Crystal Daye – Ways to Build a Business Around Your Book
Nonfiction Authors Association Podcast | December 28, 2022
“And that’s the most important part about any revenue stream–it’s not about thinking about, ‘How can I make more money?’ It’s more, ‘How can I serve these people, and ensure that the solution that I’m providing for them is beneficial, and they’re willing to pay for it?’”
-Crystal Daye
About Crystal Daye
Crystal Daye is an Award-winning and Best Selling author, Kingdom Entrepreneur, International Speaker, Certified Christian Coach and COO of DayeLight Publishers Limited (a faith-based publishing and consultancy company committed to helping aspiring authors through the process of writing, publishing and marketing their books).
As a Book Coach and Business Strategist, she has helped hundreds of authors and leaders to bring their author’s dream to reality so they can impact lives. She provides marketing consultancy services to new and emerging solopreneurs who want to grow their brand online and offline so they can create consistent revenue.
You can find Crystal at crystaldaye.com and dayelightpublishers.com, and at all the usual social media sites with the handles @crystalsdaye and @dayelightpublishers.
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Show Notes
Links
- Crystal Daye’s Website
- Crystal Daye on Facebook
- Crystal Daye on Instagram
- http://dayelightpublishers.com/
In this episode…
- What it means to build a business around a book.
- What it means to grow your impact as an author.
- Types of revenue streams that authors can start adding to their businesses.
- The difference between coaching and consulting.
- Tips for starting a coaching and consulting business.
- The benefits of a coaching or consulting certification program.
- Alternatives to speaking as a revenue stream for authors.
- How to present digital products and companion guides with your books.
- Building membership programs into your business.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to the interview series for the Nonfiction Authors Association. Today’s session is with Crystal Daye and we will be talking about ways to build a business with your book. I’m Carla King, your host, and I’m happy to have you with us today. This interview will last only 30 minutes and you can find the replay on our Nonfiction Authors Association website and social media platforms including YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
This week enjoy a Top Replay from the archives.
Crystal Daye is an Award-winning and Best Selling author, Kingdom Entrepreneur, International Speaker, Certified Christian Coach and COO of DayeLight Publishers Limited (a faith-based publishing and consultancy company committed to helping aspiring authors through the process of writing, publishing and marketing their books).
As a Book Coach and Business Strategist, she has helped hundreds of authors and leaders to bring their author’s dream to reality so they can impact lives. She provides marketing consultancy services to new and emerging solopreneurs who want to grow their brand online and offline so they can create consistent revenue.
You can find Crystal at crystaldaye.com and dayelightpublishers.com, and at all the usual social media sites with the handles @crystalsdaye and @dayelightpublishers.
Stephanie Chandler 1:35
Hey, Crystal. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Crystal Daye 1:38
Hi Stephanie. I am so excited to be here and to be a part of this amazing association.
Stephanie Chandler 1:45
Oh, you are awesome. Thank you. I am so glad we’re talking about this topic. I think it’s more timely than it’s ever been before. So can we start by asking you–what do you mean by building a business around a book?
Crystal Daye 1:59
Of course. So here’s the thing–I do believe one, as an author, you’re already an entrepreneur. That’s one of the things that we want to get very clear, especially when you’re an indie author, as you call it. So even if you get a publishing company to assist you, if you don’t have a contract, per se, with a traditional company, you know that you have to be operating on your book as an entrepreneur, because you’d have to be responsible for selling it and marketing it. The idea of building a business around a book is not only about just using the book to build a revenue stream. When I think about building a business around a book, it’s using that book to create multiple streams of income, and possibly even grow your impact that that book could have, because of the different streams of income that will come from that one book idea, or that one book that you have published. So when I think about building a business, one is–understanding first, as an author, you are already an entrepreneur, because you’re getting money. But also, how can you create revenue streams from this book?
Stephanie Chandler 3:21
I love that you said, ‘Grow your impact.’ What do you mean by that?
