Stephanie Chandler, Authority Publishing CEO and author, is someone I have been following for about three years now. We recently had the opportunity to meet in person while we were both participating in the Global eBook Awards, hosted by Dan Poynter, in Santa Barbara. Stephanie received the honor of having one of her books, Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business, be named as Best Business Book of the Year – 2012 at this event.

Stephanie describes herself as being a ‘Silicon Valley refugee’, where she worked for over ten years as in software sales, technical support, and technical training.  In 2003 she left this fast paced lifestyle and opened a bookstore in Sacramento, California. She soon realized that in order to be successful she would need to leverage the power of the Internet to get the visibility and credibility she needed.

Soon she was writing and self-publishing books on small business marketing, as well as helping aspiring entrepreneurs to make the transition away from the corporate world. Publishing house John Wiley & Sons published her next book, From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with books, E-Books and Information Products in 2006, and this was the impetus for her next career move. She now had an agent, and was starting to speak around the country and consult with authors and business owners. In 2007 she sold the bookstore and the next year she founded Authority Publishing, her publishing company. They are involved with book publishing and social media marketing.

I asked Stephanie to talk about her publishing company. They are a paid service and custom publishers, only working with authors of non-fiction books. As soon as the manuscript is completed they handle everything, including the editing, cover design, interior layout, eBook formatting, and distribution. The focus is on working with business professionals who do not have the time to do everything that is needed in order to produce a professional looking book that will represent them well in the marketplace. She has a team of twelve dedicated people who help her with this. This gives her the time for what she loves, including sales, marketing, and blogging.

We also discussed the marketing piece of publishing, and Stephanie shared her frustrations with going to a ‘traditional’ publisher. You are paid very little, and they call the shots when it comes to your writing. They even pulled one of the chapters out of her book because they wanted to limit the word count. As an author you must take control of the marketing, and marketing online is her recommendation. She encourages authors to get involved with interviews, Internet radio shows, and blogging in order to get your name and message out to the world. This can also be done from the comfort of your own home. She also utilizes a site called Smashwords, an eBook distribution service, and this is something you will want to know more about as an author.

Stephanie balances speaking in person with virtual events, and feels that this is a skill you want to develop. We discuss how and why to build a local following while you are building your business, and how to do this most effectively right in your own backyard. Be sure to check out Stephanie’s books to learn more about what she is doing and to connect with her further.

The message was short and to the point: ‘Connie Ragen Green, the Santa Clarita Arts Commission would like to recognize you for being an award winning and bestselling author, for your ongoing support of the arts, and for your contributions to service organizations throughout the City of Santa Clarita.’ I was surprised and honored to have been chosen for this special award.

On December 13, 2012 I was invited to City Hall to receive this special award. The five members of our Arts Commission, Chairman Tony Dow, and Vice Chairs Susan Shapiro, Paul B. Strickland, Gary Choppé, and Dr. Mark Millar, invited me to the front of the room and presented me with my certificate of recognition. They then went on to surprise me by asking me to autograph several of my books for them.

Earlier in the day, Vice Chair Paul B. Strickland had interviewed me for his weekly radio show, ‘Thursday Matinee’, at the offices of radio station KHTS, the Hometown Station of Santa Clarita. We discussed how I got started with my online marketing business, and how anyone can do the same thing if they wish to change their life in this way.

The Arts Commission joked that I should be helping them to promote what they are about to more people, and that is something I would love to get involved in. They are involved in so much special and valued work in Santa Clarita and the surrounding communities when it comes to sharing all facets of the arts with people of all ages. The best way to share your accomplishments is to let everyone know what you are doing. For example, I am blogging about being recognized by the City of Santa Clarita here in this blog post. I also sent a press release that you can view by clicking here, (learn more about press releases and publicity from Joan Stewart, the ‘Publicity Hound’) and I will spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well.

My goal is to spread the word about what I do to help new online entrepreneurs far and wide. What are you doing to let people know who you are, what you do, and how you can help them to achieve their goals?

