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7 Succulent Ways to Promote Your Audiobook

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Leadership, Marketing.

Audiobook sales will top 3 billion dollars in 2018. We’re going to give you some tips and ideas you can use to promote your audiobook masterpiece!

Promote Your Audiobook - Tina Dietz

So you’ve decided to publish an audiobook version of your book – great idea! Audiobook sales will top 3 billion dollars in 2018. BUT, guess what?

That also means you need to (gasp!) market your audiobook. Many authors think of marketing as a big scary thing you have to do in order to avoid failure, but think about your marketing time as time spent getting to know your readers and finding out what interests them.

Whether you’re promoting online, in print, or by word of mouth, there are many different options you can use to help in this process. To help get you started, we’re going to give you some tips and ideas you can use to promote your masterpiece!

Connect with Amazon

After your audiobook has been completed, the first thing you should do is look your book up on Amazon to ensure that the audiobook version is listed on the book’s page. If your audiobook is not listed, contact Amazon to request that the editions get combined. This is particularly helpful because some people exclusively listen to audiobooks, and if they are looking for the book, they will see the audiobook available on the same page in one easy search. Whispersync can also help here, because it synchronizes the Audible audiobook and the Kindle e-book so that you can switch between them with ease. You can go from reading your book in the living room to jumping in the car and listening right where you left off in the story.

Social Media

​Promoting your work online and via social media is a must for any author. Based on who your reader is, focus your efforts on using the social media platform that your readers most use. Do you have an author page on Facebook if that’s where your readers are most? If it’s Twitter, use hashtags wisely so that people who are searching for your book or general book genre can identify your project by interest. Facebook also allows you to promote your post by adding a filter to it to enable traffic with the specific interest. Overall, posting on social media sites using videos created to promote your audiobook (with a snippet of your 5 minute retail sample) or quote memes pulled from your audiobook’s content will bring attention and will also be great for your book’s search engine optimization efforts by back linking to your book’s sales pages.

Promote to Audio Listeners via Podcasts

​Just as you wouldn’t want to waste time pitching your audiobook to a paperback only crowd, you don’t want to promote your audiobook to them either. You want to focus on the audio listeners and the best place to find them is through podcasts! Podcast audiences are already listening and therefore they’re more likely to also be listening to audiobooks. Listen to some podcasts that would be a good fit for your audiobook and take some notes on the audience, jot down contact info, and contact podcasters about what you could bring to the show as a guest. Special giveaways or an inside view of your creative or writing process are good hooks to get listeners to tune in. You can also use your 5 minute audiobook retail sample in your podcast interview or in the episode’s “show notes” to give listeners a preview-both creating interest and generating traffic back to your audiobook’s sales page.

Be Their Guest

Being featured on someone else’s website as a guest blogger is a great way to get noticed and promote your work. In addition to guest blogs, consider Tweet chats, local radio stations, and YouTube interviews. You can reach out to hosts in the same friendly and value-oriented way that you would to ask to be on a podcast. If your audiobook narrator has a blog, ask them if you can guest blog and then host your narrator on your own blog for an article or interview. The more channels you appear on, the more you get the word out about your work. You can even write a blog that interviews the main character of the story and publish this on sites that engage with your readers and audience. This is a fun way to get attention, and it engages your readers in even more.

Free Audiobook Sample

​Giving people an easy, risk-free way to sample your audiobook will peak their interest and have them craving more. When you create your audiobook, you have a “5 minute retail sample” that is featured on your audiobook retail pages so that potential listeners can have a taste of your work. You can use the 5 minute audio clip as a free sample that you can embed on your website in blog posts and on all social media platforms.

Reviews

​Just as there are reviewers for standard print books and e-books, there are also reviewers who specialize in audiobook reviews. By using a google search or checking directories you can find publications, websites, bloggers, and many others that you can submit your audiobook for a review. As these reviews start pouring in, use the positives to your advantage. Post or share these reviews on your websites or social media accounts to draw in more attention, and to spread the word. If you use ACX to produce your audiobook, you can email ACX to receive 25 free promo codes that can be used to send your audiobook to potential reviewers in exchange for a review.

Video Book Trailer

​Sometimes people make their audiobook trailers too long and it can lose the listener’s interest or make them feel as if they have already learned all there is to know already about the book. You want to keep it edgy and have the audience eager to know more or find out what happens next. Also, keep in mind that most people are always in a hurry and only have but a minute or two to spare, so try to get as much detail as you need squeezed into a video that’s two minutes or less. To make it easy, you can again use the 5 minute retail sample of your audiobook to help create your book trailer. Make sure to feature your trailer on your website, social media sites, and even in your e-mail signature.

