In this episode, Mike and AJ address another listener’s question about how to write and share supportive content for one’s must-read book. From planting your flag as the authority in your area of expertise to building your newsletter and circle of authorial friends to even launching a podcast, our team covers the what, how and why every author should be creating content that supports their transformational books.
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Joyspan, by Dr. Kerry Burnight
Scaling Up, by Verne Harnish
The Alter Ego Effect, by Todd Herman
AJ’s Authorship Planning Workshop
AJ Harper, website
AJ’s Socials:
Mike Michalowicz, website
Mike’s Socials:
Episode 110: “Writing Supportive Content for Your Book”
Mike Michalowicz:
Welcome back to the Don't Write That book podcast where you can learn how to write your bestseller and own your authorship. Follow along with us as we give you an insider's view of the book industry. Now, here are your hosts. Myself, Mike Michalowicz and AJ Harper. We are back in the actual studio. Which is kind of cool. Face to face.
AJ Harper:
Face to face. Well, no in person. Face-to-face.
Mike Michalowicz:
In person. Face-to-face. And, uh, we're not gonna be able to YouTube this one because, you know, we're here and we don't have a setup. Oh. But starting tomorrow, my home office, my son's former bedroom is gonna have a podcast room
AJ Harper:
With a video?
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah.
AJ Harper:
So is that, you know, we record, excuse me. We actually record next week. I think so. Is that where I'm going?
Mike Michalowicz:
No, it won't be ready. I mean, we're starting the reconstruction. Oh. So what he has to do is insulate the walls in a way that's, there's sound treatment, and they're soundproofing. We're learning so much. We want both. Sound treatment, I believe is so the sound doesn't echo around the room when you're within the room. And soundproofing is noise entering from the outside. Hmm. So when someone is, uh, mowing the lawn, or when the dog is running above, you don't wanna hear that. So how do, how you do it is you get special materials. There's special insulation called rock wool that helps. But effectively, you build a room within the room. There is no better soundproofing than, or how sound emanates is through physical, um, elements. So like a, uh, a stud in the wall that, that wood actually carries the sound vibrations through. So if you have a room inside the room and there's a gap of air that kills the sound best. So that's basically what they're doing. But you do it to the inches. It's not like this room inside a room. You, you do it within a inch. So there's the outside wall, a space, the inside wall. Mm. And that's how you do it. So that's what they're gonna start working on.
AJ Harper:
You're, you're So he's never sleeping in there again.
Mike Michalowicz:
We're also making it into a guest room. He, he may sleep in there again. I mean, I got his permission first. Did you get Jack's permission? Have you changed his room?
AJ Harper:
I haven't changed his room
Mike Michalowicz:
Is it a shrine?
AJ Harper:
A sh-a shrine to mess and
Mike Michalowicz:
And odor.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. I, I don't know what it would be a shrine to. Yeah. I did say we're gonna, you know, we're gonna jazz it up.
Mike Michalowicz:
It just, that's his permission.
AJ Harper:
It's our house. But as a courtesy, I said, Hey, what do you think if I swap out some things? You're a grownup. You moved out. You need, you know, if you stay here again, you need a grownup room. Yeah. And he, he said, what are you gonna do to it? So, obviously, slight concern,
Mike Michalowicz: When my daughter moved out, her bedroom faced our yard. And the office I had at home was an interior office, no windows. So I moved it there. I mean, the day she moved out, I said, Hey, I'm moving in, in there. Just wanna get your permission. Are you gonna be offended or hurt? She's like, no, don't care about it. Oh my God. It was the best move. I love my office. The day my youngest son moved out, that's gonna become the podcast room. I said, Hey, can we change this into a functional room? Do you have a problem? No problem. So he's out. So he came back for the first time since he moved to Salt Lake City, uh, yesterday. 'cause Thanksgiving's a week from now. So he came early. He is working remotely. Um, but now he's staying in the guest room. And, no, no complaints. My mom has like a shrine room for me. She still has a house I grew up in.
AJ Harper:
That tracks.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. The same shag at green carpet. The picture of me and my sister has a shrine room too. But it's weird. I mean, listen, she lives by herself. My father's passed away three years ago now. Um, it's a, it's a house suitable for a nuclear family. Remember that term?
AJ Harper:
I know. Why do we use it?
Mike Michalowicz:
I don't know. 2.5 kids. Remember? That was the rule. Yes. Yeah. It's, well, so well suited for that. So these rooms wouldn't be used otherwise. Mm. But what my wife and I did, we agreed that when our kids move out, let's give every room a function. So every room is used. So every room has a designated function. So there is a arts and craft space. There is, uh, we have a person that does massage locally, and she'll come to the house.
AJ Harper:
You sound, you know how bougie you sound.
Mike Michalowicz:
I know. I sound so boogie. Exactly. Well, that's only when I'm in the sauna. I only get massages after the sauna
AJ Harper:
Yeah, you did get the kit.
Mike Michalowicz:
I got a kit. So.
AJ Harper:
Now you have a cold plunge and a sauna, and a place for someone to give you a massage. A massage. And a place for arts and crafts.
Mike Michalowicz:
I sound like the bougie master.
AJ Harper:
I mean, just list it and you hear it. Right? You hear it.
Mike Michalowicz:
I wanna punch myself in the face.
AJ Harper:
You don't know. You traveled. So you don't know. So
Mike Michalowicz:
I traveled so freaking much. I was coming back from Vegas. Uh, oh. I wanna make a note about what, by thinking about. Oh, where all the compliments. 'cause we've gone through so many compliments. I've been listening to our show. We've complimented everything, but I never complimented your soul. You're just, the, the essence of who you are is just a good human. Mm. And there is a lot of grossness out there right now, but there's some beacons for goodness. AJ Harper, I toast you.