Raymond Aaron – branding expert, New York Times bestselling author, and business and real estate success coach, was my very first mentor. I originally met Raymond in April of 2005, and little did I know my connection with him would completely change my life. As I come to the end of the first year of my podcast series, it just made sense that I would have Raymond on as my guest so you could learn more about this amazing man who has helped so many people around the world to improve their lives.

In the picture on the left, I am with Raymond and Dr. John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus and many other books. We all spoke at the Ultimate Authors Boot Camp in Toronto, Canada. Raymond is holding my first book, Huge Profits With A Tiny List, which is the branding he created for me several years ago.

In this podcast we discuss how transformational change comes about in your life, and why you need mentors to guide you in the direction you wish to take. Raymond knew that I wanted to pursue my dream of speaking internationally, and he has included me in his events on two continents so far.

When I attend Raymond’s Boot Camps I am there every minute, taking copious notes and internalizing everything he is teaching. He is a gifted master, and spending a few days with him is like getting a business education that is tailor made for you. He has a way of reaching out to everyone in attendance and making each of us feel like he is speaking just to us.

Find out more about how to attend the next Ultimate Author Boot Camp to change your life forever and achieve your business goals. I look forward to seeing you there during 2013.

Are you using a marketing calendar?

This time of year I like to take a step back and review what I am doing in my online business. Over the past six years I have made huge changes in what I do each day as I have learned more and grown as an entrepreneur. This is directly related to how well I plan and organize my time and efforts in every area of my life, and specifically in my business.

Taking the time to plan and organize will most definitely increase your bottom line. I typically do this each quarter, and then have monthly reviews and updates, as well as my end of the year overview. One thing that makes it all much faster and easier is my use of a marketing and editorial calendar.

Marketing Calendar Purposes Explained

By keeping an annual calendar for your content creation, live events, product creation, and marketing, you can easily keep track of your monthly, weekly, and daily activity throughout the year. This allows you to track your overall business goals, make sure your social media efforts are on track, and even pre-plan for special events, holidays, and other business related events. This will result in a focused and relaxed business atmosphere, instead of the chaotic, frenzied activities I see from most of the people working online today.

As an affiliate marketer, the marketing calendar gives me the flexibility of being able to recommend a variety of products and services throughout the year. As a product creator, I can make sure to offer a few different types of courses and trainings throughout the year. And as a content creator, the marketing and editorial calendar keeps me on track with my business and writing goals.

There is no right or wrong way to plan out your year; try a few different methods to see what works best for you.

Plan Monthly Themes and a Strategy

First, pick up a twelve month desk and wall calendar for your office. If your calendar doesn’t have holidays or observances in it already, add any that are relevant to your audience. Add annual events that your audience recognizes or participates in, such as specific days that make sense for what you have to offer. For example, World Entrepreneurship Day is celebrated on April 16 each year, and this may be an event that you can work into your schedule. You can see more examples of these special days here.

Next, brainstorm relevant themes for each month that relate to your niche and in the hearts and minds of your readers. Have fun with this so it will be something you look forward to as you plan and schedule.

Finally, coordinate your business goals with each of your monthly themes by planning daily or weekly topics that relate to each month’s original theme.

Planning Out Your Marketing Calendar

On a regular basis I am always adding and changing events on my calendar. If I am invited to speak at a live event I block off the days I need to be away from home. This would include my travel days, days at the event, and vacation days, if I choose to stay longer in that city. The same goes for when I am asked to speak on a webinar or as part of a telesummit. I would typically block off time to prepare my presentation in advance of the actual date I am presenting.

This leads into my marketing calendar and schedule of promotions. I want to know what I will be sharing with my community well in advance of my mailings, blog posts, social media updates, and my own teleseminars and webinars.

Your calendar need not be fancy or complicated. You know that I like to keep everything very simple, so I use a desk and a wall calendar from my local stationery store. The most important thing is to make sure to keep it current, relevant, updated, and packed with both content creation and marketing opportunities to help you grow your online business profitably.

Becoming a published author will change your life forever. You will be perceived differently by others, and doors will open to new opportunities you may never have expected before. As we come to the end of another year and the beginning of a new one, you may be looking for additional ways to increase your income from a new or existing business. Writing a short book to publish on Kindle is an excellent way to launch a new Internet business or to promote an ongoing brick and mortar business. I will explain exactly how to do this using the publishing model.

