This Teacher Quit Her Job & Made 3X Her Salary in 30 Days | A Systeme.io Success Story

 Get started with systeme.io for FREE and see why it's the all-in-one platform of choice for entrepreneurs like Vicky:
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🔗 Connect with Vicky Weber:
Website: https://athomeauthor.com/
Vicky Weber Books: https://vickyweber.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@vickyweberbooks

What if you could quit your 9-to-5 and make 3x your salary in your very first month?

Vicky Weber went from being a burned-out elementary school teacher to a thriving online entrepreneur, and in this episode of Success Stories, she breaks down the exact blueprint she used to turn her knowledge into a profitable, automated business.

This isn't just an inspiring story, it's a masterclass in monetizing your passion. Vicky reveals how she escaped the nightmare of juggling a dozen expensive, disconnected software tools and consolidated her entire business onto one simple platform, allowing her to scale her income while reclaiming her time.

In this episode, you’ll discover:
✅ The simple mindset shift that sparked her entire career (The "Why Not?" moment)
✅ How she made 3x her teacher salary in her first 30 days of going full-time.
✅ The "One-Stop Shop" strategy she used to create an online course with an 80% student success rate.
✅ How to build multiple revenue streams (books, courses, affiliates) around your knowledge.
✅ Why an all-in-one platform is the secret to scaling without the tech headaches.

🕒 Timestamps:

🔹 00:00 - Intro
🔹 02:45 - From elementary teacher to children's author
🔹 04:14 - The "52 card pickup" problem of juggling too many disconnected tools
🔹 04:53 - Her "One-Stop Shop" strategy and why she moved her business in one place
🔹 08:52 - Making 3x her teacher salary in her first month
🔹 13:02 - Why she teaches both traditional and self-publishing
🔹 15:51 - Impressive results with 80% of course members getting published within a year
🔹 19:09 - How to create professional-looking pages on systeme.io
🔹 21:07 - Simplifying coaching access with embedded Google Calendar
🔹 27:19 - Why she recommends systeme.io for its powerful and affordable tools
🔹 30:35 - Building diverse revenue streams through books, affiliates, and training
🔹 32:32 - The flexibility of managing a business as a mom
🔹 46:27 - The "Why not?" moment that started her career

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In today's episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Vicki Weber. This was a really fun interview and awe-inspiring because she says, why not? Why not write the book that's inside of you? She is now a children's author, a literary agent, and the founder of At Home Author. She helps other aspiring authors, writers, create the book, publish, and market it, all with less overwhelm. And how does she do this? By teaching them how to use system.io while also helping them figure out the process of publishing. No matter the route, traditional or self-publishing, she helps them do that while utilizing the system.io platform itself. Automations, emails, courses, memberships, coaching, mentoring, all of it with a simplified system that just works. So system.io has been key to her scaling her courses, her platform in her environment to help her elevate and help her students succeed in this industry. So without further ado, let's bring on Vicky. Hi everyone. Today I'm sitting down with the author Vicki Weber. But we're not only going to talk about books and literature for children today, we're going to talk about how she's actually helping other people also embrace their dream of becoming an author with athomeauthor.com. Hi Vicki, thanks for joining us today.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Gotta say, again, I looked at all your material. I'm excited to dive into today's success interview and learn more about your journey from a teacher to an author and now helping other people also realize their dream to be a writer.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Yeah, I think it's it's one thing that I I love talking about, otherwise I wouldn't be uh be doing this. Um, but I I do think that in general, more people don't realize how passable their dreams can be if you just have the right tools and the right support system uh to make it happen.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

I love that you mentioned tools and support system. It's not just one or the other. You you know, you really help people go from knowledge, information, you know, acquisition to implementation. But before we dive into the tools and the support network that you provide, can you give us a short synopsis of like where you were before system.io? Like what were you doing? Uh teaching, music education, to now what you're doing with system.io?

