Welcome to "Unleashing Your Potential With Bestselling Author Meg Calvin" podcast!
Have you ever peered behind the curtain of a bestseller's journey, or wondered what fuels the spirit of entrepreneurship? Today, I'm joined by the amazing Meg Calvin, Amazon bestselling author and entrepreneur, whose story is a tapestry woven with resilience, creativity, and an unshakable belief in personal growth. In our heartfelt exchange, Meg opens up about her life's influences, her preaching, and the profound experience of reconnecting with her biological father, painting a picture of the essence of entrepreneurship and the mindset necessary for business growth.
Transitioning from author to successful business owner, Meg reflects on the transformative impact a business coach has had on her trajectory. We discuss the significance of overcoming subconscious barriers, recognizing our 'zone of genius', and the crucial role a coach plays in managing growth and fear. Whether you're scaling up or just starting out, Meg and I dissect the importance of delegating, trusting your intuition, and the power writing has to not only unlock creativity but to confront and overcome limiting beliefs that often hold us back.
To cap off our conversation, Meg imparts wisdom on the special bond between writer and reader and the broader implications of sharing your narrative. As we wrap up, we leave you considering the balance between embracing authenticity and the chase for success. Seeking success isn't just about the pursuit; it's about recognizing and seizing the opportunities that seem to be pursuing us just as fervently. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a writer, or both, this episode is a wellspring of motivation and insights that may just be the catalyst you need to take that next bold step.
Welcome to "Unleashing Your Potential With Bestselling Author Meg Calvin" podcast!
Have you ever peered behind the curtain of a bestseller's journey, or wondered what fuels the spirit of entrepreneurship? Today, I'm joined by the amazing Meg Calvin, Amazon bestselling author and entrepreneur, whose story is a tapestry woven with resilience, creativity, and an unshakable belief in personal growth. In our heartfelt exchange, Meg opens up about her life's influences, her preaching, and the profound experience of reconnecting with her biological father, painting a picture of the essence of entrepreneurship and the mindset necessary for business growth.
Transitioning from author to successful business owner, Meg reflects on the transformative impact a business coach has had on her trajectory. We discuss the significance of overcoming subconscious barriers, recognizing our 'zone of genius', and the crucial role a coach plays in managing growth and fear. Whether you're scaling up or just starting out, Meg and I dissect the importance of delegating, trusting your intuition, and the power writing has to not only unlock creativity but to confront and overcome limiting beliefs that often hold us back.
To cap off our conversation, Meg imparts wisdom on the special bond between writer and reader and the broader implications of sharing your narrative. As we wrap up, we leave you considering the balance between embracing authenticity and the chase for success. Seeking success isn't just about the pursuit; it's about recognizing and seizing the opportunities that seem to be pursuing us just as fervently. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a writer, or both, this episode is a wellspring of motivation and insights that may just be the catalyst you need to take that next bold step.
I'm reminded of the Henry Ford quote, that is if he once said if I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said Henry, make me a faster horse. And so I think there's a lesson in Henry Ford and John Cleese and the lessons we can take is there is a time to do Google Forms and ask your ideal client what are you struggling with? Like, get their brains. But I think what gets the final say is you, are your people listening to this? They are wired to be entrepreneurs, they are dreamers. Our brains are different than people that aren't wired like that Not better, just different. And we can trust what wants to come through us, even if the trends don't point to that being.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to another Small Business Pivotsots at podcast designed for small business owners. I'm your host, michael Morrison, a small business coach and founder of boss, where we make business ownership simplified for success so that you can create a business that runs without you. To learn more, go to businessownershipsimplifiedcom and make sure to stay tuned until the end of this episode for my recap and coach's corner In it. I'll challenge you with actionable steps that will significantly impact your business before our next episode. Our guest today is Meg Calvin. Meg is an Amazon bestselling author, wife, mom master, air guitar player, speaker and coach. Wife, mom, master, air guitar player, speaker and coach.
Speaker 2:
Join me today as we step into Meg's extraordinary journey. A visionary who transitioned from pulpit preaching to pioneering in entrepreneurship, her story is a testament to resilience and determination, shaped by a childhood marked by strong influences and a profound gift for communication. Discover how Meg's path led others to the summit of the publishing industry, guiding authors to bestseller status on Amazon. Through the guidance of a trusted business coach, meg underwent a transformative journey, unlocking her zone of genius and mastering the art of strategic sales. Meg offers a comforting hand to authors navigating the fear of exposing their truths, highlighting the spiritual connection between writer and reader Meg helps aspiring authors write, market and publish their Amazon bestselling books on paperback, kindle and Audible audiobooks. Let's get to our guest now to learn the pivots she made to grow a successful business All right.
