Getting in Front of People With Glenn McQueenie

Glenn McQueenie: Good afternoon, this is Susan Austin with Stuart Bell. Today we're excited to be here with Glenn McQueenie. Glenn authored a book late last year using our 90 minute book and is going to be sharing with us how having a book has impacted his business. Welcome, Glenn.

Stuart: Thanks, Susan. I'm so happy to be here.

Glenn McQueenie: Awesome. So what's this response to the book been like, Glenn?

Stuart: You know, it's been crazy, Susan. It's been, you know, you never know what to expect when you launch on this. And I think once we actually got it published and out we started, you know, we did a little bit of a book tour, but we were really doing more like a kind of, more like a Facebook ad, a more kind of person to person approach. And we've been able to get, you know, almost 1600 downloads of the book already. And what that's done is it's really just created like a completely different business that I wasn't really anticipating. Like it's like it's A brand new company has sprung up because I realized that my book Double youe Income directed at real estate agents is that there's just such a gap in the market and that people, they might be happy at their brokerage, they want to leave or whatever, but they can't get the right coaching. And I've just discovered in the feedback and when people get to download a relatively short book and read it, they kind of like, hey Glenn, I want to be part of your tribe. And then they start offering like, well, what other services do you offer? And it's kind of like I've been backfilling them all along because I thought it was just going to be a book.

Glenn McQueenie: That's quite interesting that the customers, the community then is almost driving what you're able to offer them. Say when you started off, the idea was just to create a book. So this, what's become of it has really come out of the conversations that you've had that started from the book.

Stuart: Yeah, it's amazing how many emails I've got back saying hey Glenn, love the book. And I think what they love about the book is more of like that it is a conversation format. I mean personally I like to do that myself when I'm reading New York or Vanity Fair whenever they're doing more of an interview with a celebrity and then you read all the celebrities answers rather than reading like 300 pages of prose. So that was the feedback. I got that it was quick, it was short. They could even the book being 67 pages that they would actually commit to reading. It, because you can read it in about 45 minutes. It's not like, okay, I need to build time. It's another thing I've already got to do in my busy schedule. It just seems like a really cool, easy way to kind of get to the point. And I think the way that you guys structured it by saying, here's the 15 or 16 questions. And really the framework that you, I think, that Susan created and your whole team's creative steward of where is your prospect now? Where are they going? What does it look like when they get there? I think that was just this perfect, easy blueprint to follow for anyone who's kind of thinking about doing one of these books.

Glenn McQueenie: What was it like, the book tour? You mentioned that that was a way that you were getting the book out there to begin with. Was that quite a different experience from. I'm assuming that was something relatively new that you hadn't done before?

Stuart: Yeah, yeah. It's so funny because even when you're like planning a book tour and. And then the funniest thing, honestly, Stuart, is people would actually show up with the book. Like, I would bring some of the books, but had the book. And then they'd come up and they'd go, hey, Glenn, can you sign the book? And I'd be like, oh, yeah, sure, yeah. Which kind of shocked me. But it's funny because I've done that to like other big authors and lined up to get them to sign. And then people want like your picture taken and it's really funny. Like they really kind of think you're a really big deal. And it's. And I think what, by doing the book, you're just positioning yourself. You're almost self proclaiming yourself as the expert in that field. And when you do that, people will show up because it's like if you did a book, you must be a big deal and it must be true. And so the feedback was fantastic. And then from the tour, we got more and more word of mouth and more and more downloads. And then you get more and more kind of the more coaching side of things where people are like, hey, Glenn, do you do coaching? And a lot of times I had to say like, no, because at that time I wasn't doing any external coaching. I was just doing more internal coaching at my brokerages. But then that's when I came up with the whole idea of like, well, why don't we just see if people want to come to Toronto and do like a mastermind. So, you know, I sent out a little note to everybody, because I, you know, now over 13 or 1400 at the time, people who had downloaded the book. And I could easily communicate with them with your kind of backup product, which is the Gogo clients, which is so easy to use and just sending out, hey, I'm thinking about doing a little Mastermind group meeting to 1400 people. And almost half of them reply and say, yeah, I'd love to do that. And this is from all across North America. This isn't just from where I'm based in Toronto, you know, and you'd get results. Like, people would be like, well, tell me when. Because I got to book a flight and it's like that was the most overwhelming part for me. So that's why we kind of decided to just make it into a smaller group.

