1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,430 Steve Gordon: It's hard to sell something that's very expensive 2 00:00:02,850 --> 00:00:06,645 and completely intangible that your clients don't understand. 3 00:00:13,335 --> 00:00:15,704 David Shriner-Cahn: Welcome to Smashing the Plateau. 4 00:00:16,125 --> 00:00:19,995 We help consultants, coaches, entrepreneurs, and small business 5 00:00:19,995 --> 00:00:24,825 owners build their business after a long career as an employee professional. 6 00:00:25,725 --> 00:00:29,025 We believe you should be able to do what you love and get paid 7 00:00:29,025 --> 00:00:31,005 what you're worth ,consistently. 8 00:00:31,439 --> 00:00:33,599 I'm your host David Shriner-Cahn. 9 00:00:34,290 --> 00:00:39,720 Today on Smashing the Plateau, I'm speaking with the CEO and founder of 10 00:00:39,724 --> 00:00:42,060 The Unstoppable CEO, Steve Gordon. 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,230 In today's episode, you will learn how a book can accelerate the 12 00:00:46,230 --> 00:00:48,060 growth of your consulting business. 13 00:00:48,450 --> 00:00:50,489 Stay with us to hear all the details. 14 00:00:51,390 --> 00:00:53,190 How do you feel about your business? 15 00:00:53,865 --> 00:00:57,405 How would membership in a caring, collaborative community help you 16 00:00:57,405 --> 00:01:01,245 work toward your goals faster, with fewer costly mistakes? 17 00:01:01,875 --> 00:01:06,885 A community where quality relationships are fostered through live events and 18 00:01:06,885 --> 00:01:09,015 our own private communication platform? 19 00:01:09,795 --> 00:01:13,955 Where accountability partners are part of the structure and where templates, 20 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,494 guides, tools, and resources are provided? 21 00:01:17,235 --> 00:01:21,255 A community dedicated to empowering consultants who are determined to 22 00:01:21,255 --> 00:01:25,245 build their businesses following long careers, as high achieving employees? 23 00:01:25,935 --> 00:01:29,325 If you are committed to getting your consulting, coaching, or small business 24 00:01:29,325 --> 00:01:33,225 to grow, on your own terms, so that you can deliver great results to 25 00:01:33,225 --> 00:01:37,185 your ideal clients, while supporting the lifestyle you want, and you 26 00:01:37,185 --> 00:01:40,995 don't want to do it alone, consider applying to become a member of the 27 00:01:40,995 --> 00:01:42,645 Smashing the Plateau Community. 28 00:01:43,470 --> 00:01:46,500 Want to know if belonging to a community is right for you? 29 00:01:46,830 --> 00:01:49,260 Schedule 15 minutes with me to find out. 30 00:01:49,770 --> 00:01:53,440 Go to smashingtheplateau.com/15. 31 00:01:53,910 --> 00:01:57,590 That's smashingtheplateau.com/15. 32 00:01:58,200 --> 00:01:59,970 Now let's welcome back Steve Gordon. 33 00:02:01,050 --> 00:02:05,250 Bestselling author and marketing expert steve Gordon gives you the blueprint for 34 00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:09,900 writing your own million dollar book in days, not months or years, and shows you 35 00:02:09,900 --> 00:02:15,510 how to use your book to boldly win the best clients and command premium fees. 36 00:02:16,140 --> 00:02:17,280 Steve, welcome back to the show. 37 00:02:18,075 --> 00:02:19,125 Steve Gordon: David, thanks for having me. 38 00:02:19,545 --> 00:02:22,155 David Shriner-Cahn: So I can't believe that it's been five years since you were 39 00:02:22,155 --> 00:02:24,705 on Smashing the Plateau back in 2017. 40 00:02:24,733 --> 00:02:26,623 You and I were both podcasting back then. 41 00:02:26,623 --> 00:02:27,523 We're still podcasting. 42 00:02:27,523 --> 00:02:32,546 Now that says something about either our lunacy or, or our 43 00:02:32,546 --> 00:02:33,986 perseverance, or maybe both. 44 00:02:34,376 --> 00:02:35,576 Steve Gordon: Pig headed, determination. 45 00:02:36,086 --> 00:02:38,246 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah, and it was a great episode. 46 00:02:38,246 --> 00:02:40,016 Then we're going to get into that in a little bit. 47 00:02:40,016 --> 00:02:43,976 I'd love to hear a little bit more about your background that will 48 00:02:43,976 --> 00:02:48,986 clue people in on how you became an expert on writing a book. 49 00:02:49,376 --> 00:02:54,815 Steve Gordon: So I've been working with, and in myself, professional services for. 50 00:02:54,864 --> 00:02:58,584 more years than I want to admit at this point, but let's just say I'm 51 00:02:58,584 --> 00:03:01,644 past the two decade mark and heading towards the three decade mark. 52 00:03:01,644 --> 00:03:05,986 And I started my career in an engineering firm and bought that firm after I'd 53 00:03:05,986 --> 00:03:10,639 been there for about four years out of college and learned really quickly that 54 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,881 it's hard to sell something that's very expensive and completely intangible 55 00:03:15,271 --> 00:03:17,191 that your clients don't understand. 