Destroy Your Self-Imposed Glass Ceiling: Leveraging Books for Business Growth with Melanie Herschorn

00:00:00
In this episode, you get a chance to hear from Melanie Herschorn, who runs vip book marketing and publishing. She is a book strategist, marketing strategist, a book publisher, and she serves real estate professionals, business owners, not just real estate, but business owners, consultants and speakers. And she's on a mission to empower authors to share their messages with the world. Really, really cool episode here. And, you know, we walked through several things that kind of growth periods in Melanie's own entrepreneurial story, particularly how she for many years, didn't feel good enough, didn't feel like she was ever going to make enough money, didn't feel like she was ever really worth enough, and then it was, it was and something that was said to her by her father that actually kind of crushed her for a few months.

00:01:00
And that enabled her, through working with therapists and a coach, to, I think, in her words, break that glass ceiling that she'd self imposed. And then all of a sudden, her world just opened up. Her self limiting beliefs went away. She bet on herself and I went out on her own and has just been experiencing organic growth ever since then. And you can just tell that she's a trustworthy, giving individual who really wants to serve and help her clients make an impact and more income.

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And particularly she's focused on the forest, not just the trees. Meaning how does creating a book that tells your individual story, how does that impact your business and your overall brand, company brand and personal brand? Not just how do you market a book, or how do you write a book, or how do you publish a book, but the big picture, how do you use your story through a book to benefit your business and ultimately serve your clients and benefit the world? This is a fantastic episode.

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Welcome to from adversity to abundance, the go to podcast for real estate entrepreneurs seeking not just to thrive, but to conquer with resilience and mental sharpness. Each week, join us as we dive into the compelling world of real estate through the lens of mental fitness, where challenges transform into opportunities. Get ready to transform your mindset and expand your understanding of what it takes to succeed in real estate. Let's explore these stories of triumph and resilience together.

00:02:54
Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the from Adversity to Abundance podcast. I am your host, Jamie Bateman, and I'm thrilled today to have with us Melanie Herschorn. Melanie, how are you doing today? I'm doing great. Hey, did you know that from adversity to abundance is also a book?

00:03:12
I actually did know that, but I think if any of the listeners, for some random reason, did not know that they should google it. They should totally go to Amazon and pick up a copy. That too. Or ten copies for loved ones. But let's, let's.

00:03:29
I love that. That's, that's awesome. It is a fantastic book, in my opinion. And there's so much wisdom and inspiration packed into a pretty easy read. So highly recommend that one.

00:03:42
Yes, I am 100% biased, but although we may touch on that later, that the episode is not going to be focused on that entirely. It's mostly about Melanie and her story and how Melanie adds value to entrepreneurs and real estate investors and specifically pertaining to marketing of books. But Melanie, you can describe what you do a lot better than I can, so why don't you do that for the listener? All right, well, you did pretty well. I am an independent publisher and a book marketer, and so what I'm helping people do is write, publish and market the book so that they can really leverage it to grow their business.

00:04:25
Because memoirs are awesome, but they're not going to, you know, bring money in the door. And when you're self publishing, or just in general when you're publishing a book, you're not going to get rich on book sales. So what I really help my clients with is leveraging that book to bring to have impact, income and influence in their children. That's awesome. Briefly, before we jump into your backstory, and I know it hasn't always been smooth sailing for you in every facet of your life, including business and relationships, so we're going to dive into a lot of that.

00:05:05
But before we get there, briefly, what gives you any kind of credibility to help entrepreneurs on that front? Well, I published a book. Does that count? I think that goes a long way for sure. So I think, you know, my career has been one where I've been able to take from my different jobs and really have a 360 degree view of what makes a book successful and how to make a business successful.

00:05:35
So I've been a celebrity publicist, I have a master's in journalism. I've worked as a journalist, and I've been an entrepreneur for twelve years. So I really see, I see the, the forest for the trees, if that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. I think it's important to at times see the trees, but, but absolutely be able to zoom out and not miss the forest for sure.

00:05:57
But, um, let's jump back. I know, like I alluded to, you've had some challenges over the years. Um, what are you talking about? Easy peasy. Yeah, it's just a straight line up and to the right.

00:06:11
Straight line to success, always. Yes. That's the only. The only direction I go, in all seriousness. All right, let's.

00:06:18
Let's jump back. What? Where do you want to start, Melanie? Well, I'll just say, you know, childhood up through the end of high school. I come from a family that is all in the medical field.

00:06:34
Okay. I am not a sciency person. Got it. At all. I have a calculator because I cannot do mental math in my head.

00:06:43
That's why I'm so. I don't want to say envious, but I have such kudos for, you know, realtors and brokers who can look and go, well, it's 1100 per square foot. And that caught. I'm like, hold on. Can't find my phone, my.

00:07:01
My calculator app. Hold on. Right. But I'm so. I'm a big, you know, kudos to you.

00:07:07
Not a numbers person. Yeah, not. No, but I love mathematic, but I just can't do it in my head. Got it good on paper. So.

