The 99 Authors Project – Season 6 – Episode 5 with Laura DiFranco31 min read

Bryan Hyde
Welcome to the Janine Bolon show, where we share tips from around the globe. As we guide practical people with their finances using money tips, increase their incomes through side businesses, and maintain their sanity by staying in their creative zone.

Janine Bolon
Hey, this is Janine Bolon and welcome to today’s show where we bring you quality content on saving your time, saving your money, saving your knowledge while staying sane. In this topsy turvy world of ours. The Janine Bolon Show is a syndicated program of four podcast programs that were combined in October of 2021. Three Minute Money Tips, The Thriving Solopreneur, The Writers Hour Creative Conversations and The Practical Mystic Shows were programs that were running since 2017. We’ve produced over 350 episodes, we’ve interviewed over 278 guests, and today, we will be spotlighting one of our authors that is contributing to our 12th book, The 99 Authors Project. Laura Di Franco is CEO of Brave Healer Productions, where she specializes in publishing and business strategy for holistic health and wellness professionals. Her mission is to wake the world up to what’s possible, one brave word at a time. You can go to brave healer.com To learn more about her and her team. But today, we’re here to talk about her book. Thank you so much for being on the show, Laura.

Laura Di Franco
Hey, I’m happy to be here. It’s my favorite topic ever.

Janine Bolon
I hear you. So tell us the title of your book, if you don’t mind?

Well, I had to chuckle when you said your book. I have 10 books that I have authored. And I’m like, okay, which one do I want to talk about today. So I think I’m going to talk about How to Have Fun with Your Fear. And mostly because we just got up as an Audible this week. So I’m celebrating my Audible of that of that book.

Janine Bolon
And just so that you folks know, let me explain to you what goes through. For a self published author like Laura and myself, we have to spend anywhere from 1800 to $2,900, to get up on Audible ACX, because we’re not allowed to just post to Audible, we have to go through a service called ACX. And Lord help you if you’re like me, and you’re one of those authors that was around before KDP was a twinkle in Amazon’s eye, because then it becomes this nightmare. So Laura and I have had to hire teams of people, yes, as in plural of people, to help us load our content to those platforms. So all I can say is whoo hoo way to go Laura doing this newbie happy dance for you. Congratulations on your Audible book, hun.

Laura Di Franco
Thank you. I’m so glad that you get it.

Janine Bolon
I do. I really do. I understand that challenge. So let’s go ahead and talk about the book. If you don’t mind, I think focusing on fears and having fun with your fear. Playing around with it, realizing that it is something that used to help us but can really challenge us. So talk to me a little bit about why did you write that book? I always love what’s the story behind the story, right? What’s the story behind that book?

Laura Di Franco
Well, I feel like it’s been a lifelong journey, really. And as you know, with the background as healer, holistic physical therapist, I’ve always been seeking healing. And for me, the journey was getting over my boring, purpose driven fears of not good enough. And moving on to the other side of that, and really making my dreams come true. So these kinds of fears that I’m talking about in the book are really purpose driven fear. And the problem with some of that is it can feel like exactly like that primal survival, kinda stuff that doesn’t feel so good in your body. But that’s a little tease into the kinds of things I’m talking about.

Janine Bolon
So a lot of times when we have a purpose driven life, and we have those fears that pop up for us, it can throw us into the epinephrine cascade. So I was an analytical biochemist before became what I am now. And I remember we used to study that and this the deleterious effects that it had on the body when you would be in that place for a very long time, which is what they now call stress. When you stress your body because you’re in that fear for too long. So I love the fact that you’re like, let’s have a little bit of fun with this. Let’s play with this. Let’s tease it out. Because that whole thing of, I’m not worthy. What I’m doing doesn’t matter. Nobody cares about this is all just self limiting challenges that are unnecessary. The speed bumps in our life that we don’t need to have. So thank you for taking the time to write that book. So this is one of my favorite questions to ask because I know my answer. How long did it take you before you could call yourself an author?

Laura Di Franco
Oh goodness. My first self-published book was in 2012. And even after I hit go on that book, I was like, you know, the self-doubt and that self-sabotaging BS that goes through your head, and I really just had to kind of slap my own face awake about like, no, you just published a book like you’re an author, right? But I actually think if I look back on that question, I was an author well before then. I was a blogger for decades and I authored blogs that changed people’s lives. Right? So it’s more some perspective there about that. Published author 2012. It took a while.