56 00:03:17,311 --> 00:03:22,360 And, I left that firm 12 years ago and started helping, other 57 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:24,280 professionals with their marketing. 58 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,970 And one of the very first things that I wanted to do was write a book. 59 00:03:28,029 --> 00:03:30,681 established my own authority and expertise. 60 00:03:30,891 --> 00:03:33,753 And at the time I found that to be really difficult. 61 00:03:33,813 --> 00:03:36,867 It took, took a couple of years to actually get it done. 62 00:03:36,872 --> 00:03:41,816 I threw two book drafts in the garbage on the way to getting one done. 63 00:03:41,816 --> 00:03:46,286 And when I finally published my first book in 2014, it changed everything. 64 00:03:46,621 --> 00:03:47,692 Really almost overnight. 65 00:03:47,692 --> 00:03:51,814 I had a one and a half person, local marketing consulting firm at the 66 00:03:51,814 --> 00:03:56,014 time, and really didn't have any clients outside of our local area. 67 00:03:56,494 --> 00:04:01,258 And we went in about a week, during the launch from being that local one 68 00:04:01,258 --> 00:04:05,978 and a half person marketing firm to, having clients reaching out to us from 69 00:04:06,008 --> 00:04:10,148 literally all over the world and it changed our business virtually overnight. 70 00:04:10,238 --> 00:04:11,108 And we doubled that year. 71 00:04:11,108 --> 00:04:13,808 We doubled the year after we've grown ever since. 72 00:04:13,838 --> 00:04:17,252 And since then I've written five books and we've reversed, engineered 73 00:04:17,252 --> 00:04:19,142 a process to do it really quickly. 74 00:04:19,142 --> 00:04:22,532 And now we've helped dozens of other professionals do the same thing. 75 00:04:22,982 --> 00:04:26,672 David Shriner-Cahn: So you've had, a major shift in your business. 76 00:04:27,482 --> 00:04:32,222 In particular, since you've written your book and now that has become 77 00:04:32,227 --> 00:04:33,962 something that you focus on. 78 00:04:34,172 --> 00:04:37,781 Your audience hasn't really changed a whole lot is what I'm hearing, but what 79 00:04:37,781 --> 00:04:39,611 you're offering for them has changed. 80 00:04:40,121 --> 00:04:40,811 Steve Gordon: It's grown. 81 00:04:41,201 --> 00:04:45,894 So in my first book, which is called Unstoppable Referrals, I talked about 82 00:04:45,894 --> 00:04:50,514 this referral process that we had been developing with our clients at 83 00:04:50,514 --> 00:04:55,335 the time where we would use what we called a referral kit, which is, might 84 00:04:55,335 --> 00:04:56,715 take a number of different forms. 85 00:04:56,715 --> 00:05:00,205 It might be a presentation that you go to your clients and you 86 00:05:00,205 --> 00:05:03,625 offer through them or your referral partners and you offer through them. 87 00:05:03,625 --> 00:05:05,605 That might be a white paper. 88 00:05:05,695 --> 00:05:10,145 It might be, at the time we were doing, audio CDs, believe it or not. 89 00:05:10,175 --> 00:05:14,255 And we had a client who was using a book and it turned out that the 90 00:05:14,260 --> 00:05:19,775 book was really, the most effective of all of the forms that we tried. 91 00:05:20,195 --> 00:05:24,365 And when I wrote my book and applied all those same principles and realized 92 00:05:24,575 --> 00:05:29,435 not only is it the most effective, it's the most effective by 10 X, our 93 00:05:29,435 --> 00:05:32,315 clients started seeing that and they started asking us, Hey, you've had 94 00:05:32,315 --> 00:05:33,515 so, so much success with your book. 95 00:05:34,225 --> 00:05:36,145 I'd really, I've always been thinking about writing one. 96 00:05:36,145 --> 00:05:36,985 Could you help me write one? 97 00:05:36,985 --> 00:05:41,635 And I resisted for a long time because it was tough to get that first book out. 98 00:05:41,785 --> 00:05:46,105 And I wasn't quite sure we had the process down enough to do it for anybody 99 00:05:46,105 --> 00:05:49,697 else, but I kept getting asked and I kept getting asked and it really is 100 00:05:49,749 --> 00:05:51,639 the lynchpin for our referral strategy. 