A college professor handed out Play-Doh and popsicle sticks, gave everyone 10 minutes to build a prototype, then banned them from looking at it or explaining it. In this episode, Steve J Larsen uses that lesson to break down the three reasons books fail, and the difference between a process book that expires in six months and a framework book that outlives you.

In this episode:

• The professor who ran IDEO’s human-centered design process on a classroom using Play-Doh and construction paper
• IDEO invented the computer mouse for Steve Jobs and knew nothing about computers. The end user is the only source of data.
• Why a blank Google Doc is gambling, and what a 25 to 50 person room gives you that a packed one never will
• If you have to explain your own book, the book did not do its job
• The two apple trees that never fruited until Steve pruned 100 shoots off each, then overproduced so hard the branches cracked
• Ryan Holiday writes 500,000 words and deletes down to 50,000. Annie Grace: most authors write multiple points instead of one.
• Process vs. framework, settled by the five-day challenge: if moving the pitch from day five to day one breaks it, you built a process
• The buddy who spent $150 million on Facebook ads, and why his book could not be about Facebook ads
• The delete drill: 100,000 words spoken on stage in two days, and StageBook cut from 55,000 words to 38,000
• The number one reason authors rewrite a book they paid a ghostwriter $50,000 for

Timestamps:

00:00 The fastest book to write, and the strongest

00:53 The professor who ran marketing for Pizza Hut and Denny’s

01:19 Play-Doh, popsicle sticks, and 10 minutes

02:16 Hand it over. Do not look at it.

03:13 Rule two: you are not allowed to explain it

04:35 IDEO, the computer mouse, and your toothbrush

05:29 The end user is the only source of data

06:22 A book is a permanent way to be wrong

07:41 Visionaries live in the future. Readers live in the present.

09:02 The book I rewrote three times from scratch

09:54 Why we run small events on purpose

12:32 The book I proofread and thought, what was the point of this

13:24 The client I made livestream his speeches first

16:28 A good book has one point

17:20 Offer Launch went from 16 chapters to 8

17:48 Yard manager: contracts, invoices, and net 30 at 14 years old

21:45 Two apple trees and 100 shoots

22:40 The year the branches cracked

23:06 More is not better

24:30 Ryan Holiday deletes 90% of what he writes

25:30 Annie Grace on the one-point book

25:58 35,000 words that land beat 90,000 that read like a dictionary

27:24 You do not fill your own wallet

28:46 Reason three: the process book

29:43 $150 million in Facebook ads, and the book he could not write

31:09 What is the 20% that still works after 20 years

31:41 Sequence vs. principle

32:14 The five-day challenge test

34:20 Go one layer deeper and the book stays true

35:55 When a flash in the pan book is the right call

37:00 The moment the room does not react the way you expected

38:40 Confidence changes how loudly you market it

40:37 StageBook: 55,000 words cut to 38,000

41:06 Why ghostwritten books get rewritten

41:38 The delete drill

42:42 The David is already inside the marble

43:50 Beat My Funnel: two case study spots open

Links:

Beat My Funnel, two case study spots (start with an author interview): https://thestagebook.com

Get StageBook: https://stagebookbook.com

Record a question for the show: https://thewealthyauthor.com

Pursuit of Profit Publishing: https://pursuitofprofitpublishing.com

In 2007, Gallup put a one-time use code inside the back cover of StrengthsFinder 2.0 and killed its own used book market. That book then spent 1,609 days in Amazon’s top 100. In this episode, Steve J Larsen keeps a promise from episode two and shows you exactly what to write into a book so Amazon buyers end up in your pipeline instead of Amazon’s.

