also be a speaker. And if you’re a speaker…
Ellen: Oh, me too.
Patty: You also have a book. Right?
[15:45] Ellen: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And that’s why my market really is thought leaders and speakers. And I say heart-centered entrepreneurs, because I worked with a lot of those too, but really the speakers, I completely agree with you.
[15:59] Patty: 100% and 85% of my clients are speakers or want to use speaking as a marketing strategy. And so probably out of that only like 15% of them are already an author. And so, to me,
Ellen: Well, we have to talk about that. Yeah.
Patty: Yeah. So, it’s like, why do you not have a book? Right? You know, and if you need to start with an ebook, that’s fine. But really why is that not part of another way for us to leverage media for you. Right?
And then, there’s really all about how are you using other things like they’re speaking, there’s stages, there’s sponsorships, there’s getting on podcasts, which is one of my favorite ways…
Ellen: Yeah, me too.
Patty:… to be able to leverage it because we don’t talk a lot about opportunities and you know, and I know that you make money in two ways, revenue and opportunities, right? Those are the two ways we really make money. So, one of the things that I always love to say about an opportunity or an op as I like to call it, is op for me, stands for other people’s people. So how can you serve someone else in such a way that they get to know you, trust you, and feel comfortable putting you in front of their people?
You know, I feel really good when I ask people to write for my magazine, or be on my podcast, or speak on a stage for me, or do a Facebook live, or whatever the case may be. When I feel really good about them. I want to share them with my people. And now that I found out that that ebook thing you’ve got going on, I want to share it with my people. Right?
[17:29] So, I think that that is what’s really important and how you leverage it. So, what you’re really leveraging there is the relationships that you have built. So many people, they just want to go from here to here to here and it’s really go deeper, not wide. This is really the time in where we are right now for that to really happen and building strategic relationships with the promo partners and strategic partners. And those are not exactly the same thing. A lot of people use that word the same, but it really is totally different-what they do. And so, I think that is really important.
[18:07] Ellen: Why don’t you share that? What’s the difference? What’s the difference because people don’t understand.
Patty: So, for a strategic partner, for me, a strategic partner is someone who serves the same audience as you, but in a completely different way. So somebody who is in marketing, maybe a sales or websites or branding, , like, so those are good people for me, somebody who does books since I have a magazine, but I don’t do books at all, nothing to do with them, so, I always refer that out.
So, looking at that and how I always tell people, they should think about it is if this is what you do, most people don’t realize it, but when somebody has a problem and you have a solution, and you help them, right? It creates another problem. Every problem when solved creates another problem, right?
Ellen: So, what’s the next step? What’s the next step?
Patty: What’s the next step? So, whoever you would send them to, to the next step, is a strategic partner.
Ellen: Yeah.
Patty: But what people don’t think about…
Ellen: Or, who came right before you can be…
[19:07]: Or who came right before you. So those are really great strategic partners. A promotional partner, a promo partner, is somebody that maybe we will joint venture on something or collaborate on something specific, but what we will do is we will promote each other. And you know, some people like to call that affiliate marketing, right? But sometimes promotional partners, they don’t have to do affiliate. Right?
So for me, a promo partners, when somebody says to me, this is an example, when somebody says they have a book and they’re going to do a book launch, or maybe they’re going to have a podcast launch, and they’re saying, “Here’s what I’d love for you to commit to Patty that on this day my book comes out,”
Ellen: Right.
Patty: “These are the things that you will do. You’re going to promo it for me on this day and you’re going to commit to these things,” right? It’s not like where it may be a strategic partner we’re going to do an event together or do a masterclass together or something like that. So, really a promo partners really about promotion. And it is really important whenever you’re doing a launch, or pretty much anything that you really know who your promo partners are, so that you’re doing that well in advance. That’s part of leveraging and not waiting because a lot of times people will come to me. I’m sure they do to you. They’re book’s going to come out. Or their new podcast is going to come out…
Ellen: (Laugh) tomorrow!
Patty: Oh, it’s going to be out in two weeks. I’m like, “Well, if you’d have told me, we could have had you, like, when, when authors come to me, it’s like, I get them booked on a podcast tour. Right? Let’s get you on a podcast tour, so when that book’s going to come out, they’re hearing about it everywhere. Where can we have you be talking about it? Who are the best promotional partners for you? And we go out and find them for you and like, kind of do that outreach and stuff. I think that is really important. People don’t always think about it. They just think that, you know, I’m going to tell you, this may come as a surprise, but just posting about it on social media does not get it done.