00:07:15
So I was always, you know, people just assumed that I was gonna go into that and that I've always been much more creative, much more artistically inclined, much more interested in people and stories. Yeah. So I. So I was going to college, and I don't know what I was going to study, because. What do you study when you don't want to be a doctor?

00:07:43
I don't know. I think a lot of people, a lot of people can relate to not knowing what they want to do in college. So I studied history, and I loved it so much, but then I graduated, and then it was like, well, what am I going to do now? And I thought, well, maybe I'll take the LSAT. And my father was so excited because he thought I was going to be a lawyer.

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And then I chickened out, and I never took it. So always. I always felt that I was not going to be enough. You weren't going to be good enough. I'm not going to be good enough.

00:08:25
I'm not going to make enough. I will never make money. I'll never make money because I'm not a doctor. Right. The creative people just don't.

00:08:34
Don't make money. And that's who you are, and that is what it is. Right? Yeah. And I mean, look, I went and got a master's in journalism, and I worked as a journalist.

00:08:43
And my first year out, I'll give you numbers. We'll talk numbers. Yeah. My first year, I was making $37,000. And then the following year, there were budget cuts.

00:08:55
Wow. And I made less. Wow. That's not a lot of money. You don't typically go into journalism for.

00:09:06
Just for the money, right? Well, no, but then you see the people on tv and they're making. I mean, I always wanted to be Oprah, and she makes a lot of money. Absolutely. So I had resigned myself to thinking, well, clearly I'm, you know, I'm not going to pass muster.

00:09:25
I am not going to be smart enough or not necessarily smart enough, but I'm not going to be able to do what it takes to make a lot of money. Jeff. Sure. The end result is not going to be that you're producing a high income, even if you are smart. It's just not going to result in.

00:09:41
Sure. In being wealthy. Right. So what did I do? I married a doctor.

00:09:48
There you go. Because. And, you know, it wasn't like I set out to find a doctor to marry. That wasn't what it was. But I do think that the universe was like, well, clearly you don't believe that you can have a successful life unless you're married to a doctor.

00:10:05
So here we are. Here is one. Yeah. And so when I got laid off, when I was pregnant with my first child, and all of a sudden he was, my husband was the one, you know, carrying us on his, like, marginal salary as a resident, I just felt so beaten down. And, you know, I went, I was like, I am now unemployed and unemployable.

00:10:38
Now, just briefly and obviously up to you how much detail you want to give it. Why were you laid off? Was that budget cuts or. Yeah, a third year. Third year budget cuts.

00:10:50
Because I was working at an NPR affiliate and all their money came from the state. Got it. And those horrible drives that, you know, the money drives. Are you like. And give us money.

00:11:03
Yeah. Right, right. So, yeah. And because I was pregnant, and unfortunately, that company had, was notorious for laying off pregnant women. Wow.

00:11:17
But, you know, there were 20 other people that got laid off at the same time as me, and that's not a court case. So. So I was just sort of at a crossroads. And I. And, you know, I was very lucky that, I mean, for my brain, not for my bank account, but the managing editor of the local newspaper called me about a week after I was laid off, and she said, we want you to come and be a freelancer for us.

00:11:47
And I said, but, Kate, I'm pregnant. And she said, I don't care. That's awesome. So how did she know you had been laid off? It was in the news.

00:11:56
Oh, wow. Got it. Which is something that, as a journalist, you don't want to be in the news. That makes sense. Right?

00:12:04
You're never good if you're in the news. Right? Right. Yeah. There.

00:12:07
There are plenty of people who've been laid off recently from their respective journalism outlets that they would. They are not happy to be in the news either. Got it. So, so I did that. It wasn't, you know, very lucrative, but it kept my brain fun, kept me in the game, made me feel like an adult, like a human.

00:12:25
Right. And so we, then my husband got a job. Now he's like a full time doctor. So we got a job here in Arizona. And so we moved across the country to be in Arizona.

00:12:36
And I thought, well, I can try to find a job in journalism and pay a nanny or a caregiver or a daycare more than I will actually make because now you guys know what a starting salary is. And I said, or I can do this thing. So I had this idea to design and manufacture breastfeeding clothing. Okay. Right.

00:13:01
Total left turn. Can't say I've ever had that idea. Okay, well, if everybody did, it wouldn't have been an interesting idea then, I guess. Fair point. So I did that and I trusted my gut.

00:13:16
I know what I was doing. I googled, I found somebody to do the designs for me and make them for me. And then I. I got a company in LA to manufacture them for me. And then I was selling them on Nordstrom.com and Amazon and in boutiques.

00:13:39
And I'm like, wow, I'm a real entrepreneur. That's so cool. And thank you. It sounds awesome. Right, right.

00:13:49
But now, because we're talking about adversity. Right. And not like all shiny here. Yeah, absolutely. To keep it real in this show.

00:13:58
Yes. And the truth was I didn't take home a salary. Hmm. Gotcha. So was the.

00:14:04
In seven years. Oh, wow. Did you make any money in seven years? The business did. Okay.

00:14:12
Got it all. Went back into the business. Yep. Understood. And so that was mistake number one.