There are hundreds of ways authors and narrators can market audiobooks, but it’s important to focus on making a connection with readers. Learn where your readers spend their time the most, and that will help you determine where you should focus on sharing about your work. If you offer valuable content and engagement, you will see the same in return, and remember that listening is the new reading, so promoting your audiobook and doing it well is worth it.

Want help creating & promoting your audiobook? My team and I have the expertise you need to unleash your masterpiece

Questions to Ask to Evaluate and Manage Your Ideas

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Creating Wealth, Leadership, Podcasting.

Too many ideas? Shiny ball syndrome? Ask yourself these questions to evaluate and manage your ideas and find the right actions to take to ensure success

Evaluate and Manage Your Ideas - Tina Dietz

I’m a creative person, as many of you are, and I have always dealt with the problem of having a large number of ideas all the time. I call it a problem because that’s what it was before I really learned how to start wrangling all my thoughts and turning them into productive ideas rather than getting caught in the “shiny ball syndrome” that takes us away from the things we need to be focusing on in order to produce the results that we keep saying we want.  

When we’re looking at any idea, we have to bring it outside of ourselves. Examine it like you’re examining a physical object. Look at all the parts: What do you like about it?  What about it has you absolutely enamored? What parts of it are causing you to hold onto it? What do you see about it that connects with the things that you’re thinking about doing or that you’re already doing? Will it slide in easily or take you in another direction? Is it a missing-piece-idea that fits in perfectly with what you have going on, or will it come into play later in the plan?

Asking the Right Questions

Ask yourself these questions to evaluate and manage your ideas and find the right actions to take to ensure productivity and a serene and calm approach to your projects:

  • Will it make a current part of your plan easier?
  • Will it make something better?
  • Will it make something faster?
  • Will it make something more profitable?
  • Will it make it more enjoyable?

If the answer to any—or all—of those questions is “yes,” put it into your plan. This is why I always recommend having a very flexible, creative, and strategic vision plan so that you can slide pieces in and incorporate them into what you’re already doing without throwing a big wrench into the plan.

If the answer to those questions were all “no,” but it’s a good idea, it might just be a good fit for later in the process. Slide it later into the plan, stop thinking about it right now, and use that as a holding center for your idea. It’s not going anywhere, and you can get to it at the appropriate time in the plan without distracting yourself now.

Putting Things into a GeoSync Folder

If the idea is one that you really don’t want to get rid of, but it doesn’t really fit into anything, you can put it into what I call a GeoSync folder. Think of yourself like a satellite, and you have ideas orbiting all around you. Turn this into a concrete idea, and create a GeoSync folder on your computer, Google Drive, or where ever you store your files. Keep track of your ideas, and review them every couple of months when you review your strategic vision plan. This way, they’re not taking up brain space or creating anxiety, but they’re also not disappearing into the ether that is lost thoughts and ideas.

Capture & Release…of Ideas?

It’s important to start an Idea Capture and Release Program. We all know that ideas don’t always come to us at the most convenient times. If we’re being honest with ourselves, we realize that our best ideas usually don’t come to us when we're sitting behind a desk in an office, but rather when we’re using other parts of our brains and allowing our brains to be a little more free-thinking and creative. Where we get ideas is different for all of us, but the important part is to have a way to capture these ideas and not let them slip away.  

This is where habit-building comes in handy. Most of us having our phones with us nearly all the time. Use that to your advantage, and have a spot on your phone—either in your email or a note app—where you have a running list of ideas. Sync this with your GeoSync folder to bring your short-term thoughts of in-the-moment ideas that were captured, and combine them with your long-term stored ideas in GeoSync.

Bill Gates famously said, “I keep my plate full at 60%.” The first time I heard this, it really surprised me because of the amazing enterprises he built. He left 40% of his time for thinking and creative time, reading, or writing. Although these things seem like idle activities on the surface, they are actually the life-blood of creativity and allow your plans and actions to be more streamlined and better aligned with one another. We have a tendency to get really caught up in the hamster wheel of day-to-day life and all the busyness that comes with it, so we will have to be really intentional about scheduling this Think Time into our calendar. When we allow ourselves time to let our brains get into a different mode, we can get a whole new set of ideas that we never would have thought of before.  

Need support for your ideas and help bringing them into reality? Some great resources are:

  • Facebook Group: Online Creators Launchpad
  • Podcasts: Podcasters Hangout or She Podcasts (for us ladies with big ideas)
  • Book Groups: Check out the groups that I belong to on Facebook and also check out Florida Writers Association if you’re in Florida

Use Facebook for good, and get involved in the conversation and in-depth discussions on specific topics if you want to take all these big ideas and bring them into reality. Get out there, and StartSomething Creative! I go over all of this and more in this video, and if you watch it, you’ll even find out how I almost ended up being an emu farmer in Montana.

Want some help evaluating and managing your ideas?

Creating Safety for Ourselves and Being a Vulnerable Leader

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Leadership, Personal Development.

