The Exchanges

Q So as of today, the book is ranked, I think number 279,000 paid in the Kindle store. Is this, is it only published to be a Kindle or is there a hard copy as well?

A No, no hard copy. The book is out to March first. Um, and so the way this works is that this is my fifth book. As you mentioned, my introduction, um, as, as you probably know, Amazon is kind of a killer for the The bestseller list because Amazon ships books out as soon as they hit the warehouse, even if it's before the book is actually released. So, uh, having done this a few times in the past, what I'm doing is having as many people as possible by the book for me directly at hug your haters.com. And we sold now as of five minutes ago, 10,155 books directly. Uh, the book doesn't come out for a month. So now I can batch all those orders. I can decide where those orders get fulfilled and that makes it much better for bestseller list purposes to do it that way. When we get to actual release date, Then I'll say, please go buy it from Amazon. Cause I don't have to deal with it at that point. But until release date, I actually don't want you to buy it from Amazon.

AI assessment note: “No, no hard copy. The book is out to March first.”

Q Oh, in other words, in the middle of a show, are we going to hear, okay, cutting to a 32nd pre-roll, or is it branded placement inside the whole show?

A Usually we do. It depends on the podcast. So we have six shows now, and it really is a host preference, but most of the time, the way we do it is the host reads it. So let me just take a second here to tell you about our sponsor this week, uh, which is a Zuberance, which is the other sponsor of that show. Zuberance is an unbelievable tool that helps you identify and activate your true advocates in any kind of company, B to B, B to C, uh, And then the host will go back into the show. So we don't do recorded drops very often. I just think it's more powerful, more persuasive if the host does the read live.

AI assessment note: “most of the time, the way we do it is the host reads it”

Q Number three, Jay, is there a favorite online tool you have, like Evernote?

A Um, you know, as a technology investor, I'm a, I'm an angel in a lot of really great technology. Uh, I'd probably be remiss if I didn't mention, mention buffer. And I was one of the very first investors in buffer. I love those guys, a fantastic tool and love the progress of the company. Uh, right now I'm loving a tool called Sigster, uh, S I G S T R. Uh, and Sigster allows you to automatically add graphical, um, files below your signature. So for example, if you've got a new webinar coming up, you want to promote your show, Nathan, each episode, Six through and your sig file kind of turns your signature file and email into, uh, into inventory for promotion. It's pretty slick.

AI assessment note: “right now I'm loving a tool called Sigster”

Q Okay, and is that, is it more, it's obviously, is it less for virtual?

A Yeah. It's less for virtual because I don't have to get on a plane. And so, and, and the average, the average per event fee will be less this year, uh, because the book comes out. And so the deal is when the book comes out, you take, you take deals you wouldn't normally take. Cause like, well, if you buy a 500 bucks, um, then I'm more interested in coming. Um, when you don't have a book out, then you, you, you stick to the rate card. At least you should. Uh, but when you have a book out and you got to move books and you start taking some deals that ordinarily you'd say no to. So my average, uh, Fee per speech this year will be less than it was last year. Uh, but hopefully in 2017, it will be higher than it was in 2015.

AI assessment note: “Yeah. It's less for virtual because I don't have to get on a plane.”

Q people launch books all the time. You're doing it in a unique way, but 21 corporate sponsors. This is a model I don't hear a lot. I'd say maybe the person that maybe is doing this closest to you might be a guy like Jason Dorsey, who I know works with a lot of corporations. Why did you decide to go that route instead of just sticking direct to consumers?

A Let me just, uh, give a big what's up to Jason Dorsey. He and I are in a very, very close, uh, four man mastermind together. He's one of my very best friends, uh, and a fantastic guy in a, in a damn genius. That guy is brilliant. Uh, he's brilliant. Like you're brilliant. And, um, it's a little different. So, so Jason works with a lot of companies to, to produce co-branded research. You know, look, you have heard a million times and we have all heard a million times that every company is a media company. I actually take that advice to heart. So I used to have a blog. It was Jay's blog. And then it became not just my blog. We had other people write, and then it became a digital magazine. And now we have four million people a year on our blog. Uh, we do 312 podcasts a year. Uh, we do 630 blog posts a year. We've got webinars, we've got live videos, we've got all these things. And so over time, we email, of course, I realized that my company and I are good at connecting primarily marketing technology companies to their future customers. And so that's our role. So we create content, we, we deliver, uh, audience to corporate sponsors, and then we charge, uh, corporate sponsors to be a part of it. And it's been a really effective, uh, piece for us and something that I've, I've done a lot of workshops on because you're right. Most people don't do it that way.

AI assessment note: “I realized that my company and I are good at connecting primarily marketing technology companies”

Q Let me ask, let me ask it differently than the story's always best, but we've got folks listening right now that are going, I see these folks keynote, I think I'd be great at it, but how the heck do I get into my first free gig? Nobody wants to pay me. What would your advice be to them?

A Well, the best advice in the speaking business is sounds ridiculous, uh, but it's so true, which is the more you speak, the more you speak. Um, because if you're good, if you're good, everybody in every audience is a potential client someday. It may not be tomorrow. In fact, there's people coming to me all the time and say, I saw you speak five years ago at like whatever conference. And now I got promoted twice. And now I'm in charge of the speakers for annual conference. And I want you that happens, Nathan. That happens all the time, like all the time. And so you have to realize that, that That every speech is actually business development for you, which is why speakers who are good, um, they, they end up growing their business geometrically because the more you speak, the more you speak. It's the same business as the music business. I've written about this in the past. You start off playing for free, and then you start off playing for beer, and then you're doing your buddy's fraternity party in the basement or whatever, and then it's a hundred bucks, and then it's 500 bucks, and then, then, then, then, then. It's a ladder. What I, what frustrates me is most people who say I could be a professional speaker, you probably could, But you don't have the patience, right? And it's like a 35 rung ladder, right? I mean, you know, every year I increase my fees a little bit to the point…

AI assessment note: “You start off playing for free, and then you start off playing for beer”