00:14:20
Well, so let's start briefly. I mean, and one thing I keep hearing, whether you're intending it or not, you're focused on your thoughts and your mental approach to your situation, which I think it just speaks to the importance of that because you mentioned you didn't think you were going to be enough, but eventually you ended up believing in yourself and betting on yourself. And these are all sort of mental, you know, the mental positioning that your mental gymnastics and how your own perspective of yourself and your situation impacts your life and your actions, I think that's just something really critical to emphasize. It plays such a big role in things. So the seven year business was a mistake entirely or.

00:15:11
No. Okay. Okay. No, I have no regurgits in life. Nice.

00:15:17
Yeah. That, uh, tattoo. Yes. I was then, but. But I could never get a tattoo because it's too permanent.

00:15:25
And I could. I couldn't name my stuffed animals when I was a child because that was too permanent. Also too much commitment. Too much commitment. Yeah.

00:15:33
But I commit to myself that I can commit. Yeah. So actually, before we. And what was it that made you really believe in yourself when you. Before you, you know, when you decided to go all in on that idea, what.

00:15:47
Why did you believe in yourself? I've always believed in myself. Got it. Okay. Against all odds, there are other things I'm not going to bore you with, but no matter what, I've always believed in myself.

00:16:00
I love that. Well, and one thing, the. I just had a recent episode that just came out at this point. It will have been a few weeks ago, but Mark Passarelli, he mentioned, if you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else believe in you, right? And if you don't believe that you can make it as an entrepreneur, why should anyone purchase your product or have any faith in you at all?

00:16:25
So it kind of starts there. So I love that. So looking at that seven year period, what came out of that, that was a positive.

00:16:37
Knowing that if I have an idea, I can bring it to fruition against all odds. Love it. Knowing that I'm smart enough that I also. I'm good with people. And it is.

00:17:00
People are. I love learning from people. Like, I could just like this. And you can tell me all about you. If this weren't your podcast, I would make you tell me all about your life because I am so interested.

00:17:14
Yeah, I love. I love it, too. I mean, it's one reason I love doing the show is just I get to learn so much personally, and I do take a big interest in people's stories and backgrounds. So you should. You should start a podcast as well.

00:17:27
I had one. I had one. It was fun. It is. It is a good bit of work, but not saying you're afraid of work, but it's definitely a long game and there's a lot of work to it.

00:17:36
But I'm with you, though, just briefly. I mean, I always thought of my. I was always good at math and science. Since you want to know about me. Right.

00:17:44
I was always good at math and science and, you know, that sort of that engineering type facet of life, I guess, if you will. But I always kind of had that, you know, interest in people as well as, especially as I've gotten older, I've appreciated history and stories more. And so I guess I always thought, oh, I'm not creative. Right. Kind of the opposite of you.

00:18:13
Right. I'm not creative, and I'm just like. I'm only like, analytical math and science. And the reality is entrepreneurs create. And that doesn't mean I have to be artistic per se.

00:18:29
Creating means adding value or building or generating something out of nothing or taking the parts and assembling something better. And so that's creating. And so I am actually creative. It's taken me a while to realize that, but I love that sort of crossover from, yeah, I can do the numbers, and I do generally default to facts and, you know, the analysis side of things, but I really, people, and adding value to people and listening and learning from people, those are critically important skills that I think for entrepreneurs are super, super valuable. But, all right, so I cut you off.

00:19:12
So your seven year business. So, yeah. What did you take from that? So the things about, you know, if I build it, it can happen. And I brushed up my pr skills.

00:19:28
I got myself on tv, I got myself in magazines. But I think the bad thing that happened was the best thing that happened. Okay, how so? The bad thing that happened was, well, I'll be really, really transparent. I don't know how to be any other way.

00:19:49
Yeah. I was doing these baby gifting suites for celebrities. Okay. And because I thought, here's the transparency. I thought if celebrities wore my clothes, that would just be like the magic, the magic fairy dust to make my business take off.

00:20:10
Sure. So I was going to these celebrity gifting suites, which if you don't know what that is, I will just give you a quick primer. It's a room where you set up a booth. And then B, c, sometimes a, if you're lucky, celebrities will walk through and get your stuff for free. And in exchange, they will maybe tweet it out.

00:20:36
Or you could let you take a picture with them. And the goal is for them to fall in love with your product so much that they post about it on Instagram, and then you're the next big thing. Okay. So, like, yesterday, I saw an Instagram reel where Jim Carrey had a reel of this, some little camera, this minor, you know, you could take this minuscule camera and stick it somewhere. And I guess, you know, I guess I just thought, was he paid to do that?

00:21:10
Or. Maybe. Yeah, yeah. And this was before. This was before the word influencer was really part of our vernacular.

00:21:17
Sure. So. But, yeah, I mean, it was in same idea, you know, anything that. That, you know, a Kardashian touches turns to gold. Right.

00:21:27
So I. So this woman who ran those suites reached out to me and she said, I'm doing marketing now for baby brands. I think you need my help. And this is where my putting people up on pedestals problem showed up. Okay.