Speaker 3:
Welcome to other small business pivots. We have a special guest from around the world today, and I know that no one can introduce your name or company like you can, so tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 1:
Thank you so good to be here, michael. I totally dug your show when I was listening to it and I thought I wonder if his audience would like to know the benefits for a business of writing, marketing and selling an Amazon bestselling book. And that's what I do, so thank you for having me on, and my team and I yeah, we give authors everything they need to write, market and sell an Amazon bestselling book on Kindle, paperback and Audible.
Speaker 3:
Fantastic. Well, we'll get to the book section here in a minute, because I wrote my first book literally myself no ghostwriter or anything and that's quite a process, but it has benefited me very well just having that. So we'll talk about that in a minute. But I want to get to your story. Tell us a little bit about your story. Growing up, I know a lot of business owners have trials and tribulations and they have a mindset challenge they have to overcome. So tell us a little bit about your journey.
Speaker 1:
You are exactly right. Most yeah, I can't think of a single entrepreneur that I know that didn't rise above something traumatic. Always, whenever I'm asked this on podcasts, I always start with I was raised by three very strong women and that was I call them the. I call them different things. They are this matriarchal trifecta, this matriarchal triune. It was my mom, my grandmother and my aunt. My grandmother and my aunt have since passed away. They've crossed over to whatever lies beyond this earthly plane. My mom is still with us.
Speaker 1:
They were very, very powerful in raising me to be strong and I would say my early childhood had some definite traumatic moments in it, with divorce and moving away from my biological father when I was three, leaving Texas, being in Europe. But throughout all of that, oh, and then my I probably just said this but my stepdad that raised me was in the army and so there was the Gulf War and the Bosnian conflict. Then I was born in 86. So I was really young when, like the first six years of my life was just an HBO movie, but through that developed great grit. And I always say one of the most important things of my journey as a child and into adolescence was that I had a stepdad and a grandfather that raised me to believe I could do anything that a man can do, and so I did. So that narrative of I am different or I am inferior because of my gender was never a part of my upbringing. I'm so thankful for that.
Speaker 1:
My grandparents one of them being the grandmother that I spoke of earlier were missionaries and when I was 13, I discovered or remembered or developed preaching abilities, and so this at this point was in North Texas. So I, my grandparents, would take me to churches and conferences and mission trips and I would. I was basically their ecclesiastical show pony and mission trips and I was basically their ecclesiastical show pony. I would sing and I would preach and that developed in me great communication skills. And then by the age of 17 to 32, I was a paid church staff minister in the Methodist Church, went to seminary.
Speaker 1:
I always like to tell now that two years ago I reconnected with my biological father. Tell now that two years ago I reconnected with my biological father and it's been not only healing but also wonderful to see he's director. He's. He loves the sales game like me. He's been an entrepreneur for many years. He's not right now, he's a director of sales for a company I can't remember the name of it, whole doesn't matter, it's for it's with food but just the similarities in genetics and how, even though we were apart for 33 years, just how similar we are to each other.
Speaker 3:
So you went from a preacher to entrepreneur. What was the transition there? What inspired you to move away from that?
Speaker 1:
2016, I was still a minister. My book got picked up. My first book got picked up by a traditional publishing company and around that time I began having, like lots of people experienced, doors opening for could you speak at this conference about your book? Could you coach? So I began coaching some with ministers, preventing burnout.
Speaker 1:
And then I began hearing stories from other people that had highly religious upbringings.
Speaker 1:
And then I began hearing stories from other people that had highly religious upbringings and because of that, they had limiting beliefs around monetizing their book, around marketing, around trusting themselves to build the life they want to build as divine co-creators.
Speaker 1:
And it broke my heart because I thought of all these amazing, healing, helpful books that would never be because of these limiting beliefs brought on by religious indoctrinations. So I began helping people at that point to write their book. And then, around that time, when my first book got picked up the Wiffenstock is the traditional publishing company that has my first one they basically told me this is so great that you wrote a book and it got picked up, but it means nothing if you can't market it. So around that time in 2017, I just threw myself into learning all that I could about building an author brand and how to become an organic social media marketing master, which I became, and now I train my clients to do the same and since then have built a whole business where they don't even need a traditional publishing company. I offer authors everything they need to write it, market and sell it.
