Transforming Your Book Into Business Success

Your book is finished... now what? Most authors treat publishing as the finish line, but it's actually the starting gun.

In this episode, Brad Hauck and Dixie Carlton unpack why a book alone rarely builds a business, and what you need to plan before you write a single word to make your book work for you long after launch.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why most authors write what the world "needs" — and why that's a costly mistake
• How to define the real purpose of your book beyond the number of copies sold
• The ecosystem approach: turning your book into a lead generation engine with speaking, consulting, workshops, and more
• Where to place your calls to action (hint: not just at the back)
• Why getting a reader's email address is the single most powerful outcome your book can drive
• Real-world examples of books paired with apps, downloadable resources, and interactive tools
• How to reach multiple audiences through audiobooks, live events, and multimodal content

Whether you're a business owner, consultant, or thought leader, this episode will change the way you think about what your book is actually for.

Connect with the hosts:

• Dixie Carlton — Book coaching & publishing: indieexpertspublishing.com
• Brad Hauck — Become #1 in your market: bradhauck.com

Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode if it sparked something for you.

Keywords: nonfiction book strategy, author business model, book marketing, build authority with a book, book funnel, thought leadership, expert author, book ecosystem, call to action in a book, publish a book to grow your business

The Expert’s Journey podcast is dedicated to empowering authors, content creators, experts and professional speakers worldwide.

Join hosts Brad Hauck, author of AI Powered Profits: Use AI to Automate & Accelerate Your Business in 90 Days, and Dixie Carlton, author of Start With the Draft: How to Easily Plan and Write a Non-Fiction Book, as they share practical insights to elevate your speaking career.

Each episode delivers actionable strategies to grow your audience, sharpen your skills, and increase your impact through speaking, publishing, and smart marketing.

Whether you're looking to boost your influence or explore new ways to share your expertise, The Expert’s Journey gives you the tools and direction to succeed.

FIND US

Brad Hauck Proficlix.com.au
Dixie Carlton Indieexpertspublishing.com

Transcript

The Book Is Not the Business, It's the Beginning 
 

Brad Hauck: [00:00:00] Most people start writing a book with a picture in their mind of what will happen when it's finished. It might establish their credibility, attract speaking opportunities, bring in consulting work, or finally, make people take their expertise seriously. But finishing the manuscript and publishing the book does not automatically create any of these outcomes. 

A book can strengthen your business, but it rarely becomes the entire business itself. The more important question is, what happens after someone reads it? Where do they go next? What can they buy, attend, join, and experience with you? In this episode, we're looking at why publishing a book is not the end of the journey. 

It's the point where the real opportunity begins. Good morning, Dixie.  

Dixie Carlton: Good morning, Brad. I love this conversation. This is gonna be an interesting one, and I think y- you've introduced it so well. Why are you doing this in the first place, and what is it that you're wanting the book to do for you? And I don't know if we always put enough effort into thinking about the big [00:01:00] picture of a book when we're starting a book. 

Brad Hauck: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's really important that, as you always say, begin with the end in mind, and, I do think that way myself. But often we sit down and we go, "I wanna write a book," or "I need a book," and it's like, "Well, what will I write about? What do I know about?" 

And, there's no real, like, what do I actually need to write a book about to make my business grow, or what does the market need? All those sorts of things, rather than I wanna write a book because I think the world needs this book. And, Mm-hmm ... sometimes I think that's a mistake.  

Dixie Carlton: Well, I think you're right. 

One of the things that comes up for me when I'm working with people who have decided that they want to do a book, if they have already started to write, often they haven't thought through this very critical question of, why is it important for you to write this book, and why is it important to do it now? 

Is there a specific something coming up in the world or in your business or in your life that makes this a relevant time? [00:02:00] What do you believe that your book should do for you? Or if you already started writing it, what did you believe your book would do for you when you first started writing it? 

Did you tap into your why? Now, you've written a number of books, Brad, and they're fantastic. What drives you to think this is the time to write a new book?  

Brad Hauck: I think it comes down to what I see happening around me in the business world in many cases. But that doesn't mean you don't make mistakes. I mean, I've written books that really did nothing because while it was really good information and all that, probably the world didn't need that book. 

Other books I've written have done, well and people have enjoyed reading them and they've, got me a lot of work. So I think, even when you know what you should be doing, sometimes you should get some advice and run it past other people- ... before you just jump in and do it. I mean- Yeah 

sometimes there's this compelling feeling inside of you that says, "This book needs to be written." And I [00:03:00] understand- ... that because I've done it. But also, you just gotta think about, does the world need another book on, jumping tigers or, you know- ... something like that. I- is there enough books out there or do I wanna talk about jumping tigers but, is there something I can talk about that's different to what everybody else has said so that it stands out? 