00:21:49
And I said, sure. And it was bad. I paid her 25 grand over the course of a year. She helped me grow my Instagram following, but none of those people were ever going to buy the stuff. And she also belittled me at every turn.

00:22:09
Really? How could you have a master's degree? You're so boring when you write. Wow. And other things.

00:22:18
And my husband would say, you're paying her. Why are you letting her do this? And you're giving me that look. And. And I said, and I maintain this.

00:22:32
What if she does the smear campaign online and I can't sell my products anymore and I'm totally ruined. Everything online is permanent, and I'm destroyed. Right. So obviously, worst case scenario, catastrophizing. Sure.

00:22:50
And operating out of fear. Right. Operating out of fear. I have lived in that place. It is not fun.

00:22:57
And this went on for a year, and I was a shell of myself after a while. And this was when, you know, things got stressful in my marriage because he's like, you're not taking home an income. You know, you're spending all this time on your business, and we're paying a babysitter to spend time with our child when that should be something you're doing, but that's a whole other animal not going to go there and, like, you're not contributing to the pot that, you know. So if you're taught. And I.

00:23:37
Now I can see it from his perspective. From his perspective. But at the time. Yeah, I could not see it, because the way I saw this business was my sanity. When I had.

00:23:54
I didn't. You know, I wasn't. I don't think I was put on this earth to be a mom. I'm not one of those people. Yeah.

00:24:00
I. It wasn't until I turned 30 that I even entertained the idea of having children. And I love my kids to the ends of the earth, of course, and I love being their mom. Right. But I am not one of those girls.

00:24:15
Who played baby doll and pretend, meh. Like, I wanted to, like, run a Fortune 500 company kind of thing. So I was, you know, it was, how am I going to reconcile being a mom when I'm not? I'm talking to a one year old. Like, I need other, like, adult interaction anyway, so the business kept me sane.

00:24:38
Right. Understood. And, and yes, you can think of it. Well, it's a super expensive hobby. Whatever.

00:24:44
Yeah, it was still mine. Yeah, absolutely. No, I can, I can as I'm listening and, you know, I'm not going to go take too much time on this, but I can relate in a lot of ways, both from the entrepreneur perspective and from the spouse perspective. And it can. Entrepreneurship can be very taxing on a marriage, whether you're working with your spouse or not, and especially if your income is not high and, you know, or at all.

00:25:18
Or at all, you know, and most businesses fail. Right. I mean, it's got a very high failure rate, and it's, it's, you know, it's. We, again, I like to keep it real in this show for real estate entrepreneurs, whether those are agents or investors, no matter what the business actually is, it can be taxing. It's not for everyone.

00:25:42
And you should really think through whether you truly want to be an entrepreneur. Every situation is different. But I can speak from experience that when businesses are not going well and the money is going the other way into the business, not. Not from the business to you, man, it can really put a strain on a marriage. And my wife took a job for a couple of years where she, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't making a lot of money, but it was her sanity, and she was the same kind of thing.

00:26:21
And so I do see that. But it also did put a lot of stress on the family, and I've put stress on the family. To be clear, I'm not just. Well, you're not perfect. Okay.

00:26:33
Right. Believe it or not. Are you sure? Believe it or not, but. So anyway, I think a lot I know I can relate to kind of multiple characters in that story, in your story, if you will, and I'm sure a lot of people can.

00:26:44
So what did that. How did that end up? Well, right, so the issue. So it wasn't just that this was my sanity. There's also the other piece that we started with about how I'm not a doctor.

00:26:59
Right, right. So I'm juggling both of these, and I'm just feeling worse and worse and. Worse about myself, about your self worth. Right. Is that pretty much yeah, 100%.

00:27:12
And my dad won't ever hear this podcast. So I can tell you this. About two years ago, my dad came to visit, and we were chatting, and he mentions that my sister, who's also a doctor, and my father's doctor. Yeah, my sister makes a lot of money. That's what he said to you.

00:27:38
And he didn't mean it in any way. Right. But it was like getting hit in the chest with Thor's giant hammer. Yeah. Right.

00:27:52
Not fun. And I. I mean, I'm thankful that that happened because I got to finally break free of the glass ceiling that I had self imposed. That's, that. That's.

00:28:04
We need to make sure that's a quote, what you just said there when we're marketing this episode, that. That was really good. So dive into that. What does that mean? I first, I.

00:28:18
Well, when he left, I spent the next week in and out of tears. I'm never going to make money. I'm never going to be good enough. I'm all these things. I'm not a doctor.

00:28:30
I. Blah, blah, blah. And then I started coming out of the fog and going, but why not? There are so many entrepreneurs that make bazillions of money, and doctors are capped at what they can earn, for sure. Why wouldn't I make a lot of money?

00:28:54
And it had sort of been this weird mantra. I kept telling myself, I have to be a millionaire. I have to be a millionaire. And then I said, but why? And so it took several months, but I broke out of it, and it was like the fog lifted.

00:29:15
And what was that process? I mean, it was just self. No. Are you kidding? No.