Speaker 3:
So let's go back to day one of your actually before day, one of your actual business. What were some of those challenges? Things that you didn't know, things you wish you would have done differently, things you wish you would have researched, kind of along those lines.
Speaker 1:
At every moment of my business. I had to feel it myself to know that it was true, and so the minute I felt this client is asking too much of me was when I realized I need to up my prices, and so, just little little, I took little baby steps along the way and I know that's probably normal for all businesses like for doing a sales call for $175, starting there and then, as we know, with my first clients, and then, of course, insanely increasing that over the past four years.
Speaker 3:
You mentioned business coach. You're a business coach. I'm a business coach in the business space. You're in the authoring space. You have a coach. He was actually on our podcast. How long have you worked with him? Share some of the benefits for those business owners that don't have a business coach. They're considering a business coach. What are the benefits of actually having a coach and how does that work?
Speaker 1:
Yes, I've had the same business coach since 2018, which is so exciting. So you might be thinking, oh, but you said you started your business in 2020. I did. My second book got picked up in 2018 by another traditional publishing company, and it was at that point, with AJ, that I mastered building my brand as an author and then marketing my book to bestseller status and so and then the next level was I want to do this for other people. So then he trained me to build my, equipped me to build my own business. So what does that look like? What it looks like is we meet for an hour a week and then I have Voxer, then I have Voxer support, and so he not only equipped me in organic social media marketing, in writing direct response copy, but also in mastering the sales game, getting super clear on my offer. And that has grown because, as I said, when I business first started, it was just helping people write their books, and then I added market your book, build your author brand, and then I added everything. So now I have a team that does all the publishing as well, and then I come in, I get to be in my zone of genius of building your brand, of marketing and writing, and then I can delegate the rest the publishing and the cover design to other talented people. So he helped me create an infrastructure for my business.
Speaker 1:
The most powerful part of having a business coach is those deep subconscious blocks that he spoke of a lot on your show. My blocks that came up that I had to overcome as a business owner was Christian. I had stories running about Christian piety is poverty. So I had this subconscious story running that was preventing me from making an abundance of income because I believed it was sinful, and so I had to get over that money block. I had to learn to trust myself more. I had to become okay with someone being uncomfortable, which is hard. That made me a great minister, because I could create a comforting, catalyzing space. And also, when you're a coach, there's a time where what the client needs isn't to be comforted, and so it is the opposite. So learning to be that bring that part out of me. I call it the business shark part of me knowing when to decipher, when to bring that up in a client call or when working with a technician. And so the biggest, the biggest thing that AJ is helping me with right now currently to scale my business is.
Speaker 1:
When I added on, I would have stepped back and said, oh, that's too much, I can't do all of that in my business, I can't grow that much, and so I think a business coach is huge and anyone listening to this that doesn't have one hire Michael immediately, because it was the work was becoming overwhelming and it wasn't fun anymore because it was too. It was too much, and so a business coach was super helpful in saying let's make a list of your your zone of genius areas and then your zone of expertise areas. And my zone of genius areas is creatively collaborating with an author, comforting them, them being in this kind of one-on-one space where I shine a light on them and encourage them and help them build their brand and align with their author voice and their frequency that's going to shine through every social media post, helping them become aware of their blind spots, listening to their way of being, and then, of course, the developmental and structural editing of the book and all the marketing pieces. That's my zone of genius and it makes me so excited to wake up in the morning and do that. Now my zone of expertise is project. That's life-sucking to me, but I can do it and I've done. It is project management and I can do it, but it doesn't. It doesn't fill my cup, it doesn't make me feel alive. And there are other people that they actually enjoy doing it, and what I mean by that is working with the copy and line editor, the formatter, all the KDP category research and keyword research and then the cover designer, and so working with those two, two other people, two other teammates and the author, making sure we're all running as smoothly as we can.
Speaker 1:
And so I experienced exponential growth this past winter, and so, instead of doing I was, I had around a client's drop days. I had spread out. Oh, my goodness, I had client drop days, book launch days spread out to where it was. Maybe one every three to four months. A client's book came out and we're like, yay, you're done. That was so wonderful serving you. Goodbye. Thank you for your testimonial video.