Have you ever wondered what safety has to do with leadership, especially with a vulnerable leader, or being a working professional? The answer is: A lot!

Being a Vulnerable Leader - Tina Dietz

Safety is a concept we learn early on during the most formative years of our childhood. We look to make ourselves feel safe on a daily basis. It is, after all, one of the most basic needs on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and until the need to feel safe has been met, we cannot begin working upward toward the other needs on the list. This leaves us feeling insecure, unfulfilled, and frankly, unhappy.

You’re probably wondering what safety has to do with leadership or being a working professional. The answer is: A lot.

There’s been more and more press recently about being a vulnerable leader, opening ourselves up to connection and authenticity, and how all these things can make us stronger leaders, managers, supervisors, or even just colleagues. And what does it all mean? How can these things make us stronger networkers or speakers?

As professionals, we tend to go through a little bit of a push and pull between wanting to appear professional and be powerful in the moment and still managing to speak to our audience and connect with them. It’s a little bit of a dichotomy, and experiencing this contradiction can make it very difficult to really feel comfortable being vulnerable.

For those of you who don’t know my backstory, I  have a background as a therapist, business coach, and voice actor. From my earliest time as a child, I remember creating a lot of safety for myself by anthropomorphizing the entire world around me (and I still do it today). This has brought me to collect and own a large collection of friends and creatures who have brought me great comfort throughout the years and have their own wisdom that can really only be accessed when you speak in their voice.

Have I lost you yet? No? Good. I'm talking about a large group of puppets, the first of which I discovered at a puppet petting zoo that had been set up when I was in graduate school to become a therapist. It was meant for therapists to shop around to use puppets as therapy tools, but what we found there was much deeper. I noticed George, the black-footed ferret, and I started thinking about how much of a crisis of conscience he was probably having being that he is a carnivore, but he’s also cute and fuzzy. I felt a connection with him right away, and I looked around and noticed that my connection to George was causing others to come over and check out the other carnivores like the wolves. People saw my connection with George, and they wanted to feel that connection too. Spontaneously, several other therapists and I started a carnivore support group. And no, I can’t make this stuff up!

You might never be in a situation where you’ll be connecting with a puppet at a puppet petting zoo, but this lesson translates into human connection as well. When people really connect with one another and allow themselves to be vulnerable, they find a common space of humanity. This common space acts as a mirror to other people, making them more comfortable and willing to come forward with their own feelings.

Many of us as children don’t successfully go through the stage in our childhood that Erik Erikson determined as the time when we decide if the world is a safe place or not. This causes them to not trust the world and to feel like it isn’t there for us. I was one of these people, and there are many, many more like us in the world as well. It’s important to look back through our childhood and find those things that made us feel safe as kids. This can trigger a neurological, emotional, and even a physiological response that can help us move past that unsafe space and step into our adult being so we can then take care of the younger parts of ourselves.

Sometimes to cope with our sense of ‘un-safe-ness’ we over-rely on things like food, sexual contact, or other things that may or may not serve us. We even have a tendency to search for connection on social media, but this often leads to us finding things that are very overstimulating and provoking. It does us no favors, especially for those of us who feel emotions very intensely.

As humans, we have a tendency to want to make decisions right away. We want to push forward, do things, change the environment…but if we do this on top of feeling unsafe or insecure, we might be doing things that actually snowball the negative feelings and lack of safety and make it worse.

Listen to yourself, and you’ll be more able to listen to others. Connect with people, look into their eyes, and when you get nervous or feel afraid, take care of the younger part of yourself that doesn’t feel safe. You can have the grown-up part of you take care of the little parts of you. It’s okay, and it’s necessary.

And, if you need help, just ask.

Take the next step in Your Leadership

How to Use Audio to Get Your Kids to Learn

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Podcasting, Productivity.

Why using audio to get your kids to learn is an easy and convenient way to give them opportunities to become even more well-rounded and well-educated.

Audio Marketing Get Your Kids to Learn - Tina Dietz - audiobook expert

In a world full of distractions like YouTube, thousands of different video games, social media, toys, sports, etc., it’s not always easy to get our kids to learn, much less develop and cultivate their interests and skills. But school is enough, right? Wrong. Everyone learns differently-some visually, some are more hands-on learners, and some learn best through audio, which provides a large variety of ways for kids to learn.

With the rise in popularity of podcasts and audiobooks, more and more ways to help kids get get excited about learning and discover new interests are popping up every day. Using audio to help kids learn is an easy and convenient way to give our kids opportunities to become even more well-rounded and well-educated, hopefully resulting in a young person who grows up to love learning.

Here are some ways you can use audio to get your kids to learn so that you can get started right away. They’ll thank you for it!