00:29:20
I have business coach. I have a therapist. I have. Thank you. All sorts.

00:29:26
Please. It takes a village. Yeah, just on our. Just in my family, we have, like seven therapists between four people. Got it.

00:29:33
I'm a big fan of helping, getting help with your mental health. And whereas, you know, and I just turned 45, so when I was a kid, it was not okay to have a therapist. It was very embarrassing and, like, you're mortified and nobody should know. Mom, don't say anything. Absolutely.

00:29:51
But I'll tell you, I was at my kid's third grade class, and he was playing with some putty that I had bought for him on Amazon, but it's called therapy putty. Oh, right. And so he says to a girl comes up to him, and she says, what's that? And he goes, oh, it's therapy putty. She's like, where'd you get it?

00:30:09
He goes, my therapist which wasn't true, but he has a therapist. Anyway, we all therapy. So. And she says, I want a therapist. That's so funny.

00:30:22
And I was like, this is so different from, this is so different. I mean, these, these kids are going through, they're going social, emotional learning in school. They're talking about feelings and all this stuff anyway, so I do not believe you can do it alone, but I definitely believe you have to put in the work. And so when I, well, just to backtrack, when I closed that business, I thought, well, what do I do now? And I looked at the through line of my career and it was always helping people share their stories and their voices.

00:30:52
And so that's what I do now, too. And now I don't wake up every day and think, I'm not a millionaire yet. I just think about the sky's the limit. I love that. And you're not as focused, it sounds like, on some end result from arbitrary 20 years from now or whenever it's going to be.

00:31:16
It's just adding value to other people now. Right.

00:31:23
But you might end up being a billionaire. I mean, you, you know, there's no reason to cap it at 1 million or, you know. Okay, so several months of self reflection and working with coaches and therapists and sort of working through what had, you know, was triggered by your father's comment. But, but obviously there was, there were underlying, you know, issues and, and feeling. Broke it wide open.

00:31:52
Yes, absolutely. Okay. So, and so what action steps did you take after those few months? Well, I mean, my business has grown. Let's talk about it.

00:32:05
Okay. So what did your business, your current business look like when you started it and then walk us through kind of the growth and where it is today. So when I started my business, it was marketing. I didn't know for whom or what. And now, and then it moved into book marketing.

00:32:25
And then a couple years ago, I said, wait a second. If I help people write, publish and market their books, I'm going to help them guarantee success with their book as opposed to just publishing it or just marketing it. And so I had the courage or the stupidity to decide that, no, I'm kidding. It definitely courage, that, that I could do this, that I could help people publish. And so I sort of stood there, put my arms out in my best superhero pose and said, I'm a publisher now.

00:33:03
That's awesome. And you had examined what, like you said, the through line and what had worked for you over the years and what, you know, maybe you, the ways that you're wired and what you're good at and what you enjoy. Briefly touch on. And there's no one size fits all answer here. But for some people say for career advice, business advice, life advice, really follow your passion, do what you love, never work a day in your life.

00:33:30
Other people say, focus on adding value and how you could help others, and then you'll end up enjoying whatever that is because you're making more money and you're serving people. And it's not black or white, we know, but what's your take on that, and how did you approach that, and what's your take for other entrepreneurs out there?

00:33:56
I don't know if I gave it that much thought. Gotcha. Well, how about now then? Well, I mean, when you ask this question, the first thing I think of is, well, I just do what I enjoy. Gotcha.

00:34:08
I just do what I gravitate to and I don't really overdose think it. Sure. And I, and I know, I always know what I don't want. I'm really good at knowing what I don't want. And when I find something that I do want, I'm like, oh, I'll just do this.

00:34:20
You know, my first job out of college, I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a history degree. I didn't want to be a historian. Right. It's not.

00:34:30
Well, and that, and you get, like, lung issues from being in the trenches of basements in the middle of. Anyway, so I was talking to a friend of mine, she's been a friend since we were eight years old, and I said, ah, I have no idea what I'm going to do when I graduate. And she says, you should try pr. I think you'd be really good at that. And I said, okay.

00:34:55
And then I did. So I, I think part of it is I like change, and a lot of people are afraid of change. And I'm like, bring it on. So, um, and, you know, there have been many twists and turns, and I don't like stagnation. I like to just keep learning and keep doing and keep growing.

00:35:18
Yeah, absolutely. But that, not everybody has a servant's heart. And also, I was in denial of mine because I thought that that's not how you make money. You have to be an a hole to make money. Right?

00:35:37
Yeah, that's an important distinction, too. Yeah. Just people get this view of all rich people are greedy and selfish, and that's just not true. I mean, certainly there are greedy and selfish wealthy people out there. They're also greedy and selfish, poor people.

00:35:56
100%. And I love just the mental shift of really focusing on the. Yes, doing what you love, but ultimately, for you, doing what you love. Doing what you love is serving others, it sounds like. Right.

00:36:08
So it's not really an either or. But it took me a while to really embody that and embrace it. Sure. And be like. Because I used to think that was a weakness.