In this episode:

• The one-time code that made a used copy worthless, and why a 200-person company had to buy 200 copies
• Amazon sells your book and keeps your customer. You get a royalty. No name, no email, no way to follow up.
• The question is not how to sell more books. It is what happens in the first 11 minutes after someone opens the front cover.
• Put something in the book that only works when the reader leaves the book and comes to you
• Four ways to do it: a one-time code, a companion course, a free software trial, and full page ads in the back (Expert Secrets v2, Dan Kennedy)
• Rich Dad Poor Dad started as the manual for the Cashflow board game
• Why Steve refuses to put the companion course behind a members area login, and how a share button sent 20% of his traffic
• Giving the bonuses away to people who never bought the book: 2 to 5 extra leads for every book buyer
• Ryan Lee’s 53% close rate on readers who finish one chapter and start the companion course
• Write a real book. We do not write books that are transcribed webinar pitches.

Timestamps:

00:00 The promise from episode two

00:50 Gallup kills the used book market

01:23 The one-time code inside the back cover

01:50 200 employees means 200 copies

02:18 1,609 days in Amazon’s top 100

02:47 Why you still put the book on Amazon

03:45 Amazon gets the customer, you get the royalty

05:07 The first 11 minutes after the cover opens

05:36 Ryan Lee’s QR codes and the resources page

07:26 Put something in that only works if they come to you

07:56 The only advertisement a stranger pays to consume

09:52 Full page ads in the back: Expert Secrets and Dan Kennedy

11:14 Companion software and free trials

12:08 Rich Dad Poor Dad and the Cashflow board game

13:32 The companion course at the end of every chapter

15:54 Not a sales message. A real book.

16:51 My favorite version: the stage video behind each chapter

19:05 Why I will not hide it behind a login wall

20:24 The share button that drove 20% of my traffic

22:08 Perennial seller vs. a book that fills a business

23:03 Ryan Lee’s 53% close rate

23:56 Slow down to speed up

24:22 Republishing a book you already wrote

25:42 Give the bonuses to people who never bought

27:05 2 to 5 extra leads per book buyer

28:51 Next episode: the lawsuits nobody is talking about

Links:

See a real companion course: https://stagebookbook.com/resources

Get StageBook: https://stagebookbook.com

Record a question for the show: https://thewealthyauthor.com

Pursuit of Profit Publishing: https://pursuitofprofitpublishing.com

One year after selling 4,000 copies in his first week, Ryan Lee has sold 25,000 copies of Retire in 10 Years or Less. And when people who read his book complete the first step of its companion course and then book a call, 53% of them buy his program. In this episode, Steve J Larsen and Ryan break down the launch, the funnel, and the numbers.

In this episode:

• Why Ryan paid a New York Times bestselling co-author for 18 months, then wrote the book himself
• His wife’s publisher “did exactly nothing”
• The book launch summit: 30+ experts, including Robert Kiyosaki and Ed Mylett, answer one question
• A free 3-day live event, and buyers who bought 100 copies at a time
• QR codes at the end of every chapter that turn Amazon buyers (about 200 a day) into leads
• Close rates by where the lead came from: stage 3%, podcast 10%, book buyers 15%, book buyers who started the companion course 53%
• Why Ryan is cutting 80% of his stage travel
• “Your dream has to be bigger than your excuse”

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:45 Who Ryan Lee is
03:20 Ryan joins
04:00 18 months of drafts, then he wrote it himself
06:00 Publishers “do exactly nothing”
07:30 Expert Secrets’ first month vs. Ryan’s first day
08:15 25,000 copies in one year
09:00 The book launch summit with 30+ experts
11:00 The free 3-day event and “buy the book”
13:00 Why the summit can’t be about your book
14:15 Book bundles and 100-copy buyers
16:20 QR codes in every chapter
17:40 Turning the summit recording into an upsell
19:30 Close rates by where the lead came from
22:00 Cutting 80% of stage travel
23:40 Ben Hardy: your goal decides your book
25:00 The companion course as a second book
30:00 Six months to build the launch
32:30 Your dream has to be bigger than your excuse

Links:
Get Ryan’s book and see his funnel: https://retirein10years.com
Ryan Lee: https://ryandlee.com
StageBook: https://stagebookbook.com
Record a question for the show: https://thewealthyauthor.com