Crystal Daye 3:26
When I’m thinking about a book–even if you have a dream to write a book, whatever your goal or motive to write that book is–the truth is, you want the book to go out there and bless people. You want it to inspire people. If you’re writing more, for example, a fiction book per se, then you’re entertaining. But in our case, as nonfiction, we’re either trying to inspire, or we’re trying to educate people. So when you think about impact, the truth is, you want whatever book that you’re writing, that when the reader reads it, it has some kind of effect on them. It’s not one of those books that they’ll just read and just forget about. No. I’m sure every author, once you write a book, the idea is, ‘Okay, once the reader reads it, it will leave something with them.’
Stephanie Chandler 4:17
Absolutely. That’s one of my number one reasons I love nonfiction so much. I’m so glad you said that. So what are some types of revenue streams that authors can begin adding to their businesses?
Crystal Daye 4:29
What I’m saying right now is not new, because this is something that you guys have been teaching for a while. But in this time, as you said, sometimes, as authors, we know what to do. But it’s times like these–when a crisis is coming along with what’s going on in the world–when we are now almost challenged to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to take a step.’ So when I think about some revenue streams, you, of course, have speaking. You have membership groups that are actually growing right now. You have the coaching, but also understanding coaching is different from consultancy. You are the training model. As a speaker, you can also just use your books to do products–additional products with your book. These are some of the ways that you can build different revenue streams with your book.
Stephanie Chandler 5:27
I also believe there’s a big distinction between coaching and consulting. Can you explain what you mean by that?
Crystal Daye 5:35
With coaching–the ‘Whole life coaching’ and definition really is to help persons to move from one place to another. Now one of the things with coaching is that it’s a partnership, where you come along with somebody to pull out what is already in them. So it’s not necessarily to teach them what you know. It’s more to partner with them to help them to get from–what is it that they desire to achieve? And then you will use, of course, your wisdom and your knowledge to help them to get to where they are. With consultancy, though–when you’re hiring a consultant, you hire an expert upfront. So you want them to teach you–what is it that you did to accomplish that, right? And it’s why I believe both are very important. And sometimes it becomes interchangeable. Because as a coach, sometimes you find that–okay, if you find that the client is stuck a certain way, you can make a certain suggestion. While understanding, with coaching, it’s about making a suggestion. I’m not trying to dictate, what is it that the client should do? So that’s basically the most important distinction when it comes down to coaching. Again, it’s about partnering with the client. While consultancy–most of the time–has to do with the teaching aspect, and ensuring that your expertise is on the forefront.
Stephanie Chandler 6:58
Great description. And what tips do you have on starting a coaching or consulting business?
Crystal Daye 7:04
As I mentioned, I think that you can sometimes use them interchangeably, depending. Or you can decide to do them separately. I teach better with examples, so I’m going to give you an example. For example, you have written a book–a nonfiction book for mothers. And it’s about mothers trying to do self care. You know, mothers–because they’re always trying to do everything for everybody else, they don’t do self care. So your book is helping mothers. I’m just making this up as I go. So your book is to help mothers to find that aspect of self care. Now, as a coach, if you decide to do a coaching business, or a coaching program with your book, what you’ll find is that you try to find out a lot about that client. And then, while you will be using that book as a guide–to give them different ideas of how they could implement this self care–what you’ll actually be doing with a client is helping them create their own path. For example, in your book, you might say, ‘Okay, there are 10 ways that you do self care.’ They find that–okay, for them, two of the 10 techniques work best. And then you go ahead and help them customize their own self care plan.
With the consultancy aspect–again, you’re just teaching them. So a lot of consultancy is about teaching them, sharing the different expertise, and trying to–most of the time–help them to follow a part that’s similar. It’s not always the cas. So you can–as I said–you can actually interchange both. Using your book, right now, you can choose to do group coaching, where you have persons with group coaching, most likely have to find persons that have the same struggle, and then you use your book as that guide to help them customize. And of course, if you decide to go the consultancy aspect, it could be that you are probably going to, for example, a mom’s group. And you are not customizing some kind of a plan to share with that moms group, or that group of moms, of different techniques to self care. I hope that made sense.