Glenn McQueenie: So, Glenn, for those that are listening that haven't done a book of this type or haven't even heard of a book of this type, can you walk us through? Because you said Facebook and you talk about these downloads, just real quick talk about how you get this book in the hands of your potential clients.

Stuart: So the first way I started was going on my own page on Facebook and I came up with this announcement saying it's a secret I've been keeping under wraps for like a month or two, but I've actually published a book and I'll give you more details next week. And then of course you have a whole flurry of people are like, oh my God, that's so great. You know, so it's kind of trying to build your base that way. And then the week later I kind of made the announcement and here's the book and by the way, here's the download. And that's what kind of started the whole product. And then I created the Facebook page. And then Facebook really gets you every way because then when you post on your page, they want you to boost your post. They got a pretty good business model. So I started boosting on there and then I would get more and more people would do it. I didn't really do Google AdWords at the time. It's just not my niche. And I really was busy running a bunch of other things. But that will be my next platform starting in a couple of weeks will be probably more Google AdWords. And then there was a publication in Canada called Real Estate Magazine and they did this story on me about how this top producing real estate agent and coach is giving a book away for free to other realtors. And for them that's a really good story because who does that and it breaks up the pattern when people are reading headlines. It's like Realtor gives giving his book away for free. So they did a big article on why I did it, and then that resulted in probably 7 to 900 downloads within about a week or two.

Glenn McQueenie: And you wouldn't have had that. They wouldn't have written an article on you without the book, I'm assuming.

Stuart: No, no, because when you're a book, you're a really big deal, right? You've got that whole, you know, you must be legit, you know, and they love to talk to authors, you know, and if you think about radios and TV shows, that's all there. A lot of times what they used to do was interview authors. So they're always looking for great content with a great story. And when your book is called Double youe Income and they've got a magazine targeting to agents, I mean, you know, people are going to want to have that message.

Glenn McQueenie: Very good. And so. Go ahead, Stuart.

Glenn McQueenie: Sorry, I was just going to say that it sounded like when you started the book, it was an idea to have it as a local resource, but it's taken on a life of its own in terms of the audience that you've managed to reach for. Other people listening to this, maybe coming to it from the same point of view that you were. Is there any advice that you'd give to them about how to think about it slightly more strategic or some easy ways that they could maybe reach into the book tour? I think you mentioned was to some collaborative real estate agencies that you worked with. Any other pointers for people on how they might leverage the book outside of just their known group?

Stuart: I think, you know, first of all, I mean, I think your book, you should always be thinking about your book is what is your one hour not sales spiel, but what's your story in an hour? Or what's the problem in the world you're trying to solve or what area do you want to be a hero or do you want to. Are you so passionate about that? If people asked you to talk about this, you'd love to talk about that for an hour. And I think that is your book. And I think once you can do that and you get your message out, the great multiplier of the book is like 100,000 people get to have one hour of your time, but you only had to do an hour at the beginning in order to get your big platform. And I think the word of mouth spread on the book. And then we started getting more and more emails about is there coaching opportunities? Will you come and speak at our office? Would you come and do this? That it just starts to almost grow like, it's like the Accidental book, I probably should call this thing.

Glenn McQueenie: And just. So can you share with us sort of what the book has done for your business, Glenn, like, what has this meant for you?

