Doug speaks with Michael Drew, a marketing expert who has helped publish thousands of books and put 132 titles on bestseller lists. Drew talks about the true purpose of publishing books, explaining why becoming a bestseller should be a strategy, not a goal. He also reveals the secrets of effective goal setting, customer relationship building, and the fascinating "12 steps of intimacy" framework that transforms how businesses connect with clients.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Define your goal clearly and establish a measurable metric for success. Many people focus on tactics (like writing a book) without connecting them to meaningful outcomes.
• Bestseller status is not a goal but a strategy, Michael has helped 132 books reach bestseller lists, but only 7 authors made more money from book sales than marketing costs.
• For books over 60,000 words, every additional 5,000 words results in losing 10% of potential readers. People buy shorter books they believe they can finish.
• Only 17% of American households buy at least one book per year, making book marketing strategy particularly important for reaching target audiences.
• There's a crucial difference between selling (convincing someone to take an action they hadn't planned) and conversion (helping someone take an action they already want to take).
• Your sole purpose should drive your goals.
• Build customer journeys that reflect what you would naturally do in intimate settings. Customers can sense when you're pursuing transactions versus relationships.

BEST MOMENTS

"Bestseller is not a goal. A bestseller is a strategy, and the tactics that float into that are what support that strategy. The strategy then has to tie back into the outcome, into the goal, into the measurement of success."

"The talents and skills and abilities that I've been given have not been given to me for me. They've been given to me for my service for you and everyone else."

"If the book is longer than 60,000 words, like once you hit 60,000 words, every 5,000 words, you'll lose 10% readership."

"The winners and losers in life are determined when the teams are picked. There are two teams that are essential for your success. The first are the team of people who select you to be on their team. The second are those you select to be on your team."

ABOUT THE GUEST

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrdrew/

https://x.com/PromoteABook

https://www.facebook.com/michaelrdrew

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/

Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug

Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/

Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here:

https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success

BOOKS:

Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z

Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/

Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

Join Doug as he celebrates 200 episodes of the Goals Do Come True podcast. In this special solo episode, he talks about resilience, reinvention and the rewards of setting goals that truly matter. He also talks about his own journey to success and how overcoming difficulties has been key to his own and others' success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Anyone who has achieved something great has had to deal with difficulties or adversity.
• Imposter syndrome and self-doubt are common in many people’s journeys to success.
• Doug’s near bankruptcy, motorbike accident and recent divorce are all difficult events that he has had to overcome but right now he is happier, healthier and more in love with life than ever before.
• Goal setting is the foundation of every transformation. You can’t drift into success, it has to be planned, designed and built.
• Doug has bigger plans for the podcast, continuing to help people create a life they can live on their own terms.

BEST MOMENTS

"Every person that has achieved something incredible has had to overcome something difficult”

“When you let go of what no longer serves you, you make space for something amazing”

“Your goals really can come true if you have the courage to chase them”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/

Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug

Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/

Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here:

https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success

BOOKS:

Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z

Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/

Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.

Doug is joined by John Drinkwater, known as toastmasters Lord Zoom. John talks to Doug about how he became a Zoom expert during the pandemic, creating virtual Toastmasters events including TV productions that drew global audiences. He shares Zoom's AI capabilities, content creation strategies and his unconventional approach to goal setting.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• John describes himself as either fully committed or completely disengaged, which explains his approach to goals as ‘dangerous rabbit holes’ that consume his focus once he commits to them.
• After closing his business to care for his parents, John joined Toastmasters International for mental stimulation, becoming involved just before COVID forced everything online, positioning him perfectly to become a Zoom expert!
• When faced with hosting a Toastmasters conference online with no budget, John engineered a complex computer setup that transformed Zoom meetings into a TV-show experience, earning him the nickname "Lord Zoom" and attracting nearly 1,000 viewers globally.
• John believes effective online presentations should combine public speaking skills, marketing techniques, acting methods, and video production knowledge. Being reasonably good at all four areas beats being excellent at just one.
• Zoom's built in transcription, caption capabilities and companion AI can work together to capture meeting content and refine it, with the AI able to process transcript content into polished, concise material that preserves the speaker's intent.
• For ambitious goals, John recommends multiplying your target by 10-100x to make it ‘stupendously stupid’, even if you fall short, you'll achieve far more than with modest goals, while pairing this with more realistic short term milestones.
• Creating scarcity through limited availability (like offering only 500 spots for a program) generates FOMO (fear of missing out) and makes people more likely to commit, even when pursuing extremely ambitious targets.
• Rather than giving all content away free, John advises offering enough value to inspire interest, then creating interactive coaching programs where people work through processes together, as group coaching provides multiple perspectives and is more scalable than one-on-one sessions.

BEST MOMENTS

"I'm a very binary guy, I either sit there and don't say a word, or you can't shut me up.“

"I basically just told my customers, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm going to stop trading in a couple of months time because I've decided that I love my parents so much that I want to look after them in their final years... and I disappeared for ten years."

"If you're going to do it, you need to have an overriding ridiculous goal and whatever your overriding ridiculous goal is, you probably need to multiply it by 10 or 100 to turn it into absolutely stupendously stupid goal."

"If you think half a million is good, then why not a million? And you think a million is not good, why not aim for five million? Now if I fail miserably and I get five hundred thousand, it's still a brilliant goal."

"If people are gonna watch you, then you should take some effort to make it more interesting.”

ABOUT THE GUEST

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndrinkwaterlordzoom/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Website: http://dougbennett.co.uk/

Email: doug@dougbennett.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialdoug/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinancialDoug

Facebook Wealth Tribe: https://join.dougbennett.co.uk/

Download Your "Ten-Step Guide To Financial Freedom" Here:

https://bit.ly/Struggle-Success

BOOKS:

Goals Do Come True is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3phcy6Z

Think Simple, Win Big is now live and available to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Simple-Win-Big-Business/

Enjoy, and come back for the latest podcast each Wednesday. Thank you for listening.