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Yeah, I started um, so now I'm in the publishing industry full-time. Uh, and so that was not the case before. Um, I was an elementary school teacher, and I first got published, um, mostly children's picture books, while I was still in the classroom teaching. And eventually um I was successful at it, and I had so many people asking me, how do I do this too? that that was when I formed At Home Author. Um, I started that back in uh 2021, and I really brought my teaching expertise to the publishing industry because there are a lot of resources out there, there was a lot of information out there, but most of it was geared towards novelists. And so I wanted to teach other people to do exactly what I've been doing. Um, and not everybody who's a course creator is also a teacher or has a teaching background. So it was super important for me to look at how do I make this as easy as possible? How do I make this as accessible as possible, as simple as possible? Because you can overcomplicate anything, right? Um, but if you know how to break it down into something that's bite-sized and easy to digest, uh anybody can be successful. So um that was when I, you know, launched my website. We started off with Wix, um, and for a long time I ended up using so many different tools. It I like to lovingly describe it as like playing 52 card pickup with tools and information and things. And it was really frustrating because whenever something broke, I'm like, okay, did it break here or did it break here? Did it break on this end? Like, was it the connectivity from Zapier to insert whatever tool? But it also got really expensive really fast using so many different tools and interconnecting them, um, that eventually I had a colleague uh share a referral link for System.io. And I'd never heard of System.io uh at that point. And I did like the free um, it wasn't a free trial, it was the free tier. And I was like, all right, I'm just gonna see what this has. And I was completely blown away. I was like, wait, I don't have to have my course in a different place and my email list in a different place, and my sales funnels in a different place. I can have them all in the same place. So that was when I started a migration over. Um, and it's been several years now. Um uh with all of that arm of my company being under system IO's umbrella. Um, and it's been such a time saver. Like it's really easy and efficient. And so one of the things I talk about with my clients now with building their websites and their email lists and their things, um is systemio and and all of the things it can do for authors because there's lots of options out there, but there's very few that are one-stop shop the way this is.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Yeah. As a one-stop shop, as a you know, sole provider or author running a one-woman or one-man show, you know, it really does help you save time, save money, and just put everything all in one basket. So I'm gonna jump back. How long were you a teacher at elementary age?

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Um, I taught for six years before I left the industry. Um, and part of that was part of that was COVID related. Um, and part of it was I got pregnant with my daughter, uh, who was my firstborn, um, during that same time. And so I very quickly realized that I could not be the mom I wanted to be if I stayed in teaching. Um but I also like to tell people that you can take the teacher out of the classroom. You can't take the teacher out of me. So even though I'm not teaching kids in a classroom the way you would expect, I'm still doing it online. I'm still teaching adults, and on the author side, I still get to do author visits. So I get to go to schools and interact with kids. So I'm still using those school, the you know, those tools, and like I'm still tapping into the things that I loved about teaching. It just looks different than I expected. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Yes, yes. So um, that's one thing I think a lot of people, you know, who are like, I want to transition, and they don't realize how a lot of the skill set that they learned previously becomes their experience and their expertise to allow them to transition well. Not just transition at all, just well and implement something on the other end as a teacher. You're teaching adults and children, and but doing it on your time, on your watch, and making probably more money doing it. So absolutely, right? So six years as a teacher, music education. How many books did you publish before you left, which allowed you to transition into being the at-home author?

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Ooh, um, I think I'd have to do the math to be a hundred percent certain, but I left in I left in April well, I had my daughter in April 2021, and I technically left in the summer, um, because that's when my maternity leave ended, and so I didn't return from my maternity leave. I think at that point I had five or six books um under my own name. So uh not a huge backlog, but not a small portfolio either. And the interesting thing was at that point, I was making what I would consider very good side money. Um, but it was not enough money for me to be like, yep, taking this leap. This isn't scary at all. But when I did my first month being a full-time author and actually having the time to put in that month alone, I made three times what I would have in a month as a teacher. And so, yes, it ebbs and flows, and yes, it's a little bit more roller coaster-y, um, but it's also something I didn't realize I was being held back by time. Um, and when my time is stretched so thin and I'm trying to do so many things, uh, that can impact income just as much as anything else. I I just truly didn't realize that until that moment.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Okay. So I one more question about you being as an author, building up those credentials for this transition to being the teacher for other writers. I'd like to know how those books, the five or six, or you know, as Vicky Weber, do you have a personal brand or do you market each book separately as its own brand? Like where where do these exist in the ecosystem of digital business? Ooh, that's an excellent question.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