101 00:05:51,639 --> 00:05:55,682 So now we lead with, Hey, let's create your book because that's 102 00:05:55,682 --> 00:05:58,062 going to make every other bit of marketing that you do better. 103 00:05:58,122 --> 00:06:01,422 And we also then will teach them the referral strategy on the back. 104 00:06:02,057 --> 00:06:04,991 David Shriner-Cahn: So tell me a little bit about this process to create a book 105 00:06:04,991 --> 00:06:07,151 and how you've really simplified it. 106 00:06:07,901 --> 00:06:11,771 Steve Gordon: So the first two attempts that I had to write a book were 107 00:06:11,771 --> 00:06:13,391 probably like what most people do. 108 00:06:13,416 --> 00:06:16,908 they want to do it and they have some general ideas and maybe you've 109 00:06:16,908 --> 00:06:21,258 got a rough outline and I would sit down to write and I'd be all full 110 00:06:21,258 --> 00:06:23,279 of caffeine and excitement and. 111 00:06:23,395 --> 00:06:27,115 be off to the races and I'd get through a chapter or two. 112 00:06:27,175 --> 00:06:32,095 And then somewhere along the lines, things would just take a left turn 113 00:06:32,095 --> 00:06:35,092 and I'd look at the, that what I'd written the next day and go, where 114 00:06:35,092 --> 00:06:36,742 am I going with this I'm lost now. 115 00:06:37,432 --> 00:06:39,172 And that was a wall for me. 116 00:06:39,742 --> 00:06:44,962 And so I heard a podcast interview back in, it was late 2013. 117 00:06:44,962 --> 00:06:48,742 I started writing that first book in January of 2014. 118 00:06:48,809 --> 00:06:51,297 And I can't remember who was being interviewed, but he described his 119 00:06:51,297 --> 00:06:53,757 process and how he broke down his book. 120 00:06:53,847 --> 00:06:55,587 And I thought, oh, okay, that's perfect. 121 00:06:55,587 --> 00:06:56,067 That's what I need. 122 00:06:56,067 --> 00:07:00,777 So I went and broke down and outlined what became Unstoppable Referrals 123 00:07:00,777 --> 00:07:02,967 in about six hours in one day. 124 00:07:03,747 --> 00:07:08,487 And I was able to outline it to such a great level of detail that when I 125 00:07:08,487 --> 00:07:13,917 started writing, I never had an issue looking at a blank page with that 126 00:07:13,917 --> 00:07:18,537 little annoying blinking cursor that wants to, wants to take you under. 127 00:07:18,627 --> 00:07:20,577 And that was really the difference. 128 00:07:20,577 --> 00:07:25,467 So I got up every day before the family was up and I wrote for an hour and every 129 00:07:25,467 --> 00:07:28,647 time I did that, I'd open the laptop and the next prompt was right there. 130 00:07:28,647 --> 00:07:32,186 And one of the real keys was, using questions. 131 00:07:32,186 --> 00:07:35,366 So we, the way we do it now with clients is we typically help them 132 00:07:35,366 --> 00:07:37,406 organize about a 10 chapter book. 133 00:07:37,856 --> 00:07:42,055 And, sometimes it's eight, sometimes it's 15, but give or take 10 chapters. 134 00:07:42,535 --> 00:07:45,355 And inside each chapter, we use the rule of three. 135 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,245 So there's three main points. 136 00:07:47,335 --> 00:07:50,425 And again, these are hard and fast rules, but they're guidelines. 137 00:07:50,935 --> 00:07:54,835 And then in inside each of those main points, we have them lay 138 00:07:54,835 --> 00:07:56,675 out three questions to ask. 139 00:07:57,435 --> 00:08:00,250 And when they get down to that level of detail. 140 00:08:00,490 --> 00:08:03,430 And, but the fact that we're using questions really 141 00:08:03,430 --> 00:08:05,080 helps the brain keep going. 142 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,180 And that is what speeds up the writing. 143 00:08:07,690 --> 00:08:11,020 And so my record for writing a book is eight hours. 144 00:08:11,515 --> 00:08:15,085 I wrote a book that's just shy of a hundred pages and eight hours using 145 00:08:15,415 --> 00:08:19,585 this method and our clients routinely who aren't professional writers, 146 00:08:19,585 --> 00:08:20,785 who most of them would tell you. 147 00:08:20,790 --> 00:08:21,895 I'm not that comfortable writing. 148 00:08:22,315 --> 00:08:23,065 They'll come in. 149 00:08:23,065 --> 00:08:25,555 And in about 30 minutes a day, over the course of 30 days, 150 00:08:25,555 --> 00:08:27,055 they'll have their book finished. 151 00:08:27,115 --> 00:08:28,555 The first draft will be done. 152 00:08:28,555 --> 00:08:30,073 It'll be ready to edit and publish. 