Mike Acker is a keynote speaker, best-selling communication author, and communication coach with over 20 years of experience in speaking, leadership development, and organizational management. He is the host of the Employee Development Podcast and a prolific author. His tenth book will be out in April. He’s also one of our most famous SPS alumni. Public speaking is one of those things that scares most of us, yet it is such a valuable skill and tool to have and use. Mike wrote the book on it more than once.
We kick off the show with Mike sharing his roundabout journey of finding and using SPS. He had written a book in 2006, and it didn’t go anywhere when he shopped for publishers. He still had a message to share. Years later, he changed careers and went from being a church pastor to working in the corporate world. He was doing speaking coaching on the side. A potential client approached him and wanted to trade services. She had a successful book that had landed her speaking gigs, and she was looking for coaching. She offered to walk him through the SPS process for his book.
Mike bought the first edition of Published and went through the SPS process. The hard work paid off, and the success of his book exceeded his expectations. He also shares a strange side effect of how promoting the book affected his business. He started taking his side business much more seriously. He put systems in place and increased time on it until he transitioned out of his corporate job and into his speaking coaching business full time. This episode walks through his story, how he promoted his book, lessons learned, and more interesting insights from Mike.
Show Highlights
- [02:03] Mike shares the story of how his first attempt at book writing, in 2006, didn’t go anywhere. Years later, trading services with a client led him to SPS, and his next book was a giant success.
- [05:46] He wasn’t sure why he wanted to write this next book. His expectations were low, but it was a success.
- [07:24] Mike used Amazon ads which really created high visibility. He was also aggressive with getting reviews and contacted everyone he could. He also built relationships with the SPS community.
- [12:29] Be persistent with asking for reviews. He also did a lot of podcast interviews.
- [14:26] Have a great book with good production and invite people to see it with reviews and ads.
- [16:31] Mike became more serious about his business when his book came out. He was doing so much to promote his book that it also promoted his business.
- [17:45] He started receiving phone calls that made him realize there was really something to his book. He suddenly realized that his side hobby was a business, and he started putting systems in place.
- [22:05] He reinvested all of his money in the business. He was able to ramp up during the pandemic. He worked his current job while transitioning to being full time in his business.
- [25:12] Lessons learned from his relaunch include improving the content and keeping the old book, so he doesn’t lose his reviews.
- [28:56] Pros and cons of keeping both old and new versions live.
- [30:11] Keep promoting your audio book and make it easy for people to access it. Have a quick link. Give away free codes.
- [32:07] Doing it over, Mike would only release one book per year to make promotion easier.
- [34:07] The most helpful part about working with SPS was the clear instructions and the mastermind community.
- [34:38] Take one book and treat it like it has potential because it could.
Links and Resources
- Get a Free Copy of Published
- Get the Audio Copy of Published
- Visit Self Publishing School Online
- Book a Call with Our Team
- SPS Free Training Course
- Mike Acker
- Mike Acker LinkedIn
- Books by Mike Acker
- Speak With No Fear: Go From A Nervous, Nauseated, And Sweaty Speaker To An Excited, Energized, And Passionate Presenter
- Masters of Employee Development Podcast
- Mike Acker Facebook
- Mike Acker Twitter
- ADVANCE with Mike Acker YouTube
- Rachel Richards
- PodMatch