#MeetCoolPeople

MCP131: The Three Reasons a Book Changes Your Business (Even If Nobody Reads It) w/ David Hancock

Most people think writing a book is about selling the book. It’s not. The book is a door. What’s behind it is the whole point. I’ve known David Hancock since 2008. We met at a seminar in Atlanta. We don’t talk nearly as much as I’d like to, but nearly 20 years later, the friendship is still there. So sitting down with him for this episode felt less like an interview and more like a long-overdue conversation between two people who’ve watched each other grow. David is the founder of Morgan James Publishing, a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, and the person Publishers Weekly first called the pioneer of hybrid publishing. He didn’t set out to start a publishing company. He set out to solve a problem that nobody else was willing to fix. Key Takeaways * A book doesn’t make you money directly. It stops people from negotiating with you, gets media calling you, and brings clients out of the woodwork who never would have found you otherwise. * There are two bridges every author must cross before launch: the authority bridge and the permissions bridge. Most people skip both and wonder why nobody buys. * The best time to start marketing your book is the moment you decide to write it. Not the week it drops. * Traditional, self-publishing, and hybrid each serve a different goal. Knowing which path fits your situation matters more than picking the most popular one. * People want connection just as much as they want content. A book that shows who you are will always outlast a book that only shows what you know. Listen If You… * Have been thinking about writing a book but don’t know if it will actually do anything for your business * Already wrote a book and aren’t sure how to make it work harder for you * Are trying to figure out which publishing path makes sense for where you are right now Connect with David Find David at davidlhancock.com [http://davidlhancock.com] or morganjamespublishing.com [http://morganjamespublishing.com]. When you reach out, let him know you found him through the show. Tired of prospects ghosting you after your first conversation? Grab my FREE 5-day email course at https://thefollowupfix.net [https://thefollowupfix.net] and learn the five relationship-killing mistakes that are costing you sales (and how to fix them without being pushy). About the Show #MeetCoolPeople is where founders, creators, and entrepreneurs share real stories about building businesses that matter. Hosted by Ely Delaney, each episode goes past surface-level advice to uncover the mindset shifts, failures, and frameworks that separate people who talk about success from people who actually build it.

MCP130: What If Compassion Was Your Most Powerful Sales Tool?

Most people think follow up is about timing and frequency. Send more emails. Make more calls. Stay visible. But that's not the real problem. The real problem is most people follow up without ever stopping to think about who they're talking to. This solo episode is drawn from the chapter about compassion in my book, The Follow Up Code. And it might be the piece that changes how you look at every prospect you haven't closed yet. Not everyone buys on your timeline. And the sooner you really accept that, the better your results get. Key Takeaways * Why "let me think it over" is often the truth, not an excuse, and how to respond differently * How the four DISC personality types buy differently and what that means for your follow up * Why changing your language (not your offer) can bring a cold prospect back to life * How to stop reading silence as rejection and start reading it as information * Why patience with purpose beats pressure every single time Listen If You... * Have prospects who went quiet and you don't know if they're gone or just slow * Keep following up the same way with every person and wondering why it's not working * Want a practical framework for communicating with different personality types without it feeling forced ---- Tired of prospects ghosting you after your first conversation? Grab my FREE 5-day email course at https://thefollowupfix.net/ [https://thefollowupfix.net/] and learn the five relationship-killing mistakes that are costing you sales (and how to fix them without being pushy). About the Show The #MeetCoolPeople Podcast is where founders, creators, and entrepreneurs share real stories about building businesses that matter. Hosted by Ely Delaney, each episode goes past surface-level advice to uncover the mindset shifts, failures, and frameworks that separate people who talk about success from people who actually build it.

MCP129: Nobody Remembers Your Logo, But They Remember How You Made Them Feel w/ Elise Bay

Most founders reach a point where something feels off. The message isn't landing. The deals aren't closing. The brand feels like it belongs to someone else. So they do what seems logical. They call a designer and ask for a rebrand. Elise Bay says that's almost always the wrong move. Elise is a brand strategist who works with established founders who have outgrown where they started. She helps them find the disconnect between who they are and how they're showing up. Not by overhauling everything, but by going back to the thing that got them here in the first place. Elise and I connected not too long ago and hit it off right away. She's the kind of person who asks the questions most brand people skip. And this conversation covers a lot of ground that I think a lot of founders need to hear. Key Takeaways * Why the urge to rebrand is usually a symptom, not the actual problem * How borrowed words from competitors quietly kill your brand's connection with the right clients * What emotional intelligence has to do with branding (and why most brand people skip it) * The two red flags that signal a brand is starting to break down inside a growing team * Why "who do you want to be a hero to?" might be the most important question a founder can ask Listen If You... * Have been in business a few years and feel like your brand no longer sounds like you * Have hired agencies, rewritten your messaging, and still can't figure out why it's not connecting * Are scaling your team and starting to notice that marketing and sales aren't on the same page Connect with Elise Find Elise on LinkedIn, where she shares her thinking on brand strategy for founders. https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisebay/ ---- Tired of prospects ghosting you after your first conversation? Grab my FREE 5-day email course at https://thefollowupfix.net/ and learn the five relationship-killing mistakes that are costing you sales (and how to fix them without being pushy). About the Show #MeetCoolPeople is where founders, creators, and entrepreneurs share real stories about building businesses that matter. Hosted by Ely Delaney, each episode goes past surface-level advice to uncover the mindset shifts, failures, and frameworks that separate people who talk about success from people who actually build it.

