How to Turn Your Expertise Into a Book That Builds Trust - Jim Morris

Sebastian Rusk 0:05

Beyond the story. The show that goes way beyond the story. Thanks for having me, brother. Hey, thanks for being here, man. Great to uh see you again. I know we met a few weeks back for a uh week of golf networking and uh some more golf. And we met on the second day. We had the unique privilege of playing the Dallas Cowboys Club, which was uh beautiful course, hot, but beautiful. Um, much like the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. And uh being the fact that I've written a couple books, you're in the book game. We obviously hit it off and uh chopped it up about that and said, hey, listen, you got a podcast, I got a podcast, let's uh do a little podcast swaparoonie, and well, here we are.

Jim Morris 1:08

Well, I think that's the beauty in connection, right? Is there's so many opportunities to serve and to provide value when you can connect deeply with someone and get to know them and what their heart is and what their passion is. So yeah, man, I'm excited to get you on my show and uh grateful to be here on yours today. Likewise, bro.

Sebastian Rusk 1:25

Likewise, man. Well, let's dive in. I love giving our listeners context, a little bit of context um for your story. And I always like to go back to the beginning of the story. The beginning of the story is always different for everyone. So you decide where that beginning point is. Um, but let's spend a few minutes taking us back to the beginning of the story with what really brought you to present day with what you do to help extract books out of people and and make her a reality.

Jim Morris 1:54

Yeah, so I think for me, the big piece that has been very impactful in my life and very negatively impactful early on, but positively impactful today has been around connection. You know, I grew up, my parents um were addicted to oxycontin, and you know, it was a tough time in my teens. And as I moved through life, you know, I really wanted to give people the opportunity to connect deeply, you know, going from a life where I grew up early on, where I was very connected to my parents, to very disconnected. And that piece of connection is very important and true in what we do today, while we help people connect with an audience through writing a book, serving them, creating positive impact, teaching them the lessons that they've lived, that they've learned in hopes that the writer, the author can have fulfillment and self-connection through the process, but also to help others with their journey, their story, what they're navigating, and potentially provide them the solutions to move through some of those scenarios in a faster manner, in a safer way in some cases, and ultimately gaining knowledge prior to, you know, potentially going down the wrong path or making a uh incorrect decision because they have the opportunity to listen and to read through someone's story and how they navigated it and some of the mistakes they made and some of the things that they did really well. So it's it's interesting. I think connection is at the heart of what I do today. Um, it's what I talk about on stage, it's what I help people connect with an audience through writing a book and of course doing podcasting, right? Sharing people's stories, sharing people's heart, their soul, knowing that I will not connect personally with everybody. My story doesn't connect with everybody. Um, some of the challenges I face, some of the losses, some of the wins. So being able to be a conduit to storytelling, being able to help people navigate the dream of being an author and getting their story in and their lessons and their learned life out has been really impactful for me. And I feel very synergized in what I do, whether it's speaking on stage and sharing my story or extracting someone's genius in their story in a podcast, or ultimately writing it and helping them get uh it out into the world via a book.

Sebastian Rusk 4:22

So, where did the what are the book ideas to say, hey, um wouldn't you wake up one day and say, you know what, I'm gonna start a book book company to help people write books?

Jim Morris 4:29

I was writing a book and struggling. And I had hired a ghost writer to help me, and I had paid them $16,000. And they gave me a manuscript and said, Here's your book. And I read it, and it was not a book I wanted to put out. It was something that I felt I wasn't listened to. I felt that um it was a voice that wasn't my own, and some of the stories were hyperbole and didn't belong to me that I had shared in the interview process for them to write it. And I was very um upset, right? I just made a massive assessment. I was really excited to become an author and I had this manuscript that ended up in the trash can about 48 hours later. So after going through that and continuing to struggle to write my book, I realized I needed help. And this was a dream of mine, and I wanted to positively impact people with my books. So funny enough, I was uh doing a consulting deal um and working with a co-working space and getting it up and running and off the ground. And um there was another consultant there who was a very successful author. He had worked in a ghostwriter's office in Orange County, charging $100,000 a book. And um, he had put out a book and sold 50,000 copies and just really successful, has been around it, has been involved in it. And through that connection with him, he started to help me with the book. And I started to learn a lot because it wasn't a hired service, it was an education that I gained very quickly from someone who's done it and done it well and successful. And then we started a company to help others. I had several people in my network that wanted to put out a book that um didn't really align with some other companies in the market that were scared that the same worries that I had and lived through that a ghostwriter would write a book that didn't feel like their own. They didn't listen to them, they didn't um feel that it was their voice, their words, their vernacular throughout. And um and so I we start a company called Human Touch Publishing because we wanted to keep the human in it and we wanted it to be high touch, meaning that we would it's relationship first, it's connection first with our clients. So if a client says, Hey, Jim, you know, this doesn't feel like something I'd say, then we would work and rewrite and and work hard to ensure that they loved their book because it is their book and it belongs to them. And and that's where we built our brand promise and our mission and our vision and and started to construct the company around the human element, opposed to just providing this service where we give you back a manuscript. Um and ever since then, we've been writing several books, mostly nonfiction, with a lot of experts in their field, whether it's a book on communication, it's a book on you know friendship, it's a book on navigating the nervous system or you know, facial decoding. Um, we've worked with many different experts, but ultimately all nonfiction, where someone's telling the truth and sharing how they learn these things and how it's changed their life for a positive impact moving forward in hopes of putting that book out to help those people that um may need some additional support with what they're navigating today.