Stuart: Well, first of all, the book is, you know, I think the book was $2,200 to do, but I can tell you right now we've probably got at least 100 to 1 return on that easily just from the exposure, the coaching, the mastermind groups and just I would say in the last nine months. So I think that's the first thing. It's what, what I would call your great multiplier of your business. It just extends your reach and it's incredible. The other thing was this mastermind group I did where I just kind of set a price of $1,500 a month, sent it out, said, hey, I'm doing it in Toronto, only have space for like 10 people. And it filled up right away. And you know, it was basically a two day event where you can basically bring in like $15,000 in income with really very little cost. Held it at my office, we supplied some food. And then those people, what was so interesting is at the end of that two day event, they're like, well, Glenn, what's our next step? And I'm like, I don't know, do you want to get together again in 90 days? And they're like, oh yeah, we'd love to. So you have all these multipliers. And then because people were flying in from all across Canada for this, they're like, hey Glenn, can we book you in the fall to come out and speak? And would you do a two day retreat out there? So now you just have a whole bunch of people who are just kind of, you know, sharing your news. And also I've got a platform and every week I send an email out to 1700 people and everyone thinks I'm sending it directly to them because they always send me little notes that say like, Glenn, thanks for thinking about me. I was just thinking about you. And it's just this wonderful system I think you guys have set up to build a, a really nice community that just wants to follow you. And the beautiful thing about them, you giving them the book for free and them downloading it. And there's an option they can opt out right away, but my experience is under 4% of the people actually opt out after they download the book. They actually like not only the content of the book, but then the weekly. Just add value to them all the time. Add value and add value. And just watch how crazy your tribe gets because they'll just start going out and selling you for, you know, for yourself.

Glenn McQueenie: Couldn't you have done all this without a book though?

Stuart: Not at all. I don't think so. Because for years, like I've taught in different courses around North America. I've done my class called Double youe Income. I've done different courses, but a lot of them are just one offs, right? It's like that one off, one hour to our entertainment value. It's almost like people sitting at home watching TV and they go, oh, that was a great, great show. And then another great show comes on afterwards and everyone just forgets about the first show. And so I think that when you're just out there saying, here's my stuff, that's one level. It's almost like one level of credibility is, hey, I can do this for you. But being like a published author, because people are raised believing that everything they read must be true, it elevates your status. And now not only are you trusted authority, authority on your target market, but you're celebrity and it's crazy. And then when you're celebrity, so you know, it's like when you're a commodity, you get paid this amount of money. When you're a specialist, you get paid a little bit more. When you start doing your own courses, you get paid a bit more. But when you're celebrity author, you can like charge 5, 10, 15 times what anyone else would charge.

Glenn McQueenie: I think that's the interesting element. A lot of people talk about why a book's important. Sometimes they'll get into the mindset of wanting to put all of the information into the book. So it's a substantial tome of information. But the point that you just made, that people enjoy the conversational element of it because it's accessible. It's the first stage of a journey to get to know you better and work with you closer. People feel like they know you more because you're then delivering additional information to them. So when you get to the stage where you're able to offer interaction with you, whether it's coaching or whether it's a particular product or service that you're offering, there's already that relationship and understanding that the book is the first part, it's the first compelling part of the relationship that then has this additional aura around it of a published author. You almost don't want to over deliver on the. Deliver too much on the content because you want to start detracting from some of those benefits. It's no longer accessible or easy to read. It doesn't necessarily make you seem approachable, but the way it's structured, the way you structured it to then continue to deliver afterwards, it seems to tick a lot of those boxes to start and build that relationship.

Stuart: I couldn't agree more. I think the way the book is structured as a conversation is the number one thing. And I would tell anyone because I've seen some books that aren't conversation based. Like they just want it to be like the printed almost like they're talking. A sermon is boring and it's not interactive. And I think the people who want to do longer books, great, but why not break them into two or three books? Then you can multiply it even more. Or if you give everything you've got into one book, you've got nothing to follow up on. So I would break it down to let's do your short message under an hour because people will actually listen to it or read it, which is what you want because you want your message to go out. And number two is then you can start just adding value to them like week by week. And I would respond to everyone who's ever emailed me saying hey, hey Glenn, thanks or I really loved your book or I've read it five times or I've dog eared it or I've highlighted it, I would respond right away saying thank you so much for your kind words. Or I just pick up the phone and give them a call and be some guy in Texas like going holy Glenn McQueenie, you know, but he was like, you know, but that's what you want to do, I think, because the only reason I did it is because I'm passionate. So when people call and say thank you so much, it made a difference in my life or it changed this or I have a question about this. I'm like all over it and I'm all over it because it makes me feel good. Like that's why I'm doing the book. Right.