Janine Bolon
It took me until I had published book number five, before I could call myself an author. So I just, this isn’t a one up, man. It’s just letting you know it’s real. When I talk to other authors on like, how long did it take you before, you could call yourself an author? And when I hear folks creative, talking about impostor syndrome, I just start laughing. I’m like, nobody knows that better than authors. I’m sorry, authors, we, I think win on that one, because we were you and I were blogging back in 2003 2004. As people were leaving their MySpace accounts and hitting blogger, that was our era that we were like, authoring these major content through the blogging sphere at that period of time. So it’s nice to hear that you are now on Audible and you’ve got 10 books under your belt, almost 11. And if you count the Audible books, you know, I just think that’s lovely. Okay, so you kind of answered this already. Have you always written? Were you one of those people who you did talk to us a little bit about that journey.

Laura Di Franco
Um, I mean I have been journaling since I was 15 years old. So since teenage years, and that’s, you know, those little diaries with the little silver lock on them. And I’ve been writing and journaling writing for a really long time. But it really wasn’t until I started my first business, which was physical therapy, where I realized I wanted to write to help people I wanted to write to educate and inspire, you know, so writing for my business was a whole nother ballgame. But yeah, I’ve been writing poetry, and all kinds of fun things since I was a kid.

Janine Bolon
Well, thanks for that. Because I that’s a little bit of difference for you and I in that I just wasn’t a writer. I never saw myself as that. So when I actually started writing, it was just nobody was more surprised than me that people wanted to hear what I have to say. So bravo to you, bravo. Did you have a marketing background before you started writing your book?

Laura Di Franco
No, it’s self taught and didn’t have a marketing background when I started my first business either. And you know how that goes, right? Like, we don’t. I went to school to become a healing professional, not a marketer, or business person. So you know, took a lot of courses, had a lot of coaching, had guidance along the way, but especially after I became an author, and business number two came around, I’m like, alright, I can’t do this by myself anymore. I have to have some help and some guidance. Yeah.

Janine Bolon
Yeah, I hear you. So if you were to start marketing your books today, this is my favorite, one of my favorite questions is like, what would you change? What would you do differently?

Laura Di Franco
Oh, boy, it would be build the community around the book. First, and there’s kind of two parts to this answer. The building a community is a community around your business, first of all, so for me, it would be the Brave Healer Productions community. But when I build a community around a book, right now, it’s called a launch team for me. And so I love thinking of my book launch teams as communities because they are. They are people who join in and they love the mission, and they want to help and they want to be something, part of something bigger, and part of the bigger mission that our books represent. Which is, you mentioned it in my bio, we want to wake the world up to what’s possible for healing specifically because I niche in that space, you know. So build the community around the book, that would be number one, how I would do things differently. I know it’s not a typical marketing answer, maybe. But, yeah.

Janine Bolon
We’re not typical people. And that’s one of the things that I love about you is the fact you’re not a typical person ergo you’re not going to use typical techniques, right?

Laura Di Franco
Just for your own amusement number two on my list was: do more podcast guesting. I mean, I’m serious about it. I know we’re laughing about that because of what you do. But that was, that was badass for me. Like and being able to share my voice in a bigger way and do that collaboration between two people’s platforms. Right? Is really, really awesome. So I added that one in there too.

Janine Bolon
Thank you, Laura. That’s sweet of you. I appreciate that. That kind of helps me with my little book that I’m doing. So when it comes to the whole marketing thing, what worked best for you? I mean, what was it that helped you sell more books, most books?

Laura Di Franco
I really love the creation of a book funnel for websites, but not just for your website, I liked the idea that we can gift, some value and then move people into your world, all the way toward maybe purchasing that book as a call to action in the end of that funnel. People don’t like the F word, the funnel word, right? But that has been powerful for me. And if you can sell books in your sleep, why not? Right? So to have the book funnels in place on my sites, but also remembering that I can share those links and other places like social blogs, my email newsletters. So yeah, once I have that in place, it’s just about sharing with people that I have this free chapter to give them or the free thing, and I love to sell free things. You know, it’s easy.

Janine Bolon
It is we’re very generous people, we love being able to share what we know. I agree.