AJ Harper:
Oh, hey. Thanks. He just toasted me with his coffee
Mike Michalowicz:
That's dripping down over the keyboard.
AJ Harper:
Mike Michalowicz:
There's so much we've done.
AJ Harper:
We need to do more things that could be complimented.
Mike Michalowicz:
Ah. Oh, I like that. Oh, that was very meta
AJ Harper:
Mike Michalowicz:
Thank you. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
It's inspirational.
Mike Michalowicz:
Thank you.
AJ Harper:
I am disciplined, uh, for a specific goal. But not necessarily just as like a, like, this is it for life kind of thing.
Mike Michalowicz:
Thank you.
AJ Harper:
But you're the other way around
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
AJ Harper:
You're both, you'll be disciplined for a goal. And you're also disciplined for, this is now what I do with my life.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yes. Thank you. Yeah. That means a lot. Yeah. I, I can't remember who it was. I, I am attributed to Jerry Seinfeld. I don't know if it was him. Someone said it's easier to be all in, or all out than somewhere in the middle. So with like, alcohol is a good example. It's easier to say I'm never drinking again, as opposed to I'm gonna limit myself to one drink a week, which I tried. It's just so much easier.
AJ Harper:
I remember when you, Oh, so you're done now.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. Done. And there's one little asterisk next to it if Krista is like, Hey, you wanna have a bottle of wine or something like that. Okay. With my wife, if she wants, and that's important to her, I enjoy it, so I'll do it. But otherwise, just not, what
AJ Harper:
About like when your guy trips?
Mike Michalowicz:
No. No.
AJ Harper:
Interesting. Are you the only one?
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. Yeah. But more and more people coming over. So on the guy trips, they're like, oh, you're drinking Corona Zero. And they're like, well, that's, that's kind of cool. Do you mind if I try it?
AJ Harper:
Mike Michalowicz:
You know, it's so like, anticlimactic.
AJ Harper:
I mean, we're all getting old man. Like, it just doesn't feel the same way as it used to feel in the morning. Yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
It's unbelievable.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. I, I, the last thing I want is a wine headache.
Mike Michalowicz:
That's just it. I don't want that. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
All right. So we're talking about supportive content.
Mike Michalowicz:
What inspired this?
AJ Harper:
Susie Lonsberry? So, Susie is one of the students in my current cohort, which Mike, it ends in two days. So we're recording this on, what is today, the 17th. Of November. Correct.
Mike Michalowicz:
Monday.
AJ Harper:
I am just driving in today singing at the top of my lungs. So happy. And the reason I'm happy is because I have 20 students in my cohort, and they are amazing.
Mike Michalowicz:
Wow.
AJ Harper:
And just seeing their transformation from the beginning to the, to what is now the end, the way they understand things. They've been through. Sometimes I've pushed them through four or five rounds of edits on a chapter, and they're still not done. But you can see the growth and how they see, oh wait, the penny's dropping, the penny's dropping it take, you know, why doesn't it drop on the first day or the first week or the third week? Because this is, stuff is hard. And you, you know, there's so much foundational work that has to be done, and they're done with it.
Mike Michalowicz:
That feels good.
AJ Harper:
And now they get to learn the craft of revision. Which they've been learning for the last four weeks, but they get to keep learning as they keep moving. And I just, they're just remarkable. And I have to tell you this funny thing. Susie Lonsberry, um, who inspired this episode, uh, she's part of this cohort, and they have all started wearing these yellow hoodies. So one of my students, Sandie Markle, had wears this like mustard colored hoodie every time to class. And it became kind of like a thing. And then someone, she said, well, here's a link to it on Amazon. So then, then Susie bought one. Izzy bought one. All these people started buying them. Now they all show up to writing sprints and class. And it's like a sea of mustard
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
Um, so then Susie sent me a logo and it says, AJ and the Sunshine Gang.
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
So I know they're just very enthusiastic cohort. But anyway, Susie said, you know, I wanna understand why, how do I write the other stuff that's related to the book or derivative of the book? When do I do it? How do I do it? And so that inspired this episode.
Mike Michalowicz:
What kind of book is Susie writing?
AJ Harper:
So she's writing a book for leaders. And, um, she is a, uh, retired, uh, she's military.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, nice.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. She's a pilot, total badass. And one time she showed up to sprints with Aviator glasses on, and she was outside. And I was like,
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh my God. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
We're not cool enough. Like, you're the coolest. She just had this, like, and then I knew her story about some, you know, one, a couple missions that she did. You would, you would be so honored to meet her, Mike.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, I would love to.
AJ Harper:
You'd be so honored to meet her. Incredible, um, courageous self. Yeah. Um,
Mike Michalowicz:
Is, is she based outta the, this area? The Northeast?
AJ Harper:
No. N no. Oh, no. It's hard for me to remember where everyone is. Yeah. Know. I know. I have to confess that, like, that, that part's hard for me. Where are, you
Mike Michalowicz:
How do you remember all the details?
AJ Harper:
Well, I remember the minute details of their books, which is some, I think I've just got some sort of like savant memory at this point.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh yeah. That makes sense. It's true. 'cause you've called back stories from the books we've written. You're like, oh, in Surge on the fourth page.
AJ Harper:
Okay. I don't, no, that's false. 'cause I don't remember any of se
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
It's true. It's true. But anyway, she's writing a book for leaders and using what she knows about, um, team development from her experience and to, to really help leaders understand how to develop their teams. And it's quite powerful.
Mike Michalowicz:
I think it's interesting. We'll get into this subject real, real quick, but I think it's so interesting how people who are former military seem to have an advantage on a couple, a marketing advantage when it comes to leadership books. But also like, um, l living a, uh, a, a Regimented Life or The Hard Life, or there was that book, Goggins, you Can't Hurt Me, Goggins, whatever his name was. Um, and then of course, Jocko Williams and Leaf, I always say Leaf Garrett. That's my, that's my internal joke.