Speaker 1:
Well, in November and December, I had seven books come out, and now I'm literally in a place of I can't do that again. It was making me that was. It was making me rethink my whole business. So, landing the plane here, a business coach is very helpful to say don't you are afraid, but there's another part of you that's not afraid. And you got this. How can we? So I'm bringing on a project manager, which is so exciting, so I can delegate my zone of expertise but keep doing my, keep showing up and serving in my zone of genius.
Speaker 1:
Instead of if I didn't have a business coach, I think fear. I think fear would win and I would back up and say I'm just going to go, because there's lots of people in my game that they just help you write the book or they help you build your author brand or they'll publish it for you. There are some out there like me that will do the do everything with the author and for the author, but we're we're few and far between, and I see why. And at the end of the year, the last December, I was thinking this is not fun, this is I'm in, I'm, I'm in survival mode, I'm not in creative mode. So that's been super helpful, I think. And from other business owners I've talked to, I think we all reach a point where our business starts growing. Not all, some of us hit a point where our business is growing too fast and we want to step back from it. But I think at that point that is one of the most important moments to have a business coach to help you scale.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely. I could go on about business coaches, but I know a lot of business owners have lots of questions. That's never worked with a business coach before and a lot of them, when you say coach, they think of like a physical sport coach, of give me 40 and telling people what to do, and that's not what a good coach does. They help you see things differently and I think that sounds like what you're kind of talking about.
Speaker 1:
Is that kind of how you work when you help someone with a book between how my business coach coaches me and how I coach authors in writing and marketing and selling their Amazon bestselling book is coming home to the truth that every part of our lives are interconnected, and so all of my clients that have birthed books, they also birth breakthroughs, whether it's finally moving to France after wanting to for seven years or finally having that sweaty palm conversation with that parent they've wanted to have for 30 years, forgiving someone, finally getting out of an unhealthy marriage when there was years of infidelity. There's a sacred space we go to within ourself when we write a book, a memoir. From my experience of memoir and nonfiction writing, there's a special space, a deep divine space we go to to listen to that book and I think in that same space we find layers of wounds that needed to be healed, and they happen simultaneously. We heal. We heal stuff when we write from my experience, and so I think the similarities between a business coach and what I do is aligning with the truth that the real block is rarely something about the mechanics of the English language or building a funnel for your email list.
Speaker 1:
It's rarely that. It's rarely about principles or tactics. It's 99.9% of the time there's a limiting belief happening in the business owner or the author who is building their brand. There's a limiting belief happening in the business owner or the author who is building their brand. There's a limiting belief there about their identity, about money, about their time I might have already said talent. There's a limiting belief that we need to get to, and it's not only affecting their business, their income or their book. It's affecting every part of their life, and so I love to get to that and I think that's what amazing that's what my business coach does too is he gets to that those deep subconscious blocks. Um, that even if I was to take five evergreen online courses about building my business and learn how to do a sales call well, learn how to write direct response copy well, learn how to do organic social media marketing well, If I haven't gotten that deep block unblocked, it doesn't matter what all principles and mechanics I learn.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I would agree. Having written my book, I know there was a long period of time where I was hesitant to release it. I did self-publishing but still I felt very vulnerable sharing my story because it was a memoir. It even says on the front of what not to do when you start and run a business, and so that was kind of. One of my biggest hesitations was I don't know if I want anybody knowing this stuff, and it wasn't really. Now that I read it I'm like, well, that was stupid. I mean, you know, then I'd be afraid to share that because everybody goes through that or this and whatever.
Speaker 3:
But having a coach like yourself, I think would be very helpful. Just not procrastinating for one, because that's kind of what I did. I found every excuse not to upload and release it. If having an emotional coach kind of like you to help overcome some of those things, it's okay. Someone else needs to hear. And then I hear other business owners say well, nobody wants to read my story. Have you heard that one before? No one would be interested in my story.
Speaker 1:
Yes, do you want to know what I say to that when I hear it?
Speaker 3:
I do.
Speaker 1:
Yes, it comes up all the time Like there's so many stories on religious deconstruction, why should I write one? Who'd want to read my story? And what I say to that is I believe that the book entity itself, that's talking within you. This might sound a little woo-woo, but it's who I am, is it's divine. So I believe there's three of us working. This might sound a little woo-woo, but it's who I am, is it's divine. So I believe there's three of us working on the book. There's the author, there's me, the coach, and then the book itself is an entity. It has opinions too, and sometimes they're different than both of our opinions.