Using audiobooks to get kids to learn is different from reading with them and is also very different from just sitting them in front of the TV and allowing them to watch shows (even if they are educational). Listening to audiobooks forces children to use different skills than reading and allows for much more imagination than the TV. Children who find reading difficult can also find great relief in being able to listen to a book. Audiobooks are great for car rides, time when children are self-entertaining while you’re cooking dinner, or even for you to listen to together and discuss after. Some ideas of ways to use audiobooks for children’s learning are:

  • Find fun stories for themThere are tons of audiobooks for children of fun, engaging stories with colorful language for them to use their imaginations, learn words, get excited about listening to the stories, and want to talk about them after.  These can be great conversation starters, so make sure to engage with your child about what you listen to together!
  • Provide sketchbooks and crayons or pencils​This helps them to further utilize their imagination. While they’re listening, they can draw what they think their favorite characters might look like, strengthening their creativity and encouraging them to use a part of their brain that looking at pictures in books doesn’t activate.
  • In the case of children who find reading difficult, audiobooks can be a tremendous reliefKids can keep up with their schoolwork easier and also become more confident in their reading abilities by listening to an audiobook at the same time that they’re following along with a print or digital version of the book. By engaging more than one of their learning senses at the same time, the brain can integrate the information with more ease.
  • Be close by to answer any questionsIn order for an audiobook to really be engaging and educational, you’ll want to make sure you can define unknown words for them, answer questions about the story as it unfolds, or even just listen to their excitement as they tell you all about what they’re listening to.

More than half of people in the US listen to podcasts weekly, and yes, they can be used for children as well. Many people think that podcasts are always about business or politics, but there are a ton of different podcasts that exist, and many of them are for children! Some teachers utilize podcasts in their classrooms, and you can use them at home to get your kids to learn, too. There are book club podcasts for kids, science ones, fictional stories, and so much more. Podcasts can be utilized similarly to audiobooks to help kids learn, but they can also be used in the following ways:

  • Podcasts offer the advantage of being shorter, and once your child finds one they particularly like, there are usually a whole slew of episodes from that one podcaster from which they can choose.
  • You can have them create their own podcasts! – Free podcast recording software might not be good enough quality to publish, but it IS good enough to encourage your kids to research topics they like or write their own story. Help them record it, have fun with it, and listen to it as a family (or with friends) later. They’ll have something they’re proud of, and it will encourage them to delve further into their interests and passions. It also encourages a use of words that children usually aren’t otherwise engaging.
  • Podcasts are free and easy to download. Put them on your phone, tablet, or even on your computer.

Long story short, there are SO many options when it comes to using audio to help children to learn, and create the beautiful “side effect” of giving you and your kids great conversation topics to explore together. While we still greatly encourage and recommend that you read with your kids and have them read any and all types of books, podcasts and audiobooks are a great addition to any child’s learning and language skills. They’re also an excellent resource for children with learning challenges. Audio teaches all kids to listen for things to talk about later, to develop their imaginations, and develop the ability to ask engaging questions.

Do you have a favorite audiobook or podcast that would be great for kids or families?Please share in the comments, and have fun learning!

Have thought of publishing your audiobook?

How To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed When Change Is Afoot

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Leadership, Personal Development.

Feeling overwhelmed? Important elements of self-care, including sleep, nutrition, meditation, exercise, and hydration, are always important. In this blog, I offer some CompassionateTogether™ strategies that reduce overpowering thoughts and emotions.

Stop Feeling Overwhelmed - Tina Dietz - StartSomething Creative Business Solutions

5 Strategies to Practice

1. Trust yourself

Trusting yourself is a practice. Not trusting yourself is bound to bring anxiety and fear, common feelings contributing to being overwhelmed. Trusting yourself because your gut holds your Divine small still voice that is there to guide you.

Lean into your gut and say, “No wonder.” Lean into yourself and say, “I see you. I see me. I accept where I am at this moment and I know all things change.”

2. Breathe out

Holding one's breath is a normal reaction to stress, change, fear, and anxiety. Breathe out! Try it now.

Breathing out very slowly through pursed lips will send a signal to your brain that you are safe and there is no crisis.

During periods of overwhelm, make a point multiple times a day to breathe out slowly with intention.

3. Empty your cup

Emptying your cup is sharing, and this strategy is particularly important during times of change. Share what is overwhelming you: write it down or share with someone.

Finding someone with whom you can share can be a challenge if you do not have a therapist, coach, or spiritual mentor.

One option is to ask a trusted friend or family member to listen for 15 minutes without interruption: set a timer on your phone. After the 15 minutes, switch and do the same for your trusted other.

Another idea is to do what I call “speaking it” meditation: again, set an alarm and for no more than 15 minutes, talk out loud: speak what is going on inside and notice without judgment.

4. No such thing as failure

All of life is practice. When things do not go as planned, breathe and consider what happened as feedback.

Practice trusting that everything is working in your favor.

