How to Fast Track Your Success by Writing and Publishing a Business Book with Judy Weintraub

Kathi: Hi everyone, I'm back and I'm with Judy Weintraub today. Judy is the CEO of SkillBites, which has helped hundreds of authors get their books done since 2012. SkillBites can help with short how-to business books to longer books, memoirs, even children's books and novels. Whatever you want to write, Judy can help you. So I'm here today to speak with Judy, and I'd like to welcome you, Judy, on to the show.

Judy: Thank you so much, Kathi. I'm happy to be here.

Kathi: Yeah, I'm excited to talk to you. I love speaking with other authors and especially people who can help other people become even better authors and actually become first-time authors. So welcome. I know that you have a diverse background, and you started out as an attorney. Did I get that right?

Judy: That's correct. Yes.

Kathi: Tell me a little bit about your story. How do you get from attorney to a book shepherd or book author?

Judy: Sure. Well, it started when I wanted to basically create a book out of the material that I had developed. I had published many different articles. I had given presentations and training courses, and there had to be a better way to get that material out there. And I thought, well, I could put it into a book, but that was a little bit daunting. And I wasn't sure exactly how to do that. So I went online to look for a good platform to use, and I couldn't find it. I thought, okay, there must be other people who know how to do this. I reached out to my network, and nobody came back to me with a recommendation. But instead, I got over 60 people who came back to me and said, "I love your idea. So when you find that resource, I'd really appreciate it if you could share it with me." Well, that wasn't particularly helpful, but I thought, I'm smart. There's all these other people who are self-publishing. I can figure that out. So I did. It was painful. It was frustrating. And it was incredibly time-consuming. I made a ton of mistakes, but eventually I did figure it out. Got my first book out there, sent it around to a whole lot of people, and they said they really liked it. I was writing a short book that just contained very practical information, and I asked them, is this something that you would buy, given that it's so short? And the answer was, absolutely. I much prefer reading the short book. Didn't take me long to get through it, and I could start implementing it right away. And by the way, since you've now figured out how to do it, can you help me? So that's how I learned that there was a market out there for people who could help business owners get their books written, because otherwise it's a very time-consuming, frustrating process.

I much prefer reading the short book. Didn't take me long to get through it, and I could start implementing it right away.

Share this quote on X

Kathi: Yeah, there's so much to know about putting out a book. So good for you. When did you publish your first book? What year?

Judy: Oh, that was in 2011 when I published mine, and I helped a bunch of people with their books, decided that I enjoyed it, learned how to do it much more efficiently, and developed this publishing platform specifically to help business owners get their books out there.

Kathi: Yeah. And there's nothing like having a book title under your name to help you grow your business. For sure. So you did your first book and you had other people going, "Oh, can you help me?" Tell me about your first book that you helped. Who was your first client, and how'd that feel when you landed them?

Judy: Oh, it felt terrific. I mean, my first clients were people that I was mostly helping who were paying me some, but not a whole lot. But when I landed my first big client, that was pretty exciting.

Kathi: That's awesome. And when did you realize that you had a passion for writing? You'd been writing all along as an attorney, right? And when did you realize that you had a passion for helping other people do this?

Judy: I think that was when I was helping… I helped about 22 people get their books written after I did mine.

Kathi: Wow.

Judy: And then I thought, why don't I do this as a business? Because it's taking me time away from doing other things, and I'm actually enjoying it. So let me see about making it into a business, and that's what I did.

Kathi: That's fantastic. If you had it to do over again, would you have started as an attorney, or would you have started as an author, writer, speaker, promoter and helper?

Judy: Oh, that's a hard question to answer, because the substance, the content for the books that I've written came from my 35-plus years as an attorney. It's not that I dislike the law. I like it. I'm very good at it, but it wasn't anything that I was truly passionate about. But helping people get their books done, that's really stimulating and worthwhile and makes me feel great.

Kathi: Yeah, I can see that. And every client's different. That's what I love about my job: every single scenario and every single client is different, and every topic that you probably help them with is different. So I think it's great to help other entrepreneurs, because the stream is appealing and exciting and different every single time.

Judy: It is. And I mean, I happen to love books, and so I get to learn about all these interesting things that I never would have known about.

Kathi: Yeah, exactly. So you've been doing this for a while now. Do you have a hack when you're starting to feel overwhelmed and overloaded? Do you have a hack that you use to bring yourself back down and feel more grounded and centered and less tired and less stressed? What do you do when that happens?