Dixie Carlton: Yeah. And that's a good question to ask yourself. What else is out there? Who's already covered this subject? And while I think it's important to get a good handle on why you're wanting to write the book, there's another angle to this which is slightly different but related to why, and that is what is the purpose? 

Like, what is it that you're going to actually achieve with this book? I- I've got a- a couple of clients at the moment that I've just started working with, and in both cases they've started out with one idea in mind, and then they've ended up putting a lot of information together and realizing that, well, actually this is two, [00:04:00] three, or four books. 

This is not just a matter of writing one book and then thinking that it's all going to work out magically to create, the change that I'm wanting to see in my industry or my world or my business. They've then gone ahead and said, "Oh, there's a much bigger picture here. There's a purpose behind what I'm putting together that maybe is a long-term change," or a, being a disruptor in an industry or doing something that means that just one book isn't going to be enough. 

And so identifying the why is really important. But beyond that, what's the purpose of your book?  

Brad Hauck: Yeah, exactly. I mean, one of the great questions we can start with is, what do you believe your book will do for you when- ... you first start writing it? Because-  

...  

again, I think we often sit down and write a book because we think the world needs it, and-  

That's not how marketing works. Marketing- Sure  

Dixie Carlton: doesn't ...  

Brad Hauck: people buy what they want, [00:05:00] not what they need. We all know that. But most authors write what they think the world needs to hear.  

And sometimes they're right, sometimes it is life-changing, world-changing stuff that the world does need to hear, and so they get huge cuts through and all that. 

But a lot of those authors will tell you, too, that at the start they had no cut-through, no ... It took two or three years to drive that book to a point where suddenly the world was ready for it. And that's sometimes the thinking I look at, because people think, "I wrote it because the world needs it," but the, world doesn't want it, it could take two or three years of driving it to get to the point where the world actually does want it. 

Dixie Carlton: Yes. Like, I've got a client at the moment who has decided that the biggest purpose around her book is that she's going to call out some things that are happening in the industry that she's in that just don't work. Now, that's another big step beyond just being a disruptor. 

That's saying, [00:06:00] "Hey, this needs to change." So if something needs to change, then how do you tackle, dealing with that, so that comes back to being more than just a, "Hey, I wanna write this book and I wanna get this information out there." Instead, it's saying, "There's a big change that I wanna shine a spotlight on because this is not working," or, "This is happening," or, "This is necessary for people to know," rather than, "I just want to share the information." 

And I think, when you start to look at the way it's gonna impact on your whole business if you decide to, get a little bit controversial or, pick a few scabs, for example, then you've gotta be thinking a bigger way about not just what's the book about, but how is it going to impact on you as well as the people that you're writing it for. 

So for example, we often don't think about y- do I wanna become a s- ... Do I wanna be speaking on that topic? Is it more that I wanna do [00:07:00] consulting workshops or, maybe I wanna be a keynoter, or maybe I wanna actually just do something else. But this is going to now become the new central focus of my next one, two, three, four, five-year career. 

And it may be that you're- 

I'll just let that siren go past 'cause it's quite loud 

Or it may be that you're seeing this as a pivot point. Or perhaps you've become so frustrated by your own industry that you're saying, "Enough's enough. I wanna make a change here." And this book is a great way to start navigating your way through making that kind of change.  

Brad Hauck: Yeah. Like, when you look at books like that where you're calling out an industry and you're saying there's issues with things, I think one of the biggest problems I see when people write those books is that they will sit there and call out all the problems. 

Everybody already knows the problems are there, but they're not [00:08:00] changing. So there's obviously a reason people aren't changing. And unless you're giving people solutions as well- ... then just calling out the problems doesn't actually give you a book. And yet I do see books all the time, a bit like, they're just like newspaper articles in some ways that, oh, this is a problem and that's a problem and we need to do better here. 

But instead of saying, "We need to be- do better here, and this is how I did it, and this- ... is what the results were," so you're actually giving people a, an outcome.  

Dixie Carlton: Yeah ...  
 

Brad Hauck: That often doesn't happen 'cause people get caught up in the issues. And, the other stuff is how much, when you're writing the book, how much do you give away? 