Stay on your own side with humility, i.e., stay teachable and open without shaming and blaming, and take responsibility for any mistakes.

Breathe out, knowing that when you make a decision, you can always make another one.

Humans are free to choose.

5. Toes up!

Whenever you are in a period of great change or creativity, the challenge is to relax and put your toes up when everything inside says, “Fight!”

Go with the flow. Trust your gut.

Trust your connection to your spiritual core, whatever that may be for you.

All is well, and all shall be well, somehow, some way.

To go with the flow, resist trying to control the tide of change.

When you notice any signs of fear or control, ask yourself if there is any action, however small, that will reduce the anxiety of the moment. If so, do that one thing. If there is no action to take, practice acceptance. Acceptance is often a gift of grace. Meditation can be helpful while we wait for the gift to arrive.

So there you have 5 complementary strategies to practice:

  1. Trust yourself
  2. Breathe out
  3. Empty your cup
  4. No such thing as failure
  5. Toes up!

How do you help your loved ones with this tide of change?

Remember these 5 tips:

  1. What others say is about them
  2. What others feel is about them
  3. What others think is about them
  4. What others do is about them
  5. Be compassionate and love them

Your loved ones’ reactions to what is happening are not about you: their reactions are theirs and are about them.

Practice witnessing the people in your life: what they are saying and doing is information about your loved ones.

Your reactions to what others are saying and doing are about you.

Keep swimming and toes up!

Love and blessings,Sherri

Stop Feeling Overwhelmed - Sherri Williams Tina Dietz

Sherri Williams has been a therapist and coach in private practice in Pittsburgh, PA for the last 14 years, helping hundreds of people make more loving choices for themselves. She has an MSEd in Marriage & Family Therapy, is a Board-Certified Counselor and Coach, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Pennsylvania. Prior to being a therapist, she worked as a CPA for Ernst & Young, taught at the University of Pittsburgh, and was an executive in nonprofit administration. She is the CEO of CompassionateTogether LLC, an organization dedicated to helping people be compassionate with themselves and one another by offering online groups, workshops, and certifications for coaches and businesses. Her book, Turtles & Bears: How Couples Can Be Compassionate Together is expected for publication in 2019. To receive monthly strategies for compassion, subscribe to her CompassionateTogether™ Letter. Here are the ways to connect and follow her on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter.

Sherri Williams MEd LPC BCC – CEO of CompassionateTogether LLC & Owner of TheLovingChoice.com

Ready to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed and create your oasis?

How to Make More Money With Your Audiobook – The Audible Bounty Program

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Sales.

When you turn your book into an audiobook, you do so in the hopes that it will bring in more income. Have you heard about the audible bounty program?

audible bounty program - Tina Dietz - Audiobook Expert

When you set off to turn your book into an audiobook, you do so in the hopes that it will bring in more income from the book you spent so much time and energy writing and publishing. Many authors assume that the only way to make money from publishing an audiobook is through sales, but there’s also another, lesser known way to make money with your audiobook.

ACX is a marketplace for professional narrators, agents, publishers, and rights holders to create audiobooks and distribute them to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Just recently, they have announced a new version of their Bounty Referral Program, which will increase payout to its members and provides many member benefits.

What is the Bounty Referral Program, you might ask? It allows those who are selling audiobooks another option for making money off all their hard work. Through the Bounty Referral Program, members can earn up to $75 each time a new Audible listener becomes a member using your referral link, plus any royalties earned from the sale of the audiobook itself.

When an audiobook has been produced on ACX, the rights holder will receive trackable referral links that is unique to each of the audiobooks published. For those who entered into a Royalty Share agreement with a narrator, (as opposed to paying the narrator up front for their services) $50 will go to the creator of the audiobook, and $25 will go to the narrator for each bounty.

When marketing your audiobook, you’ll want to make sure you use your unique ACX tracking URL to bring any listeners straight to the book without any delay. If that user isn’t currently registered on Audible, that $75 bounty will be added right to the audiobook creator’s account. This means it’s important to share with your email list, social media followers, and friends and family. As an audiobook creator, you’ll want to make sure you let everyone know how very magical it can be to listen to a book rather than read it when listening to a story.

Particularly when listening to non-fiction, it can be helpful for listeners to do something at the same time as listening, such as taking notes or even multi-tasking (we all know people who prefer it!). When including your book URL in marketing efforts, you can also include clips of your audio, your retail sample, a book trailer, or a good, old-fashioned book synopsis. Even those who have read your book may be interested in listening to the book to hear it differently.

The ACX Bounty Referral Program not only gives you a chance to bring even more listeners to Audible to listen to each audiobook you publish, but it also will bring you additional income with each new Audible member who comes in with your unique link.

Considering publishing an audiobook on ACX? The Bounty Referral Program might encourage you further. Need help? Our team at StartSomething Creative Business Solutions can take care of the whole production and publishing process for you or help you along the way!