Laura Di Franco
Exactly.

Janine Bolon
And this is always a fun question. What process did you try, that was an epic failure when it came to selling your books? Every author has a story, has a horror story.

Laura Di Franco
I think that the biggest thing is, you know, posting links, without getting into the mind of that ideal reader or client. And just thinking because I’m posting a link, people are going to magically know what that is and buy it. And I thought I was doing so good about oh, you know, put my link here put my link there. But no, it’s like, I had to realize that there was a way I was talking to that ideal reader and if I didn’t add a description, at least at a minimum, of why they should even click on the link, and that it’s just such a fail. And it was for a while to just you think you’re doing something right by posting, you know, yay, me, I actually got it done. But not without actually speaking directly to that ideal client ideal reader. That would probably be the biggest mistake I made in the beginning.

Janine Bolon
I like how you were talking about the F word as far as the funnel word. And one of the things that you do very well. And I like to share this with people when I talk about Laura, is that she embraces her community. So when you hear us use the word funnel, it’s shorthand. For many of the successful authors that have multiple businesses are doing many things to bring positivity into this world. They’re actually embracing you. But they don’t want to scare you by thinking, oh, join us because most of the people we have aren’t joiners, they’re readers, they’re listeners, they’re wanting to make a difference in this world. Not get sucked into your mission, and only do your mission. They have their own missions. And so just wanted to say thank you for your community building. It’s a very powerful part of what you do.

Laura Di Franco
Yeah, that’s a big deal, I think and that might have even been probably tied for number two of the biggest mistakes is not realizing that that was part of how your business grows. And you know, people are the reason you have income. They have to you know, you got to have people buying your things. But it’s so much more than just that transaction when you build a community. And I’ve loved that the most honestly.

Janine Bolon
Yes, you definitely have been thriving since that finally clicked into place. But it takes time, especially when you’re just flailing around, and you have a book out and you’re not a marketing professional. It takes time. So tell us one story that you tell about yourself that gets the most laughs from your audience.

Laura Di Franco
So, maybe not the most laughs But definitely the biggest reaction. Okay. And that would be something I call the NaNoWriMo story, you know, about NaNoWriMo.

Janine Bolon
NaNoWriMo. Yep, I do it every year. I’m totally hook line and sinker into that organization. Go ahead.

Laura Di Franco
Well, okay. You know, so somebody I had been into writing book number two, super excited already got started, I thought I was on the path. And one of my friends dropped the link for that program in my inbox one day. And for those of you who don’t know, the goal back then in 2015, it was to write a 30,000-word novel in 30 days, I think it’s actually up to 50 now, but back when I did it, it was 30,000 in 30 days. And I was like, yes, I’m going to do this. I was so stoked because I wanted to get this book done that I had already started. So I signed up and at the end of the 30 days, I had 65,000 words written detailing every wound of my childhood. And I thought this was going to be the book, right? So I attached that book on Christmas Eve one month later to an email and sent it to my family. And my family all still speaks to me in case you guys are wondering, alright, but that was the biggest thing was and that and the biggest aha moment for me was that was not the book that anybody read that I would publish that would go out into the world. It was the writing I needed to do to Fung Shui my soul first, to prioritize and heal myself so that the real book could come through, and I could decide what I wanted to publish. So people do either laugh or gasp at that story, like you did. You know, but I’m glad that that all happened. It was a transformational moment in my writing life.

Janine Bolon
Right. And that’s, I think one of the things about creatives, no matter what your paradigm is, in your creation, we make a lot of mistakes, we just fail faster the most. To me, the successful creatives is we just fail faster. Well, that didn’t work that didn’t work. We just keep going until we find something that catches somebody’s eye and you’re like, oh, you liked that part? So you go girl, well done.

Laura Di Franco
Whatever works.

Janine Bolon
Right? It really is. Because sometimes you just don’t know you just keep sharing. And then finally you share the right thing. And somebody will go, oh, I resonate with that. And you’re like, oh, there we go. There we go. I finally got the right resonation with my people. Yeah. So what was the biggest change that you can share with us that has happened to you since you started marketing books? You know you’ve been writing a while, what are some of the big changes you’ve seen in yourself?