Because if you do wanna build a business off the back of your book, you need to have something that you can lead people into. So, you might give one example of how to solve it, but you might do a workshop where give 10 examples. I don't know. But yeah- Yeah ... you need to not just tell people there's problems, you need to actually give them a solution, 'cause that's what they're reading the book for. 

They know the problems.  

Dixie Carlton: And when you're writing something like that, I mean, [00:09:00] you always need to have structure with a book anyway, especially, a nonfiction book. But you need to have structure, but you need to be thinking in terms of, okay ... And this is a structure that I teach a lot. You need to say, "This is the status quo. 

This is ... Or this is the history and the status quo now. This is what's actually wrong, and this is the solution that I propose that you consider." So status quo or s- history, status quo this is the problem, and this is the solution. And you're right. Then if you can then say, "I have the answers," or, "I have a really good few ideas or some great insights," then you can say, "All right. 

So now I've got these really good ideas and these insights, and if you want to download this or if you want to have more conversation about this," then here's where you take the reader to that point where t- through a call to action process, you're ensuring that the reader gets to the end of the book, and [00:10:00] they are saying, "Ooh, I'm inspired. 

I want more. This has, sparked something in me. Now what do I do with that?" So you, the author, take them to a landing page where you can say, "Here's some downloadable resources. Here's some extra opportunities to have more engagement with me about this topic, and this is what I would like you to experience now as part of this process of going through a journey of understanding what I'm trying to explain here in my book." 

Brad Hauck: Yeah, that process of once the book exists, what do you want it to actually lead into is really important. And I would hazard to say 95% of people when they write a book see the book as the end point, and maybe it will lead somewhere. I think there's kind of this common thinking that a book sets you up for success. 

And, eh, look, it does become another, string in your bow, but it's not necessarily a setup for success. It's, in fact, it's not necessarily anything because unless you've [00:11:00] got bigger plans and, you think about how you're gonna get that to the market and have people read it and where it's gonna lead, you kind of hit the end. 

You go through the big journey of publishing, and it's exhausting, and finally the book's launched. And you have your launch night, and 20 people come, and so you get 20 books out, and suddenly you're left with a box of books and, a lot of hard work. And I think that most people don't think beyond the actual publishing because it is such a large thing to do. 

Dixie Carlton: Yeah. And y- I talk to people about this all the time. It is an endless commitment to say, "Look, yes, okay, you wrote a book, but now what are you gonna do with it?" And there are so many things you can do, and the biggest challenge is that most people have got no idea when they're starting about what it is going to lead to. 

They don't start with the end in mind, obviously, and we talk about this a lot on this podcast. [00:12:00] If you're starting with the end in mind, that means you do some really good strategic planning before you even start writing. So you know whether or not you're wanting it to lead into you being more of a speaker or a consultant, filling up your workshops or, inviting people to, work with you in some other way. 

You, you start planning for that from the very first words that you write. You start planning how you want people to navigate their way through to the next steps beyond the book so that you are in charge of that. You're not just leaving it to chance. And then you take the reader by the hand, and you guide them through the whole book. 

You get them through to the end. You give them all the ideas about all the other things you do, and then you make sure that you lead them to the next steps. And you encourage them to take those next steps, and that's how you actually get leverage on your book. And there's a whole ecosystem process around this, right? 

Y- your book might be just one part of the funnel. [00:13:00] But once you've done the book, then you have the ability to have all of these other parts that enable you to say, "Right, oh, here's an excerpt from my book. Here's a lead magnet. Here are some resources. This is how I share it with people in a series of blog posts or an article or two." 

Making sure that people then know to go and sign up for something so that you can maybe re-market to them by ensuring that they're, tacked into your database after they've read. But of course, it's not just a matter of saying, "Oh, here's my book. Now take some action and please join my marketing database so that I can, sell to you." 

You have to be a lot friendlier than that. You have to be a lot more strategic. And so when we talk about an ecosystem, we talk about it in terms of being that there's a natural flow from the book out to all of these places that you want your content to be reaching so that it reaches that market that you're wanting to impact on. 

Brad Hauck: Yeah, I think you have to be really focused on the process m- even before [00:14:00] you're writing. So- ... often, I've done it myself where you write a book and you go, "Oh, I need to have a call to action in here," so you put a page at the end that says- ... "If you wanna get this free download or whatever, go here." 

So it's right at the end of the book, and yet we know from, data from Amazon and places like that, most people don't get any further than three chapters into a book. So if it's at the end- Yeah ... of the book, no one's ever gonna see it. And, maybe it's a case of being much more strategic, put it right up at the front and say, "Here's this- little worksheet. As you read the book, download this and r- read the book, and as you read the book, fill in the worksheet and it will help you apply the lessons," or something like that. So it's right there at the front, and there's these regular calls back to it or something so that-  

...  

you're actually building it in all the way through. 