If you’ve been reading my blog for any time, you know that I am a proponent of creating content that explains who you are, what you do, and how you serve others through your business. There are a variety of ways to do this, including blogging, article marketing, short reports, eBooks, audio recordings, videos, and publishing on Kindle and in paperback on Amazon.

I have quite a few of these available at Amazon, and to get a more complete idea of what I am referring to please take a look at my Author Page on Amazon. You will see that I have written many books that are available on both Kindle and in paperback; books I have co-written; and books I have contributed to along with other authors and business partners since 2010.

What I am suggesting here is that you collaborate with a few other people – four to six is manageable for your first one – to create a book that will then be available on Kindle or as a paperback book at Amazon. If you are a group of business owners or entrepreneurs, for example, you would each write ten to fifteen pages and combine the writing into one book for publication. Choose a common theme so that the book flows smoothly for easy reading. This makes it less work for each individual and more beneficial for the entire group.

One way you could approach this is to connect with people at the service organization or local business meeting you are a part of in your community. If you are not part of such a group right now I recommend that you visit your local Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, or any of a number of groups that meet regularly. Ask people if they would like to get involved in a short writing project that would promote everyone as a published author and an expert on their topic. With a theme such as customer service, innovations in the industry, or community involvement, everyone would be able to show themselves in a positive light with what they write and contribute to the project.

The next step is for each person to write their chapter and return it to you by an agreed upon deadline. You may edit it yourself or find someone who has more expertise in this area. The idea is to keep it simple so that the final book is easy to read and offers true value to the readers. At the end of your chapter write a short bio that explains who you are, what you do, and how the reader may contact you further.

Submitting your content to Amazon is an amazingly simple process. For Kindle, go to http://kdp.amazon.com and for print books go to http://CreateSpace.com. They have step by step instructions on how to submit your writing, and the entire process takes just two or three days at the most.

The result is that you and the others become published authors while also promoting yourself to the world. I have done this many times now, and each time I am part of a new book it extends my reach even further.

Connie Ragen Green, podcast creator, author, mentor, and online marketer. Now that sounds like the way I like to be introduced. This week’s podcast is from me alone, and I go into great detail about what we must all do in the new year to continue to grow our online businesses.

I’ve been doing a weekly podcast for one full year now, so if you have missed any of the fifty podcast interviews be sure to subscribe on iTunes to download them all.

In the picture above I’m at the beach in Santa Barbara, working on my iPad. Being able to work from anywhere I have an Internet connection is one of the best things about having an online business.

I have proclaimed 2013 ‘The Year to Simplify, Collaborate, and Publish’. If you are already online, you may need to simplify as well. Recently I read a post from Sir Richard Branson, the British business magnate and founder of Virgin and many other companies, related to the importance of keeping business simple. Collaborating has to do with connecting with others in order to help one another with business, and publishing has to do with the opportunity we now all have to get our writing out to the world through self-publishing.

The importance of having mentors to guide you through the various areas of your life cannot be emphasized enough. Many people have helped me to achieve the success I am enjoying these days. Look for people to mentor to in the areas where you need help, and then mentor others in the areas you are knowledgeable in.

I also discuss how to market yourself. This begins locally, in your own community, and then expands to other locales around the world. I also discuss using your blog, press releases, and your affiliates to help you to expand more quickly.

Product creation will increase your online income substantially. Every time you create a new information product you learn more and have an additional income stream. Over time this will build up your inventory and give you the leverage you need to move forward in a huge way. Keep the products simple, and then add more to them over time.

The look and feel of your sites is now more important than ever. Homemade sites used to be acceptable, but these days every site we own must look and feel professional. If technology is not your strong suit, find someone to help you with your online presence so that you can easily compete with anyone else on the Internet.

When thinking about your life and your business, you do not have to choose one idea over another. Get used to saying AND, not OR, and then do whatever you need to do to have everything you want in your life. I am here to serve you, so please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

In 2008 I came out with my original 5 Pronged Approach™ to building a profitable online business. This concept was well received by people everywhere, and many have now credited me with changing the way they approach online marketing and the daily tasks and activities associated with running a successful business on the Internet especially content creation online.