Judy: Yeah. I don't know that there's any particular one, but I would say more often than not, I'll go to my list of things and prioritize what's really the most important thing that I need to do that's going to move the needle or free me up, or that is really pressing because a client's been needing this, or something like that. And just refocusing on what are the highest priorities.

Kathi: Yeah. What type of a list-keeping method do you use?

Judy: I have two that I use. I have a database that I keep in Zoho. I don't know if you're familiar with the Zoho platform. And then I have my pen and paper, because I find that as helpful as Zoho is, I still enjoy crossing something out. So I can write down, if I get emails and somebody needs me to follow up with them on something. Sometimes I'll put it both on the paper and in Zoho. Sometimes I'll just have it in Zoho, but everything goes in Zoho.

Kathi: Not familiar with that. Is it Z-O-H-O?

Judy: Z-O-H-O, right.

Kathi: I have to check that one out. Yeah, I'm not familiar with that at all. That's good. Always something new to learn. As writers, I know that I still like using a notebook myself where I can cross things off. I think as writers that really helps us to feel better about what we're doing, and also we think that way. It's the reward system of crossing off and checking boxes physically, as opposed to typing it onto a computer. So do you have a hack for people to create more freedom in their business if they feel like they're just getting bogged down with this book thing? What would you suggest to them to create more freedom within the creation of their product?

Judy: Well, if they're looking for some freedom with respect to their book, there's a lot of different resources there. You can go to a writing club and you can get some support. You can go to a publishing firm like SkillBites and get that support. In general, if you're looking for more freedom for your business, that generally comes from having more leads. And one way that I've learned to get more leads more easily is through joint venture partners. It's leveraging other people's lists, people who have your target audience as their target audience, but they provide a slightly different service. So your clients could use their services, their clients could use your services. And if you have a half a dozen of these joint venture partners, well, then you have six times as many potential leads, which is a lot easier than if you're going to go out and try to replicate that in your own business without that assistance.

If you have a half a dozen of these joint venture partners, well, then you have six times as many potential leads.

Share this quote on X

Kathi: Yeah, absolutely. And they also help you promote your book once you have your book out. So it's a win-win all the way around. Yeah, I love JV partners. And it's important, I think. I think a lot of people feel with JVs that, oh, it's competition, or there's not enough, and oh, they're going to be selling to my people. But I think really everybody's so uniquely different that even if people are on parallel paths and you're promoting each other, there's going to be resonance for some people with one of the people and resonance with the other person. So I think there's so much business out there that doing JV partnerships is a great idea, and I'm with you on that. I think that's totally a great way to grow and expand and also learn, because the JVs that you're dealing with are going to be doing things a little bit different. You can say, "Oh, I might be able to try that." Right?

Judy: Right. And you certainly can have joint venture partnerships with direct competitors, but there's so many people. Like if you do organizing, you could have a joint venture relationship with an interior designer. There's similar but different. There's so many ways to come up with partners that aren't competitors. So lots of different ways to have joint ventures.

Kathi: Yeah. And it's about who has the same audience. For me it's who works with and helps women entrepreneurs that are out there. So that's a good group; a lot of people are out there serving the same thing as you and I are. So what's the one thing that your business has taught you over the years that you would like to pass on, that you wish you would have known in the beginning, that maybe you can give as a tip for people now who might be facing some type of obstacle?

Judy: Well, I'd say that having systems in place makes things so much easier. If you can create your processes, then you don't have to recreate the wheel every time something else comes up. You've got your process, especially if you're going to hire contractors or interns or staff. Then you have things done consistently. Makes training a lot easier. So having those systems is really important. And then if you ever decide to exit the business, those are going to be valuable for getting you a better price for your business, or for somebody else taking it over.

Having systems in place makes things so much easier. If you can create your processes, then you don't have to recreate the wheel every time something else comes up.

Share this quote on X

Kathi: Oh well, you're talking my talk, girl. That's all about systems. So yeah, you've got my heartstrings on that one for sure. What's the best piece of advice that anyone's ever given you that you think on all the time? Is there something in the back of your head that someone told you way back when, or even recently, that you feel was just stellar advice?

Judy: Gee, that's a hard one. I can't think of one in particular. I can think of several.

Kathi: How about your top two?