153 00:08:30,733 --> 00:08:30,943 Wow. 154 00:08:31,363 --> 00:08:33,073 David Shriner-Cahn: And what kinds of results. 155 00:08:33,568 --> 00:08:37,718 Do these folks get once they get the, and is this their first book typically? 156 00:08:37,732 --> 00:08:39,772 Steve Gordon: For most of them, it's their first book. 157 00:08:39,802 --> 00:08:43,552 We do have a number, a growing number of clients who are coming back for their 158 00:08:44,032 --> 00:08:46,312 second or third or fourth book with us. 159 00:08:46,582 --> 00:08:48,442 But for most of them, it's their first book. 160 00:08:48,442 --> 00:08:50,193 And most businesses only need one. 161 00:08:50,568 --> 00:08:52,608 One book will transform your business. 162 00:08:52,668 --> 00:08:57,048 And the results obviously vary greatly by the type of business they are. 163 00:08:57,048 --> 00:09:02,180 But almost universally, what we see is they get this initial sort of bump 164 00:09:02,270 --> 00:09:07,040 in the marketplace because it's an exciting thing to publish a book. 165 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:12,100 Most business owners have thought about it at one point or another, and 166 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,152 they, when we talk to people, they constantly are telling us, oh yeah, 167 00:09:16,152 --> 00:09:19,872 I've had this on my bucket list for 10 years or 15 years or 20 years. 168 00:09:20,292 --> 00:09:25,498 And when you go out to your network and say, Hey, I just wrote a 169 00:09:25,498 --> 00:09:26,758 book I'm really excited about it. 170 00:09:27,208 --> 00:09:29,810 I would really appreciate your help in getting the word out. 171 00:09:29,810 --> 00:09:31,010 People get really excited. 172 00:09:31,010 --> 00:09:34,730 It gives them some good dues to go share about you and they 173 00:09:34,730 --> 00:09:35,600 really want to get behind it. 174 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:41,600 So that typically will lead to, the first wave of new clients 175 00:09:41,605 --> 00:09:43,760 coming in for our authors. 176 00:09:43,779 --> 00:09:44,742 In that first batch. 177 00:09:44,802 --> 00:09:48,382 And it's really exciting to see we'll have people text me and they'll say, 178 00:09:48,382 --> 00:09:51,102 Hey, I just shared my book for the first time and you won't believe it. 179 00:09:51,154 --> 00:09:53,306 I've got five people that are willing to share it, or, I 180 00:09:53,306 --> 00:09:54,686 shared it with somebody who. 181 00:09:55,006 --> 00:09:57,226 I know I should have been a client of ours for years. 182 00:09:57,586 --> 00:10:01,399 And, now he really understands what we do and we're meeting to 183 00:10:01,429 --> 00:10:02,449 talk about how we can help him. 184 00:10:02,659 --> 00:10:05,364 So it's fun to watch when those sorts of things happen. 185 00:10:05,604 --> 00:10:08,718 David Shriner-Cahn: Steve, how long are folks commonly in business 186 00:10:08,988 --> 00:10:10,758 before they write a book like this? 187 00:10:11,238 --> 00:10:14,803 Steve Gordon: Most of the people we work with are, they've been in business 188 00:10:14,803 --> 00:10:19,976 for at least a few years, but we've actually got, three, now we have used 189 00:10:19,976 --> 00:10:21,986 this process to launch their business. 190 00:10:22,056 --> 00:10:25,206 we're working with an educational consultant out of California. 191 00:10:25,211 --> 00:10:28,367 And, she was a teacher who wanted to move into the private sector, start 192 00:10:28,367 --> 00:10:31,457 her own consulting business and worked with her to get her book written. 193 00:10:31,547 --> 00:10:34,817 She launched it last November and within a month she had 194 00:10:34,817 --> 00:10:37,037 received national media coverage. 195 00:10:37,207 --> 00:10:40,652 She's been mentioned in national media, had a couple of feature articles 196 00:10:40,652 --> 00:10:46,682 on her since then, and went from no business to a thriving now consulting 197 00:10:46,682 --> 00:10:48,910 practice in, in less than a year. 198 00:10:48,910 --> 00:10:50,680 So it really works at all stages. 199 00:10:51,595 --> 00:10:51,745 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah. 200 00:10:51,750 --> 00:10:56,681 so for somebody who may be a longtime employee, somebody who's mid to high 201 00:10:56,681 --> 00:11:04,091 level, who has been in the workforce for 20, 25 or 30 years or more, and they 202 00:11:04,096 --> 00:11:10,121 either decide they want to transition into consulting, or they've been pushed 203 00:11:10,121 --> 00:11:14,441 out of their job and they decide that they don't want to do that anymore. 