Stacy: Welcome. Welcome to this week’s episode. It’s just me this week, a solo episode. I’m trying to do more of these because I know that it’s nice. When I listen to podcasts, I actually usually prefer the ones where the host does them just by themselves. And I have to say, I really love having guests on, but I also really love an opportunity to just connect with you. I know I’m due for a Life Portugal update. I try to do those every, I don’t know, six months or so. So I will do that in an upcoming episode, but just really quickly.

Stacy: Things are nice here. It’s spring. We’re kind of easing into the beautiful sunny weather, although it’s been really rainy actually for a couple of weeks, it’s been weird. In the Algarve here where we live, it can be really rainy and moody in the morning, and then the sun is shining and it’s beautiful in the afternoon. And that’s been what it’s been like a bit here, but a lot of rain, but also a lot of sun, and it’s starting to warm up. It’s starting to get into that, like, spring summer vibe. So I’m really enjoying that. This past week, as of this recording, I spoke at the Women in Publishing Summit and I’m gearing up to emcee a very large event in Europe for entrepreneurs. I say very large. I guess it’s not thousands, but it’s hundreds of entrepreneurs from across Europe.

Stacy: So it’s been really busy over here with speaking with coaching. I’ve been in the last bit of this current cohort of my program idea to draft. It’s been so fun. I love this cohort. We’re having a great time together. It’s been really exciting seeing them finishing their drafts and really taking those next steps toward authorhood. So lots and lots of good stuff happening on the business front, on the living in Portugal front. And I guess the other thing that I’ll add before I get into this week’s topic, which is all around writing a book to grow your business. And I will get there, but I will add a little just like personal perspective update. It’s been very strange kind of watching US news from afar. And when we moved here, we didn’t move here to leave the US Per se.

Stacy: I mean, it was part of our motivation, for sure. We saw some things that were not ideal that, you know, weren’t sure we wanted to be part of our family life. But ultimately the motivation was adventure. It was creating a life that we loved in a place that we chose. And so it’s just been interesting being abroad. Now we’ve been in Portugal coming up this summer, it will be six years, and seeing all the stuff that’s happening back home, it’s been. It’s been surreal because I feel like I’m experiencing it, but I’m not experiencing it at the same time. So as an American citizen, obviously, I care about my country. I care about the people in my country. I want goodness for the US And I feel it, but I’m also not there. So it’s been a really weird kind of experience being abroad.

Stacy: And I know that a lot of people I know that are living abroad are feeling that way too. Well, I should say when you move abroad, you kind of feel like your heart is in two places. And. Yeah, so it’s been kind of interesting. So that’s been kind of like the strange things circling around family life, work life. And I’m trying to kind of reconcile that experience here. My choice in all of this has been to be informed, use my voice where. Where appropriate, you know, where I can, and also acknowledge that ultimately my focus and my peace and my presence is an act of resistance. And so being really mindful of my attention and really working within what I can control, what can I control, what is within my circle of control.

Stacy: So that has been my focus, and that was a little tangent, but here we are. This is what solo episodes are all about, Right? Okay. Today I want to talk to you about the idea of writing a book to grow your business, to grow your brand or your business. And this is what a lot of my clients come to me for. Not all. Some of them come because they just really have this mission to write this book and share their message. A lot of my clients come to me, and their mission is just as important to them as these others that I mentioned. But they also have a book that is related to their business growth. Most of them have businesses that are related to their missions, too. So there’s a lot of reciprocity at all of the efforts they make. We know.

Stacy: You know, I’m sure the benefits that author status brings you. You have doors opened for you that maybe weren’t open before. You have opportunities available to you that maybe weren’t available before. You have something out in the world spreading your story, your message, your mission for you. Most of the time, I should say all the time, you are not there when people are reading your book. So this book is really out in the world, spreading your information, your message, your story for you. And that is really powerful. So having this thing out working on your behalf is incredibly powerful for a lead generator for your business.

Stacy: It is incredible because when people meet you through your book, and especially if your book is connected to the work you do in the world and they’re, they get value out of the book, they enjoy the book, they feel connected to you through the book. That is just another thing out in the world driving people toward you, driving attention on your business and your brand. So we all of these things. We also know that as an author, your status gets elevated. So whereas maybe in the past you pitched an event as a workshop presenter, maybe now you’re pitching as a keynote speaker. By the way, workshops are great too, and you can use those very effectively as ways to get new clients. But I’m just saying that this book can elevate your opportunity and really open bigger stages for you.

Stacy: So I think we know all of those things. I think, you know, we see authors out there doing their thing on those stages and this is probably not new information for you. What I would encourage you to think about beyond the things that we know is the kind of internal value that authorhood brings. And this is true if you engage in journey of authorhood. So I have to just make a little side note that there are programs out there. There are courses, there are quote unquote experts who will say, just write your book in 30 days, get it to market in 60 days, like literally telling people this.

Stacy: I wish that I could take like some kind of like comb to the Internet and just clear it of all of these people because not only are they not helping bring good books to the world and not true experts, because a true expert would not be coaching people to write just like fast, bad books. But actually I feel that it’s robbing people of the experience of authorhood. And so if you have maybe fallen into one of those programs and discovered it didn’t work for you, or maybe you’re in one, want you to feel called out or judged at all because it’s really attractive to go, oh, I’ve had this goal forever and I want to get it done quickly and oh, I could just do it this way. So no judgment, but I’m just going to say I, I do not like those programs.