00:36:18
Got it. Okay. All right. So. But you're less.

00:36:21
At that point, when you started your current business, you were less focused on becoming a millionaire and the eventual outcome, and you're more focused on leaning into what you're good at, what had worked for you over the years, but serving others and helping them share their story and add value to their own businesses and their own lives. So broad brush from starting day one of your business through today would have been sort of the ups and downs of your business growth. Hiring a business coach who told me what I should be doing, and it wasn't what I was doing, what I wanted to do. And I was just like, well, if you say so, I have to do it. And then my time with her ended, and I started working with another one.

00:37:07
And she said, well, do you want to be doing this anymore? And I said, no. Can I stop? She was like, of course you can. It's your business.

00:37:17
That's awesome. So I think that I have been my own worst boss. Okay? I mean, and I've had some. I worked in Hollywood, so I had some bad bosses, but I was the worst of all because.

00:37:34
Yeah. Why is that? Because I made myself work every day, seven days a week, as much as I possibly could. I don't even know what I was doing because I don't think I was accomplishing much. Yeah.

00:37:48
Yeah. Well, that is a trap that it's very easy to fall into. I can speak from experience, like, you start feeling like, well, I got to be working because I got to add value to my business. And, you know, yeah, there's a. It's a.

00:38:03
You reach a point of limited returns, for sure. Okay, so. And then how long have you had your current business for? About five years now. Five years.

00:38:12
And. And you've. And so you got a new business coach. She gave you permission to focus on what you wanted to do. Right.

00:38:19
And lean into that. And then what happened after that? It was scary. How so? Because I got rid of all the clients that I was doing copywriting for.

00:38:31
That would be scary. It was really scary. And I said, okay, I'm doing marketing now. And people started calling me, and I couldn't believe it. There's this piece of trust.

00:38:48
Okay. It's the trust piece that I couldn't understand before. And trusting yourself. Trusting, trusting myself. Okay.

00:38:58
Trusting that things are going to happen for me. Got it.

00:39:04
Briefly, what's the difference between copywriting and marketing? For those who are unfamiliar with your work? Oh, sure. What is so copywriting? I was literally writing the marketing emails for people.

00:39:16
I was writing their social media posts. Got it. And posting on their behalf for their books or. No, this was just, well, for just business in general. Got it.

00:39:28
And then after that, when I realized I didn't have to do it anymore, that's when I moved into the book area. The book space. Understood. Perfect. And marketing books, how did that become the focus?

00:39:47
Well, authors started calling. Okay. And I went, hmm, there's a gap. Yeah, there's a need. Right.

00:39:58
There's a need here. And it was just, it was organic. I just went and, oh, I can, I can help these people because I see, I see what they're missing and I see how to fix it. So that's what I was doing. And it's been wonderful.

00:40:20
But there were so many people that had published a book, spent so much money publishing, that by the time it came to the marketing piece, they were like, forget it. I'll just, I'll just see how it goes. Well, don't judge me, but it's kind of how it went for me. Right. Yeah.

00:40:43
And, yeah, yeah, I get it. And it's. Yeah. And, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs, they have a lot of other things going on and not just their book. Right.

00:40:53
And it's a new world. I mean, it's, it's, and, you know, at least for most people who are not in your, in your world. So you've got now, and, and when you made that shift, you had special knowledge, unique knowledge about how to, how to solve their problems. Um, okay, so, um, now, today, what does, you know, what does a typical client look like or what, you know, what's the avatar of the person you work with and really walk us through how you help them. They are a business owner, an attorney, a wealth advisor, a realtor.

00:41:32
They have unique, specialized knowledge. They are constantly telling people the same thing that can easily be turned into a book. We weave in some of their personal stories, some of their client stories, other experiences make it into a book, and then we take that book and we weave it into their overall brand marketing. So that's what I'm going to tell you for the same thing. Yeah.

00:42:01
Don't think of your book in a silo, in and of itself, it's not. It's part, I mean, unless you're, like, going left and starting something new. Right. Right. Got it.

00:42:13
Your book is an extension of your business, and it's the greatest marketing tool ever. In the world. Ever. Yeah. So it's not just marketing the book.

00:42:25
That's how I should be thinking about this. Exactly. And there are a lot of book marketing people who will just talk to you about marketing your book, and that's not me. Again, this forest piece. Yeah.

00:42:36
Yeah. Right. I'm. Big picture. I see how this book can be leveraged or more opportunities and more clients.

00:42:47
Yeah. Got it. So someone, let's say a real estate brokerage, they have several agents who work for them and they really need to market better. And so they've got a book sort of in the works or an idea of a book, and they come to you. What does that process look like?

00:43:15
How can you help them? I think I watch too many real estate shows on television, but I love them so much. So my idea is, who are their client? Right. Because every.

00:43:27
It's. You don't just generally say, well, I work with everybody, because then you end up working with nobody. Right. So whoever their ideal client is, we're going to tailor the book to them. So I.

00:43:39
My most recent real estate show is the nest seekers one in the Hamptons. That's the one I got. I think it's called selling camp. I don't know. Whatever.