Glenn McQueenie: What do you think the financial impact of this book? Book is over a five year place. Any way to project that?

Stuart: Well, I have to tell you Susan, as of July 1st, I'm actually going to start doing a book a quarter right now. So I've kind of set this goal that I think if I did a book a quarter over the next six or seven years, that would be 25 books. And I think that would be really fun. So I'm going to be leveraging now. Different. I'm going to create different. Business is based on a book, but that will run without me, if that makes sense. So, like, I'm going to do a book on the 12 secrets to getting the most money for your home in, you know, you name the city or. And then everyone who downloads the book will communicate with them. But anyone who wants to sell their house in Toronto or that city, I'll just refer that business over to them, you know, so it's a great lead generator for you. And there's a lot of different targets that I want to get into and a lot of different things I want to say. Like, I want to talk about building wealth. I want to talk about, you know, getting more freedom, spending more time doing stuff that's really energizing. So there's lots of different messages I want to get out. And I think the book is just a really neat platform to do it. And I think my next book, the simple one, would be, you know, you know, would be basically double your income part two, because now you've already got a tribe, but now you bring in all your new learning and all the feedback you got, and then, you know, bring it back out to the. Out to the market.

Glenn McQueenie: I'm going to ask the question again. What do you think the financial impact of the book is going to be?

Stuart: This could be whatever you want. I think that there's no. I don't think it'd be very difficult to make a million dollars a year on this book. I don't think that was a problem at all. I mean, if you think about it, if you scaled up your Masterminds, you got 20 people at $15,000 a pop or $1,500 a pop, and you wouldn't have to do that many of them. Or the other thing which really seems to be kind of bubbling up now is like, there's. So I've already hired two other coaches to help me with this right now. And so I've got one group of agents under $125,000 in gross commission, and they get coached by this guy because he doubled his income last year when I was coaching him. And then I've got another group that's kind of 125 to 600, because that's being taught by another lady because she doubled her income while I was coaching her. And then I do more of the teams. So I think you can now do different books. Like, so you're new in real estate. How to get off to a real quick start. How to build your first team in real estate, how to leverage a team, how to build wealth, how to buy your first investment property in Phoenix. Like, there's no end to where this can go. And I think quite easily, you could easily scale this, too. So to answer your question, five years, you can make $5 million, no problem. Wow.

Glenn McQueenie: I think the interesting thing is that when you started, not all of this was clear. It wasn't the plan to make a million a year from a book, but. But as the audience has grown and as the opportunities have revealed themselves, that's quite an achievable target. Now, it's really interesting that all of this wasn't orchestrated around a particular end goal, but it's organically grown, something much larger than perhaps we initially realized.

Stuart: Yeah. Well, it's funny because what do you look at? First you look at the cost, $2,200. Like, I always thought that was cheap, but a lot of people would look at that and kind of go, that's a lot of money. But I'm like, wow, I would like to. You guys should charge more. But I didn't say that. You know what I mean? But then you talk to other people. And I'm in Strategic Coach in Toronto, so I know a lot of people there. And there was one girl who I think it was Lisa Sanovich or something, I can't remember, but she did a launch where she gave her book as a download free on Kindle, and she had 26,000 downloads in like five days or six days. Did you guys hear about that at all? We did, yeah. Did she do her book through you guys?

Glenn McQueenie: Yes, she did, as a matter of fact. And Kindle is an option for you too, Glenn, if you're interested.

