PP 092: The Path to a Book Launch with Angela J Ford

Kim Sutton chats with Angela J. Ford who shares the experiences and advice she has gained during her journey as an International Bestselling epic fantasy author, entrepreneur, marketing expert & musician. Subscribe today!

.@aford21 & @thekimsutton discuss the experiences & advice Angela has gained as an epic fantasy author, entrepreneur, marketing expert & musician. Subscribe today! https://www.thekimsutton.com/pp092 #positiveproductivity #podcast #author #booklaunch #strategist #entrepreneur #TheFourWorldsClick To Tweet

 

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Episode Transcription: Angela J Ford

KIM: Welcome back to another episode of Positive Productivity. This is your host, Kim Sutton, and today I am thrilled to have author and digital marketer Angela J. Ford with us. Welcome Angela!

ANGELA J FORD: Thanks so much Kim. I’m so excited to be on.

KIM: Oh, I am so excited to have you here because you do so much. I mean I’m just blown away by what you do. You write fantasy novels. You teach book launch strategies. You have an online flagship course. You build WordPress websites. What don’t you do? Actually, let me turn that back around. Can you just sum up – and you don’t even need to be too sure – sum up what you do and tell the audience how you got to where you are today?

ANGELA J FORD: Well, in a quick sentence, what I really do is I help people spend more time doing work they love. That really started when – right after I graduated from college – I had a really hard time finding an actual full time job that actually would pay me the amount that I wanted to be paid starting out as an entry level [inaudible]. I worked several different part time jobs, in different industries, nonprofit, sports. I just had my hands in a lot of different things. I finally ended up having a full time job in health and wellness, working with corporate companies and doing a lot with technology. It was while I was there that I realized that I was actually really good with marketing and I love the whole presentation, and on-boarding clients, and do a lot with marketing, and helping them figure out solutions in order to reach more people, and entice them, and make their offerings more attractive, and along with that, with the development of their websites and working in the CMS which is the Content Management System, really the back end for those websites. The whole time I was doing that, I was also keeping my own blog and I started out on WordPress.com.

It was a lifestyle blog, almost more like a journal, and there was just anything that I wanted to talk about at the time, I wrote, and published, and put out, and I started building a following that way. With my full time job, I still really wanted another source of income because I’m a firm believer in multiple streams of revenue so I started freelancing. I got to work with different entrepreneurs and agencies and small businesses and it really just turned into all these different things that I discovered that I was actually good at, like with the marketing and the strategy. And then, also with the freelancing, I did a lot with wordpress behind the scenes and I discovered how to build my own website and then from there I was like: “Oh, well I can actually build websites for people as long as it doesn’t require too much customization. I know a little bit of the technical things like HTML and CSS, but I didn’t really want to deep dive into the whole developer and creating custom websites with code..

KIM: I hear that…

ANGELA J FORD: Yeah, there was just too much. I was like: “I didn’t read some codes, because they learned a little bit of it but it really was in a world that I wanted to dive too deep into because there are just different things about that”

KIM: Oh yeah, that’s just stuff that you outsource to somebody else.

ANGELA J FORD: Absolutely. Absolutely. So while I was doing all of that, I was also writing my first fantasy novel, which I absolutely love books, I adore reading. I’m one of those people that has piles and piles of paper about books all around the house. As a matter of fact, just the other day one of my bookshelves actually broke, as of now there it is, piles books everywhere. So just that fact but, I absolutely love books and I love reading and I started writing a series when I was a teenager. People just kept asking me: “When are you going to rewrite them and actually release them.” So, I started working on that, and actually released the first book in a fall of 2015 and it’s called The Five Warriors. I did a huge book launch party for that. I did a lot with the marketing, and after it came out, I noticed I had all these authors flocking to me. They were asking: “OK, like we saw that you did this with marketing. How did you do that? What else did you do? What tips do you have?” They just have all these questions, and so I compiled a blog post with the answers to those questions, but it just wasn’t enough. So, after that I decided to go ahead and start creating courses that would answer those questions that I kept getting from authors to help them out with that. So that’s kind of where I started from just by trying to find the time to spend more time doing work that I absolutely love, and then help others do the same thing whether that’s writing or launching a book or getting their website up and running or kind of coaching them through blogging and driving traffic and those digital marketing strategies.

