We’re just 8 days out from the release of my new book The Pumpkin Plan, and to say I’m stoked and terrified at the same time is a huge understatement.
I wrote the book as a follow-up to my first book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur with one central question in mind: What do TPEs (the loving name we use for people of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur community – you know, hard workin’, no excuse usin’, bad ass entrepreneurs) need to know next? They’ve taken their napkin-sized business plan (complete with beer glass stains and Buffalo Wild Wings smudges) and run with it, and now they need proven, out-of-the-box methods that will help them shift their businesses into second gear. . . so they can start earning money. . . and sleep more than four hours a night. . .and grow their business into a colossal success without losing their minds.
Two years and nine drafts later, The Pumpkin Plan will finally be out in the world, with the intention of helping entrepreneurs radically improve their chances for massive profit, massive success and massive happiness. . . and maybe a little good old-fashioned industry domination.
The game-changing strategies I detail in The Pumpkin Plan are rooted in the way farmers grow mammoth, prize-winning pumpkins, and have been modified over the last 15 years. I used these strategies to grow two multi-million dollar businesses before the age of 35, and I stayed healthy (for the most part), stayed married (for the full part), and stayed sane in the process (though my friends might argue I often fell totally apart).
I wrote this book for you, the entrepreneur who is off to a good start, and now needs simple, proven strategies to grow it into a remarkable business. And I wrote it now, instead of all of the other books I could have written (and still may write), because I knew you needed to know what to do next. Because this is what I needed to know next.
Today, ask yourself your own version of this key question:
“What do my clients need next that will help them kill it in their industry?”
“What do my customers need next to feel ______ (happier, safer, worthy, smart, important, etc.)?
“What do my prospects need next in order to become more of who they really are?”
So in honor of the impending release of The Pumpkin Plan (excuse me while I do a little jig – the stoked part – and pee myself – the terrified part), ask yourself the “what do they need next” question and then share your realizations and answers in the comments. Maybe we’ll see your new product, service, idea, or book available soon!
I realize my clients need long-range content plans that extend beyond their book release. They’re in that, “I published my book… now what?” phase that usually ends with them giving up and moving on to other opportunities. Most of my authors have no idea how to come up with, present and organize fresh content for their readers/communities, so their books end up in the bargain bin.
Ah, yes! That is the key. Selling books is not a sprint. But it is not a marathon either. It is a sprint out of the gate and then a marathon for years. I guess you can call it a sprarathon.
AJ, what type of authors are you typically involved with? Books that are a natural extension of the platform an author is trying to build will help them avoid the “giving up and moving on to other opportunities” outcome. If it is in the same realm as their regular work, it becomes easy to build long range content plans by going deeper or broader on various topics that are covered or tangential to the book.