Sebastian Rusk 7:56

Yeah. And when did you start doing that?

Jim Morris 7:59

A little over a year ago. Wow. So it's newer. It's newer. Uh I absolutely love it. Um, you know, it's great to have an intimate um relationship with someone as you're extracting their genius and interviewing them and really diving into the details. And, you know, on a call right before this, I was with a client and he's like, Jim, you did such a great job at uncovering the connective tissue amongst my story to the skill sets that I've learned and I help people learn at a high level today. And that was like one of the best compliments I could get, right? Because I listened, and that's a core value of ours is human touch publishing listens. We we listen intentively, and we draw those connective tissues and the conclusions from your truths, those inner stories, those inner realities that you've lived and ultimately have learned.

Sebastian Rusk 8:57

And what were you doing prior to the book game?

Jim Morris 9:01

I owned a marketing company, been doing a lot of keynote speaking. Um, I owned a consulting company prior to that. Prior to that, I owned um a frozen beverage company. So this is my sixth business uh over the last 10 years. And I really feel that all of those organizations and um companies I've built, whether I bought a company and and sold it or built it from the ground up, has allowed me the skill set to really understand people, to understand what the goal is, to extract the details in the story, um, and then also be able to position their book for bestseller and to market it effectively. You know, whether that's content creation or PR of getting on, you know, podcasts and stages and you know, news articles and uh magazines, you know, it's all things that I've lived and done myself to grow my personal brand. And especially with my book, you know, that I released uh uh a couple months ago being number one bestseller on Amazon and you know, getting a um opportunity to be in Times Square on a billboard with my book and and some of those things. So it's been really um it's been really fun to be able to leverage the tools that I've learned over time and really help people as they put out their book, launch it, and uh ultimately get it in the hands of those who need it.

Sebastian Rusk 10:26

Do you think the world of self-publishing books is starting to be a little, I don't know, the the curtain's starting to be pulled back a little bit with the rest of the world knowing, you know, it's clearly not a and again, I've written two one with a hybrid, one with self-publishing with some assistance of a course I took. So I'm I'm one of the you know self-publishing world, if you will, uh, individuals, but I I I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are being in the business. Now, you've got two types of book deals. You have a major publisher that is coming to you and going to give you a significant advance based on the guesstimate on the amount of books that you're gonna be able to get out there and sell, a major publishing deal. Um, they're not doing much to help you market it at all. It's just their name attached to that process. It's your name, in fact, that gets out there and sells the book. And then you have self-publishing. That's anybody on the planet can literally say, I'm gonna write a book, start writing the book, go through Amazon, get it published, uh, have an Amazon bestseller status. Um and the book's out there. What what what what just your opinion? I'm just curious. Being a peer, I'm one of you. It's not like I'm taking jabs here because I've done it twice on here, but the more that I do it, I'm in the middle of my third book seriously questioning whether or not I actually want to do this again. Because my thought process is everybody wants to be an entrepreneur now. Everybody wants to write a book and be a speaker and be on stages and do all the things, right? But are all these individuals that are doing these things the individuals that should be doing these things? So I know that's kind of a loaded question on here, but you know, I want I I like to dig into the story a little bit more to for my own understanding, but also for our listeners as well. I know that was a lot there. Oh, so we can start wherever you want.