[20:58] Ellen: No, and a lot of times people will think, “Oh, well, you know, when they’ll say, “Well, I have a list of a thousand people.” I’m going “You can’t get very many books sold with a thousand people on a list; you need way more than that.” Sometimes they only have like a hundred or they don’t have anything, you know, they don’t even have an email list, which is one of the reasons
Patty: I take people to six figures and they had a list of 500.
Ellen: That’s different than a book, that’s different than a book.
[21:24]: Patty: Right. But it’s different than a book. Right. So, in a book, it is totally different because it’s really all about how engaged those people are. And I know…
Ellen: Or you talking about something that they’re either going to buy for like
$2.99 or maybe nineteen bucks at the most, not by a program that you could charge maybe $5,000 or $10,000 for. So…
Patty. Right. Yeah. So, I think it really does matter knowing where you need to leverage and what you need to do.
Ellen: Yeah. Yeah.
Patty: And like, I always like to say, and you build the relationship with those people before the thing is…
Ellen: YES
Patty: That you want to do. It cracks me up when they say, “Oh Patty, I want to talk to this journalist and I want to talk to that journalist. And this is happening right now in the world.” And I really, I’m like, I know you built relationships with journalists before, so you become a trusted resource and advisor and when they need something, they come to you. Right? For that. So, people don’t always think about that. They just think they could do anything. That’s why there’s a cycle of publicity, right? For PR. There’s different, cycles that things happen. You don’t decide that you’re going to do something for Christmas and come out with a book about something at Christmas time, and you weren’t already working on it in the summer, because the cycle is the new cycle isn’t going to- it’s very definitive when you should be pitching. Certainly.
[22:36] Ellen: Right? Well, that is one of the reasons that I love though, #1 bestseller launches, because if you don’t have all that stuff in place, and you do come in at the last minute, that is one way that you can jumpstart and get something going. It’s not going to be like doing a New York Times where you have to sell 10,000 books, but you can sell.
But you know, a really perfect example what you’re talking about is I recently did a crowdfunding Publishizer campaign for one of my clients. And that’s to help them get a publishing deal, not through a traditional publisher. Publishizer has the relationships and you only have thirty days to do it. And she came to me about five days after it had already started first of all. So, it’s like, what you’re saying?
[23:21]: It’s like, “Oh, this would have been way better if you come to me before. And we had started at the beginning,” but I had to come in and then kind of fix it, because she kind of didn’t start at the beginning. But then what happened was I saw that the way she was trying to sell books, and she only had thirty days, there was no way she was going to sell enough books in thirty days selling one book at a time. So, we needed to sell bundles of books. Well, between the two of us, we probably had, I don’t know, forty, fifty years of relationships between the two of us. Right? So, we were able to do that in thirty days and get enough books sold to get her the deal. But if somebody had just come in who didn’t have any relationships built and tried to do that, there’s no way…
Patty: Absolutely.
Ellen:… because you’re never going to sell that. The number of books you need to sell like 5,000 books in thirty days with no relationship.
[24:10] Patty: Absolutely. And then not only that, but like when you have a book, even if it’s an ebook, when you’re pitching, when I’m pitching people to be on stages, and when I’m pitching my clients to be on podcasts or whatever type of media we’re going to, if they have a book or at least an ebook or something like that, it opens doors. Right?
Ellen: Absolutely. That’s my website, Books Open Doors; they do.
Patty: There you go. And so really it does.
Ellen: It does.
Patty: And you’re a speaker. If you have a book, you need to be speaking about it because then you can create a course around it and then there’s a lot of other things. I mean, nobody’s going to, unless it’s a New York best times, right? Are you going to make so much money just from the book without doing anything else?
[24:54] Ellen: Right. And guess what? Even with the New York Times, bestseller, there are people who buy their way onto the New York Times bestseller list. And they’ve spent a hundred to $200,000 to do it. And if you do that, your book’s going to be off the list in a week or two. Right? Whereas if you’re doing it organically, and the right way, and you’ve built the relationships, and you’ve got the reach, it can stay up there for a very long time. Yeah.
[25:18] Patty: And then, I think there’s so many things that you do when you want to be doing book signings and when you want to be in certain places, if you have relationships with people that’s really, really easy to do. It’s very, very simple to do if you have the things in place or you hire someone and they have those relationships, you pretty much have to do one or the other.