Speaker 1:
But the idea of the book is speaking up louder right now because of two reasons, and we see this in scripture in first John 1, 10,. I believe that we're all where Jesus prays, that we'll all be one, just as he and God are one. So there's this lots of imagery of oneness and interconnectedness in scripture. Also, in the spiritual new age world with quantum, quantum physics, we see this. There's this connection. We know that energy follows thoughts.
Speaker 1:
And so why do I say all that? Because if the book idea is speaking up louder within you, it's speaking up for two reasons One, because someone outside of you is hungry for help. They're hungry to have their needs met through a book written by only you and I say only you to emphasize that you have a whoever's listening to this that has a book idea that's whispering on their heart. They have a certain set. You have a certain set of scars. You've done deep work so that's no longer teaching from wounds, you're teaching from scars. You have a certain personality, you have a certain style that you're going to curate all the information that you've studied for years in your line of work. And you have a certain lens. And so your book is going to be unique only because of all those reasons. And someone is hungry to have their needs met by someone with your exact lens.
Speaker 1:
And the second reason the book's getting louder and louder is because it wants to give you. And the second reason the book's getting louder and louder is because it wants to give you or we could say God wants to give you the pleasure and the joy of birthing and releasing that book, of writing it, and I think those two things are equal. It's easy in the Christian world to say, oh, I don't need money, I don't need a hit bestseller, so the algorithm gods will push it out to more people. I don't need that, I just want to help people. I think it serves us in that story. If that serves you, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:
A lot of the clients, all the clients I serve that are from all over the theological spectrum. They hold the belief and I help them hone that belief that God cares about us experiencing joy in the creative process. So that's why those two reasons are why the book's speaking up and for the joy of pleasure of us birthing and releasing it, but also to someone outside really wants it and their thoughts are affecting our creative energy. And so whenever someone says I can't write, I can't write my memoir, who wants to hear my story? I would say, oh, if the book idea is still whispering to you, that means a lot of people want to hear it.
Speaker 3:
That's. I love that and I know that after well. After I started my first business over two decades ago. A common phrase that I would always hear is I would start my business and they still haven't to this day. Those that I remember. And then, when I uploaded my book, same thing. It was like I've always wanted to write a book. Those are two of the most common phrases that I hear all the time from people, and so you can help people overcome that hesitancy. Is that what we're hearing?
Speaker 1:
Definitely, definitely, yep. The first step in our partnership is transcending limiting beliefs, and so, whether that's through guided meditations or journaling exercises, field trips, certain documentaries I suggest to watch, we transcend those limiting beliefs that are the real cause of our writer's block, and then, once they're transcended, they are transcended for good.
Speaker 2:
You're listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is sponsored by BOSS, where business ownership isended for good. To learn why small business success starts with Boss. If you're enjoying the podcast and want to stay up to date with all of our episodes, make sure to hit that subscribe button, give us a thumbs up or leave a positive review. Let's get back to our guest.
Speaker 3:
Tell us a little bit about the benefits of having a book.
Speaker 1:
Before I answer that, which I will, I feel a need to say 20 minutes ago or an hour ago, whenever you asked me what would I have done differently in my business, and I was like, oh, everything's gone great. What's coming up for me now is to say that I wish I would have, and my business coach told me this and I did not listen to him. I did not have an accountant doing my bookkeeping early on in my business. I would have done that from the start.
Speaker 3:
That was my number one.
Speaker 1:
Yes. So I would say listen to your business coach, hire an accountant early on and I have one now but and so, knowing you can fire clients, I would do that. And then, when you grow and when you're a coach and your business does what mine did, which it started offering all these services that I offer clients now I I had. I noticed that I started showing up differently with clients, and it wasn't in my magical Oracle coach space which asks deep questions and holds a sacred space and and speaks the truth and love directly. I started started. That's what I love to do and I really serve people well in that space but I almost started showing up like a cruise, like an all-inclusive cruise ship to clients. And there's another word I could say, but I know you probably keep your show PG, so I shouldn't say it, but I was showing up like my clients, you know what? And then I had to come home to the truth of that's not who I am, it's not who God made me to be, that's not God made me to serve. I'm a coach first and foremost, and that one hour Zoom call with my clients every week is a sacred space. It's not a time where I'm there. What do you need from me? Okay, write that down, I'll get that for you. Yeah, okay, and so that was another mistake that I made, and again, I think I only could have learned that, though, by my business growing and then being like, oh, this needs to go on someone else's plate, not mine.