Jim Morris 12:20

It's a great question, Sebastian. And and I I think that you are very um visible to what you're seeing, and there's a lot of truth behind it, right? So let me break that down. When I started speaking four years ago, everybody and their mother wanted to be a speaker, right? And um, I can tell you that 95% of those people don't speak on stages four years later. Right, right. And I think it's the same with the book industry. Self-publishing, you can go and you can do your own metadata, you can go and you can publish it and figure out your own keywords and write your own descriptions, and you can put a book online on Amazon, you know, the same way that you can get up and do a speech in front of someone. You can also have AI write it if you really want to be a real poser. But the reality of it is, is one, is that a good speech that has the positive impact you're seeking on the audience? And then two, is that a good book that has a good book hook that keeps them flipping pages that allows someone to actually navigate and read the book, right? And I think those are two drastically different things. Um, a lot of people go the self-publishing route with no knowledge. Um, they're you know, book cover is fuzzy looking, it's not flattened pieces. Yeah. And it's, you know, it's 37 pages, right? And and you can do all that, but for what point? And and some people we talk to want that, and they just want to put author on their LinkedIn, right? And and and that's one route you can go. Um, or you know, with a lot of our clients, they want to really impact people. They want to not only just give a keynote that opens the mind, but give them a manual and a blueprint within the book to go further and deeper around their expertise, right? So I think there's two different options. I think um, you know, a lot of folks will go and self-publish just to be call themselves an author. A lot of folks will use AI and hyperbole stories, and there's no real emotion or truth. There's no arc of the uh in the book, there's no comeback, there's no hero's journey, there's there's no real hook, right? Some people can have a great book and a terrible title because they didn't do a comparative market analysis and realize that you know they shouldn't call their book Let Them because Mel Robbins is called Let Them and she sells millions of copies every freaking week, right? Like and there's so I think there is there's a um there's an expertise to doing it and doing it right. And there is a approach where you can just get a book up on it on Amazon. You know, there's over 11,000 books being published on Amazon a day, and on average, only 17% of people actually read books they purchase. So you're up against a very challenging market. There's statistics around this. So if you don't do it with a strategy, with an expert, with someone who can has done it and knows how to how to run the play, then you're just putting a book online. And you know, if you don't understand the algorithm and how reviews work and you know how to market yourself and position your product or service with the book and QR codes and free gifts and on all these different strategies, then you've got a bunch of words on a piece of paper with a title and a cover. And if that's your goal, great, you can do it all yourself and crush it.

unknown 15:54

Right.

Jim Morris 15:54

If your goal is to create impact and do it with an expert and do it right, then reach out to Human Touch Publishing.

Sebastian Rusk 16:02

Hey, so um yeah, do that, people. I'm gonna make sure I put Jim's uh contact information and all of his links in the show notes. That's the description of this podcast episode in case you're wondering what the hell a show note is. But yeah, I I think that there's a uh a vast majority of people out there, it's kind of like the strategy of podcast podcasts that we teach, which is start a podcast so you can interview people that you want to do business with. Have some people heard about the strategy? Yes. Do some people care that they've heard about the strategy? No. But it blows some people's minds. I have a conversation like, I've never even thought about that. So if I went and told someone my book's an Amazon bestseller, you got 50% that are gonna be drastically excited, and I think the other 50% are they gonna roll their eyes and go, okay, this this here we go again. So it'll be interesting to see how it all uh pans out. Uh I think that uh we're still living in an age that everyone's sick of the influencer, everyone's sick of the guru, and we're craving real authentic human connection through not only the content that we're consuming, but uh the people that we do business with, the people that we interact, the events that we choose to go to, the speakers that we choose to consume the their content, and you know, it it will eventually all come out in the wash, and the people that are still standing, I believe, are still standing. I I have had the privilege of of of uh blazing the trail that I'm on. I blaze a lot of things, but trails uh are are are the main thing. And um, you know, being able to this this journey has been about who I get to become in the process. Jim Rohn tone told Tony Robbins one time, you know, you become a millionaire for who you get to become as a human being in the process of becoming a millionaire. And I never forgot that. Who do we get to become through all of this? Plus, I write books, I speak on stages, I do comedy, and and and and those are all things that of course naturally would stroke one's ego. However, it's also my responsibility. I'm a taker if I don't tell if you can't afford to hire me, Jim, if you want to start a podcast, and I gotta but I'm holding it all in because unless you got a budget, I'm not interested. It makes me a taker. Instead of saying, hey, you know what, Jim, you're not a fit to work with us. But I want to send you a copy of my book, I want to send you to my to my YouTube channel, I want to add you to my newsletter, and I want to give you as many resources as I have to help you get to wherever it is that you want to be. And I, if you're listening to this right now, drop your ego if you're thinking about writing a book. Drop your ego if you're thought if you're thinking about becoming a speaker. It is not about you, it is quite the opposite. It's everything, it has everything to do with someone who actually needs you. Because guess what? I needed that person. Jim, you needed that person. We'll continue to need that process. So rant over uh on this portion of the episode on here, but instead of, you know, I I've been very intentional about making sure we're asking the right questions in these interviews and conversations that we get to have with people so people can really understand. We can shed the light a little bit on the reality. If you're thinking about writing a book, write a book, but make sure your intentions are aligned with where they need to be. It's in service. I'll never forget, Jim. I think I told you this on the golf course that day. When I wrote my first book, the publisher said, You're not writing this book to sell copies and make money. You're writing this book because it's your new business card. People will throw away white papers, they'll throw away whatever junk you want to send them. People don't throw away books. They might give them away, they might donate them, but here's what you're looking for a prospect that you met with, or you walked in, you gave them a book, you signed it, you took a picture with them, and they put the book on their bookshelf. And when they're thinking about launching a digital strategy or thinking about launching a podcast, guess what? You're top of mind because of the book. You know? So anyway, rant over. I'm not the guest on this episode, Jim is, but it's my podcast, damn it. So I'll say what I want.