So my first book was actually not very successful because I didn't understand any of the things that you just listed. Um and there's if I wanted to, I could go back and I could change a lot of stuff. Um, but I won't because it was more of a personal project. It was a story that was like really personal to my family, and so to this day, that book, it's called Aurora's Orchid, has only sold 60 copies total, period. My other books have sold a lot more than that. Um but it took a while for me to figure out what I was doing, and a big part of that was how do I brand myself? How do I find what I want to write about, and how do I find the readers that will be as excited about what I'm writing as I am, if not more. Um so after that one kind of personal project book, all of my other titles were really focused on how do I get kids to fall in love with reading? Because literary literacy scores are at an all-time low, even for adults. And I was the kid who loved reading so much, like if I got a book for a present, that was that was the best thing in the world. Um and when I was teaching, I very quickly learned that quite a lot of kids do not feel that way about books at all. So I wanted to really think about how do I get kids to have as much fun with books as I did, and how do I get kids to um want to read something again and again, want to bring it to an adult. And I think that that comes down to knowing what kids like and uh making books fresh and interactive and really appeal to reluctant readers. So that's kind of the core of my children's literature brand. And now that I'm a literary agent as well, that's also what I'm looking for in other people's stories that I'm maybe not the best to pen myself. Um yeah, I would say, I would say that's the kind of the core of what I do.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

That is awesome. Now, as we transition, I since you figure that out, helping reluctant readers fall in love with reading. I love that. Do you teach the potential writers and authors the same like pedagogy that you have figured out? Or is it more the the craft of writing and the publishing and the branding and more of the techie? Or do you help kind of with this brainstorming as well?

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Oh, absolutely. So one of the things I love about System.io is that it's one-stop shop, and that's really what I've created as an ecosystem for children's book writers. Um, I so a lot of coaching um and courses out there only teach traditional publishing or self-publishing. And I teach both because I've done both, and I have professional experience and success and numbers to back it up for both sides of the industry. And I personally believe that one is not better than the other. It's all just a matter of what is best for that writer, that book, their personality, their budget, their time constraints, all of those things that the only person that can decide what's best is that author and and that creator. So what I do is one stop shot. We talk craft, we talk all these things, but I don't just teach them here's how to find my audience. I teach them how to find their audience. And I teach them how to not need me in the future with every book that they read. That's always my goal, is I'm like, I would love if you came back. I would love to keep working with you, but my goal is for you to uh to not feel like you have to keep working with me.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yeah. Um so, like a teacher, you want them to graduate, move on.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Yep. I love it. I want them to grow. And I actually um I've had three students now go on to be um the founder of well-known traditional publishing imprints. Um small ones, but well-known and reputable traditional publishing imprints. Um, and so like that's the stuff I want to see. I want to see success in the world. I want to see my students um shine and and and not need me anymore, even though it's a little bit like empty nesting for a parent.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Uh well, that's how you're gonna get repeat clients as well, because that word of mouth marketing is better than any digital brand that you build on Instagram, YouTube, because they're like the secrets in the sauce. She knows what she's doing, go to her, you will graduate and get your book out there. And then they'll send those people like, how'd you get there? Oh, you need to go to at home author, which is all hosted on system.io, most of it. So let's talk about the tools and the support network that you have built using system.io to help these people become, what'd you say, national, what is it? National imprint authors?

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Traditional imprints.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Traditional imprint authors. I didn't know. Uh, can you explain that term and what that means?

SPEAKER_02 15:39

Oh, yeah. So what I mean by they became publishers, like they didn't just get their book published, like they turned into a publisher that publishes other people and a and a well-known, respected uh institution. But last I did the math, about 80% of our course members um who complete our course end up published within within a year or two of them completing the course. Um which is really incredible because today's market is so tough. Uh, there's a lot of factors that that come into why that may be. Um and so I'm always looking for how do I adapt my teaching and my coaching with what's going on in the world without compromising what's important to each creator and each author in each book.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Okay. All right. So you're looking at the pedagogy and looking at the best practices and what's more evidence-based. So, like going back to your experience as being a teacher and implementing that and then distilling it down to the most important pieces, simplifying it, like system.io did with website and funnels and emails. So you mentioned uh your course. So we're gonna jump in and actually show our screen for the first time showing your funnel for your course. That does that sound good?