Speaker 1:
And and and so, and when a client would complain about something with the cover, me being in a place where I could breathe and then and then respond, listen more to the client's way of being and not just the complaint, and then remind the client we are on a deadline for your book. Um, do you really want to sit here Like is it? Is this the best use of our time? And so cause, usually the complaint is coming from a deeper, sometimes from a deeper problem that I could be in my coach mode and get to, but sometimes I just have to be direct and say we're behind schedule, we're done, we're done doing this on your book, and so those again.
Speaker 1:
That goes back to realizing, when you're building a business, what is my zone of genius that gives me life to do, and I'm really exceptional at it. Keep those things where I'm doing that 80% of my week. I think that's a stat I saw in StrengthsFinder years ago like whatever you're, keep it to where only 20% of your week are things that suck you dry, that you have to do for your business, but then delegate the rest. So okay, I I wanted to go back and answer that to make sure I I sounded more like a human and not a pretentious narcissist. That was like. I made no mistakes.
Speaker 3:
Well, no, you had a coach, so if it was perfect, that means you had a great coach. So I took no offense to that.
Speaker 1:
Yes, yes. I think the other mistake that I made was and again, this is I'm glad it happened when I brought on technicians that I would contract out with, because clients pay me and then I pay my team under me. And so it is. We are like a cruise ship. We're an all exclusive, all inclusive I mean resort or cruise or whatever. They get everything. But when I started bringing teammates on, I went.
Speaker 1:
I morphed back to minister Meg who was like oh, let me, how can I, you, you need how much time to do that project? Okay, I can do that, let me re, let me rechange the whole structure of my business to meet your needs. And that that was life-sucking too. And so I had to become confident in myself as a business owner and trust myself. As an example here, working with traditional publishing companies since 2016,. My book got picked up. I got to work with two traditional publishing companies really closely, not only as an author, but when I first started I would coach clients in writing their book and then helping them submit to traditional publishing companies. So I knew the world really well and I knew how long things should take each part of the process, and so I know that there's a step that only needs two months to get done. It can take two months. I give my team three months to do it and that's still really competitive.
Speaker 1:
When I had a technician that wanted six months to do it, it was really uncomfortable, but I had to say, no, this can be done in two. I'm asking you to do it in three. Do you want in or not? And then letting, and then me feeling, reminding myself I was safe. As crazy as that sounds, that's really what's going on within me. I don't feel safe. When someone is emotionally uncomfortable, I want to save them, which I'm still working on, but in that moment I had to, as a business owner, let that technician go because he he wasn't a partner in my business.
Speaker 1:
It's, it's my business, and so, and because I'm a person who's daily trying to be a person of integrity and I have practices and spiritual disciplines in place and I have a support system in place that helps me maintain my integrity, I can trust myself. I'm not being an asshole. I'm just saying you, you signed a contract for three months. Now you're wanting six months. Goodbye, Thank you for your service.
Speaker 1:
And so that boiling down that mistake that I made as a business owner is. I think it comes back to if, as your listeners are, they're experts in their field, they don't have a ridiculous ask, they're being kind, so they can call the shots and trust themselves, and if people can't hang with them as technicians or teammates, they can be replaceable, which is really hard when you come from a background of ministry, because you want to include everybody. But as a business owner background of ministry, because you want to include everybody, but as a business owner, you have the right to say it's my business, I want to play with 18 players, and if you're not that, then best of wishes to you. So that was another mistake I made.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, there's so much to learn right.
Speaker 1:
So much.
Speaker 3:
Yes.
Speaker 1:
I think that was five mistakes. That felt better than saying everything went so well.
Speaker 3:
I'll give you the five, and it's it's ongoing. So I always share with business owners. You know, when you're in a coaching session you're sometimes you might have a few aha's, you might have five things, like you just mentioned, or sometimes you might just have one, and sometimes it might just be a relief knowing that I'm doing the right things in the right order. Everything's cruising along, but next week that's going to be completely different, you know. So it just varies from time to time with a coach, and so I like to share with business owners just that experience that they'll have. It's not you have these eye-opening moments every single week. Sometimes it's just accountability Did you do everything you were supposed to? What were the outcomes? Did it work? Do we need to shift anything? Those kinds of things. And so I'm trying to help listeners understand the power of having a business coach, so the power of having a book, though.
Speaker 1:
Yes, I'm ready. I'm ready for that one. I'm ready for that one. So thank you for your patience.