I- in the end- ... I think the biggest goal anybody can have, the simplest, most powerful thing you can do, is to get someone's email address. So getting someone to go to your website, get their [00:15:00] email address, and in exchange, you give them a download that goes with the book. Yes. And from there, if you've got a podcast or you've got a newsletter, you can send your newsletter to them each week. 

Because at least if you've got an email address, you can start- ... giving people more information and helping them succeed. But you don't need- Yeah ... to step them into massive processes. As, if you can just start at that one simple thing- ... and every month send a newsletter out that's all you need to do to start. 

But people- Yes ... tend to get caught up in this, "I need a huge funnel," and yeah, it's great to have a funnel, but just get their email address first,  

Dixie Carlton: brad, you just totally contradicted exactly what I had just said. I don't know if you realize it or not. 
 

'Cause I had just said, just, uh, as a by the by, I had just said you don't wanna be only about just getting the email so you can re-market to them. You wanna be more friendly than that. And then you said- Oh, yeah ... yeah, 

Brad Hauck: yeah. I'm just saying that, like, if you don't get anything else, I suppose, is the key thing. 
 

All right. But let me just say that then. All right. Okay? So ... 

Dixie Carlton: Um, no, no. I can work with it. Yeah. I just suddenly thought- 

Brad Hauck: Yeah ... 

Dixie Carlton: to me it started to sound like you were completely contradicting what I just 

Brad Hauck: said. Oh. Well, let me add- But, but- ... a sentence to the end then. I'll, 

Dixie Carlton: tack it. 

Brad Hauck: Okay, cool. 
 

Yeah. Okay. So, so if you don't get anything else, at least you got an email address, and from there you can build onto all the things you were just talking about, and you can build those friendships. You can build those connections.  

Dixie Carlton: Yeah. Absolutely. Building that is really important. That's why we call it an ecosystem, because it's a friendly way of unpacking who you are and what you are, and ensuring that, okay, whether [00:16:00] the, links go at the beginning of the book or the end of the book, throughout your book 

And if your book is well-structured and well-designed and really well-written, then hopefully your readers will read all the way through to the end. But you're wanting to encourage them right from the beginning to understand that you speak, that you are a coach, that you are a consultant, or that you have more to offer than just what's on these pages, so they do get to the end. 

And yes, definitely put something at the front that encourages them to understand, grab this. This is how you can use this book. In fact, putting a how you can use this book at the front end is a brilliant idea, because it does get them involved in the book. And getting them involved in the book is brilliant. 

But then you also want to lead them through to the end where you may have more, or you may be hunting all the way through the book that when you get to this point in the book, then you can download these. Or, I've got a downloadable version of this on page whatever, [00:17:00] when you're putting some resources into the pages. 

Again, you've gotta be thinking about the end in mind and how you want people to respond. And definitely putting something in the book and making it clear that it is more than just a book. We've just done a book that we're promoting it right from before they even buy it on Amazon, that says very clearly this this book, which is basically a tour guide type of book, and it says, "This is Auckland. 

All of the things that you don't get in the tourist books." and by the way, this book comes, inside it there is a free app to download that comes in multiple languages that you can download for free. And so we're encouraging people to buy the book straight away, but we're telling them right at the front end with all the marketing, "Hey, if you don't wanna read this in English, we've got an app that this book connects to that is already in multiple [00:18:00] languages." 

So you've gotta start thinking right outside the box. Now, that's not something that's commonly found in books.  

Brad Hauck: No.  
 

Dixie Carlton: And especially not commonly found on Amazon listings. But nowadays you can do so much more, and you can tell people when you're marketing the books right from the beginning, "There are resources in here. 

There are tools. We have more than just the words on the page for you." And I think that's a really important thing to get clear on, again, before you even start writing.  

Brad Hauck: Yeah, that sounds really interesting actually. It's something a bit different, and makes a lot of sense. I mean, people like apps, especially when they're traveling, because you can open them up and, you know- see the local information, all that. I'm, known for doing that. In fact, actually getting apps that are local to find things, because the local tourism bureau or whatever has one. It makes a lot of sense. Mm-hmm. So y- there's so much more that we can do that we often don't think about like that. 