SPEAKER_02 16:58

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

In today's episode, we're gonna show you an actual funnel kind of build out with Vicky here. This is a link from her website home page. And so, Vicky, can you share like where your website's built and that transition? Uh, I think it actually will be helpful for a lot of people who've perhaps already built their website somewhere else.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Yeah, I currently have our main website um at homeauthor.com hosted through Wix. But the only reason that we did it that way was because the only piece that Systemio did not have until recently um was the ability to like book coaching calls and things like that, where there was um like a calendar integration or a live link to do some one-on-one coaching or group coaching, things like that. And so I remained on Wix purely for that piece of the business with every other bit of my uh of the company operating through System IO. So we use Systemio for our sales funnels, um, for like delivery of our freebies, for email marketing, um, all of our automations. And it's kind of the the home base for everything except for live one-on-one coaching. But now that system.io does support that, um, and also they now have the ability to sell physical products. Um, and so that's something I've been exploring down the line with physical books or merchandise relating to books. So now that that is an option, um, I am looking at migrating things over.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Wow. Okay. All right. So we're gonna look at the funnel first and then kind of dive into some of those as well. So this is a link and it goes straight to your funnel. The picture book program will teach you a step-by-step how to take your idea and bring it to life. Right here, uh, you have you know the text. You use the drag and drop and uh create your graphics, perhaps in like a Canva environment. Like how do you build out your page design-wise?

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Yeah, so um I use quite a bit of the system.io templates and I just change the colors um or I'll change the background. I also do a lot of building blocks because I find that once I find stylistically something that I like, I don't want to keep needing to rebuild it from scratch. Um so I use things like master blocks for things that I know I want the same throughout, like maybe my footer, you know, with my like copyright information and privacy policy and stuff like that. Um, but otherwise I just create regular blocks and I drop in them like puzzle pieces and then rearrange them, you know, however best suits that sales funnel. Um as far as my graphics go, uh I usually do Canva or I do also work with illustrators. So sometimes I'll hire them to do some graphic design. Um, and then I just drag and drop right into system IO.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Okay. I love your graph right here, this comparison of the solo versus the guided. So giving not too many options, simplifying it for your ideal client, writer, author. And so right here, these options are available all within system.io. So you have your solo, you know, the DI wires, and then the full access guided, you get your course, principles, and templates, so you really help them hit the ground running with already pre-designed templates to get going.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

And then even the things that live outside of System.io, like our Facebook group, the links are all provided within the course. So it's not like they're you know looking in multiple places for all of the information. Um, they have uh one of the things that you can do that I really, really love is inside a course module, you can put um an HTML code for your Google Calendar. And so I do that so that they can see, oh, here's when the next coaching call is. And in the Google Calendar, it's got, you know, the Zoom links, but I can also put them on the course page in case there's you know, technology is is lovely. So there's lots of options for it to all live in there really simply in a way that's really user friendly.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Oh wow, I love that. I haven't heard that one either, but sorry. Simplifying the access to all this stuff, like it doesn't have to be a completely super coded environment. You're really about simplify, simplify, simplify. Yeah. Love your confetti back here. I'm like, oh, what's oh, okay. Choose your side.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

And that's actually just a um that's just a jiff. GIF, gif, however you say it.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Um let us know in your comments which one is it, GIF or GIF.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

I know, right? I'm like, um, but uh I just made I just made this and I dropped that as an image in the background. Um so like like I said, there's no shortage of really cool things that you can do.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah. And then you uh you've got uh testimonies here, your social proof, got a little video here embedded. Um 82% of your students who complete the course get published. I love that. So y'all can watch that. Keep going down. Let's do this. All of this is built in here. So if we just scroll down, got some books here. Oh, a little I love the FAQ. So clean. I love it. I was gonna say that, yeah, it looks so clean. Amazon. So you help your um authors get on Amazon with their publishing.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

And do and for traditional with just like physical books and like Barnes and Noble and Yeah, so traditional publishers are publishers like um Scholastic, Penguin Random House, McMillan, etc. Um, so some of our authors choose to self-publish, others choose to go the traditional publishing route. Um, and so we look at uh helping them query agents and polish their submission packages for those opportunities.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

And this is the little girl. I've seen that graphic throughout a great way to like be able to blend everything in between. You have her as like your avatar.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