Speaker 1:
This question, the first thing that comes to mind is if you do not want to write a book, definitely do not write a book. Don't do it. Secondly, so let's assume you want to write a book, then the power of having that book is now more than ever. We've moved out of the age of information to the age of intuition, and even people that aren't spiritual or woo-woo, you can get what I'm about to say. We are at a place in history where we can learn anything that we want on our toilets, on our phone, on Wikipedia, which is gross, but I'm just going to say it. All knowledge is at our fingertips.
Speaker 1:
So what the buyer wants is they don't want to spend money on learning anything until they respect and trust the author, the coach, the influencer. What's that word? Knowledge? I can't think of it. Anyway, they will not, as the modern-day currency is respect and trust. They want to have a true human connection, because we're lonelier than isolated than ever before. They want to have a true human connection with someone before they invest in their product and buy it.
Speaker 1:
So why am I saying all that? Because, for your business, if you do feel I want to write a book I've always wanted to write a book People tell me I should write a book. It would be fun to write one. If you have those thoughts, then know that, by the best way to break through all the noise of the internet for your ideal reader, for your target audience, is to exist in that person's life outside of their smartphone, outside of their computer. So one way to do that is a book where they have it in their shotgun seat of their truck, their bedside table.
Speaker 1:
Hopefully your cover art is as good as my clients and if the artwork is so beautiful that it passes the coffee table test and what I mean by that is all my clients' books are so beautiful that when they're done reading, they don't get shoved in the shelf, they get left out, so the artwork can be enjoyed on the coffee table. Don't get shoved in the shelf, they get left out, so the artwork can be enjoyed on the coffee table. So then, when your ideal client or your target audience is thinking about questions of the subject matter that you write about, when they're thinking about oh I really I'm curious about this, they're not going to just go to YouTube. They're going to see your book as a touch point in their house or their truck or their office and they're going to think I wonder if Michael has a blog on this, I wonder if I could DM him on Instagram. This question and so existing outside of the internet is huge to grow your business and a book is one way to do that. That's my loudest answer there.
Speaker 3:
I love that. Something else I found was the trust factor in a book versus digital, because digital you can always go back and change up date content, whereas a book, once it's purchased, it sits on their shelf and you better not be lying. You know you can't go into every person's library and put in the new edition of your book. So it's a little more trustworthy too, is what I found out. So let's talk about pivots in your business as you've grown and scaling your business, anything significant that you would like to share with other business owners that they could heed your advice.
Speaker 1:
Other than the pivot that I in my way of being, that I caught with and my coach helped me catch that that I was showing up as an all-inclusive resort on Zoom calls and a caddy, if you will, instead of a coach, and then bringing a team on what's also coming up to share with other business owners is. I love this example. I love my husband and I both love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Monty Python comedy troupe, and that BBC picked them up in the mid 70s, 74, I believe that doesn't matter. Anyway, john Cleese was interviewed once and he said that their show, monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Flying Circus, that show could not exist on today's television. Because when they came to bbc and um bbc asked them what's your show going to be about? And they were like, um, well, you know they didn't, they didn't have a clear picture, but they knew what made them laugh when they wrote together the five guys. They knew what brought them joy, they knew how to honor what wanted to come up through them.
Speaker 1:
And John Cleese was saying, by today's standard, there's too many focus groups. They're like too many like follow the data, follow the trends. Let's have a focus group about what makes millennials laugh, what makes generation X laugh? Like what do they find funny? And it's just a waste of time, in John Cleese's words.
Speaker 1:
So, as a business owner and as an author and as a content creator, when I heard that from John Cleese, what I received and the message that I learned from it that I share with my clients is there's a time to follow the data and what's trending, but it doesn't get the final say. I think what matters most I'm reminded of the Henry Ford quote, that is if he once said I'm reminded of the Henry Ford quote, that is if he once said if I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said Henry, make me a faster horse. And so I think there's a lesson in Henry Ford and John Cleese and the lessons we can take is there is a time to do Google Forms and ask your ideal client what are you struggling with? Like, get their brains. But I think what gets the final say is you are, you're people listening to this.
Speaker 1:
They are wired to be entrepreneurs, they are dreamers. Our brains are different than people that aren't wired like that Not better, just different and we can trust what wants to come through us, even if the trends don't point to that being, oh, that's so. I just heard this recently by an author religious deconstruction it's out, it's not popular anymore. I'm like, no, I disagree If that's what wants to come through you, if you have that finished book on your cloud like let's market that thing it's so honoring what wants to come through you.
Speaker 1:
As a business owner, you know being aware of the trends and the data and the focus groups, but not giving them the final say.