Stephanie Chandler 9:31
I think it does. And I’m also thinking about–a lot of authors I’ve talked to have resistance about hanging up the shingle that says ‘I’m a consultant,’ or ‘I’m a coach,’ unless they’ve gone through certification programs. I personally don’t believe that you have to acquire certifications in most cases, but I do think there are some benefits. I noticed you’ve had some certifications. What do you think, Crystal, are some of the benefits of going after a coaching or consulting certification program?
Crystal Daye 10:05
I think that, with the consultancy aspect of it, you’re able to actually navigate not doing any kind of training. If you decide to call yourself–for example, right now, in the whole coaching space, you find people calling themselves ‘strategists’–so they try not to use the word ‘coach,’ or ‘consultant,’ just because of that. But I do believe as a coach, it’s good to get some level of exposure. And training is not so much about the certificate aspect, but just to help you to understand the difference. And the truth is, with coaching, you have different techniques that you use in order to maximize the results for the client. So it’s not so much about, ‘Oh, because I get a certification, it makes me qualified.’ It’s really learning–it’s almost like if you’re learning to self publish a book yourself. There are certain techniques that you want–you want to learn how to format properly. Similarly, with coaching, there are certain techniques–listening techniques, powerful questioning techniques, affirmation techniques–that you are able to learn–that you’re able to operate at a higher level. But I don’t think it makes you less qualified if you don’t. It’s definitely encouraged to get certain training.
Stephanie Chandler 11:29
You know, I was actually talking to a coach friend about this. And she said she had gone through a program and said that she liked that it gave her some structure, as well. So in addition to learning techniques she could use, it helped her figure out what the structure of her business would be. So I thought that was a really good example. Crystal–speaking is a popular revenue stream and route for a lot of authors. But of course, this is an industry that’s been hit pretty hard with our recent events. What are some alternatives to speaking?
Crystal Daye 12:06
So one alternative is what I’m doing right now–this interview, right? And what you’ll find is that–I’ve been listening to a lot of the speaker podcasts recently. Because, as you said, I currently live in Jamaica–not sure if people would know that. But I currently live in Kingston, Jamaica, and I spoke at least 5-6 times per month before [the pandemic]. And of course, since March, I have not been able to do any speaking engagements. That means I personally had to be finding ways.
Now one of the things that you find is that there are many opportunities online. And one of the things–while you’re unable to necessarily get direct P from speaking engagements, it’s a great time for you to build credibility and your visibility online. So some alternatives–of course, pitch into podcasts. If you have books, you can do research, because podcasts hosts are always looking for new and innovative stories. So you can actually do some research and pitch to some podcasts. Also, reaching out to different associations–similar to what I’m doing now, where I’m able to share my knowledge and then offer my services to persons that maybe need them.
Also, of course, live streaming. If you follow Social Media Examiner, you’ll find that the statistics are still showing that persons are just not utilizing the video. Video can be scary, because I struggle with the whole video initially. But I do believe that you can get started, even if it’s just Facebook Live or Instagram Live. And again, imagine you put together something–even if it’s some five minute snippets of your book, and put a link–I believe it can definitely build engagement around your book. So these are some of the alternatives, I believe, that we can definitely as authors tap into right now.
Stephanie Chandler 14:18
I love that. Also, we’ve been doing more webinars, and I think those can be a really effective method. Are you doing those yourself?
Crystal Daye 14:27
Yes, I’ve definitely been doing far more webinars. Which, I personally say that, even while this is very sad, it’s also time for us to be innovative. Because I’ve been wanting to do more webinars, more lives, and I’ve just not had the time. And this has now actually forced me to, ‘Okay, this is what you need to do.’ And one of the things that you are able to do with these webinars and live’s–you’re able to save them and start a YouTube channel. So normally, you’d have to buy big equipment to try to have this fancy YouTube channel. They can actually just save those videos, save those webinars, put them on YouTube. And also, even after this, you are able to refer people to your YouTube, where you are being seen as an expert in that area.