I use my own.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

In any of your books, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

She's she's one of the characters from uh one of my picture books, and so I love using uh my own characters and graphics and things like that to kind of tie it on.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

Oh, that's wonderful. All right, so I'm gonna click here, we're gonna go through your funnel. It's gonna take me back to choosing a choice, choosing a choice, one or two, and I love, and that was another thing that you said that you have anchor links in here. So if I click explore the plans, it scrolls down. So using anchor links to send us here. So I want the full package, join guided, boom, and then you got your sales page with a little countdown. Here's what you'll get. All right, yeah, and no, no, um no tripwire, no upsell, like you're again very simple. It's this or that.

SPEAKER_02 24:43

And we have upsells and things like that with our um uh like our our freebies, if we've run like a free challenge or a free download or something, um, then we'll add in a tripwire or something extra. Um, but since the course is a membership, I like to keep that really clean and simple, um, just for clarity's sake, since it'll be a recurring fee. Um so yeah, they can they they're in the in the driver's seat, they can choose how long they stick around, whether that's a month, six months. We have some students who have stuck around for two or three years.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

And so with your um guided one-to-one mentoring, is that you know, like you said, the upsell that's inside the course? Like, do you have to be in the membership course to get the one-on-one with you?

SPEAKER_02 25:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

All right, yeah. You gotta be you gotta be part of the the group, the community, and then pull out like a teacher, like doing the pull-outs and doing the small groups on the side, helping them. Yeah. Because if they don't have the frameworks that you've built that foundation, how are you gonna give them the one-on-one? It's like, well, you should use course one. Well, if they don't have access to it, how are they gonna do it?

SPEAKER_02 25:56

Yeah, and one thing that I uh because I used to do them more separately, um, and the problem that I ran into is a lot of authors would just be like, Oh, I just need an hour to ask you questions. But the questions would be so big, it would be like, How do I get published? And I'm like, Well, I can't answer that in in one hour. Like, there's too much to go over.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Um, and so I found that just offering one-off things like that and not having it be curriculum-based and um teacher term scaffolded, um made for results that authors weren't happy with because they were missing big pieces of what they needed. Um, even little things like examples of what something should look like, um, or ideas for tools. Like if I say, oh, you know, create your own graphics, it's helpful for them to know use Canva, use a freelancer, use Adobe, use whatever it may be. Um, because then they not only know what the options are, but why I like certain ones or don't like certain ones, what the pros and cons are for each. So when I'm talking about websites and email lists, uh system.io always comes up in multiple buckets because it has those same tools. And so that's one of the things that I say is if you're looking for powerful and affordable, um this is this is the way to go. And it's ever evolving. There are things that I wish it had a couple years ago that now it does. Um the FAQ didn't have that when I started with System IO, and now I have it and it's awesome. Um, there are blocks and templates that didn't exist that now exist because they're so committed to how do we continue improving. It's not a here you go, have fun, we're never changing anything. No, they're really looking at how do we how do we continue to provide great resources for the people using us.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Yeah, so same with them, they have the tools, but then a support network. They're listening to their clients, they're listening to the users of their program and continually evolving and being innovated while also being cognizant that they're speaking to a very targeted market who won't afford ability. I need simple, I need fast, I need to save my time because that's what's the point of all this, right? Like we want to get the information, distill it as quickly and easily as possible to change lives. And that's what you're doing. And so you mentioned something about using system.io. Do you perhaps have a module or a course inside of your membership where you kind of help them build everything out on system.io as like an affiliate?

SPEAKER_02 29:01

Uh yeah, so we have um different tutorials, um, different like videos with pros and cons. Um, I do use my affiliate link, and of course I disclose that it's an affiliate link. Um so yeah, that's something I do pretty regularly because again, those are the things that I wish I had. And I'm a very visual learner. Um, so it's always helpful for me to understand. Oh, so that's where that thing is at, or whatever it may be. Even when I get paper instructions for like assembling something I ordered, um, for some reason the YouTube video is so much easier to follow.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