No. I remember one time, last year, I had a doctor who wrote a book and then he came to me; it was already out and everything. Right? And I asked him, “How many copies have you sold?” He said, “Like forty.” right? You know, which probably half of those were to his family. But really this is what he had to do. But the thing was that he didn’t have a platform. Like who are you going to sell the book to? Right? Because you’re not going to sell it to your patients. Right?
So, sometimes it’s really important, you know, first, so that we have time to build that platform. Right? So, we have time to like, who are the right people who you selling the book to? Who do you want to sell the book to? You know, so that when we leverage it, I have time to come in there and either get those people or come up with other things or get young. But you know, other things that are going to support that.
[26:24] Ellen: Right. And when you do that, before you write the book, it can affect how you write the book too…
Patty: For sure.
Ellen: … which is why I’m a big proponent of like, you should do that way before you write the book. Yeah.
Patty: Absolutely.
Ellen: That’s one of the things that I help clients do, and a matter of fact, no matter when they come to me and where they are in the process, I always make them go back to that.
Patty: Because it really is important.
Ellen: Yeah. You have to know who your market is. You have to know how you’re going to position it so that it’s different from all the other books that when they go to Amazon. I was working with a strategic partner of mine on his book, and we go in there and there’s like, he wanted to do like work/balance, and you go on and there’s like a hundred books on work/balance.
And I go, “I wouldn’t know, how are you going to know which one to pick? They all sound so similar. So, let’s come from a totally different angle.” And so, that’s what we did, which I can’t say yet what it is, because it’s not out yet. But basically, I just took him in a completely different direction to get to the same place because otherwise, you’re never going to stand out.
[27:21] Patty: Absolutely. I’m in the middle of writing two books right now, solo books, there’s actually going to be three. And so, I’m like halfway done with the first one about the second one, the third one needs one more thing before I can do it.
But I do have to tell you, I think that is absolutely fact is I have to tell you, one of the highlights of my life was when I was in Italy last year, and I happened to be in the airport, and I was looking at the bookstore in the airport, and my book was there.
Ellen: I know that’s so cool. It is just so amazing.
Patty: I felt like jumping up on that seat,
[27:54] Ellen: You published it. Did you use Ingram spark or how did you get it there?
[27:57] Patty: I have all five of mine have done differently. I’ve used publishers; we’ve self-published; we’ve done it many, you know, I’ve been across the gambit of every single different ways.
Ellen: And what’s your favorite?
Patty: Kind of like a hybrid model. I kind of like a hybrid model. I think really depends on what you do and what is their goal for it? Like what is it they want? Sometimes, people do a book and really it isn’t about sales. That’s not why they did it. Right?
Ellen: Right.
Patty: They do it because they just have a message.
Ellen: Right.
Patty: And sometimes, people come and they think that that’s going to make them rich. Right?
Ellen: And those are It’s like the people I say, “Bye bye”.
Patty: Exactly. And so really there needs to be, you know, if it’s a marketing, the ones that I love or when they just want to use their book as a marketing strategy…
Ellen: Yeah, right.
Patty: … and we’re going to use that book as another pillar in their total,
[28:49] Ellen: Right. That Is how I’ve used my book. So sometimes, when people look and say, “Well, why should I listen to you? You didn’t sell a ton of books. And I go, “Well, I wasn’t trying to sell a ton of books.” I give them away when I do a bestseller launch in the beginning, doesn’t mean I don’t sell books, but it’s not my number-one thing usually for my books.
[29:09] Patty: Well, that’s true. And if you have a book and you give away, one of the ways that I use my book more than anything, is when companies can’t pay my speaker fee. They say, “Oh, we don’t have a budget for a speaker.” Right? “We don’t have a speaker fee,”
Ellen: You have them buy books?
Patty: I always say, “Are you open to talking about other ways that you can pay me?” And they’ll be like, “Oh.” If they buy the books right? That comes out of a different bucket. Right? And so, when I say, “Oh, and you get to be a hero and so you buy 150 of my books,” Did I get paid? I kind of did. Right? I just got paid differently. And I’m totally okay with that. Right? Yeah.
Ellen: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
[29:48] Patty: So, you can utilize your book in a lot of ways because here’s what I want to say, it is about your message always. But if a book, you want it to make you money again, like I said earlier, it’ll make you money in revenue and it’ll make you money and opportunities. I can tie my books back to making me hundreds of thousands of dollars in the opportunities that having those books have actually gotten me.
[30:10] Ellen: Absolutely. Yeah. Jay Conrad Levinson once said, and I love this quote. I don’t know if I’m saying it exactly, but this was the gist of it.