204 00:11:14,441 --> 00:11:15,971 They want a consulting business. 205 00:11:16,901 --> 00:11:18,701 How soon should they think about a book? 206 00:11:19,106 --> 00:11:23,359 Steve Gordon: I think if you're going out to do consulting in an area where 207 00:11:23,419 --> 00:11:27,076 you already have expertise because of your role and in your corporate job, 208 00:11:27,676 --> 00:11:30,796 I think one of the very first things that you should do is write the book. 209 00:11:30,796 --> 00:11:35,416 It's going to leap-fund you ahead, maybe five, even 10 years 210 00:11:35,506 --> 00:11:36,586 from where you would've been. 211 00:11:36,586 --> 00:11:39,586 Otherwise you're going to be perceived in the market as an 212 00:11:39,586 --> 00:11:41,656 authority and an expert right away. 213 00:11:41,656 --> 00:11:46,608 And you, and I both know this transition from having a, a regular 214 00:11:46,608 --> 00:11:51,588 job and a regular paycheck into the entrepreneurial world into consulting 215 00:11:52,128 --> 00:11:54,048 is a tough transition for people. 216 00:11:54,048 --> 00:11:58,368 And I, a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's, you now have all 217 00:11:58,373 --> 00:12:00,888 of these options for what you should do with your day and your time. 218 00:12:00,893 --> 00:12:03,708 And when you're in a job, you've got guardrails. 219 00:12:03,768 --> 00:12:07,698 When you come out into a consulting practice that you're trying to build, 220 00:12:08,238 --> 00:12:11,318 and you're trying to get clients as the kind of first order of the day. 221 00:12:11,928 --> 00:12:14,598 There are easily a thousand things you could choose to do. 222 00:12:15,378 --> 00:12:20,967 And, most of them won't give you the level of authority that having a book will give. 223 00:12:21,237 --> 00:12:24,823 And, the book will allow you to focus your efforts around that. 224 00:12:25,093 --> 00:12:28,963 It'll allow you to let the book go and promote you, instead of you 225 00:12:28,963 --> 00:12:31,603 going and trying to sell people and working with you, it'll go do 226 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:32,909 that hard work out in front of you. 227 00:12:33,269 --> 00:12:35,849 David Shriner-Cahn: How hard is it to write a book when you haven't 228 00:12:35,849 --> 00:12:40,169 really decided on exactly what kind of niche you're going to serve? 229 00:12:40,299 --> 00:12:45,509 Because one of the challenges I see with new consultants is they have 230 00:12:45,509 --> 00:12:47,519 built up their expertise over decades. 231 00:12:48,089 --> 00:12:51,809 They have pretty broad expertise, in a discipline. 232 00:12:51,839 --> 00:12:54,629 So there are a lot of different kinds of problems they could solve. 233 00:12:55,049 --> 00:12:58,390 There are different kinds of ideal clients that they could pursue. 234 00:12:58,990 --> 00:13:03,640 And they're often really challenged to go narrow and pick one to focus on. 235 00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:08,080 Is that a challenge for writing a book before you've really 236 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:09,833 established much of a practice. 237 00:13:09,862 --> 00:13:11,872 Steve Gordon: We work with people who've been in business for 238 00:13:11,982 --> 00:13:15,352 decades and they still haven't made those critical decision. 239 00:13:16,627 --> 00:13:19,177 They're still working with any client that comes along. 240 00:13:19,177 --> 00:13:23,971 So don't know that it necessarily is unique to people who are new 241 00:13:23,971 --> 00:13:28,471 to consulting, but I do think it's an important decision to make. 242 00:13:28,471 --> 00:13:30,841 It's one of the things that when we have a client come in. 243 00:13:31,661 --> 00:13:34,354 One of the first conversations we're going to have is, who are we really 244 00:13:34,474 --> 00:13:36,664 serving and how narrow can we make that? 245 00:13:37,294 --> 00:13:41,135 And I will tell you that it's hard to make that market too narrow 246 00:13:41,615 --> 00:13:43,085 for most consulting practices. 247 00:13:43,085 --> 00:13:46,265 And you think about most consultants they're going to work with anywhere 248 00:13:46,265 --> 00:13:50,965 from five to 50 clients in a year, on average, maybe there are a few, that'll 249 00:13:51,025 --> 00:13:54,925 have a few more than that, but we're not talking about needing to go out 250 00:13:54,925 --> 00:13:57,225 and find 10,000 people to work with. 251 00:13:57,625 --> 00:14:00,930 And so that, that gives you a unique advantage compared to a lot of businesses. 