Yeah, I'm I'm a visual learner too. School was very hard for me because I'd be like listening, like, please write on the board, do something so I can see this played out in front of me. So showing the screen is hopefully something we can do and show people the funnels and how how they flow out. So, speaking of affiliate marketing and all the things you built, can you kind of like give us um a stack of revenue streams that you're you've been able to create as an author and now as a literary agent slash author teacher? Like, how has following your dream of entrepreneurship as an author and then teaching other people? Like, how has that financial freedom been built? Like, how many streams do you have now? Uh lot. No.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

Um so that put you on the spot with that one. I know, right? No. Um, my my main source of income is still to this day my own books um and the revenue that I I get from those, um, which I think is good because uh it's kind of the foundation of everything, and I don't want to ever turn into a person who's uh teaching but not doing, you know, teaching but not having that lived experience. So that is where um the bulk of my income comes from. Um and then I also have smaller things like affiliate income from like YouTube or Google AdSense, um, things like that. Um let's see what else. As a literary agent, I just finally started getting revenue in. The problem with being a literary agent is that if a publisher doesn't pay in advance, um, which not all of them do, then no money will come in for you or that author for two to three years. Because that's how long it takes for a book to be published. So if you're only making money on royalties, you're only gonna make royalties when the book is published. And if it takes two to three plus years for a book to be published, traditionally, you're not gonna see that that money for a few years. So I'm in year four of agenting. So I just have now started uh getting those checks in. But I also do a lot of presentations, um, like author visits for schools with my books. Um, I do a lot of training online or conferences I'll attend and do presentations uh with just a snippet of what I teach in my full-blown courses. Um so yeah, there's a lot of hats, there's a lot of of revenue streams happening. Um I would say that the financial freedom, one of the biggest things that I am so grateful for is if my kids are sick, or you know, before I we were using daycare, if like daycare was closed, we would have to take a day off of work. And there's only so many days you get off of work, especially with things like uh maternity leaves and COVID, and you know, once one kid is sick, all the other kids get sick, and then the parents get sick. I don't have to worry about that in the slightest. Um, if if one of my kids is sick, they are home with me, and I can shift my working hours or I can skip a day or work while they nap, and that's a the flexibility I have never had before. Um there have also been times where I've wanted to do something fun with my kids, like go to an amusement park or go to the zoo, or just you know, let's go for a walk, let's go play outside, and we can just do that. Um that's not something I could have done if I stayed in teaching. And so for me, it's really the little things and the ability to be a hundred percent present in in whatever I'm choosing to do, um, the ability to follow other passions of mine uh and wear a lot of hats. I I couldn't do that if I had a full nine to five. So yeah, it's it's it's been a lot in the best way.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

I think you answered one of my core ending questions of like, what's the gift of entrepreneurship? And you're able to embrace that multi-passionate life, be available, and be present with your kids, and not worry about, hey, boss, I can't come in today, you know?

SPEAKER_02 34:31

Yeah, and I and I think that can be scary, um, but scary isn't always a bad thing, you know. I think sometimes we're conditioned to be like, oh, this is too good to be true, um, or this is different from something I've ever done, or this is this is different from something I've ever had. But there's a quote, I'm pretty sure it's an anonymous quote. Um it's if you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done. And that sits with me a lot because you know, if you do keep doing the same things, you're going to get the same outcome. So I'm always looking at if something isn't clicking, isn't working, if I'm not happy with the way something is, I'm like, all right, well, what haven't I tried? What haven't I explored? Um, and that also helps me get feedback and look at things from a perspective of maybe I'm just not seeing this the way somebody else would. And how can someone else's thoughts or opinions or feedback help me make this even better than what it is? And that goes for writing, that goes for funnels, that goes for emails, that goes for everything that I could be doing. Um so yeah, I I think it is a leap of faith to be an entrepreneur, but if it's something you want to do, you'll find a way. You will make it work, and you just have to be open to the possibilities and know what you know and know what you don't know.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Well, speaking of doing the unknown and doing something you've never done before, you had mentioned that you grew your email list to, you know, uh, what is it, five digits? You know, you I know you got 10,000 followers on YouTube. You've created this dream life now, the with the flexibility and presence, but being with your family, changing lives, you know, 80% of your students. I don't even know how many students you have. How did you build this empire in a sense? Even though I know I know it's not an empire, a legacy, a teaching legacy. And um how has it, you know, really changed your life even financially?