Patty: Well, paraphrase.
Ellen: Yes. Somebody asked him how much money he made from his book. And he said, he made $36,000 from the book and 964,000 from the opportunities.
[30:30] Patty: Oooo, I love it. I think I’m out. That is beautiful because it’s so true, right?
[30:34] Ellen: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I want to talk a little bit about the business-card aspect. Like do people, if they have a book, do they need to have the business card?
[30:44] Patty: Sometimes, people say your book is your business card. Right?
Ellen: Right.
Patty: And sometimes, it actually really, really is. Right? So, it kind of depends upon where you are. I know for me, I treat my business cards, like a hundred-dollar bill. I don’t just hand my business cards out to anybody. Right? You know? But I like to go beyond that business card, like what is the next thing? So, people like to talk about networking. I actually come from networking. But the reality is I trademarked the word “next marketing”, because really, it’s about what happens next. Right? And that’s why I trademarked it because I think it’s really, really important. So for me, I want to go beyond the business card. I don’t want to know just to this information. Right?
Ellen: Right.
Patty: Let’s build that relationship and really get to so this way I really know how to serve and support you in the most strategic way, which is what it is all about for me.
[31:34]: So, I have this little thing, like when I’m at events in person, I actually have a way that I can kind of do it virtually too is a little bit different. But when I have my business cards say, this is my business card. So, I’ll tell you my tip. This is like my signature tip.
Ellen: Okay.
Patty: So, here’s what it looks like for me, everything should be a call to action, right?
Ellen: Right.
Patty: So, what I do is my business card, and everybody’s will be different, but for me, each one of the corners of my business card represents a social media platform. So, you know, my top right could be LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, whatever it is for you.
Ellen: Right.
Patty: But when I am talking to somebody, I have three questions that I ask and this tip and I can do it all in five minutes. And I know everything I need to know.
[32:16]: Big questions and this tip does everything for me. And so, I’ll ask the three questions. And when we’re wrapping up and everybody then kind of wants to exchange business cards, and they want to do that my last question to them is, “What is your favorite social media platform? Where do you like to hang out?” Because you could spend all your time on Facebook, but if they’re on LinkedIn, doesn’t really matter. Right?
Ellen: Right, right.
Patty: What I do is whatever they tell me when they leave, I’ve been the corner of the business card wherever they told me they hang out. So now, think about how, if you’re at an event, right? And I do it virtually too. If they have a stack of cards, all you have to do is your call to action is connect with them where they just told you they hang out, not on, “Oh my gosh, I got to get up on LinkedIn and Twitter and Instagram, Facebook.” Ask them, “Where do you spend your time?”
[33:09]: And that’s what I do with the business card. And then, I just tell them, I said, “You know what? I’m going to note that; expect to hear from me.” I really want to go beyond the business card.” Like for me, it is really about true connection. Let’s go beyond the business card and I have to tell you, it works for me every time. And I will tell you, I have a 100%, so that’s pretty strong by my 100% success rate at people showing up for meetings for me.
Ellen: Wow.
Patty: 100%, and here’s why, so as long as we’ve talked about business cards, so here’s why, because when I’m confirming it, here’s how I handle that.
Ellen: Okay.
Patty: Cause my time is so important. Right?
Ellen: That’s all we have.
Patty: And I want to honor, Right? So, what I say is “Ellen, I know we’re going to meet on Friday,” whether that’s virtual or in person.
[33:57]: Right? I confirm and say “What I would really love is when you confirm it with me, would you please do two things for me? Well, actually three, now one send me an introduction on how you would like to be introduced. Let me know who you would like to be introduced to- who are your most strategic partners, and what is an exact right fit client for you? And the reason I’m asking those, so, here’s the punchline, the reason I’m asking that is so this way, before we meet, I have a chance to go through my database and I’ll bring them with me when I come.
Ellen: Oh, nice.
Patty: So of course, they want to come. Right?
Ellen: Right, right because they know they are going to get something.
Patty: And they should happen. Right? So, they should come back and say, “Oh my gosh, you know Patty? Yes, I’ll be there. And tell me that about you too.” So now, when you show up and you’re having this conversation, it’s a much more dynamic conversation for sure.
[34:48]: Because haven’t you ever have a call with somebody? And then, when you got done with that call, they said, “Oh, I’m going to introduce you to such and such.” And then, a week goes by and two weeks go by and you’re like, “Wow, that would have been a really great introduction.” And you think, “Oh, I feel kind of icky.” Can I go back and say, “Hey, you said…” Right?