252 00:14:01,290 --> 00:14:04,770 You almost can't create a market too small to serve. 253 00:14:04,980 --> 00:14:08,490 So I've got a financial consultant that we work with. 254 00:14:08,495 --> 00:14:09,660 We've done four books with him. 255 00:14:10,230 --> 00:14:13,956 And, when we started working together, his main market was anyone 256 00:14:13,961 --> 00:14:15,516 who was preparing for retirement. 257 00:14:15,516 --> 00:14:19,836 And then, within that he had a sub niche of people who were members 258 00:14:19,836 --> 00:14:23,163 of the state retirement system here in Florida, where were both based. 259 00:14:23,553 --> 00:14:30,232 And then he of sub-nitched that down to professors at one of the universities 260 00:14:30,322 --> 00:14:31,852 in the city where he's located. 261 00:14:32,242 --> 00:14:35,812 That's maybe 10,000 people total. 262 00:14:36,142 --> 00:14:41,662 And since doing that, he's had four record years in a row with a total 263 00:14:41,667 --> 00:14:43,522 universe of prospects of 10,000 people. 264 00:14:43,732 --> 00:14:45,092 You can't get it too small. 265 00:14:45,862 --> 00:14:46,062 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah. 266 00:14:46,062 --> 00:14:50,947 That's assuming that they have the interest, the need, the resources. 267 00:14:51,277 --> 00:14:51,427 Sure. 268 00:14:51,432 --> 00:14:52,517 And the willingness to pay you. 269 00:14:52,517 --> 00:14:54,298 Steve Gordon: You it's gotta be a viable market. 270 00:14:54,303 --> 00:14:57,628 It's gotta be a group of people who would normally buy the type of thing 271 00:14:57,628 --> 00:15:01,078 that you're offering, but you've gotta work really hard to get it too small. 272 00:15:01,468 --> 00:15:04,738 David Shriner-Cahn: Steve, are there things that consultants and 273 00:15:04,738 --> 00:15:06,218 people selling their expertise? 274 00:15:07,003 --> 00:15:11,833 Can do in advance of deciding to write a book, that'll make the process easier. 275 00:15:12,463 --> 00:15:15,613 Steve Gordon: So I think the number one thing to have, and I think this 276 00:15:15,613 --> 00:15:20,497 is really foundational to starting the business, but it also is vital to 277 00:15:20,497 --> 00:15:24,367 writing the book you need to have what I call your opinionated worldview. 278 00:15:25,207 --> 00:15:29,865 And what I mean by that is, when most people start a business, they start it 279 00:15:29,870 --> 00:15:34,680 because they believe that there is, some problem out there in the world and that 280 00:15:34,740 --> 00:15:37,110 they have a unique approach to solving it. 281 00:15:37,530 --> 00:15:41,444 And, I've had consultants push back on this and say, I do it like everybody 282 00:15:41,444 --> 00:15:43,664 else does it, but yes, that may be true. 283 00:15:43,994 --> 00:15:48,404 But most of the time there's a twist that is uniquely yours. 284 00:15:48,409 --> 00:15:52,844 And it's often that twist that you're building the whole business around. 285 00:15:52,844 --> 00:15:57,307 And yeah, you want to have this reason why we exist Thinking done coming into it. 286 00:15:57,328 --> 00:15:58,648 I think that's really important to have 287 00:15:59,218 --> 00:16:01,598 David Shriner-Cahn: What's your unique worldview for your business? 288 00:16:01,598 --> 00:16:04,367 Steve Gordon: My, my unique worldview is that selling 289 00:16:04,367 --> 00:16:06,707 professional services is different. 290 00:16:06,827 --> 00:16:14,777 That the way that most of us are taught to market and sell works really well if 291 00:16:14,867 --> 00:16:19,247 you're selling a product, but when what you're selling is your own expertise, 292 00:16:19,727 --> 00:16:21,497 you have to take a different approach. 293 00:16:22,322 --> 00:16:26,941 Most of the sales techniques that work really well for products actually, 294 00:16:27,271 --> 00:16:30,301 erode trust if you're selling yourself. 295 00:16:30,751 --> 00:16:35,941 It's very hard to use some of those sales tactics and then go jump in the 296 00:16:35,941 --> 00:16:39,331 phone booth and come back out in your Superman Cape to save the day as the 297 00:16:39,331 --> 00:16:44,906 super consultant and have the person that you just arm wrestled to the sell, 298 00:16:45,776 --> 00:16:49,466 with all your fancy closing lines and scripts and all this other stuff that 299 00:16:49,466 --> 00:16:54,206 people teach and then have them accept your advice as a trusted advisor. 