Laura Di Franco
In myself, personally, a greater willingness to share my personal moments, because I know that the more personal the more universal. And in the beginning, when I really thought I was being real and authentic and brave, I look at some of that writing and go, oh, that was pretty good, but you know, you’ve gotten better over these years of sharing. That’s become better and better. And I learned about myself just how brave I could be to share a story that really I knew would change lives if I could be brave enough to tell it. So I think that’s the biggest the biggest thing for me.

Janine Bolon
Yeah, we’re back to those having fun with your fears. And what does it mean to be courageous? Aren’t we? We’re right back to that.

Laura Di Franco
And it’s never about me or you anyway, it’s always about and I talked to myself that way, Laura, it is not about you anymore. It’s about the life you might change when you share that thing that’s a little scary to share. And that’s where I have fun with those purpose driven fears. Because I’m like, yeah, you know, and I met somebody who was a stranger at the time, who reached out to me once upon a time, probably about 2016. And the short story of meeting that woman was I realized people are reading, people are watching, they’re paying attention, whether you know it or not. They’re reading and their lives are being impacted by your words. And so all of a sudden, the feeling, little scary, of responsibility. I thought, yeah, okay, someone’s, they’re paying attention. So when I realized that I thought I asked myself the question. Okay, then step up, what are you going to share? What do you want them to know? You know, and that that I’m telling you has fueled every single word I’ve published ever since.

Janine Bolon
When you truly connect with somebody in that way, it does it revolutionizes your business, because you’re like, whoa, wait a minute. I just thought it was talking in the dark. That was with me when I was first into radio, because I was on the radio from 10pm to three in the morning. And there were times where the phone never rung, and you wondered if anybody was listening to you. So one time, I shouted out, I’m just curious. This is the phone number to the station 5551212. I like somebody keep me awake, because anybody out there listening, my phone went off the hook. I didn’t realize how many nighttime employees were actually listening. But when you’re in a small radio station, there are days where you worry about that. Thank you for sharing that part because I think it’s true. We sometimes don’t know that. So help us out here. You have all this experience. You have these 10 books, audio books, you’ve written you had these two businesses, you’ve got these different communities that you’re serving now, well done, by the way, good job. So what are the five top tips that you would give authors that are currently in the trenches selling their debut book?

Laura Di Franco
Let me add in there, and thank you, that the, you know, I’ve self-published 10 of my own, we have now as a company published over 50 Amazon bestsellers, and those are collaborative, they’re community oriented. So it’s really fun, because you can sell books as a team. And that aside, I want to give you these tips for if it’s little old, you trying to do your thing, you know, and, and get your word out there in a bigger way. But number one for me is it’s okay to give the books away, y’all. And I think sometimes we go into it thinking we’re gonna make a million dollars off the royalties of the book sales. But honestly, what I’ve found bigger money in is building the community, which is pointing to your business. And if I land the client or two, by giving a few books away, I’d love to put that into my marketing budget, I want people’s lives to be changed. So giving them away is on my list. You know, the books can be strategically created to help you build your business. And so I’m always giving them away.

Laura Di Franco
Number two is write a personal note, when you do sell your books, and include that bookmark or special branded note card or something with a little coupon for your services. It’s the connection in the relationship with the readers that you’re making that matters. And so that’s tip number two, make it more personal, make it beyond just the fact that you’re selling the book. And always write that little note in there and stick it in there and do something special. The third tip is, don’t be afraid to go back out and ask for reviews. Because in the long run when you’re selling your books, and you have a couple under your belt, and sometimes I think I forget to ask, like, hey, you’ve read the book. And these are even people that maybe were on the team, they possibly read your book for free, they read an advanced reader copy, but go back out and, and hold them accountable to what they said they were going to do for you. And ask for those reviews. Right? Because the reviews are going to help you sell more books organically, the more reviews, the better right?

Laura Di Franco
Four is be able to give us the 30 second pitch of what your book is about in a very short, sweet, powerful way. Get straight to the point and wow us, make us put our phone down about this book. Okay, you never know who is going to be in the elevator one day, you never know who you’re going to come across. So for me, this took practice. I needed to be I wrote this book, and I was in it for so long. And I did so much to get this thing out there. But can you talk about it? Have you practiced pitching that book talking about yourself, talking about the book that you wrote, again, short, sweet, powerful, because you know that elevator ride might be 30 seconds, you just need a couple of seconds. And the last tip is we talked about it a little bit already. Get on more stages and get on more podcasts. Get in front of more people. And never forget to mention your book.