Stacy: Please. This is my word of caution. So when I, what I’m about to tell you about this journey, that does not include the fast route. Now also, I do know some Authors who are very fast and effective writers. They’re in their own category. They’re superhuman. We’ll put them aside. For most of us, the journey of authorhood is a longer, stretchier process where you engage deeply. You are in really deep introspection and really kind of digging within yourself. You are wrestling, you are pushing to really reach clarity in your messaging. And the beauty of this is that through that process, you uncover things that you never would have uncovered if you hadn’t had really engaged in this journey. So as an example, maybe you come up with clearer language to be able to describe something to your reader.

Stacy: Maybe you pull together stories in a more cohesive manner so that you can really communicate what you want to say effectively. Maybe if your book is your personal story, you are able to distill what really matters in telling that story so that you can really make the impact you want to make. I often see that clients will develop new frameworks. So actually, the framework exists often, but it’s just how we package it that allows us to kind of call it a framework. So oftentimes, they’re taking maybe years, a decade plus of their practice in their field, and through the process of writing a book, they’re able to put it into something that is memorable, that’s usable, that’s digestible, that’s repeatable, and create this framework through which they can teach.

Stacy: And that framework then gets put into their business, and they use that with their clients, or it gets turned into a course, and they’re able to build a new revenue stream, or it gets turned into a keynote or a workshop. So there’s all those things that through this process of introspection, through this process of driving clarity, you’re able to pull out things that you can now use for your business. So the clients that I work with, the authors, I have the honor of supporting in their journeys, they are starting with their vision. And that vision drives the book that they write. And taking the time to also clarify that vision helps them get clearer in their entire business. It helps them anchor. It helps them make decisions both on the book and also in their lives and in their businesses. So it’s a book.

Stacy: When I work with people, our end goal is this completed draft. But actually, there is so much around this that fuels growth in one’s business and in one’s personal life as well. The other thing that I’ll say is that writing a book is hard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It is difficult, it is long, and it requires you to dig deep and to keep pushing forward and driving momentum even when you lose some steam. And there is something just, I think inherently, what’s the word I’m looking for? Like you’re building self trust, you’re building resilience. And these are things that you need in order to grow your business. Last thing that I’ll say about this, just this idea about a book to grow your business is that your book then becomes a sustainable tool, a sustainability tool, revenue generator for your business.

Stacy: I mentioned earlier that this book can be doing good work out in the world for you for years to come. And now when you’re, when you become an author, you have this thing that you can send potential clients that is getting shared. You have no idea. But people are gifting it, they’re buying it, they’re sharing it. And over time it increases in value as more people read it and love it and share it. This is also why it’s really important to write a good book. You don’t have to write a Pulitzer Prize winning book, right? But you need to write a good book that you’re proud of that is going to be loved by readers, shared by them, used by them. And that’s why again, don’t rush the process. Engage in the journey. Really lean into to that experience of authorhood.

Stacy: If you are listening to this episode before March 28, 2025, I’m going to be doing a free masterclass all around how to use a book to grow your business. And I’m going to be touching on some of the things I just discussed. But I’ll be going deeper. I’ll be sharing more on this mindset of business growth, some ways that a book can be used to grow your business, and some tips and advice to help you get started. You can join me at this webinar at stacyennis.com/booktoscale I’ll drop that link in the show notes again, it’s free. You can sign up and get access to this live webinar. If you can’t attend, you can always catch the replay. But I always give something really valuable for those who attend live and I always cut it out of the replay.

Stacy: So I encourage you to show up because I always give a gift. I do something to support your journey just for showing up. Our time is our most valuable asset. And when you give me your time in a live training and live masterclass, I want to give back to you and make sure that I’m doing what I can to support you. So Again, it’s stacyennis.com/booktoscale this is all around how to write a book to grow your business. I’d love to see you there. I hope that this episode was useful for you. This is a real shorty. Like I said earlier, I’m kind of. I feel like I’m running around with my hair on fire right now and fitting all the things in.

Stacy: But I wanted to make time to record this episode for you, to connect with you, to say hello, to let you know that I am going to be putting together more of these solo episodes and also to let you know I have some really amazing guests coming up. I have gotten so many pitches for this podcast. It’s been incredible to see. Now that this podcast has been around for like a long time now, I gotta, I don’t even know what year I started. I think it was maybe like 2018, 2017. And I was pretty inconsistent for the first couple of years. But the last few years, couple years, I’ve been publishing every week. And so now that this podcast is growing, we’re getting more reviews, we’re getting a lot more listeners. We are getting so many pitches, which means we have amazing guests.

Stacy: And I’m really excited to get to share future episodes with you, to continue to support you on this mission of the podcast, which is helping you live a life that is not just better, but beyond better. Of course, that includes my. My favorite topic, which is writing and books. And I really believe that writing a book is the catalyst to that beautiful life that you want, that you love. So I’m glad you’re here. I have so much goodness to come again. If you want to join me on March 28, 2025, you can sign up at stacyennis.com/booktoscale and we will put that in the show notes. Thank you so much for joining me. I always love connecting with you. If we’re not on Instagram together, come find me @stacyennis on Instagram.

Stacy: I’m also on LinkedIn at Stacy Ennis and I’m really active on social. So those are really great places for us to connect outside of the pod. And I have to always say thank you to Rita Dominguez for her production of this podcast. She keeps me accountable for recording. She sent me a nudge this week. Hey, where’s the episode? Don’t forget. And she produces and fixes all my mess ups when I record these episodes. I’m so thankful for her effort and attention and help growing this podcast and reaching more listeners with the message of living a life that is beyond better.

Stacy: If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you could either share it with a friend, maybe that friend that’s been thinking about writing a book, or leave me a review and rating it truly makes a huge difference for me in being able to reach more listeners. And I will be back with you before you know it.