SPEAKER_02 36:54

Um, it's opened up a lot of doors that I didn't expect it to open. And it's still very weird when I go to a conference or like when I go to uh like some event where somebody will know who I am, because I'm not the kind of person that you go to the grocery store and go, oh, I know her, which is a good thing. Um but if I go to an event, people know who I am. Um, and they're always like, Oh, I see you on this, or I've seen you on that, I've read your articles, whatever. It is still so weird. Um, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna go crawl in a hole now. Um, it never it never stops feeling weird, but it also feels so good um to know that the things that you aspired to do and the way that you wanted to reach people is actually happening. Um and so even though it's weird, it's a good weird, it's like, oh, I I am making a difference. I I am getting my my words are being read by people. Um, my videos are being watched by people. And so it's really cool. I think one of the biggest things for entrepreneurs and for authors and for creators in general is the creating the stuff is not usually the hard part. Um, it's finding the people to experience what you're creating. If you're making a course, it's finding the students. If you're writing a book, it's finding the readers. Um, if it's selling a product, it's fine the buyers. And because of that, I'm always encouraging my students to look at I kind of look at marketing a little bit like being at your house. If if I'm at my house and I write a book, it's an amazing book, and I go set it on my front porch, who knows that it's on my front porch? Me, anybody who lives in my house, probably. Um maybe the random people that come over to my house during the day, like my in-laws or something. Otherwise, that's it. No one else knows about the book that I put on my porch. And that's what the internet is like. You can put a course out there, you can put a product out there, you can put a book on a digital shelf, but unless you're driving people to it, they will not know that it's there. So if we go back to my porch, if I'm like, all right, how do I get people to know this is here? You know, I might put up lights and a banner and record some videos and host a parade or live stream something. Um, you know, like I'm going to try and do things, and suddenly people will start to realize, oh, there's a book on this porch. That's really all it comes down to is when you build something, they're not gonna come unless you tell them to come. And so you have to figure out who are my people, where do they spend time, how do I reach them, and why will they care about what I've created? If you can master those things, you can start driving the traffic because there's lots of ways to do that.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

I love that analogy that you know it wasn't just here's the tactical, you you gave the why. Like, why are we doing this? How do we attract the awareness the correct way and and and bring that awareness around? So, you know, using YouTube or the other social media platforms, ads to create an email list, you know, of over 10,000 people, a YouTube channel. So, how has it um any other like revenue goals that you were able to hit by being able to lean in completely to this unknown?

SPEAKER_02 40:55

Um well, at that point, for me, it was just educated guesses. Um, I was like, okay, if I can put in X amount of hours, if I can uh attract X amount of people, then that would equate to this amount of money, and it'll probably be fine. But the thing is everything's hypothetical until you pull it off. And so you can have these goalposts. Um, but that doesn't make it any less scary. For me, though, the uh it goes back to the the biggest factor was time. You know, I'm limited to how much I can achieve if I only have an hour a day or an hour a few times a week versus seven hours, eight hours a day or more. Um and that allowed me to once I hit certain uh metrics and certain revenue goals, that then allowed me to outsource the stuff I didn't like. Because, for example, social media, I know it's necessary and I will continue to participate in it, but I hate making graphics. It just takes me forever. It's not my strong suit. I have many skills, drawing is not one of them, Canvas not really one of them, and so that's something that I outsource. I have a social media manager now that uh helps me with my personal things and with at home authors social media uh content as well. And what would have taken me three hours to put together takes them like 30 minutes, if that. And so that time saved is equally as important, if not sometimes more important, because then I can pour that into relationships and I can pour that into my students, and I can pour that into the things that can't be outsourced. Um, and so that's kind of how I look at it is how do I keep growing in a way that lets me take the things I want off my plate off my plate and lean more into the stuff that I really enjoy because that's the stuff that people connect with anyway. People don't connect with me because of a cute little graphic on Instagram, they connect with me because I'm a weirdo on video and I try to be real and honest and open and make things easy and simple, but I'm also not gonna shy away from um the emotional side of what it's like to be an entrepreneur and the ups and the downs. Yeah. Um, I want others to be transparent with me, and so I do my best to be transparent with them as well.