00:43:49
Yeah. Their ideal client is somebody who wants to buy a $14 to $16 million home in the, in the Hamptons so they could write a book talking about the benefits of moving to the Hamptons, talking about some of their best client stories where they, they got a new. What's the word? When you like, when the price of the home that sells is a record. That's it.

00:44:20
A record price on this home. And here's how they did it, talking about the benefits of working with them because they are, you know, they'll hold your hand and they'll take you for champagne after or whatever. So, so it, and it doesn't have to be a long book, but it can be a book that introduces them, introduces the client to maybe, you know, if there's, like, one particular team of realtors, maybe each of them writes a chapter. You know, here's, here's what inspired me to become a realtor, and here's how I love helping my clients because, you know, our relationship is forever. It's not just a transactional thing.

00:45:02
Sure. There are just so many different ways. And then you take this book and you send it out. Or if you have a broker's open, which I don't know if that happens in real life or only on tv, I don't know. But.

00:45:16
Because it could be just on tv. But assuming there's a broker open, when lots of brokers show up at the same place. Yes, I think those happen. Yeah. Okay.

00:45:26
So you give the book out as a gift. Got it. And so then. Or, you know, to all the people in. In your brokerage, they give it to their clients.

00:45:37
Like, there are just so many ways to just. It's a touch point. Yet another touch point, because, especially for realtors, and I know this because the realtor that I have, that I worked with to buy the home that I've been in for about five years, I text him all the time. I have told him, I am never moving ever again. I have moved across the country one, twice, three times.

00:46:04
Three times. I moved across the country three times. I said, david, I am never moving again. Every year on our house anniversary, we get cookies. He understands the value of relationships.

00:46:18
Because I will tell you that anybody I meet, I will refer that man. So good. And so that book, and I've tried to get him to write a book. We're still working on it. Still working on it.

00:46:31
But any time that you can have yet another touch point with the people, then they don't feel abandoned. And you never know when they're going to want to work with you again. Right. So do you work with anyone who doesn't want to write a book or. That's.

00:46:48
It's all about using books as part of. It's generally about using books. Okay. So as far as telling your personal story, you know, not. Not your story, but one of your clients stories, what are.

00:47:01
What are some mistakes that people make when telling their story? Maybe. Maybe they go on a podcast and tell their story, or maybe they write a book or start to write a book, tell their story, or even just sit informally at a dinner party or something. What are some mistakes that people make when telling their story? Well, if you share more than you wanted to, maybe you had a little bit too much alcohol.

00:47:28
Right? Good point. And there are people who write books, and then they backtrack. I shouldn't have said that. So I think be judicious in what you say and what you share.

00:47:40
Sure. It's a good point. But on the flip side, you know, I have a client right now, and I made him go back and I said, you need to inject yourself into this book because right now it is a strict how to. And I could print this out in a PDF. Right.

00:47:56
Chat GPT can give this chat GPT. Yeah, exactly. So. So I think that even if you don't feel comfortable sharing personal information, you can still share information about your mission and your purpose. And that's personal enough.

00:48:13
That's really good. That's great. All right. Now, before I jump into some rapid fire questions today, what does your business look like? Put your entrepreneur hat back on.

00:48:29
Running your business up to you. How much detail you want to share. But how's your business doing overall today? I mean, we're growing. We're going in the right.

00:48:40
Up to the right. Yeah. There you go. It's not fast. Yeah, it's not fast, but it has to be sure it's even.

00:48:48
It's a good pace and I'm feeling good. Awesome. Um. I've gotten out of the weeds. Yeah.

00:48:55
How have you done that? I have a virtual assistant. I have a virtual assistant and I've also just, you know, I've, I've create. I've got built a team around for pieces of the publishing process that I don't want to do. I will oversee them, but I'm not going to do them.

00:49:12
Got it. So I would say, yeah. And so, and just jumping back real quickly because. So you'll walk. You'll walk this client through the whole process of the idea of the book.

00:49:23
All the way through publishing and marketing. And marketing and really using that marketing of that book as part of their overall marketing strategy, personal branding, etcetera. Got it. Awesome. Are you ready for some rapid fire questions?

00:49:40
Hit me with it. This one trips people up sometimes. What is one thing that people misunderstand about you, Melanie? I think they think I'm an extrovert. Okay.

00:49:52
Yeah. I thought I was, too, but it turns out I'm not. I'm a social introvert. I love people, but to regenerate myself, I have to go curl up in a ball alone. I would say I'm similar to that, for sure.

00:50:05
Yeah.

00:50:08
What's one of your biggest failures that we haven't talked about?

00:50:14
How much time do you have? Just kidding. We don't have a lot of time. My biggest failure is not seeing my worth soon enough. Got it.

00:50:27
If you could go back, if you could have. I'm sorry? If you could have coffee with any historical figure. Coffee or a drink or whatever, whom would you choose? Okay, well, today I would say machiavelli, because I've been reading the prints.

00:50:43
Okay. That's my nighttime reading these days, and I. Questions, questions. Love it. All right.