If I said to people about that idea, a lot of people would say, "Oh, that's a great [00:19:00] idea." And yet they m- would probably never think of doing it themselves with their own book. Yeah ... they see that as an entirely different step. They don't necessarily see it as an integrated process. And  

Dixie Carlton: And that's a really good point, they think, "Oh, well, I've got to do the book, and then there's all these other things. But I'm not sure if I can pull all that together." But again, you've got to go back to the concept of an ecosystem. And then you've got to also be thinking, well, if your book disappeared, like if suddenly someone... no one read it anymore, the book was irrelevant. 

For whatever reason, the book wasn't there, would your business model still make sense? Or is the book carrying all the weight of the b- of the business? It really- So you've got to be thinking about, where does it fit within everything.  

Brad Hauck: Yeah. And it depends on your business, too. I mean, y- sometimes you might be running a physical business, for example. 

You might be a local tourist guide, talking about your book- ... that you're just talking about then. Yeah. And so you're looking for people to go on the trip with you, to book you. So having an app may replace the book over time, because [00:20:00] it's easy to update. You can put new information in. It might go to- the top of the app store. So, it opens up a whole genre of, other people that probably wouldn't read a book, but they would read an app. So, you've got- That's right ... different generations even when it comes to information, when you're putting a book out. And if you want to appeal to a wider audience, s- there's some opportunities there that, we often don't think about, 'cause all we're thinking about is the book and getting it-  

into people's hands. Yeah.  

Dixie Carlton: Yeah.  
 

Brad Hauck: And-  
 

Dixie Carlton: Well, I mean, I s- I started out with doing the app for... that goes with the Start With a Draft book, which is now, v- very well created. It's got videos in it, et cetera. And it really does make the book an interactive concept. So yes, there's the book. Yes, there's the app. 

You pull them both together, and you are interactively using the content that was first created in the book. And again, technology enables us to do so much more now, and to get really creative. And, if anyone's listening to this and really wants to [00:21:00] explore that, please, I'd love to have a conversation with you. 

But the concept of going beyond just the book, and again, starting with the end in mind. How does it fill the ecosystem? Where does it fit? And what is it that you want people to do when they finish reading it? So important to get all of these questions clear in your mind right from the beginning. 

Brad Hauck: Yeah, because they could feed into each other in different ways. I know my background's in education. We talk about multimodal learning, which means people learn in all different modes. Some people like to touch things. Some people like to listen. Some people like to watch. Some people like to read. Others are combinations. 

And, when you put a book out, you're kind of putting out a, a readable thing. Obviously, you've got audiobooks, which entirely different market. Lots of people like audiobooks these days 'cause so many people listen to podcasts. But then you've got your live stage show, and then people might buy the book 'cause they've seen you live on stage or-  

Whatever. So being able to put the information out in different ways to absorb it and use it, it obviously expands your business and [00:22:00] makes it wider. But it gives people other ways to tap into it. And I know, traditionally you'd see people speaking on stage, and then, "Grab a copy of my book" at the back of the room. 

It then used to be, "Get a copy of my book, now get me to speak." there's kind of this- Right ... so there's, it's always interchangeable. So having a plan in place where things are linked together- ... is important. And, doing some things out of the box, like the app, brilliant. Yeah. Because you're changing the way people perceive things. 

And that's gonna get cut through, and that's important. You're looking- ... for people to talk about it.  

Dixie Carlton: Absolutely. And, I think what we've really sum- in summary, what we have actually established today, there is the book, and then there's so much more that you can make happen from just your book. 

But again, you've gotta start with the end in mind, and think about what it is that you want to have happen and why you want your readers to read this book, and how you're gonna inspire them well beyond the book. And then start writing it.  

Brad Hauck: [00:23:00] Absolutely.  

Dixie Carlton: Yeah.  
 

Brad Hauck: Don't measure the success of your book only by the number of copies sold. 

Measure it by the conversations it starts, the trust it creates, and the opportunities it helps you build. The book is not just the business, it's the beginning of what your business could become.  

Dixie Carlton: Excellent. 

Brad Hauck: If this episode has you thinking about writing a book and you're not sure how to shape your ideas, reach out to Dixie at indieexpertspublishing.com. 

She can help you turn what's in your head into a clear, compelling book that builds real authority. And if you wanna become number one online, then contact me at bradhough.com. I can help you with becoming number one in your market for what you do, sell, or know.  

Dixie Carlton: And don't forget to review us and share us if you loved what you heard today. 

Thank you, Brad. That was a great conversation, and I'm looking forward to next time. See  

Brad Hauck: you next week.  

Dixie Carlton: See 

Brad Hauck: you 

Dixie Carlton: soon. Bye.