300 00:16:54,776 --> 00:16:56,421 And you've gotta take a different approach. 301 00:16:56,423 --> 00:17:00,581 and that's really everything that we do comes from that place of 302 00:17:00,821 --> 00:17:05,651 equipping consultants to, to be able to make that very different 303 00:17:05,656 --> 00:17:07,961 type of sale and make it easier. 304 00:17:08,058 --> 00:17:08,778 and more simply. 305 00:17:09,168 --> 00:17:09,378 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah. 306 00:17:09,678 --> 00:17:14,988 How closely aligned is the process you're describing to consultative sales, where 307 00:17:14,988 --> 00:17:21,259 you're as the salesperson, you're just helping a prospect, solve a problem. 308 00:17:21,275 --> 00:17:24,635 Steve Gordon: I really think that the book is the sort of the tip of the sphere in 309 00:17:24,635 --> 00:17:29,607 that, one of the reasons that we lean on that tool so heavily is that for a lot 310 00:17:29,607 --> 00:17:34,467 of the people that we work with, putting on the salesperson hat, isn't their first 311 00:17:34,977 --> 00:17:38,842 desire when they wake up in the morning, it's not what they see themselves as. 312 00:17:39,412 --> 00:17:43,132 And what the book allows them to do, and of course there are 313 00:17:43,132 --> 00:17:44,152 other formats you could do. 314 00:17:44,182 --> 00:17:46,312 You could do this in a presentation, you could do it in other formats. 315 00:17:46,312 --> 00:17:51,622 We just find that the book carries so much more authority with it and is easier to 316 00:17:51,627 --> 00:17:53,842 share than any other thing that we found. 317 00:17:54,382 --> 00:17:58,492 But the book allows you to take all of your best thinking around how you solve 318 00:17:58,942 --> 00:18:03,412 a particular problem for a particular type of person and package it in a way 319 00:18:03,412 --> 00:18:05,152 that's very easy for people to share. 320 00:18:05,182 --> 00:18:09,152 It's no risk to the prospects, because there's no scary salesman, 321 00:18:09,152 --> 00:18:11,912 that's going to jump out of the pages and make 'em buy something. 322 00:18:12,482 --> 00:18:17,372 And it gives you the space to make your entire case. 323 00:18:17,582 --> 00:18:21,632 And so one of the things that we walk all of our clients through is we're. 324 00:18:22,237 --> 00:18:25,747 We're laying out the book, as we want to start with, what is the 325 00:18:25,747 --> 00:18:29,089 problem that the people you're trying to serve are grappling with. 326 00:18:29,569 --> 00:18:32,209 And not only that, what are the consequences of it? 327 00:18:32,209 --> 00:18:35,929 Because they may have an inkling of some of the consequences because 328 00:18:35,929 --> 00:18:37,009 they may be experiencing them. 329 00:18:37,009 --> 00:18:41,179 But you, as the expert know that if they don't address this, they're a big, 330 00:18:41,179 --> 00:18:42,739 scary monsters right around the corner. 331 00:18:42,739 --> 00:18:43,819 And they need to know about that. 332 00:18:43,824 --> 00:18:46,579 So we need to tell 'em those things that builds trust. 333 00:18:46,759 --> 00:18:47,799 Then we need to lay. 334 00:18:48,349 --> 00:18:52,519 Your approach to solving the problem, we call it your unique mechanism. 335 00:18:52,519 --> 00:18:54,456 And this is I always like to equate it to the Wizard of Oz. 336 00:18:54,484 --> 00:18:58,122 you've just been, dumped by the tornado, into this strange place and you want to 337 00:18:58,122 --> 00:19:01,392 get home and everybody tells you, you have to follow the yellow brick road. 338 00:19:01,426 --> 00:19:04,996 Your unique mechanism is the yellow brick road, and that's going to end 339 00:19:05,056 --> 00:19:09,686 at this beautiful gleaming gemed, Emerald city, which is going to 340 00:19:09,686 --> 00:19:12,266 be your gateway to your future. 341 00:19:12,716 --> 00:19:15,670 And so at the end of the book, we want to paint that picture of what's possible 342 00:19:15,670 --> 00:19:19,358 for that person, once you've transformed them and take them on that journey. 343 00:19:19,898 --> 00:19:23,318 When you're able to do that, you can do things that are typically 344 00:19:23,318 --> 00:19:24,518 hard for most consultants. 345 00:19:24,518 --> 00:19:30,077 That is, you can address all of the objections that commonly come up in sales 346 00:19:30,097 --> 00:19:32,797 conversations all up front in the book. 347 00:19:33,157 --> 00:19:35,047 You can address all the questions that come up. 348 00:19:35,077 --> 00:19:39,097 You can address all of the ways clients sabotage themselves as consultants. 