Stephanie Chandler 15:18
I love that. I’ve actually been kind of amused by watching the local newscasters–and even celebrities–going online and doing Zoom meetings, and even just recording from home. And so many of them are ill prepared for this–they’re still wearing their earbuds while they’re on screen. And that just kind of blows my mind, because it’s really not that complicated. Just get yourself a good–I have a Logitech web camera, it was, like, 60 bucks. And that thing works great. It’s got a built-in microphone. It’s not that complicated to get these things going, really. So what about online courses, and things like that? Do you see that as a good opportunity?
Crystal Daye 16:07
I do believe that, now that people are home, they are a lot more available to do courses, and buy courses. So I do believe that that’s also a great way to tap into another revenue stream. I think–because I’ve done a few courses–the thing with courses is that you have to start thinking about how you get these courses out in terms of promotion. So when you’re thinking about a course, I would say try to do some kind of research to see what’s out there, and how you can offer a different perspective on whatever is out there. So that when you put it out there, it’s not like everybody else’s. But I do believe that courses, right now, are a great way to tap into another revenue source–but they can also be another speaking opportunity for you.
Stephanie Chandler 17:12
Yeah, to reach your audience. I agree. I think that’s great. But let’s talk a little bit about digital products, and maybe companion products with books. What are some suggestions that you have for those types of things?
Crystal Daye 17:26
So mostly, when you think about digital products, one of the things that you think about is workbooks. So depending on the kind of book that you’ve written, having a workbook is a great companion guide. It can be an upsell. What I found very interesting, too, with the industry of nonfiction–a normal nonfiction book is, for example, like $15. When you sell an ebook–digital ebook–you’re actually able to price it a bit more. So you could go like $25, right? And of course, to produce this digital ebook, it actually can be a little bit more affordable than to do your natural nonfiction book. So that is definitely something to take in consideration.
Now, I do believe that, right now, we know there’s not a lot of shipping going on, right? You can think about other products with your books–whether t-shirts or mugs. Depending on how you’re positioning your brand as a nonfiction author, these things–probably a planner, if I gave you the example of the mother with the self care. If you wrote that book, doing some kind of a self care planner for moms–that is an example of how you could actually do a digital product around it. And again, a company and products–these are different things that you can actually tap into.
Stephanie Chandler 18:56
I love planners and workbooks, firstly. I collect them, and I’m really picky about them. And I’m actually finishing up work on a workbook right now. So I have long been a fan of workbooks. And I strongly recommend–especially for nonfiction authors who are teaching something, or have some sort of method–I think workbooks are just a fantastic upsell and companion product for what you’re doing.
Crystal Daye 19:23
Another thing that came to mind, too, is audio. Because–depending on the book that you have–you could do some kind of audio training. And you could do it as a free audio training that–every person that purchased this book, they have to sign up for an email list, right? So when you’re thinking about building a business around a book, I want to tell you that it’s important to start looking at an email list, right? Because you now want to build a relationship around people that are interested in this topic, so that, when you’re coming up with whatever other stream of income, you already have an audience outside of your social media.
Stephanie Chandler 20:04
For sure. That email list is your best asset–I really believe that. Crystal, you also mention membership programs. Tell us what you mean by that.
Crystal Daye 20:15
Membership groups are great when you find people that are similar, that desire to achieve similar goals. So you have many membership platforms right now–a lot of people still use Facebook. So with the idea of membership–it can be long term, where you’re paying, for example–similar to what we do for the Nonfiction Author’s Association–we pay our annual fee. As the author, you could actually have a Facebook group where people are interacting, or you can have your membership group on the platform itself.