00:50:52
If you were given $10 million tomorrow, what would you do with it?

00:50:58
Well, first I would invest it in places that it's going to generate more money, and then I would buy a Birkin bag. Nice. Anything else? No, that's it. I'm investing it and buying myself a handbag.

00:51:16
There you go. As far as your business goes, what's one challenge that you're facing right now? There's always a challenge. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

00:51:24
No, I was going to pick one challenge is, I think, time and my schedule right now, because I'm trying to pack a whole lot into not a lot of time, and I'm finding that I have days where it's back to back to back to back, and I really don't love that. Yeah, totally get that. What's one piece of advice that you would give to someone starting out? Let's say. Let's say someone who's an entrepreneur, and they may or may not want to write a book or even try to tell their story.

00:51:58
What's one piece of advice you would give them?

00:52:05
They don't want to write a book. They may want to write a book. They're not sure if they should write a book or even really promote their own personal brand. What's one piece of advice to help them think through that process?

00:52:20
If you have a story to tell that you think can help somebody else, then don't be afraid to share it. That's a great answer. It really is. I mean, it's because so many people either just get embarrassed or just. Or think that it's, you know, it's not all about me, so why should I be talking about myself?

00:52:46
Right. But you're actually hurting other people in a sense, by not sharing your story. If your story could benefit someone else. So I love that. If you, Melanie, you like, change.

00:52:59
If you could start another business next week, what would it be? I think I would want to buy a lot of properties and then have, like, buy rental properties. Yeah. Love that. That's a great answer.

00:53:12
A lot of our listeners will like that, too. Speaking of books, what is a book or two? I know you have a book out, right? What is a book or two that you can recommend along with your book? The go giver by Bob Berg.

00:53:26
Great book. I fangirled hard on that poor man. I love that man. Yeah. So I would recommend that as a great place to start as an entrepreneur, because it upends the whole, like, knock people down idea.

00:53:43
Absolutely. When you build others up, I mean. Talk about your book, your recent book. Tell us about that. It's called make a big impact with your book author marketing strategies for long term success.

00:53:54
And I really dive into content marketing and how you can take your book and have it create, recreate constantly more marketing for your business. Yeah. My marketing person, we joke that I can't give her enough content and she just loves content so that she can repurpose it. And I love that advice. I feel like books and podcasts now, it's almost like, it's almost like we used to view websites.

00:54:22
It's like you kind of need it. You need something like that. That's true. Awesome. How about something controversial in your industry that you see going on that you could talk about?

00:54:36
You don't have to name names, but anything. Oh, yeah. Well, what I'll say is there's a lot of, I think I started, there's predatory behavior in the publishing industry and people are not honest about what, you know, publishing a book can do for you. They'll say it's going to change your life, but if nobody knows about your book, all it's going to do is change your bank account and it's going to be lower. The wrong way.

00:55:01
Sure. The wrong way. Yeah. Yeah. Do you work with.

00:55:05
Oh, sorry, no. Good. Do you work with clients who have a book out like me? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

00:55:11
I work with clients who, who have written the book and they've seen no traction. It's very common. Got it. How about emerging challenges in your industry? What do you see in the next, say, five years?

00:55:29
Because I love chat GPT I love it for marketing pieces and stuff like that. But you can't write a book with Chad. GPT yeah. And you also cannot make an audiobook with a fake voice.

00:55:43
I could, I could feel the frustration coming across. Well, you just can't do it. It's, and, you know, I understand wanting the easy way out, but it's not. An easy button, unfortunately, we touched on it earlier. But it's like the human element.

00:55:58
The story side of things is what's going to be more and more valuable as time goes on, as AI does serve more of a real purpose. It's that human element you just can't replace. Melanie Herschorn, where can our listeners find you online? It's my website, vipbookmarketing.com dot everything is there. Free resources, all the fun stuff.

00:56:23
Fantastic. What have I not asked you that? You wish I had anything else you want to cover you know, I think. That if I can just say one more thing, it would be about how unique your story is as a human and that even if you think it's boring, other people are going to find it interesting. That's really good.

00:56:46
Fantastic. Well, Melanie, thank you for sharing your time and your story and being vulnerable with us. We definitely appreciate that. And yeah, love to have you back on and we can talk about how maybe you helped me take my book to number one best selling status or something. Love it, love it.

00:57:08
No, but this has been great. This has been really good. Both your own entrepreneurial journey, but also I how you can add practical value to the entrepreneur out there who's listening. So thank you so much for spending your your time, which is your most valuable resource with us. Thank you.

00:57:25
And thank you to the listener out there as well for spending your most valuable resource with us. And that is your time. Thanks everyone. Take care.

00:57:37
Thank you for joining us on from adversity to abundance. We hope todays episode has equipped you with valuable insights and practical advice to elevate your real estate journey. For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at www. Dot Adversity twoabundance.com. if this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could also benefit from our conversation together.

00:58:01
Lets turn adversity into abundance. Until next time, keep building, building your mental fitness and your real estate empire.