Need help producing and publishing your audiobook?

What Are Your Favorite Ways to Procrastinate

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Leadership, Productivity. 2 Comments on What Are Your Favorite Ways to Procrastinate

Ah…procrastination…the “P” word that everyone thinks is bad. Let's take a look at some favorite ways to procrastinate, while trying to understand why we do it.

Ways to Procrastinate - StartSomething Creative Business Solutions Tina Dietz

Ah…procrastination…the “P” word that everyone thinks is bad, but let’s be honest with ourselves…we all do it. I’m doing it right now by writing this when I could be doing a list of a million other things. It’s a really strange phenomenon that people tend to put off the things that are most important to them. But WHY do we always seem to do it during our most life-changing moments, when there’s something we REALLY want to be doing that could be a path-to-greatness, amazing thing to do? And why do we procrastinate with things we don’t even really want to be doing (like laundry) in place of the awesome ones?

I don’t know the scientific answers to these questions, but I do know my own experiences. I always find myself about to sit down to do something life-changing, and then I think to myself, “Oh, maybe I should just get the dishes done first” or “I should really do my makeup for the webinar I’m doing this afternoon. It’ll just take a minute” or even worse, “I think there’s some laundry that needs to be put away” (the problem here is that there’s ALWAYS laundry that needs to be put away).

Sometimes we WANT to procrastinate, because when you plan everything out and take it slow and calmly, there’s no rush at the end that gives you adrenaline as you race your way to the finish line. Some of us work best in that state of mind, so we actually procrastinate just to get there because it can be kind of a let-down without the excitement at the end.

Some of my absolute favorite ways to procrastinate are folding laundry, email (which can be productive or a big time-waster), and writing blogs like this one. I also always find myself saying, “Well, I was going to make a Facebook Live video later, but maybe I’ll just do one right now,” which isn’t always a bad thing for me because I’m an extrovert, and I thrive off of interacting with my viewers. I’m motivated by it. So, even though I’m procrastinating, it’s productive procrastination.

Productive Procrastination

When I was in grad school, I got into trouble (as I so often did when I was working for someone else) for having individual tutoring sessions with students where I taught them how to procrastinate effectively. Resisting the urge to procrastinate actually does you no good because it causes more stress, which in turn causes the brain to shut down, so you’re just not as effective. The trick is to make sure your calendar is blocked off a full day ahead of time. Acknowledge that you’re probably going to wait until the last second to get it done, but maybe you don’t have to lose sleep to accomplish that. Instead, maybe you can strategically plan your calendar by building in twice as much time as you think you’re going to need so you’re not rushing up against other deadlines (like sleep).

Another trick is to understand that sometimes you just won’t get as much sleep as you really should. Although sleep and self-care are absolutely the best things you can do to help yourself be MORE productive, sometimes you have to get creative with how you’ll get your brain to be fully functioning. One of these ways is to set a number of hours you are going to sleep, sleep that number of hours (no more, no less) during the same hours every night. Then, ideally, during the day, block off 20-30 minutes at the same time every single day for a meditation session or power nap. Keeping your body on a strict schedule like this allows your brain to adjust to routine and operate at full capacity.

If you are a big procrastinator or have “Happy Puppy Syndrome” like me, you tend to wag yourself out and get exhausted because you’ve put TOO much energy into something too quickly. Give yourself 2-3 big priorities each day, and focus on those 2-3 things as your rock for the day. Those are your main points of focus, and everything else just falls in around them.

So, what are your favorite ways to procrastinate? And what are you up to this week? Give yourself 2-3 main priorities each day, and even if it takes you the whole day to do it, that’s okay! Procrastinate away, but do it effectively so you’re not hurting yourself (or your work) in the process.

Want some help figuring out how you can set up some ways to Productive Procrastinate?

How to Create The Right Simple Business Systems

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Leadership, Marketing.

Are you ready to grow your business? Are you ready to focus on and leverage your Zone of Genius?

Simple Business Systems - Tina Dietz

If you said yes to either of the two questions above, if you’re hanging out in Overwhelm City or Burnout Alley and there aren’t enough hours in the day and you always feel like you’re scrambling, you need systems.

Even if you’re not a “systems person,” I guarantee you have systems… even if your system is something like:

  • Step 1. Get ready to do a task
  • Step 2. Try to remember how you did it the last time (whenever that was)
  • Step 3. Stop trying to remember and invent a new way to get it done
  • Step 4. Rinse and repeat.

I call this the “Non-Systems-System.”

Systems are simply consistent ways of getting things done that are made up of a mix of people, technology, and processes that create an intended outcome. It’s a structure that’s created to hold all the parts of your business together so work can flow. Ideally, this is set up to be like a wide-flowing river – not a creek with lots of beaver dams on it.

