hOw authOrs Can prOsper in unCertain times an interview with Dr. steven KirCh

Kristy: Welcome Steven. How did you get started with Profit Minds?

Steven: I spent about 31 years in high-tech, about 10 with IBM and the bulk of the rest with Intel. A few years in, I was offered the opportunity to take the course The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was transformational for me, and I became a trainer. I also got certified in a number of other courses of that ilk.

As I got ready for retirement, I thought it would be fun to hang out a shingle as a productivity coach because I’ve been doing it for more than 20 years.

Kristy: What was your biggest discovery through that journey?

Steven: I discovered that small business owners have no clue what their time is worth.

Kristy: That is a big deal.

Steven: Part of it is that they change hats 17 times a day. They might feel they could farm something out, but it will take longer to explain it, and no one would do it as well, so they just do it themselves.

So how do we help businesses grow? Authors and entrepreneurs fall into that category. How do you get your message out there? How do you market yourself? What’s the problem that you’re solving for your readers/potential clients?

There’s a conversation going on in the head of your prospect: there’s a problem they have but don’t want, and a solution they want but don’t have. How does your book connect those two things and solve the problem? What’s the transformation you offer them?

You want to have an interrupt – an interruption of that conversation going on in your reader’s head. It could be the headline on the landing page for your book.

Kristy: Can you give us an example?

Steven: One example of an interrupt would be to ask the question, “Do you own your business or does your business own you?” You want to find the question that’s bothering your reader.

Kristy: How would you get into the head of your reader and get to that one critical question?

Steven: Ask yourself, “What is their pain point? What is it that they’re struggling with? What’s the reason that they would want to read your book?” I like to ask in the form of a question to create the interrupt. Kristy: So how can you help authors flourish in uncertain times?

Steven: I would argue that first, no one knows what the future holds, and second, many incredibly successful businesses started during recessions or economic contractions of the economy. For example: Apple, Ford, HP were all formed in times of economic uncertainty.

If you lean into that uncertainty, and not expend so much energy worrying about the future, you can help people turn things around. Most non-fiction authors are trying to change the mindset of the reader, to make some fundamental “aha” go off. People are struggling, looking for that when times are uncertain. A book like the one you are thinking about writing may be just the solution your readers are looking for right now.

Kristy: Thank you so much, Steven, for that great advice! Reach out to Steven at https://profitminds.net