Ellen: Yeah, yeah.
Patty: You know, so this is the way to kind of get around that. And so, when I handle that, I’m really big on my making sure that I take care of all my deliverables, but I love to exceed expectations and really leverage it because what happens-that one little thing there, when I go by on the business card, when I do, they want to introduce everybody to me, and they want to tell everybody, “Oh my gosh, you don’t know Patty Farmer. You should know Patty Farmer. She goes intentional networking. She does great introductions.”
[35:30] Ellen: Well, absolutely. And I will tell people when you came on this call today, the first thing you said was, you gave me a five-star review, bought my book; you loved my book. I had such high energy before we got on the call and started because you made me feel fabulous.
Patty: Cause you are fabulous.
Ellen: Well, who doesn’t want to feel that way though, you know? Right? Who doesn’t want to feel special, who doesn’t want to feel like they did a great job or, and that you helped somebody. I mean, it’s just, it’s fabulous. So yeah, when you go beyond you get more too what you put out comes back.
[36:00] Patty: It’s how you leverage it. Here’s another way I’ll share with other women. I know we probably do have to wrap up here’s about the podcast. Here’s another way. Here’s one of the things that I do. So yes, I always leave a five-star review on the business page and a LinkedIn recommendation. But once the podcast is out and you’re promoting it, what else can you do? So, you know how I talked earlier about leveraging other people’s people. So, say you are Episode 55. So now you’re talking about it, you know, I’m Episode 55, go listen to the podcast. Right? What I do is I wait a week or so. And then, I go and look, and I see who was 54 and 56. And if they’re appropriate, because I’m usually on podcasts or whatever, I actually promote those podcasts and promote other people because then when they go to listen to 54 and 56 what’s in between,
Ellen: That is brilliant. Oh, that is brilliant!
[36:52] Patty: And then, those people who I don’t even know probably are super excited. So then, now I made a really good connection with them. And then, the host sees that, “Oh my gosh, she didn’t just promote hers. She actually cared about me and she promoted my other ones too.” And that’s really kind of a really good way to do other people’s people.
Ellen: Cool. Well, I have one last question. How do you decide whether to give a business card or a book?
[37:14] Patty: Ooo, that’s a good question. Well, even when I give a book, I always have my business card in the books.
Ellen: So, I always do that, but I really kind of feel like it depends upon like for what I do for a living. It depends on what’s the call to action. I want them to take next. Right? So, I really think about it if I want them to, if it’s really somebody that I really want to continue that conversation I’ll do the book. Right? Because it’s just so much more powerful.
Ellen: Yeah.
Patty: I’ll send them to people too sometimes in advance.
Ellen: Yeah, that’s always a good thing.
Patty: Yeah, I do.
Ellen: Okay, awesome. Well, we do have to wrap this up and do you have any final tips before we go?
Patty: I would just say that when it comes to relationships, you should strive to be a people connector and not a business-card collector.
[38:04] Ellen: Ah, good one. Okay. So how can people reach you?
Patty: So, the best way to reach me is they can just go to my website, which is Pattyfarmer.com. And they’ll find everything there, like all in one spot, that’s kind of my hub. And I have a gift for your people too, if I’m allowed.
Ellen: Yes, absolutely.
Patty: I always love being bearing gifts, right? So, what it is, so everything I do is marketing, media and money, and it is a free assessment where we will actually assess seven key areas of your business and tell you here’s where you’re excelling. Here’s where you can use a little work. And here’s what the next steps are for massive results. And they can just go to www.Mthree, that stands for marketing media m3bizquiz.com.
Ellen: All right, well, that’s it for today to get the transcript, go to https://booksopendoors.com/podcast You’re also welcome to join our Facebook group. The link is on the podcast page and I’ve consolidated my two Facebook groups. And I won’t be saying this much longer. I’ve been saying it now for a few of the podcasts, but the group that it got consolidated into is a great group. We’ve got lots of engagement, networking, support, you still get the first notice of new podcast, promotional opportunities and more so I hope you will join us there.
Also, be sure to grab a copy of the Book Planning Secrets, A Simple 4-Step Guide to Writing a Bestseller. If you like to write your own books or if you’ve been writing them and you would just like to write them faster and with more ease, then be sure to grab a copy and that’s it for today. So, thank you so much, Patty. This is really awesome. Thank you.
Patty: Thank you so much.
Ellen: Bye-Bye
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