AJ Harper:
That is your 1980s joke.
Mike Michalowicz:
Joke. I can't think of his last name. Leaf Babbitt. Um, Extreme Ownership.
AJ Harper:
Oh, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
Um, so that's cool. So Susie, why does she care about supportive content? Why should anyone care about supportive content?
AJ Harper:
Well, number one, we have to plant our flag. I think that's, to me, that's the chief reason to do it. To be the person that talks about what you talk about, to be the, to be the person who's the definitive authority on solving the problem that you solve and using the methods that you've created.
Mike Michalowicz:
Okay. And this is as an online authority? Or does it extend beyond that?
AJ Harper:
It can extend beyond it, but I, I see it primarily as an online authority.
Mike Michalowicz:
Okay. What is, or what is, yeah. What is supportive content or
AJ Harper:
So, articles, essays, columns, um, they are different by the way. Um, maybe you're gonna do blog posts, things like that. If you have a pretty active blog and people actually follow it, then that works. But I'm thinking more about content that's placed so that it can get, you know, higher in the rankings. So placed on higher traffic places.
Mike Michalowicz:
Is it exclusively written content?
AJ Harper:
I mean, no, it could be, uh, well, we're talking mostly about written content. Okay. That's stickier, I think. But I think you should do a combination of, of written content. Maybe you do a video, put it up on YouTube, maybe you also have an audio series. There's a lot of options. The point is, you're taking content from your book, not verbatim, but the concepts, ideas, messages, maybe even frameworks, and sharing them earlier to plant your flag.
Mike Michalowicz:
I heard from somebody, and I don't know how to do it, but you can, is you can flag your content for AI search. So as the AI bots come across websites, you can put certain flags or indicators into your content saying this, this is what this means. And the AI can consume it faster and better. And that's a, that's becoming a very popular form of search.
AJ Harper:
I mean, this is one of the reasons we have to do this, because you wanna be the person that pops up when somebody's Googling not just the problem.
Mike Michalowicz:
Or Gemini now.
AJ Harper:
Well, I know it's changing so rapidly. So once people are searching, we'll use the term search. Mike Michalowicz:
Yes. Yeah,
AJ Harper:
Yeah, yeah. When people are searching for answers for how to solve the problem you solve, you should be someone who comes up. Or your methods should be some that, something that comes up that are then attributed to you. What you don't want is for people to be sharing your methods and not attributing it to you.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yes.
AJ Harper:
Remember when we did, um, was it Fix This Next or was it All In? We did, uh, some anchor articles for you for that purpose.
Mike Michalowicz:
Don't recall.
AJ Harper:
Oh Man. But we,
Mike Michalowicz:
I think it's, we started doing articles all the way back to maybe even toilet paper entrepreneur.
AJ Harper:
Well, no, we've done the articles, but we specifically did an anchor article about the methodology. And you must whole fix next. I think it's fix this next with the, with the, um, graphic, the contextual model. Yes. Fix this next For sure. Just, just like we're inc plant the flag anchor. Yeah. Yeah. Um, we also did one for Rehmit's old blog. Was that maybe that's,
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. That, that goes back to Profit first.
AJ Harper:
No, no. This is one that we wrote for a later book.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, I don't know which one he, yeah. I know we did one or two for him. I don't recall which book, but yes, I know exactly what you're talking about. And he, he has in the money space a very authoritative blog. So, should, should uh, folks look for established authorities and try to write for them? Or do you.
AJ Harper:
Yes.
Mike Michalowicz:
In your, in your vertical.
AJ Harper:
Okay. Well, it's not my vertical, but I mean, I think you need to, uh, plant the flag with your own content. Maybe it's on YouTube. Maybe you have a Substack newsletter. I wouldn't, you could put it on your own blog. But again, if no one's going there, I'm, and yeah, I'm, I don't know if I would put it on your, on your website if you want to, but look for places where your readers hang out and there's a lot of traffic to that content on a regular basis. And plant your flag there by asking if you can guest post or maybe, um, create some other content for them.
Mike Michalowicz:
Should it? Or does it need to be all educational? Can you have announcements?
AJ Harper:
What do you mean announcements?
Mike Michalowicz:
Well, I was kind of setting you up here for this
AJ Harper:
No,
Mike Michalowicz:
I, I was hoping you say you can't. What do you mean? So, uh,
AJ Harper:
I mean, I'm wanna say no, but I wanna understand what you mean.
Mike Michalowicz:
Okay. So I'm doing, yeah. So the answer may be yes. I'm doing a brand new podcast called Becoming Self-Made. Have you seen it ever?
AJ Harper:
I, you didn't see my text. I sent you this.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, I did see, yes. Thank you.
AJ Harper:
I sent you this whole text I with, with praise for you.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yes. Yeah. Thank you.
AJ Harper:
I honestly feel Okay. I have to, I have a confession. I have tried so hard to try and watch your TV show.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. To even find it?
AJ Harper:
No. 'cause I don't have that tv. Yeah. And then I downloaded the app, and then I tried to learn.
Mike Michalowicz:
It's a nightmare. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
And, um, so I'm sorry, I've tried.
Mike Michalowicz:
It's a nightmare.
AJ Harper:
But at any rate, maybe you can send me something that I can, I don't know. Yeah. Maybe. Uh,
Mike Michalowicz:
But this may supplant it anyway, but
AJ Harper:
This, I, I'm embarrassed. Can I just say it?
Mike Michalowicz:
Say whatever. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
It looks better.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. It's so good.
AJ Harper:
This looks like so authentic. Like, you're just free. You're just, you are just being Mike, it's high, high, high production value. I don't know. I feel like that's the thing.