SPEAKER_00 43:44

I bet your coaching and community is very real, very raw, and that's how you get breakthrough is because you're facing the hard things.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Yeah, and and I also look at it from a perspective of we're not just trying to. Get one book published. Like we're trying to build up a person. And to build up a person, we need to be looking beyond this book. Yeah, we want this book to be good, and and we will make this book good. That's not a problem. But we're also looking at like, okay, why are you making the choices that you want to make? You know, what is what is best for you? What's going to make you happy? Because I have seen people um get published and then say, I wish I hadn't self-published, you know, or I regret the choice that I've made. Um, and it's simply because at the time they just wanted a book to exist. And so they made choices that way. And if you want financial freedom and you want to, you know, be your own boss and be an entrepreneur and have all those things, it's not gonna feel different if you're unhappy uh in that space. And so you have to always be considering one step ahead, one step further, beyond this book, beyond this blog post, beyond this course. Um what do you want beyond the things? Um because that's really what people connect with, especially in the age of AI.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Oh, ooh, yeah, bringing up AI is huge. So you try to make sure that there's a personal connection, and you do that with at-home author. So, Vicky, as we kind of like land the plane, you know, you you're building out this beautiful platform to you know fully envelop the person, like you said, the person, not just an author, not just a writer, but like, why are we doing this? What is the impact? Maybe someone's listening right now and they have a book in their heart, a kid, but you know, something for children. What would you say to them to get them off the seat and into action to execute?

SPEAKER_02 45:59

I tell this story a lot online, um, but I will never stop telling it. Um, my husband is like the king of hobbies. He is a person where if he is has an idea in his head or is like, oh, that sounds cool, he's gonna try it. He might not do it as a career or do it professionally, but if something sounds interesting to him, he's gonna take that leap and have fun doing it. So one day I was sitting on the couch and he asked me, What is something you've always wanted to do that you've never done? And I didn't miss a beat. I was like, I have always wanted to write children's books. And he said, So why don't you? And I was like, Well, because you can't do that, like that's not a thing you can just like do. He said, Well, why not? And I didn't have a good answer for him, and so that is what kicked off my entire career. Um, everything that you see today, I attribute to that one moment with my husband. And so what I say to anybody who might have a book in their heart or or a dream is why not? Because the only person standing in your way at this point is probably you.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

And that, my people, is the end of the show. No, why not? Thank you, Vicky, and uh let's let's do a round of applause for your husband, too. Thank your husband for seeing the opportunity and then in fanning your flame to do it. So I hope that someone listening right now is also feeling very encouraged.

SPEAKER_02 47:42

I hope so. I know that not everybody has someone like that in their house. And so I, whenever possible, I'm always encouraging authors to do that for one another and to seek out the support system that will do that for you. Because, like anything, there's ups and downs. Life will throw you curveballs and you never quite know what to expect. Sometimes things don't turn out the way you expect, they turn out better. Um, and sometimes they look a lot more like a squiggly line than you originally thought they might. Um, but I I do believe that at the end of the day, it's not a competition and there's plenty of space. You just have to be yourself and find the people that will help you continue to do so even on those hardest days.

SPEAKER_00 48:38

And that's what you have as well in your program, in your courses, in your mentoring. That's and that's how we tie together. You have the tools and the support system all in one at athomeauthor.com. Vicky, is there any other way that people can connect with you after this interview if they're interested?

SPEAKER_02 48:59

Absolutely. Um, I'm pretty easy to find. Um Vicki Webber Books is my handle for most social media platforms. Um, but also YouTube is a great place to start. Um, got a lot of content up there, a lot of good things. And so if you need anything, reach out on one of those platforms. I'm not hard to hunt down.

SPEAKER_00 49:22

And what about any of your books? How can they get their hands on some of your books?

SPEAKER_02 49:26

Yeah, all my books are available wherever books are sold. So uh Amazon, Barnes and Noble, um, your local bookstore. Um, if it's not at your local library, you can request it at your local library. Um, pretty much anywhere that you purchase your own books, you'll be able to find mine.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

Excellent. Yes, I I definitely want uh wanted people to be able to find your books if they needed it. Well, Vicky, thank you for joining us today and sharing another success story with system.io.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 50:00

All right, everyone. Uh that's another story with system.io. Uh hopefully you've been encouraged. And until next time, keep creating.