Speaker 3:
If that's what I would share, I also say go with your gut more times than not.
Speaker 3:
Yes, totally Similar because I'm a big believer in neuroscience and core values and everything else, and I know that a lot of times we have that gut feeling or those butterflies whatever you want to call it because something doesn't align with our core values. You know, you and I might feel a little differently about something, but it's usually because it doesn't align with something that we believe in. And so for a lot of entrepreneurs, a key there is to go with your gut a lot of times or go with that intuition is to go with your gut a lot of times or go with that intuition. Not always do you have to follow whatever's trending, if you will, because you've got something that's very special. Each person does so. If we were in front of an audience of business owners, what is one thing that you would tell all of them that might be applicable to all?
Speaker 1:
The quote from the Sufi poet Rumi is coming up to me, which is remember that which you seek also seeks you, and I usually say that on every podcast I guest on when they're like what's the last thing you want to say?
Speaker 2:
I always say that.
Speaker 1:
What I would add for your audience is there's always a third way, there's always an alternative, there's always. There's an amazing book I can't think of what it's called but sometimes, when we're building our business and every part of our life, we can think it can be this way or this way it's. I can't get it to work either of those way. I've just found there's so much comfort and truth in getting creative, thinking outside the box and finding that third, that third alternative that can create that, the life that you want to create, or can create the client situation you want to create, or can create the business that you want to create. What is that book called? I know you've heard of it, yes, what is it? Oh, an example is when cell phones started oh goodness gracious 07,. When smartphones, iphone came out.
Speaker 3:
Oh 607.
Speaker 1:
There were lots of youth groups that were youth leaders were like we can't, we can't get kids to read the Bible, they're on their phones too much. And so the you probably know I'm going with this. It would. It would this example would serve us as business owners to think, okay, so enjoying that. I wish I could remember the book, but I can't but seeing that constraint as a benefit. Okay, well, let's get the Bible on smartphones, let's make Bible trivia games on smartphones. And so I think in our businesses if I'm making any sense in our, our businesses starting to see the butts. I want this butt that, seeing that constraint, letting that constraint of the butt add to our creative process in creating the business that we want to create, trusting that it's okay if our business looks different than other people's business, it's okay, it's 100% okay and healthy and good that your business might look different than someone else's.
Speaker 3:
Golden advice If someone wants to get a hold of you, what's the best way to do that? And also follow you.
Speaker 1:
Yes, definitely. So I'd love to give your listeners a little 20-minute free video training. That is three ways to make marketing your book more fun and less frustrating, and the marketing principles taught in that they are across. They can market anything, and so they can get that training at megcalvincom, and I'll just grab it and they'll get to enjoy it. And then, yeah, follow me on Instagram at heymegcalvin.
Speaker 3:
Fantastic. Well, I appreciate your time. Our listeners are now smarter because of you, so I appreciate your time and all the knowledge you've shared. We'll see you soon.
Speaker 1:
Thank you so much, Michael.
Speaker 2:
You're welcome. Welcome to the Recap and Coach's Corner, where I summarize the overall theme of our episode today and then challenge you with one actionable task, aligned with what we learned today, that will move the needle in your business. In our recap section, we've journeyed with Meg from the preacher's pulpit to the summit of self-publishing, uncovering the transformative power of coaching and the art of storytelling. Along the way, she demonstrated the importance of focusing on strengths and delegating tasks. Demonstrated the importance of focusing on strengths and delegating tasks. Remember the key takeaways Meg shared embrace change, seek mentorship and prioritize your strengths, because this leads us into our coach's corner.
Speaker 2:
In our coach's corner, I'm challenging you to take action by completing our delegation quadrant. Our delegation quadrant will help you clearly define the things you love and the things you are great at. It will also clearly define the things that absorb too much of your energy to hand those over to someone else. Download our delegation quadrant today at BOSS by going to businessownershipsimplifiedcom and click on freebies under the resources section to download our free delegation quadrant. You can also find the link to our free delegation quadrant in the show notes description section. Remember your journey to success is just beginning, so follow my mantra do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots. Please don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast. If your business is stuck or you need help creating your business to run without you, go to our website businessownershipsimplifiedcom and schedule a free consultation to learn why small business success starts with Boss. If you have a guest or topic suggestion for our podcast or just want to talk anything small business related, email me at michael at michaeldmorrisoncom. We'll see you next time on Small Business Pivots.