Mike Michalowicz:
I think it is,
AJ Harper:
it's anybody listening, becoming Self Maine. This is, to me the thing you should be doing.
Mike Michalowicz:
Thank you. So, so interesting. So yeah, if you're listening right now and you like podcasts, just check out Becoming Self-Made. Download it on your podcast.
AJ Harper:
And I like it because it's not, um, entrepreneur this, entrepreneur that it's becoming self-made
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. As a human. I mean, it is the, it is entrepreneurs I interview.
AJ Harper:
I know, but it's, that's a, there's a different vibe
Mike Michalowicz:
And there's an author coming down the pike. Um, he'll be the, it's a he, I'm not gonna share who it is yet, but the next two or three episodes, um, I just, just got back from... You'll love this, uh, a company called Co Fertility. They're redefining how IVF works. Um, and they care for, um, gay couples. Gay men typically, um, women who are just for whatever reason, can't or are struggling with what's called unassisted pregnancy. I call it natural pregnancy. She said, oh, lemme tell you the different,
AJ Harper:
Yeah. Don't, yeah. Yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
And it was so great. So I said, oh, let's go through Neanderthal Mike here
AJ Harper:
Doesn't it?
Mike Michalowicz:
And it is.
AJ Harper:
I don't even look at that stuff.
Mike Michalowicz:
It is getting such good SEO, if you.
AJ Harper:
Really?
Mike Michalowicz:
Yep. If you could type in becoming self-made on Google, um, it finds it maybe the second or third national ranking. 'cause someone has a book title, the same thing. But if you go into AI and type in becoming Self-Made, it says you're likely referring to the podcast by Mike Michalowicz and references back to that article. So,
AJ Harper:
So that's not even an article, that's just a, that's just a press release.
Mike Michalowicz:
Press release. Yeah. Oh.
AJ Harper:
So we gotta go back to doing press releases?
Mike Michalowicz:
There are some indicators that AI is picking up press releases. Ah, yeah. Big find.
AJ Harper:
My God. How, how we tilt back.
Mike Michalowicz:
Is it, it's a big pendulum.
AJ Harper:
Oh my gosh. You are breaking my brain right now. I wouldn't, I can, I I, the last time I did a pre, we did a press release, was when we sold my publishing house, and we had to do a mandatory press release announcing it so that the trade, you know, for, because of the, in 'cause of the deal, but also, you know, for the trades to pick it up.
Mike Michalowicz:
But there's, this is a little bit pluggy, but there's a website called Infinite Uses, like unlimited infinite use YOU s.com. Um, owned by a woman named Sandy Wagon, uh, who's in, in the s and Collective Mastermind run. That's why I know it. She
AJ Harper:
Surname sounds familiar.
Mike Michalowicz:
She's excellent. She does, uh, ai, SEO and they use, they use techniques around press releases to get you very quickly.
AJ Harper:
Oh my gosh. Yeah. You are breaking my brain on this.
Mike Michalowicz:
And there's a shelf life. She also shared with me, she goes, you know, you hit it and you're there for about three months, but unless you sustain it through other content, it starts to fade.
AJ Harper:
So, so you do the, so maybe you can do a combo of
Mike Michalowicz:
Exactly.
AJ Harper:
Do the pr, Newswire, whatever you, wherever you want it to go, then add the supportive content. You gotta do video, you gotta do written right Now. I can hear all the authors that are just trying to figure it out, freaking out and going, oh my God, just don't gimme nine more things to do.
Mike Michalowicz:
Well, where would you start then?
AJ Harper:
I would, I really, I really think you do need, if you've got a contextual model, a framework, that's Well, okay, wait, back up. Back up. Please protect your content. Maybe need a trademark. Get an intellectual property attorney, handle... handle your, you know what, in my family, that's what we say. It's, it's rhymes with pit, the curse word
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
Okay. Well, I dunno. But anyway, handle your, you know what, handle your pit. Yeah. Um, because, uh, you don't wanna put stuff out there that people can then gra so everybody's afraid of who's gonna steal my stuff? Yeah. So just protect yourself. But then you have to put it out because it's gonna be worse for you if you wrote a book and then everybody else has written all of the foundational articles about it and responded to it. And, um, so you gotta plant your flag. But I would do a, I would do an article that really explains the method. Don't just say, oh, you have to read the book to find out. Please stop doing that. That's, that's not what we're doing. That's why we need the supportive content to plant the flag, but also to, I mean, that just very basically, uh, for people to hear about you
Mike Michalowicz:
Do you do it before your book is released?
AJ Harper:
Yes.
Mike Michalowicz:
How crunch prior?
AJ Harper:
This one's, this one's tricky. I think if you, okay. So let's talk about what do you need? If you have an established, uh, okay. If it's you, Mike, four months.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. But if it's someone like Susie who we were talking about, who has to start building your platform, now. Yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
Yes. But you don't have the foundational article. That's correct. That's about the actual breakdown. Yeah. No, you haven't released that yet.
Mike Michalowicz:
No, it's done.
AJ Harper:
But you're just talking about, so, okay, let's, let's talk this out. You're released, there's a difference between talking about the themes. Yeah. Getting people psyched to start thinking about you in that way, and releasing actual, this is this teaching point or framework or process. Let me break this down for you. Where it's educational, that's a different thing. And that's what we're talking about today is some sort of educational content. Not, not just talking about the themes and feelings and all of that. You've been doing that.
Mike Michalowicz:
So for Susie's case, how early on should she start? Would you see?
AJ Harper:
Right, right now,
Mike Michalowicz:
And right now for her is a year in advance. Six months in advance. She
AJ Harper:
Hasn't, she's writing the book.
Mike Michalowicz:
Okay. So she could be a couple years in advance perhaps.