Stuart: Yeah,

Glenn McQueenie: well, it brings an interesting point. We were talking just before we started recording about the challenge between online and offline sales. And offline, there's the problem of engaging that audience. So people may have a copy of the book, but don't necessarily. You don't necessarily have any way of capturing those details. And Kindle kind of falls into that gap of it's an Amazon sale, but on a digital platform, but that effectively goes to an offline or disconnected device. So having the. I think Lisa's example, there was an audience, it was a bonus, so they were able to capture the details in another way, which is a great idea for people who have that opportunity. But I think for anyone else listening who's looking at offline sales with the physical book itself, or Kindle or Ibooks or any of these platforms where you don't necessarily get to capture the details. A lot of the conversation that we've had today has been talking about the book as the beginning of a conversation that you can then carry on elsewhere. And I think it's good for people to remember that's a challenge sometimes in other platforms unless you use it in another way. So deliver the physical book as a bonus to people that you've already got their details of, you're already in conversation with. That's a nice additional thing. You don't need to worry about the leak out you at that point.

Glenn McQueenie: Yeah. Let me highlight just real quick. I want to just restate what Stuart just mentioned that the. If you, the authors that are all excited about selling the book on Amazon or in this case Kindle, that's great. But Glenn, your success has not been a result of any Amazon book sales. If I'm not mistaken. It's strictly from the giveaway the book for free. Excuse me, in exchange for their email address.

Stuart: Exactly. Couldn't agree more. I was just about to say that Stuart too, that you get to this point, it's funny when people actually have your book physically, you're sad about it. Kind of weird, right? You think, oh no, that's what I want people, everyone to have my book. It's like no, because then they're gone, you know. So I love your thought there Susan, about, you know, what if you want, you know, and it just gave me a great idea actually is what if I wanted to really give a gift back to my tribe now I could go and buy the books myself right through CreateSpace. I know they're very inexpensive and I could even send them to some of my key advocates signed, you know, I know I gave them away like at our Mastermind. I signed everyone copy of the book and they're all thrilled. But yeah, I never, yeah, people should never have anyone buy their book or download it from Kindle or itunes because then they're gone. And everything I have is because of the tribe. And the whole idea is just to keep building up the tribe and I, you know my goal is to get up to 5,000 downloads as quickly as possible, then get to 10,000 and then I think the big thing and I think hopefully for listeners if they can understand this is you can actually start doing very high scalable coaching when you have a couple hundred or a thousand people who want to join you for a very small fee to do like a weekly phone in coaching program and what people don't realize is like if you charge them a thousand a year times 100 people, that's $100,000. Or a thousand people is a million dollars for the same 52 like one hour phone calls. And I think that's the big thing, I think for your listeners is you just get scale. And never in the history, I don't believe never in the history of mankind have we ever been able to scale out like this and dominate a market for basically a very little fee.

Glenn McQueenie: Very good. So let's wrap it up here. Glenn, we want to thank you for this. Been very gracious of your time and we appreciate that. Is there anything that you would like to share before we sign off?

Stuart: Just don't procrastinate, just order 90 minute books. Get going. Stop thinking about it. It's going to be perfect. Everyone in your life will think you're a really big deal. That's it.

Glenn McQueenie: Stuart, any final words?

Glenn McQueenie: I think it's fantastic. I mean, as we hear more and more stories of people who are really having quite transformative experiences from the books in a number of different ways, and Glenn's examples, particularly in a number of perhaps unexpected ways, it's really, it's quite special to be part of that, part of that journey in here that the success of people having. So yeah, looking forward to hearing more with them in the coming weeks.

Stuart: And thank you. You guys have been amazing. Your team's spectacular and they really did make this a very easy process for everyone, especially for me because I'm very impulsive and not that good at following any rules. So ral me in. It was quite a miracle. So thank you.

Glenn McQueenie: Yeah. And I want to just say it his, you know, when Glenn first reached out to us, he literally, the book, I remember the conversation was literally just wanted to do a book so he could hand it out to his team. That was originally the thought process. Right. It was just like he's got some people, he wants to hand the book to him or, you know, I don't think he had this vision of where this was going to go at all because so it really was a result of getting the book out and actually seeing how the audience responded to it. I love it.

Stuart: Yeah, been awesome.

Glenn McQueenie: Sam.