349 00:19:39,097 --> 00:19:42,368 We know all the time that we can, lead the horse to water, but we 350 00:19:42,368 --> 00:19:43,478 can't always make them drink. 351 00:19:43,838 --> 00:19:46,818 And we can point out all of the places where they're going to, 352 00:19:46,818 --> 00:19:48,398 they're going to blow themselves up. 353 00:19:48,398 --> 00:19:49,838 If they don't follow our advice. 354 00:19:50,498 --> 00:19:50,828 All of. 355 00:19:51,928 --> 00:19:53,188 Increases their trust in you. 356 00:19:53,188 --> 00:19:56,638 It increases their relationship with you and all of that can 357 00:19:56,638 --> 00:19:57,838 be done before you ever meet. 358 00:19:58,138 --> 00:20:01,018 Which means when they show up, you have the experience of them 359 00:20:01,048 --> 00:20:03,418 basically trying to sell you on why you should take 'em as a client. 360 00:20:03,748 --> 00:20:05,968 And that's an easy sales conversation to have. 361 00:20:06,568 --> 00:20:07,898 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah, it is very different. 362 00:20:07,898 --> 00:20:11,531 Steve, I want to, first of all, congratulate you on what you've done with 363 00:20:11,531 --> 00:20:13,601 your own business is pretty remarkable. 364 00:20:14,171 --> 00:20:20,165 And congratulations also on serving folks, that can really benefit by having a book. 365 00:20:20,885 --> 00:20:24,245 If somebody wants to go deeper with anything we've discussed, access any of 366 00:20:24,245 --> 00:20:28,115 the resources you might have available, or get in touch with you, where would 367 00:20:28,115 --> 00:20:29,425 be the best place for them to go. 368 00:20:29,900 --> 00:20:31,280 Steve Gordon: Yes, David, what we've done. 369 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,180 We've set up a page where they can get a copy of my latest book, which 370 00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:38,900 is called the million dollar book, which will lay out our whole system 371 00:20:38,900 --> 00:20:42,830 for how you can write your own seven figure business book that will, 372 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:44,339 attract the kind of clients you want. 373 00:20:44,339 --> 00:20:47,788 And, I'd love to make a copy available to anybody listening, for free. 374 00:20:48,358 --> 00:20:53,288 They can go to themilliondollarbook.org, themilliondollarbook.org/smashing, 375 00:20:55,288 --> 00:20:56,878 and they can get a copy there. 376 00:20:56,938 --> 00:20:58,743 And, Again, completely free. 377 00:20:58,833 --> 00:21:01,227 We want to get that out to as many people as we can so that it'll help as 378 00:21:01,227 --> 00:21:03,032 many consultants as it possibly can. 379 00:21:03,452 --> 00:21:06,272 David Shriner-Cahn: My guest today has been the CEO and founder of 380 00:21:06,272 --> 00:21:08,552 unstoppable CEO, Steve Gordon. 381 00:21:08,972 --> 00:21:11,912 Steve, I want to thank you again for coming back and joining us. 382 00:21:12,512 --> 00:21:12,782 Steve Gordon: David. 383 00:21:12,782 --> 00:21:13,082 Thank you. 384 00:21:13,082 --> 00:21:13,682 It's been a lot of fun. 385 00:21:15,032 --> 00:21:18,032 David Shriner-Cahn: When you visit the Smashing the Plateau website at 386 00:21:18,032 --> 00:21:22,532 smashingtheplateau.com, you'll find a summary of each episode, along with 387 00:21:22,532 --> 00:21:24,002 the links we mentioned on the show. 388 00:21:24,752 --> 00:21:28,982 On today's episode with Steve Gordon, we learned how a book can accelerate 389 00:21:28,982 --> 00:21:30,812 the growth of your consulting business. 390 00:21:31,742 --> 00:21:33,212 Are you building a community? 391 00:21:33,812 --> 00:21:38,612 Check out Circle, the all in one community platform for creators and brands. 392 00:21:39,332 --> 00:21:43,642 Bring together engaging discussions members, live streams, chat 393 00:21:44,072 --> 00:21:48,722 events, and memberships, all in one place, all under your own brand. 394 00:21:49,562 --> 00:21:53,312 Circle is the platform we use in the Smashing the Plateau Community. 395 00:21:54,242 --> 00:21:59,192 I love the way Circle puts your people, discussions and content all in one place. 396 00:21:59,912 --> 00:22:05,482 Get a free 14- day trial of Circle at smashingtheplateau.com/circle. 397 00:22:05,852 --> 00:22:09,172 That's smashingtheplateau.com/circle. 398 00:22:09,692 --> 00:22:11,122 I'm David Shriner-Cahn. 399 00:22:11,522 --> 00:22:14,432 Thank you for taking the time to listen to our show. 400 00:22:14,522 --> 00:22:16,472 I'll see you on our next episode.