AJ Harper:
Right. So I So
Mike Michalowicz:
Start doing it the second you have it.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. Yeah. Now, you might not wanna release the whole framework right now, but at least some education that gets your main point across, I think is important.
Mike Michalowicz:
Some rockstar authors, that first book come out and hit outta the park. Were bloggers for a long time. on that subject. Yeah. So there's Peter Ja,
AJ Harper:
James, clear,
Mike Michalowicz:
James, clear, Peter, Denny, Chris,
AJ Harper:
Chris, um, gbo
Mike Michalowicz:
Gillebeau, Chris Guillabeau. Yeah. Peter Demi, he's Mr. Money Mustache. Um, was writing about stuff like this for the longest time. Um, I think, I think Tim Ferriss, I'm, you know, I'm trying to think of names that we don't typically default to. Well,
AJ Harper:
A woman. Trying to think of a woman. Oh,
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
I, you look so confused.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah, I thought I had to pick her name. Um, you know who I was talking with? Jean Chasky, she's maybe a great example. She's in personal finance. She is a content master. She, uh, writes for arp, which I'm a subscriber and proud
AJ Harper:
Yeah. So don't be afraid. Um, you might, you know, there might be something that you wanna hold back, but ultimately you need to be educational. Not just, not just saying, Hey, let's talk about this, but actually pick something from the book that is going to make an impression on people to show that you have fresh, unconventional solutions and makes people want to listen to you and be an authority in the space. We can't hold all our goods tight to our chest. Keep them hidden behind our backs, because, uh, how, why would anybody follow you? Then? Why would anybody engage with you then?
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. There's no value. Um, is there anything you should not give away though? Is there something you should keep behind the back?
AJ Harper:
Uh, I mean, don't, don't put the whole book up. I don't know. I mean, I think it's, it just depends on the, on the book itself. Um, exactly what you wouldn't wanna keep back. Maybe you have exercises or, um, I don't know. It it, so it's, so it just depends on the book.
Mike Michalowicz:
My sense is you can't give too much away.
AJ Harper:
I, as in you should as in, that's a, that's a myth.
Mike Michalowicz:
That's a myth. I think.
AJ Harper:
Like, I'm looking at The Money Habit right now, which I got.
Mike Michalowicz:
I got you. Have the hard cover. Harry. Put up to the microphone and tap it so people know it's a hard cover. I mean, that's No, no. Tap with your heather hand. You don't tap into the, you hit it.
Mike Michalowicz:
You see what I'm saying?
AJ Harper:
I just, I just hit the microphone with, uh, the soft microphone.
Mike Michalowicz:
The corner. Yeah. The soft microphone. The corner. There you go. That's a hard cover.
AJ Harper:
I'm so happy to have this in my hands.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah, you're looking in the back now. Um, um,
AJ Harper:
But I'm looking through it and I'm like, Hmm. I don't know that I would hold any of this back, Mike.
Mike Michalowicz:
Right. I don't know if I would hold anything back either. I think I would--
AJ Harper:
I know what you should do.
Mike Michalowicz:
What's that?
AJ Harper:
You should do a supportive content piece with where you show how you break down your accounts, but not Oh, yeah. Yeah. Not from today, but maybe from before. Like, um, in the weeds, Mike.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, that's a good idea.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. You should do one that shows like, you know how in the book, so in the book, everybody, we have, um, an example of Mike's different accounts, how he tr how he handles, um, organizing his money, following the money habit system. He's got, um, his accounts when he was recovering from financial loss, when he was sort of funding things, and then also now, and the, the difference that is interesting. You know, people always wanna know this stuff. I just, I just flipped to it. So that gave me the idea. Yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
Look at the front cover. Look at the quote on the very top. You wanna read that? ,
AJ Harper:
Oh
Mike Michalowicz:
But okay. We've done, we've done an episode about where you put testimonials and blurbs. Yes. And that one's front cover worthy.
AJ Harper:
We use the money habit to transform the finances of our business and our lives. We can assure you it works. Jesse and Emily Cole, founders of the Savannah Bananas.
Mike Michalowicz:
Boom.
AJ Harper:
Boom. I was happy to see you chose them. Actually,
Mike Michalowicz:
I think
AJ Harper:
They're such a perfect example. And you have deep history with them. That's not just an endorsement. How many times wWe've written about them multiple times in the book. Correct. We've interviewed them multiple times. You have a longstanding friendship with them.
Mike Michalowicz:
Well, they're genuine friends and it's, it's layered in so many ways in that that's a couple working together. Literally, but also on their finances.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. Smart.
Mike Michalowicz:
And I think a lot of people are gonna read this book is you're gonna have a partner that you're working with in some capacity. Not everyone, but some. And I think it's powerful to see that.
AJ Harper:
But here's what I did. I just opened the book, started looking for what would I hold back? Saw something and thought, oh, that would make a good article. So listen, when you're looking at your manuscript, or if you don't have one yet, and you just have an outline, start there. Yeah. Look. Okay. What would, where could I find something that on its own would make an interesting article? Um, you can take a look at your complete list of teaching points. What do you have there? That could be an article on its own. Start writing about it and then put it in places where people can see it.
Mike Michalowicz:
Can this supportive content you create, ultimately go back into the book? Like you write something that hits and lands so well that you repurpose it back into the book.
AJ Harper:
Yeah,
Mike Michalowicz:
I like that.
AJ Harper:
For sure. And that, that's another benefit of doing it, is people will respond to you. You might realize a few things about the content you wrote. Maybe make some tweaks. Maybe they'll introduce you to someone you just never know. But when we, when we're hiding everything, because we're afraid of people taking it, it's having the opposite effect. It is not helping us grow. And ultimately because of ai, honestly, once your content is out there in the book, people are gonna be making this stuff anyway. You should be the per first person that did it.