Janine Bolon
Thank you so much. Because that’s why I wrote Author Podcasting was I heard of so many authors struggling to make ends meet, not able to make enough money with their books or with the programs that they were running. And I was like, well, how many podcasts have you been on? And of course, the book came out in 2020. I was writing it in 2019. And I was just like, oh my gosh, people this is how you go about promoting yourself. And it’s not as scary as some of the other places you’re going. Well then 2020 half and of course then, here we are, you know we’re in a very different world now. I love it. So talk to us a little bit more about what was the one thing you most misunderstood about being an author? I always love hearing from people. What was a turning point for you of oh, I didn’t realize that.

Laura Di Franco
It had honestly it had to be about the platform, the author platform, and I also hear so many people oh, I’m going to write my book and they get really really excited, and I say well, how’s your platform? Like have you thought about it? Have you started building it? And they’ll say, platform? And I’ll be like, oh, come on, let’s start from the beginning. Right. So what I wish someone had told me from the very beginning is how important it was to start building an email list, mainly email, and social but email primarily. The day, the second you even think of writing a book, you should be having that in place. And I would still be thanking them. If someone had told me that way back when. So the importance of it most writers aren’t marketing professionals, like who, you know, we already mentioned, they write because they love writing, and they have a passion for it. And they know they have a world changing message. But they don’t love the marketing, and they don’t think about it soon enough. And, you know, if I had been on top of that from the beginning, my list would be, I don’t know, 10 times as big as it is now. That also takes time. Everybody started from zero email subscribers, y’all, everyone started from zero. So it doesn’t matter when you’re hearing this message. If it’s hitting you right now. And you know, you need to pay attention to this start today. You know, so every author should be building their platform every day.

Janine Bolon
That’s one of those daily tasks, always invite somebody. There’s somebody who just barely knows you; invite them to subscribe or to your list. And you always have something awesome to share. I know you do as an author. So what is the primary thing that was your biggest reward about being an author?

Laura Di Franco
I mean, it’s by far the occasional reach out, or email that I get from a reader. And I’ve had enough of them now to be so grateful that they were brave enough to reach out to me and give me those kind words. But those reach outs and moments where they said, wow, I really resonated with this, this changed my life. That’s been incredibly rewarding. The gal that reached out back in 2016. The reason it was so powerful for me was because she wasn’t only brave enough to reach out, but she trusted me and wanted to she wanted, she was reading blogs at the time, okay. And she just wanted more information. She was really, really struggling. She was a mother of five and struggling with some depression. And she was brave enough to tell me this on a Facebook Messenger. And I was like, well, you know, I’m a helper, I want to help you. So I went and got her some links to read, but we became friends and got into great conversations. And look, only later did she die bald that she had been writing this suicide note, she’d write to her husband and five children. And I was like, holy moly. But whoever gets to I’m so lucky to tell you that story today. I got to know that I had an impact on somebody because I cared about her and took the time to write for her, to drop her links, to just be there to listen to what was going on. So really, that is the biggest thing for me. It’s giving me goosebumps to be able to tell you that story again today. Because, wow, that’s it, man. That’s my purpose on my legacy right there.

Janine Bolon
They talk about you know, if I can just reach one person, and you and I have been authors long enough, we’re very lucky, we’ve been able to reach hundreds but yet there are those that stick out because when we were new fledgling authors, just starting to build our platforms, just learning how to do all this stuff. There are those very signature moments where you’re just like, wow, this is like it gets serious for you not serious as in, you know, you take away all fun, but it’s like no, I’m gonna commit it’s the love that’s it. The level of commitment goes through the roof because you’re like, oh my gosh, I have got to do this for other people. And and after that, it’s a lost cause, right?

Laura Di Franco
You just hit you hit the nail on the head, the level of commitment goes to deal breaker level. There’s nothing that will get me stuck in that self-sabotage anymore past a few seconds because I think of Shirley. And she knows that I use her name, by the way. So I’m just like, yeah, no, like, why are you wasting your time thinking about you know all the imposter syndrome thoughts that we have, when if you would just focus on sharing your next brave words you could be helping someone? That turns flips my switch so fast. And from that moment on, it was no going back to the nonsense.