Over the past couple of years many things have changed, including the way content is distributed and disseminated among those who are most likely be searching for more information on the topic. The result is that most of us have made major changes to the way we go about our business day to day.

This is my all new 5 Pronged Approach™ for 2013. I will explain each prong so that you can begin implementing this right away for your own online business and your online content creation.

• Blogging/Writing and Publishing Books – Your blog is your ‘Home on the Internet’. This is where you share more about who you are, what you do, and how you serve others in your business. I have two main blogs; this one and the one at Connie Ragen Green.com.

Writing and publishing books in the natural offshoot for the content you are creating within your blog posts, and that has never been easier to do. With the advent of Amazon’s Kindle and Create Space programs, you now have a way to get your ideas, information, and expertise out to the world. You can take a look at my published books here.

• Short Reports – Previously I taught that article marketing was the second prong in my approach, but that all began to change at the beginning of 2011. Although I will continue to write and submit a few articles to the directories each month, my primary focus has been to shift my content over to creating short reports. These reports can be sold or given away, and will continue to bring you credibility, visibility, and income for years to come.

• Teleseminars/Audio/Podcasts – Allowing people to hear your voice is the next best thing to meeting them in person. Use a variety of modalities to make sure you are heard discussing your niche topic on a regular basis. I believe in this so strongly that I am adding a second podcast series on iTunes this coming week. Subscribe to my podcast series here.

•  Social Media, Forums, and Live Events – I started my online business during the ‘Dark Ages’, which means that there was no social media to speak of during 2006 and into 2007. I did spend time on a few forums at that time, and found out quickly which ones were worthwhile; these are the NAMS forum and membership site and the Earn 1K a Day forum.

I now recommend that you spend no more than twenty minutes each day on the ‘Big Three’ social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn – and that you join one or two paid forums to connect with others. Attend live events whenever possible, starting with those in the city where you currently live.

• Affiliate Marketing – I am now a ‘Super Affiliate’, which means that I can win many affiliate contests, drive significant traffic and sales to promotions I believe in, and earn more than five figures a month, every single month, from affiliate promotions. This all started in the spring of 2006, when I made my first affiliate sale and earned twenty-one dollars and sixty cents. I saw the possibilities and took off with this business model. I teach affiliate marketing to those who want to learn how to do this in their own online business.

Please take this information to heart, and know that by spending time each week with all five prongs you will be able to achieve your goals more quickly than those who simply get caught up by the next passing fad. It has never been a more exciting time to be online than it is during 2013, so get to work and make it happen for you. What do you need from me in order to increase your online content creation and reach the level you desire as an online entrepreneur?

Dan Poynter – book publishing expert and self-publishing pioneer – is my guest for this week’s podcast. He has written more than one hundred thirty books and has self-published books since 1969. He now travels the world (he’s been to more than forty countries) to share his message and information on writing, publishing, and marketing books. In the picture on the left I am with Dan at his annual Global eBook Awards event in Santa Barbara.

He encourages us to write about what we know, and to have a different website for each book we publish. He also draws a distinction between authors and writers and shares his thoughts on using editors as a part of the writing and publishing processes.

People write books for a variety of reasons, including credibility and building additional profit centers. He has said that he doesn’t want anyone to die with their book still inside them, and Dan continues to live this message every day of his life.

We also discuss the major differences between the fiction and non-fiction markets, and how each of these can be used to build our platform. Dan has developed something he calls the ‘Binder Concept’ to make sure we have enough time to write all of the books we want to. He uses this method to keep his thoughts and ideas clear and organized. He shares how he used this the day after the Northridge Earthquake and now uses his iPad to make his writing projects portable and available at all time.

He believes that self-publishing is the only way to go now, and that this method results in faster time to market, more profits, and a superior way to build your platform. Traditional publishers may take up to eighteen months to publish your book, and during this time your book may become out of date. Dan shares a method for getting testimonials that I had never heard of until today.

Dan Poynter is a rare gem and I know you will learn much from our conversation. Visit Dan’s site to get even more information, and take a look at some of his titles on Amazon.