Better and more effective systems are the train tickets out of overwhelm city. You’ll find that you know what’s going on, what needs to happen, get to do more of the stuff you love in your business AND you work less while making more money.

You might have a blogging system that you follow to create high quality content on a consistent basis. Or a client on-boarding system that sets up your clients to have an amazing experience EVERY TIME they work with your business.

In systems are embedded culture, values, creativity, your essence… The systems of your business create a microcosm, an ecosystem that can reflect your unique way of being and working. 

Building systems is simply about bringing consciousness to the process of how you (and your team) get things done in your business. In this process of bringing greater consciousness, what’s not working, what could be working better, and what could be simplified comes to light. You also find out ways to work more joyfully and more in alignment, which makes the process of running and growing a business all the more enjoyable.

Why Systems Rock!

Unless you’re building systems, it’s easy to stay in a place where you feel like you’re always racing against the clock. Talk about hanging out on the burnout path.

By getting clear about where you are, you can let go of any need to be polished and perfect and simply be clear about where you’re going and keep building without all the mental runaround.

With systems, it’s easier to add on and change the business without it being a huge hassle – that’s what systems are for.

When you have insight into what IS working, you won’t have to dedicate extra energy or resources into what’s already solid.

You’ll gain back extra brain space because you’re no longer trying to hold all the details. Since you have places for all that knowledge and insight to go to be actioned, you can trust you won’t lose momentum when you step away.

You might even find that you can take weekends and lunch breaks! Not in front of the computer, but away from it and you might not even think about work for hours or days at a time.

Imagine being able to work the same amount of hours (or less!), but do MORE of what you love doing in the business while being able to serve more people that need your particular sauce of brilliance.

You will be able to slow down and enjoy the ride, rather than the process feeling like a drag.

When you expand what you’re able to do without YOU having to work more, you enable yourself to be able to make more money, expand your impact, increase your creativity in business, while kicking that annoying overwhelm gremlin out.

That is why systems are awesome and worth making work for you.

Business Systems Are Like an Ecosystem

Your business is like an ecosystem. There are lots of different parts that interact to create something bigger than just each one of the parts individually. There's a symbiotic relationship that happens when these pieces work well together.

When you think about your business as an ecosystem, how you create systems is informed by the way you do things and why you make certain decisions.

Think about a river. There’s a lot of potential energy in a river. But if the river didn’t have banks, it would be diffused everywhere. The water wouldn’t be channeled.

You are the river. Your systems are the river banks, the roots of the trees that prevent erosion on the banks, and the rocks and bends that slow the water at certain locations along your trajectory. All of these parts support your journey and help you flow. Without a container for the river, the fish and other aquatic critters wouldn't have a home.

Systems operate in a continuum. There's no wrong place to be, you are where you are. Just like ecosystems. They are where they are in their development. There are no “have to’s” and there are no “shoulds.” There are no places that you're supposed to come out at on the other end. It's just about you having the opportunity to explore and decide what kind of journey you want to have and where you want to go. With systems, there's no done and there's no perfect.

When you align your systems you support your creativity and amplify your impact. You can improve the way you're working so you're more effective with your time and the way that you showing up on a day to day basis. You can have the impact that you want and do meaningful work without going to a place of overwhelm or burnout or spreading yourself too thin.

This process of building systems is about consciously choosing what needs your attention, effort and investment of resources. Ultimately that starts within, that starts with you making those choices.

Ready to level up your business systems? My brilliant colleague Justine Sparks is offering a free online workshop called Level Up Your Business Systems. During the event, you'll work through a framework to pinpoint the current level of your systems in personal organization and planning, financial management, sales, and marketing.

It's an opportunity to reduce your overwhelm and increase your business results in real time: 20% Theory, 80% Action. It's going to be a lot of fun and super practical and actionable.

Simple Business Systems - Tina Dietz & Justine Sparks

With a background in business management, corporate social responsibility and marketing, Justine is your soulfoul systems designer. Her mission is to give you the tools that will allow you to support yourself on the journey. Justine brings high level strategic and systems thinking to the work she does with business owners. She received her BS in Business Management from an all women’s college, Simmons, in Boston, with a concentration in Leadership. Learn more about her.

Justine Pattantyus​​ – Soulful Systems Designer

Get all the details and register here

5 Free Ways Nonfiction Authors Can Boost Their Online Presence

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Leadership, Podcasting.

Have you ever wondered how to have a launch that reaches tens of thousands of people or more? Here are 5 very friendly and quite un-technical ways nonfiction authors can use to boost your online presence by making simple, authentic ‘asks.’

Nonfiction Authors - Tina Dietz audiobook expert

No matter how technical and digital our world becomes, many of the best book and audiobook marketing comes down to simply asking. Have you ever wondered how to have a launch that reaches tens of thousands of people or more? I participate in those book launches all the time, and the key isn’t the technology used or some magic email formula.