MCP128: Your Voice Is Your Book's Most Valuable Asset, Not Your Expertise w/ Bonnie Daneker

Most people who want to write a book start with the wrong question. They ask, "How do I write this?" when the real question is, "Have I done the work that makes writing it possible?" I sat down with Bonnie Daneker, a book coach and publisher who has guided more than 120 authors through the process of getting their stories out of their heads and into print. She has been doing this for over 20 years. She knows where people get stuck, what separates a book that lands from one that quietly disappears, and why working with the right publisher changes everything. This is a conversation worth your time if you have ever thought about writing a book and felt like you didn't know where to start. Key Takeaways * The Rule of 12: Bonnie's framework for nonfiction authors, and why starting with 12 core ideas makes the writing process far less overwhelming * Why your voice is the one thing AI can't replicate, and how to protect it throughout the writing and publishing process * What to look for when evaluating a publisher, including the questions most first-time authors never think to ask * How to know if a publisher is actually the right fit for your genre before you sign anything * Why a crappy first draft is not just acceptable, it's the starting point every good book needs Listen If You... * Have a book idea you haven't started because you don't know how to organize your thinking * Are in the middle of the publishing process and feeling unsure whether you have the right people around you * Are an entrepreneur, coach, or consultant who wants to use a book to establish credibility and grow your business Connect with Bonnie Reach out to Bonnie directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonniedaneker/ Tired of prospects ghosting you after your first conversation? Grab my FREE 5-day email course at https://thefollowupfix.net/ and learn the five relationship-killing mistakes that are costing you sales (and how to fix them without being pushy). About the Show #MeetCoolPeople is where founders, creators, and entrepreneurs share real stories about building businesses that matter. Hosted by Ely Delaney, each episode goes past surface-level advice to uncover the mindset shifts, failures, and frameworks that separate people who talk about success from people who actually build it.

MCP127: What Would Happen If You Actually Called the D*mn Leads? w/ Drewbie Wilson

I have known Drewbie Wilson for about four or five years now. We met through a group, and honestly the first thing that stood out about him was how easy he was to talk to. At an event once, I was going through a rough stretch and he just took a few minutes to sit with me and have a real conversation. That stuck. He wrote a book called Crushing the Day Before It Crushes You. He went from tech support to C-Suite at a multimillion dollar consulting company. And he built his entire brand around one phrase: Call the Damn Leads. This conversation was a lot of fun. Drewbie is one of those guys who has actually lived the stuff he teaches, and his audience has watched him do it in real time since 2017. We got into his origin story, how he built a lead generation system out of pure frustration, how he walked away from multi-six-figure residuals to start over, and why he still picks up the phone every single day. We also talked about memes. Yes, memes. And you’re going to want to hear that part. Key Takeaways * Why most phone reluctance comes down to one of two things, and what to do about each one * How Drewbie tracked more than a million dollars in commissions back to memes he sent in follow-up sequences * The math that makes every call worth money, whether you close or not * Why “calling the damn leads” has nothing to do with cold calling and everything to do with doing the work * How to figure out your prospect’s preferred communication channel, and why forcing someone to get on a phone can kill the deal Listen If You... * Avoid picking up the phone and know it’s costing you sales * Have leads sitting in your CRM that you haven’t followed up on in weeks * Want a real conversation about what follow-up actually looks like across email, text, DMs, and the phone Connect with Drewbie Tag @callthedamnleads on any platform when you share this episode and he will personally follow up with you. He’ll also send you one of his books for free in PDF if you do it. Visit: https://callthedamnleads.com [https://callthedamnleads.com] Tired of prospects ghosting you after your first conversation? Grab my FREE 5-day email course at https://thefollowupfix.net/ [https://thefollowupfix.net/] and learn the five relationship-killing mistakes that are costing you sales (and how to fix them without being pushy). About the Show #MeetCoolPeople is where founders, creators, and entrepreneurs share real stories about building businesses that matter. Hosted by Ely Delaney, each episode goes past surface-level advice to uncover the mindset shifts, failures, and frameworks that separate people who talk about success from people who actually build it.