Jim Morris 20:26

Let's go. We we wrote a book, my business partner and I called The Seven Figure Author to prove this strategy. And we gave out 50 books and we brought in three new clients. And we we wanted to show the strategy of you don't have to sell 20,000, 50,000, 75,000 copies. But if you get the book in the right 100 hands, and in our case, we only sent it to 50 people, then you can drive revenue to your business because that book shows that you're the expert. So when you do a follow-up call, when you reach out to them and you book a discovery sales meeting, they've already got your book. They already know your heart, your story, a little bit about your personality, your voice. And you've now given them something that shows the expertise in the field that you were potentially servicing them in. Right. And it's the same way with this book, my personal book, Connect or Die, How to Survive AI, right? I send that out to event planners, and they're like, oh, this guy isn't on the human connection train because it's popular now. He did a TED talk on this a couple years ago. He started speaking on this several years ago. He learned this at an early age when his parents were addicted to drugs, what connection felt like, what disconnection felt like. And how I wrote that book strategically is to position myself to get more keynotes, workshops, and facilitate experiences around connection, around teaching people to be a connected leader in the workforce, in the business, in the corporation that they service and live in. So yeah, I would agree with you 100%, is there it's much deeper than a than a business card because it shows who you are as a human in a book and also positions your expertise within that strategic field. But if you're gonna write a book to you know, sell a million copies, then I would advise you to have a $500,000 marketing budget, which most people don't. Get 100 copies to the right 100 people. Use AI for that, not to write your manuscript to find those people. So that's what we position our authors and we guide and advise them and get them on podcasts and all that fun stuff as well, because we don't want to just leave you on the curb with a book on Amazon. I want to help you get it into the right hands of the right people so you can service them with your expertise so they know about you, they know your heart, they know who you are ultimately.

Sebastian Rusk 22:45

Jim, great to see you again, man. Thanks for taking some time out of your day to hang out with me for a few minutes and help people better understand the world of actually writing a book, more importantly, why they actually should be doing so. I really enjoyed uh our conversation. Any final thoughts for our listeners?

Jim Morris 22:59

One of my biggest beliefs in life, and I say this on stage, whether I'm talking about connection or writing a book or storytelling or whatnot, is I believe you cannot be the greatest version of yourself by yourself. So drop the ego, get with the right people who can help you conquer and make your dreams come true. Whether that's writing a book, whether that's speaking, whether that's launching a new app, whether that's launching a podcast, you've always wanted to get on a podcast and host and meet people. Um, reach out to the people that can help you. Sebastian with a podcast, Jim Morris with writing a book. And um, you know, I think that that is something that I've learned over time that has been explosive to my career, has been explosive to my opportunities, and like you said earlier, crushes that ego. We all need a little bit of help from our friends.

Sebastian Rusk 23:49

Yes, sir. Great final thoughts. Thanks again, Jim. Thank you, man. Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story Podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Be sure to appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, launchlive.com studios.