Judy: Okay. Well, treat your customers well. When you treat your customers well, then everything will go well for you. And I guess another would be, you don't go into business to make money. You go into business because it's something you love and because you're able to help other people, and the money will flow. But if you're going into business to make money, it's probably going to be a struggle.

You go into business because it's something you love and because you're able to help other people, and the money will flow.

Kathi: Yeah, I agree. It's going to be shallow, and there won't be the rewards there. Even if you do make a bunch of money, it won't really matter that much. Right?

Judy: Right. It's not as meaningful.

Kathi: Yeah. And money doesn't flow that easily. It's not like water over a rock. When you're doing what you're really passionate about, I totally agree that the money just flows. So I think that's something to think about too. If money's not flowing, are you doing whatever you're doing for the money? Back to your first tip: keeping the customer in mind and keeping the customer first. Because if you're doing that, then the money does flow. So that's really good advice. So I know you have a valuable free resource for people, and you're a great resource, by the way, for anybody out there who wants to get their book published. This is a person to call on. What are you going to offer the listeners here?

Judy: Yeah, I have a very simple ebook called Write Your Book Easily, and it walks you through some steps that will really give you that framework for getting a book written. Because when you don't have a framework, it's a struggle. And when you know what you need to do… The writing process doesn't start with a blank piece of paper and a pen or a blank screen. There's a lot to think about before you start the writing, not the least of which is: what is the best topic to write on? Because if you choose the wrong topic, then your book's not going to get you the results that you really want. So it walks you through this process of making sure you're picking out the right process, the right topic, and having the outline that you can work from, and each of the steps, so that when it gets to the writing stage, it'll be a lot easier for you to get your book done.

The writing process doesn't start with a blank piece of paper and a pen or a blank screen.

Kathi: Yeah, that's a really good resource. And again, it goes back to having a little bit of systems or method behind your madness before you get started. It's always good. Okay, I have a question for you. If you were going to write a book tomorrow, what would you write about? What book would you write right now, Judy?

Judy: Well, if I'm writing a book to support my book business, it would probably be on all the different ways to use your book, to leverage your book: on getting speaking engagements, on media interviews, on creating different programs around your book. Because when you know the main reason why you're writing your book and what your goals are for your book, that will help you write a better book. It'll help you identify the best topic for you to write your book. It will help you create that action plan to help you achieve those objectives, and lead more likely to your book being that much more successful.

Kathi: Yeah, that's totally in your wheelhouse. Do you have a passion book that you want to write? You have something brewing in the back of your mind that's not really to propel your business forward, but something you just want to get out there?

Judy: No. I guess the ideas that have been spinning in my head have all been around one of my three businesses, whether it's my book business… I also do, as I mentioned, mediation, arbitration of disputes. So I have a separate dispute resolution firm, and my legal business.

Kathi: Okay. And you do dispute resolutions for business people, correct?

Judy: Yes.

Kathi: Okay, great. So if anybody has any challenges around that, you can also call upon Judy, because she'll be a wealth of knowledge for that. That's great. So is there one question that I should have asked you that we haven't discussed yet, or anything that you'd like to talk about that hasn't been included in this interview?

Judy: Well, we talked a little bit about if you were writing a book and you got stuck, what you should do. And I would love to be able to help anybody who's in that situation. So I would say my contact information would be something that you could provide, or you could ask about. SkillBites is S-K-I-L-L-B-I-T-E-S. It's based on sound bites, because I started with the concept of short skill-based books. And so that's how the name SkillBites came about.

Kathi: I love that. And that's the easiest way to actually write your first book, too. I'm totally in agreement with that. What are the sound bites that you're telling your clients already? The things you're telling your clients in small little sound bites are the things that people want to learn in a skills book. So that's super duper smart. So we'll have the contact information below. Again, it's SkillBites, S-K-I-L-L-B-I-T-E-S dot net. Correct?

Judy: Correct.

Kathi: Okay, great. So you guys look that up. I really appreciate your time and your energy, Judy. And I know that for everybody who ever wants to write a book, you're a good resource for them. So jump on it, kids. If you've been thinking about it and you've got some skills in your head that you can put on paper, that's the way to get your first book out. So thank you very much for being on the show. I appreciate it.

Judy: Oh, you're most welcome. Thanks for having me, Kathi.

Kathi: Absolutely. Until then, we'll see you next week.