Mike Michalowicz:
We are for the money habit. We have already even made content that is a prompt. So it's this long prompt that walks you through the steps and you can just copy and paste it into your ai, whatever you're using. Um, what about your publisher when they see this? Like, oh, thanks for giving it all away.
AJ Harper:
Or I think if you have No, I mean, it's your prerogative. They don't actually own your ideas. And, and you, if, if your contract says they do, then you, then you screwed up and didn't have an attorney look at it
Mike Michalowicz:
Okay. So you can write the same thing with new words.
AJ Harper:
Well, yeah. But the point is, these are your methods and concepts and you need, you need to get it out.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. I,
AJ Harper:
I don't know, but I think as a courtesy, I would tell the publisher, if you're kind of getting close to, um, you know, this is my intention for, for talking about it. Um, I think as a courtesy, I would, if I were gonna say, show my entire contextual model, and then of course if the publisher has created any graphics for you, you wouldn't be able to share those until it came out. I'll
Mike Michalowicz:
Give you a reason why. If you shirk this responsibility, how's gonna shoot you in the foot? And you can pre produce that for yourself. Go on whatever your search engine du jour is and type in Teach Me Profit First and watch how many people are teaching Profit First that are not me. Not
certified in Profit First. Just people that say, I lemme teach it. I'm teaching it wrong. Like, they have their own interpretation. So if you don't write supportive content for your own book. Other people will
AJ Harper:
Yeah. And, and
Mike Michalowicz:
It ain't gonna be Right.
AJ Harper:
No. And now they can do it in, in 10 minutes.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. And it's gonna be damaging and go on Amazon and type in any popular book. And there's, you know, dozens of workbooks.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. We talk about this all the time.
Mike Michalowicz:
For that person. That is a, a version of supportive content. It is, it is so bad. Make your own workbook. Yes. Make your Yeah.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. I'm I'm saying this all the time. Beating that drum. And if you're traditionally published, you, you often cannot do your own workbook until you have permission from the publisher.
Mike Michalowicz:
I know. That's frustrating.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. Dr. Dr. Kerry Burnett, uh, who wrote Joys Span, she's one of my students, one of my alums. Her book Hit The New York Times bestseller and the USA today USA today bestseller this summer. And when the book came out, I think there was something like 10 or 11 workbooks already. Yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
We experienced the same thing. An author that we represented through our agency, penned with purposes. Dr. Amy Apigion. Yeah. Biology of Trauma. A workbook a day. Yeah. You know, it is so frustrating because
AJ Harper:
It's, she's, the book is selling. It's
Mike Michalowicz:
Wildly popular. Exactly. And then people start ripping off.
AJ Harper:
But it even happens to people who aren't selling that well.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. 'cause it costs nothing for,
AJ Harper:
It costs nothing
Mike Michalowicz:
For those AI people to make those things. Um, is there other supportive content? So we talked about articles, blogs, uh, all this written stuff we, we scratched on videos. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
I will, you know, get in, get in there and teach it.
Mike Michalowicz:
Have you done videos specifically for write a must read?
AJ Harper:
I should. Okay. I'm, you know,
Mike Michalowicz:
I know. What, uh, what content did you do or have you do done for writing?
AJ Harper:
I mean, I'm always doing content in terms of, I'm talking about things in webinars and teaching and all of that.
Mike Michalowicz:
So that's another form.
AJ Harper:
It is another form. But I think, you know, I, um, like a really good, um, video I could do is, here's how you do your fundamentals.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, I like that.
AJ Harper:
You know, like, I have my whole Mad Libs fill in the blank reader statement. That's, that's a, that's mine. And, you know, you could, you could do without even being on camera, you could do one of those little doodle, what's it, you know, the little cartoony ones.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. Oh yeah.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. I love those. I've been wanting to do one of those. Yeah. I've been wanting to do one of those that shows, um, uh, I want people to understand distribution. This is so, so geeky and nerdy. Yeah. But people are so overwhelmed with understanding book distribution and it's hurting them because they're making the wrong choices. Yeah. But anyway, that's a good, that would be a good doodle, like, almost like schoolhouse rock. Yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. I think your content would be perfect for that, because it's for books.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. So I could, I could easily do that. And I probably should have done that. Uh, I, I do have some regret about not planting my flag.
Mike Michalowicz:
Is it too late? Is it too,
AJ Harper:
No, no, no. I'm, I'm planting it, man. I'm in a renewed sense of, um, I don't know. I'm going through like a weird time.
Mike Michalowicz:
You are. No, you're, it is noticeable. You're a new person. What? Yeah. What do you mean? Um, I would say, I don't know if it's been around, but when you started the weight loss journey. Yeah. There was also some fundamental shift in just how you behave. Um, may you know, maybe, maybe it was Madeleine Island. Maybe that's when it started, like when you really moved out there once the house was finally constructed enough.
AJ Harper:
I mean, it's not technically done. I know. I know. I know. Whatever. I don't care. It's beautiful.
Mike Michalowicz:
Your toilet, the water is now clear though. You've clear water. Oh,
AJ Harper:
I, I got a water softener almost right away. So Yeah. It's been,
Mike Michalowicz:
Well, no, I was out there. It was still kinda that rust.
AJ Harper:
I know. 'cause I didn't have, I had to get wasn't three water softeners. Yeah.
Mike Michalowicz:
And a filter. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
No, audio is huge. Especially we know on, on these newsletter platforms when you're also incorporating audio with, so let's say you write an essay and an essay, by the way, that's another option. I mean, we, we try to do all these. I'd love for you to write an essay. So where it's more per, like, you're, yeah, it's, it's more of a personal, I mean the personal story. And, um, you can still incorporate research and teaching in there, but it's not like a business article that has a certain kind of framework for it. I'd love for you to write one for the money habit, because the thing about the money habit, there's so much personal story in there for you. And about your marriage and, there's some stories that people already know in terms of, you know, that time of loss and where you had to come to terms with your own ego and all of that. But there's some really deep stuff between you and your wife and the difference in the way that you grew up and how that's impacted how you feel. And I don't know, I would consider it.