Janine Bolon
I agree with you. Yours is Shirley, mine’s Gaeleen. We you know, as an author, you have these like I said, these moments where you’re like, we’re done. It doesn’t matter what happens and there have been times where I hope I could make the payroll for my 15 people. You know, there were times where it was 2:30 in the morning, and I had no idea how I was going to make payroll, and then something would happen, but it was like I would sit there and be like, alright universe, you promise that if I followed my I’m such a spoiled brat. Or like, you promised that if I did XYZ, that you would take care of me and my family and sure the money always rolled in. But you know, sometimes I feel like you almost in my particular life path, I’ve had to really you know, show my moxie about I’m not taking no for an answer. I’m not backing down from this.

Laura Di Franco
They say that about the universe, it sometimes you have to be a little demanding, it’s okay. You know.

Janine Bolon
I sometimes feel like I’m that little kid that standing in the in the crib, and I’m running my metal cup up and down the bars like screaming. You were gonna say something I didn’t mean to cut you off.

Laura Di Franco
No, no, I just I love that story. It’s like whatever works at this point, you know. And I also love that you brought up the fact that, you know, some days, we’re worried about making payroll, I feel so grateful to be able to pay other people. I feel really grateful to the universe about, you know, giving me this job to do stepping up into my purpose like this, and I get to pay people, and that there’s really amazing, abundant energy in that. And I think as an as an author, when you’re out there selling books, it’s easy to fall back into a little bit of a desperate energy. I mean, especially when you’re paying a team, right? That’s what made me think of it. But even as a solo author, trying, trying, right, there’s the energy to sell books, it’s the wrong energy. And so I’m always falling into what is already in front of my face that I can be grateful to, because that is the badass energy. And it’ll shift things for you very quickly. Right? So yeah, thanks for that.

Janine Bolon
Oh, you’re welcome. And thank you for what you share, too, because we’re sitting on the other side of that chaos, now. You know, I remember the chaos just because I can talk about the story is so nice that I can look back on that. And I’m right there with you the appreciation, and the thankfulness that I have, not necessarily for those dark nights of the soul, but at the same time for the moxie that came with me. No, I refuse. The commitment is there. I cannot let the Gaeleens I don’t know about down. I refuse. Right. And it’s for you. It’s the Shirleys. So thank you for sharing.

Laura Di Franco
Yeah, exactly.

Janine Bolon
As we wrap this up. Like I said, that’s the biggest reward about being an author is being able to do what we do now. And what can we share with our listeners about where you are, where you’re going? I know you’ve just finished this audible content. Where can people go to learn more about you? What is it that you’re doing? Give us a bit of that 30 second snazzy stuff you got going on?

Laura Di Franco
Oh, yeah, just come on. Visit Laura Di Franco.com You’ll see all the crazy things I’m up to, the How to Have Fun with Your Fear book is on Amazon, you can definitely find it. I’m about to launch my 11th solo book, and it’s called Good Vibes 365. This is actually for my writers. It’s a book of practical prompts for healing and writing and transformation. You know, I like to combine all that stuff. So that and about a million other things are on the website, you guys.

Janine Bolon
Laura, thank you so much for your time today and being our spotlighted author.

Laura Di Franco
Oh, my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Janine Bolon
If you are an author or you know of an author, you would like us to spotlight please visit our website, author podcasting.com where you will find the 99 Author Project listed. We talk to all authors from all walks of life as we build out book number 12, which is Advice from Authors to Authors it’s due to be published in 2023. And this is Janine Bolon signing off with you today and all of us here at the 8 Gates that produces the Janine Bolon Show. We wish you a wonderful week and we encourage you to get your message, your story, or your knowledge out into the world and make it a better place just like these authors that we’re interviewing this year. We’ll see you again next week and until then, you keep sharing what you know with others, keep shining that light that is you, and don’t forget to go out today and do something for yourself that is just plain fun.

Bryan Hyde
Thank you for listening to the Janine Bolon show. Be sure to subscribe to our show notes by going to www.theJanineBolonshow.com, where you’ll find additional resources as well as the opportunity to sign up to receive our program in your email each week. Be sure to visit our sponsor at www.the8gates.com.