You can also think about monthly topics around what the audience would need help to grow, and personal development–not just business development. I do believe that you can tap into membership groups, as long as you can find an audience that is interested. And the thing with membership groups, too–people are willing to pay high value for these things, if you’re able to show them what is the value of being a part of it. And that’s the most important part about any revenue stream–it’s not about thinking about, ‘How can I make more money?’ It’s more, ‘How can I serve these people, and ensure that the solution that I’m providing for them is beneficial, and they’re willing to pay for it?’
Stephanie Chandler 21:53
I love that. I think it’s a great model, as well. I’m a big believer in building your own tribe,and your community. And if you’re going to do that anyway, why not offer some sort of membership group opportunity, where you bring your community together? And like you said, you could have an annual fee, a monthly fee, you could have a combination of both. And honestly, this is how the Nonfiction Authors Association was born–there was just a need. I saw a need–nothing like this existed. And so I always encourage authors–look in your space. What’s missing? And what can you do to fill that space? Crystal, this has been so interesting. I actually didn’t even realize that you were in Jamaica. What time is it there right now?
Crystal Daye 22:38
It’s currently 1:27, thereabouts. So I think you are one hour behind me, I believe.
Stephanie Chandler 22:47
Oh, is that all? Okay, good. Did not want it to be 7am.
Crystal Daye 22:52
PM.
Stephanie Chandler 22:55
Very cool. Well, tell our listeners what services you offer, and how they can connect with you.
Crystal Daye 23:02
I’m a big social media person. So you can always follow me on Instagram and Facebook. And please just hit me up in the DM and say you listened–you found me on the Nonfiction Association audio training. I would love to connect. So of course social media. Also my website is crystal crystaldaye.com. My name is Crystal Daye, as in today. Also, I do operate a publishing company–a faith based publishing company. So we do offer a one stop shop for guiding you. You can even come with an idea of your book, and we will just help to coach you. So that’s how I actually use my coaching degree–my coaching certificate–I coach people through getting their books done. That’s the service I provide.
I do enjoy marketing a lot. So I do help people to think of creative ideas on how they can increase their income through different marketing strategies online and offline, because it’s important. I learned, very quickly, that–even though I was in Jamaica, I could tap into the online space. So I work with clients in Singapore, Japan, even though I currently reside in Jamaica. So I definitely do believe in both offline and online brand strategy to just increase the revenue. So that’s how I can serve people, though.
Stephanie Chandler 24:39
Oh, that’s fabulous. Crystal Daye, thank you so much for your time today. We really appreciate all your great insights.
Crystal Daye 24:45
It is such a pleasure. I’m so happy. I’m always on [Nonfiction Author’s Association website]. It’s one of those that is bookmarked on my laptop, because I’m always going on the website to just see what’s going on in our industry. So I really love the work that you’re doing. And I’m a big fan of your work too, Stephanie.
Stephanie Chandler 25:05
Aww, you’re so sweet. Thank you. I’m so glad. I love it when I’m talking to a member I didn’t realize I was talking to, so thank you.
And thank you to our listeners for joining us today and every week. For a list of guests and topics just check our schedule on the site, use your favorite search engine, or better yet, sign up for our mailing list at NonfictionAuthorsAssociation.com.
Quotes from our guest
“The idea of building a business around a book is not only about just using the book to build a revenue stream. When I think about building a business around a book, it’s using that book to create multiple streams of income, and possibly even grow your impact that that book could have, because of the different streams of income that will come from that one book idea, or that one book that you have published.”
“And that’s the most important part about any revenue stream–it’s not about thinking about, ‘How can I make more money?’ It’s more, ‘How can I serve these people, and ensure that the solution that I’m providing for them is beneficial, and they’re willing to pay for it?’’
“I do help people to think of creative ideas on how they can increase their income through different marketing strategies online and offline, because it’s important. I learned, very quickly, that–even though I was in Jamaica, I could tap into the online space. So I work with clients in Singapore, Japan, even though I currently reside in Jamaica. So I definitely do believe in both offline and online brand strategy to just increase the revenue.”
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