Asking is what makes the difference, and in particular, having the relationships where asking is even possible. Your friends, colleagues, and fans want to put their words where more people can see them. It’s up to you to lead them and let them know what actions they can take that will make the biggest difference.

Here are 5 very friendly and quite un-technical ways you can use to boost your online presence by making simple, authentic ‘asks.’

1. Ask friends, colleagues and fans to post their reviews on Amazon and Goodreads 

Here’s an important tip when asking for reviews – pre-write samples of reviews to give your tribe an idea of what to write. Many people (including myself) often want to help but deal with a shortage of time and attention. If you help shortcut the process, you’ll get better results and you’re also showing that you respect people’s time and energy in helping you.

2. Create a testimonial page on your website

Any testimonials or reviews that you get on LinkedIn, Amazon, Goodreads, or other places you can collect into one space, and then sprinkle generously around your website as little eye-catching quotes.

3. Get friendlier with Goodreads

Even I sometimes forget what a cool resource Goodreads is. Spend a little time each week connecting on Goodreads, and make sure your profile is fully fleshed out in detail, and that you also add your own list of books that you love. Goodreads is for people who LOVE books, who hunger for books, and you can connect with bloggers and reviewers through this platform as well.

4. Offer bloggers in your niche that you respect advanced reading copies of your book

Let the blogger know why you chose to reach out to them, and ask if they’d like to offer feedback and/or a review of your book. And, for goodness sake, share some of their blog posts with YOUR tribe via social media or email as an act of goodwill and relationship building.

5. Go on an online book tour via podcast interviews

One in every 3 people in North America listens to podcasts. That’s over 65 million people! Seek out shows and hosts that resonate with your message and topic, and, in the immortal words of Bill and Ted, “BE EXCELLENT.” Also make sure the host gets a copy of your Audiobook’s 5 minute retail sample to share when you do get an interview on a podcast.  You can listen to some of our author’s 5 minute retail samples here to get an idea of what they sound like. Click here and scroll down the page.

Marketing your book isn’t a “one time and done” proposition. You can always use your book to continually build your audience, your brand, and your platform as an expert. One of the biggest mistakes that authors make is getting bored with their book and thinking that they need to move on to the next big thing, when what’s really needed is persistence, creativity, and small steps every day rather than grand gestures.

What has worked well for you in getting the word out about your work, or, if you’re already an author, your book? Which of these strategies would you like to add next? Make sure to leave your comments below!

Ready to explore audiobooks, podcasting, and creative ​content marketing for your book?

3 Events for Nonfiction Writers in May

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Marketing, Networking, Sales.

Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and apparently writers are writing!

Nonfiction Writers - StartSomething Creative Business Solutions - Tina Dietz

May is a big month for events in the nonfiction world, and for books and writing in general. I’m pretty sure that as the weather improves, writers emerge from their blankies, blinking at the sun and needing human contact, so event organizers plan accordingly.

3 Events for Nonfiction Writers in May

Nonfiction Writers Conference – Virtual – May 4-6

StartSomething Creative Business Solutions - Nonfiction Writers - Tina Dietz

The opening session features a conversation with Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. Additional sessions cover how to write, publish, promote and profit with nonfiction books.

Participants can also register for our popular Ask-a-Pro sessions, free 15-minute consultations with industry pros. A private Facebook group is also available for all attendees to gather and exchange ideas.

CLICK HERE for the event website and more information.

Self-Publishing University “Less Talk, More Action” Conference – Virtual – May 31

StartSomething Creative Business Solutions - Nonfiction Writers - Tina Dietz

A one day online conference focused on book marketing and increasing sales!

This conference offers 10 international Speakers ready to pour into you the help you need and have been searching for around the vital topic of Book Marketing!

The aim of this conference is to bring authors, agents and publishers in one place to have a hearty, healthy and value added discussion on the issues facing authors today and how they can better prepare themselves for success in the near future. Straight to the point, no sales, no fluff and taking action is the order of the day.

CLICK HERE for the event website and more information.

Book Expo America – New York City – May 31-June 1

StartSomething Creative Business Solutions - Nonfiction Writers - Tina Dietz

THE BIG KAHUNA! I have colleagues who attend and work this event every year, and they quite literally train for it because it’s so huge. Tons of events, tons of exhibits, the scope will blow your mind and give you ideas, info, and contacts for the entire next year to work with.CLICK HERE for the event website and more information.

**HINT: if you’re a blogger or show host with a show about publishing, books, etc. consider applying for a press pass for this show.Remember the pen IS truly mightier than the sword, and getting your creative juices flowing is key to getting your work and message out into the world. Is writing and publishing already part of your world, or are those areas emerging for you? What motivates you in this arena, or what stops you from publishing? Sound off in the comments!