Mike Michalowicz:
I think Krista is actually reading that book I saw on her night table, she said to me many books back. She goes, I just want to ask you something, you know? And I'm like, oh God, I'm in big trouble. She goes, is it okay if I don't read your books
AJ Harper:
They're not, they're not for her.
Mike Michalowicz:
Not, yeah, not for you. So when, so, uh, the money habit, which you have, I brought home yesterday, uh, or, or this weekend I brought home on, uh, Friday. And I put it just down and it's gone. I'm like, oh, I'm one the kids. 'cause the kids are back when the kids must have moved it or something. It's on her night table. I'm like, oh, interesting. Aw, interesting. We'll, see, I'm not gonna talk about it except for,
AJ Harper:
But it is for her.
Mike Michalowicz:
It is for her. It's for all of us. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. So, um, you know what, I'm just thinking of this right now. Y'all should try and get placement in a magazine. Like, um, Good Housekeeping.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, That's a good idea.
AJ Harper:
Um, Better Homes and Gardens.
Mike Michalowicz:
That's a good idea. Somewhere you wouldn't,
AJ Harper:
I don't even know what people are reading now, but like, people who Family oriented. Yeah. Couples oriented. You should try and get placement in that.
Mike Michalowicz:
That's a great idea.
AJ Harper:
And it should be this personal side of things. Yeah. You are so one track focused. You going, you need to branch out. Yeah. You guys need to go brain. Have a brainstorm session this week about where else do you need we to be? That is more about the individual and the, you know, everyday American.
Mike Michalowicz:
I do some updates on the book. Maybe we can squeeze in at the end. Uh, other formats for supplemental content. You put, uh, email sequences. I thought that was brilliant.
AJ Harper:
Okay, so hear me out. Yeah. You, you know, you could create an educational email sequence that could be a lead magnet or just something you do. Even without that. Um, it doesn't, it could be something that you make available for people who sign up for your list, or it could just be something you have where you tell people, look, click this QR code or whatever. And I'm gonna break it down for you in five emails. And especially if you have content that takes time to digest, you know, where you want people or, or if you have content where you want them to do one small action. Then you could have break that down. Um, that actually would be amazing. It just, here's my, it's what you're gonna get are five emails and or 10 or whatever you decide over one week and by the end of the week, X, y, z or this will break the whole thing down for you. And I, I think people should give that a shot.
Mike Michalowicz:
Uh, an author named Vernon Harness who wrote Scaling Up wrote, I don't know if he still does it. One of my favorite newsletters of all time, and he sustained it. This goes back 10 years ago, but I was reading it for three, four years. And when he said his book is coming out, I was like, oh my gosh, I gotta get this book. And it was a lot of the stuff he already shared.
AJ Harper:
Shared. Mm-hmm
Mike Michalowicz:
But now it was Cohesive Fluid,
AJ Harper:
Right. Because it's long form. So it's all connected.
Mike Michalowicz:
It was, it just all made sense. I went into it feeling like empowered, like, oh, this makes sense. I get this, I know this stuff already. I've been doing some of this stuff, but not connecting in the way he's now proposing. I thought it was one of the best newsletters in the entrepreneurial space of all time. Um, other things you can do for supportive content. You mentioned card decks and I was like, yes.
AJ Harper:
Card decks.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. There's a guy named Steven Shapiro. He wrote Yeah, I know
AJ Harper:
Steven. He's one of my, in my Sprint community.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, is he really?
AJ Harper:
Yes.
Mike Michalowicz:
Did I, I must introduce him to you. Or maybe Dorie, because he knows Dorie too.
AJ Harper:
You know, sometimes people just find me now.
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
I mean, well, can you, let's explain card decks. Okay. So if you, it's a, it's cards with different ideas or prompts or whatever. It's a useful tools.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. You can use like flashcards, I think. Yeah. It is one way to do it. And that's not how Steven does it. Um, other ideas? Coloring books you have on the list here. Oh,
AJ Harper:
Yeah. Coloring books. I did put that down.
Mike Michalowicz:
You did put that. So, uh, Darren Raam, me and his wife Lisa Vera.
AJ Harper:
I know Darren.
Mike Michalowicz:
Okay. Well, wow. You know everybody from
AJ Harper:
Heroic From I know him from Heroic.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, he did Heroic. Yeah. I was just talking with him yesterday. I love him. He sent me a, a, a very funny Christmas ornament many years ago, and now it's front and center on our Christmas tree. And he busts my chops every single time. But that's an aside. His wife, um, battled and won (Yes!) over cancer. Yes. And they wrote Coloring For Cures and it's a coloring book. ,
AJ Harper:
Oh I didn't see that. That's so great.
Mike Michalowicz:
So I got a copy at home.
AJ Harper:
What would uou, what if you had a money habit coloring book, what would it be?
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh my gosh. That'd be so funny,
AJ Harper:
Wouldn't it?
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. And now I'm already starting to play with it because it, the money Bunnies comes to mind too, of, of all the different kind of arts and crafts you can do. And that'd be good supportive content. And you can make that stuff if you choose freely available or charge for it. So would you consider swag supportive content stuff?
AJ Harper:
Some, sometimes swag can be supportive content if it's got messaging on it that's really, really clear. Yeah. Like my mine would be Reader First.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah, I like that.
AJ Harper:
And so it's, that's me. That's what I say all the time. So I could have swag. I do have Swag with Reader. First on it.
Mike Michalowicz:
Todd Herman is the author of Alter Ego. Alter Ego, or the Alter Ego Effect is actually the full title. And, um, he speci specifically talks about, he calls 'em totems, but things that you have that trigger a new behavior or at least bring it to consciousness.
AJ Harper:
Isn't it like a medallion or something?
Mike Michalowicz:
That could be one. Yeah. But he says anything. It could be a pair of glasses, it could be a bracelet, it could be a ring.
AJ Harper:
Like my trolls.
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. Yeah. That gold troll you have at the office.
AJ Harper:
King Troll,
Mike Michalowicz:
AJ Harper:
I mean, I'm sure you could, you're, you can hear us brainstorming right now. You can come up with your own supportive content, but the point is, don't hold your stuff
Mike Michalowicz:
Once they buy this or consume this content. Where do you wanna direct those people? Is it just an awareness of you we're we're satiating SEO? Or do you wanna send them somewhere?
AJ Harper:
Well, I mean, I'm always of the mindset that you should send them to buy the book
Mike Michalowicz:
Agreed.
AJ Harper:
You need some sort of bonus offer. That's just all the time.
Mike Michalowicz:
And, and my, I still lean toward getting someone's email before you sell 'em the book. Uh, so it it's a currency. Yeah.
AJ Harper:
So that would be the goal. Your goal is you want them to get on the email list Yeah,
Mike Michalowicz:
Yeah. With their permission. And in exchange, give 'em something of value and tell them, say, Hey, when you're on my list, I'll continue to provide value to you. And at times I'll invite you to purchase things, I think would also serve you. Yeah,
AJ Harper:
Agreed.
Mike Michalowicz:
And, um, because I, because now you have 'em for a longer period than a one time, they look at your book and they say, ah, maybe not now. And they forget about you. Uh, anything else on this topic before I go through my reminder list and I got some fun side stuff I wanna
AJ Harper:
Share with you? No, I don't have anything else on the topic. You seem very eager, like, okay. Are you done?
Mike Michalowicz:
I'm excited. Okay, go. All right. First, first of all, every listener right now needs to buy, write a must read. Um, I'm still aghast
AJ Harper:
They're turning you off right now is you say this every
Mike Michalowicz:
Week. Well, this is the supportive content for you. Your book is that good? Um, the Money Habit, that's my new book is available for pre-order on your favorite shopping platform, be it bookshop.org, Barnes Nobles, even the mighty Amazon, whatever it is, it's available for pre order. We are over 5,000 orders already, but I told you to do that a few months ago. I dare say it's over 6,000. We haven't got the numbers again, but our rankings, um, on the ranking retail at Outlets is consistently strong. But the biggest High five happened on Thursday. Andrew's like, ah, price drop, which is very rare nowadays to have a price drop on pre-order, which simply indicates there's enough demand that they're starting to adjust. The retail stores are adjusting price.
AJ Harper:
Can I, can I make a plug for its money? Hap something I, sure. Okay. Look, if you're a super fan and some of you are super fans, some of you are listening to this first thing on Thursday morning, we appreciate and love you. Would you just this weekend, it's a Thursday, the episode comes out. So this weekend when you have some time, would you go to your local indie bookstore? I want you to walk in there and I want you to order the Money Habit from the bookstore and tell them how excited you are to get it. The reason I want you to do this is for two reasons. One, because we want Indie Bookstore sales. And I know that when they see the money habit come through, they'll probably order more copies. Yep. So that's how you can, it's not just to get one order when they, the local bookstores see it often, they will order more copies, especially if it's a book like The Money Habit, which has a broad appeal. Number two, it gets you in conversation with the bookstore where you need to be as an author, you need to start
going to your local bookstore and having conversations. So don't just go order it. Say why you wanna order it, explain this, tell them you're an author and start that relationship.
Mike Michalowicz:
Thank you for saying that. That reminds me of a story. I'll share it next week. I am doing a special promotion with Indie bookstore that any author can do too, to give their book more exposure. It is really simple and it's a win win. Um, so I was at a online conference, I don't remember the name of the group, but it's independent bookstore sellers and I did a presentation
and they, they went hog wild over this. So I'll explain in a minute, or I mean I'll explain next week. You have a authorship planning master craft happening on January 16th and 17th.
AJ Harper:
Yes. And this is usually a four hour event I do annually. And, but I have expanded this into, um, a day and a half of helping authors figure out how to plan 2026 with all the components of authorship, because we think of authorship as a ladder where we do one step at a time, but I think of it as a multi-lane highway. And you have to figure out which lane to be in at what time based on your goals. And this time I'm going deeper and bringing in successful authors that I've worked with to talk about how they plan and how they got done, what they got done. Cool. So you can, you can get a, don't write that book discount. You can go to aj harper.com to sign up and you can get a $50 off by using the code DWTB.
Mike Michalowicz:
Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah. Alright, I have other stuff I wanna share, but we're running time of time, so let's do it next week. I'll save it for next week. Next week we're gonna talk about sponsorships.
AJ Harper:
Yeah. Have you
Mike Michalowicz:
Done much with sponsorships
AJ Harper:
For your books? Not for me, but I'm always trying to get my students to do it.
Mike Michalowicz:
Okay. Well, we're gonna get AJ doing it too. Um, make sure you join us next week. Get our free resources at dwtbpodcast.com. You can also email us at hello@dwtbpodcast.com. If you're interested in our imprint, um, that I'm facilitating for entrepreneurs, it's called Simplified. You can contact us through there. Adayla is producing the show behind the scenes. She'll communicate with you and organize everything. Uh, any questions, anything you have, topics you want to hear, email us there and, uh, we may just tackle it on this show. You know the rule, don't write that book. Write the greatest book you can.
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