KIM: That’s so huge and I apologize if I missed this but what did you go to college for? I’m always curious about where people started.

ANGELA J FORD: This is going to be great. I actually studied Entertainment, I have a degree in Music Business from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s officially a business degree, but I have a lot of entertainment classes. I mean, I remember even going to sub-classes and we were just watching music videos. I had to go to recording studios and track the workflow process and keep track of the different tools that the audio engineers were using. It was a lot of fun. A lot of fun but a big part of that was entertainment.

KIM: That sounds like a lot of fun, like the education that you receive from that has probably been so helpful in what you’re doing now, especially the project management side.

ANGELA J FORD: Yes, because there was the entertainment side and then there was the business side. So on one hand, I can go to one class and we just watch music videos and talk about artist management and whose coming out with this instead of the other. Then I turn around and walk into my finance class, and just kind of sit there like: “Last class was so much fun.” Yeah, It really helped with understanding the balance between things that people see as entertainment, that’s something that’s really fun and how that can actually be a business model and what kind of revenue you can get from that. And then, also monetizing it because the the music industry is changing and growing. One of the things that they failed to do is keep track of the trends in the marketplace. That’s something that are really big into kind of looking forward and looking at those trends to see. In a way, my education taught me a lot about ‘okay, this is what’s happening now.’ This is what people did well in the past. These are the mistakes they made and here’s what you kind of need to look out for the future as you do for business development and creating revenue streams.

KIM: Oh absolutely. I have to ask because in retrospect a lot of things look crystal clear to us but everything happens for a reason. So, I’m a little bit curious actually, a little bit more than a little bit curious, if you could go do it again, do you think you would pursue your college degree again or would you jump right into what you are doing now?

ANGELA J FORD: That is such a difficult question to answer, because I’m really torn about that. So, on the one hand my degree brought me to Nashville, Tennessee where I currently live and I call it my home base. It brought me here and it helped me develop all the relationships and friendships that I have now and kind of set me off on the right foot. But on the other hand, I don’t know that I necessarily needed all of that to get to where I am today, but I don’t think I would be where I am today if I had not had that background. So, that’s a really difficult question to answer. I think it helped in some ways, but it also may have been a hindrance in some ways, because I’ve always been new in marketing when I was a teenager, I actually had a band with my four sisters or five of us so we had a rock band, and we just tour around and we actually made income off of that. Like one of the big things that we did was that we recorded an album and once the album was finished recording, and we paid the audio engineer who had done all the work for us, we realized that we were completely out of money and that we couldn’t even like produce the album or put it out, or duplicate it, nothing, because we were out of funds, and we were sitting there. We were like: “Well, we could work on our jobs, and do that for a month, and you know come up with the money in another a couple months and then release the album” and we were thinking about it, and then we were like: “Or we actually could go ahead and release the album. Pre-sell it, asked everyone to pre-order it” and we think about it were like we have to get at least a hundred people to order this album before it comes out. So that, will actually have the money to pay for it and then we offered them something as a bonus. And so this was something that I did more than 10 years ago probably 15 years ago. That was something that that I was doing. And that’s just a launch strategy like everyone does this now you pre-sell your product and then you get a certain number of people to buy it, once you get that number, then they’ll go ahead and release it and put it out. And you also offer bonuses, you know, for the people that buy it ahead of time. So that was one thing and I think back on that I’m like: “Yay’s are you doing that?” Even before I went to college and learned all these things but I think it definitely helped in a way just gave me more confidence to keep doing and keep moving forward.

KIM: Yeah, I didn’t want to ask you and I will never ask you or any guess how old you are. But I was thinking about how when I went to college Facebook was not yet, hey people you can still put me in a certain decade or a couple hope before then. So just be kind in how old I am. But anyway, so you said 15 years ago this is like before the time of iTunes so it’s not like you could just put a track up and sell it for a $1.99. I mean really, we were limited by CDs and I think, Napster may have been out then but my memory might be off there, but definitely there were a whole bunch of challenges so, that is quite innovative thinking. I mean, I wouldn’t have thought about that. But also I am not musically inclined. The audience should never have to hear me sing. So yeah, that is my gift to you, if you get nothing else out of this podcast. My gift to you is that I will never sing to you.

ANGELA J FORD: There you go.

KIM: I’ll leave that to guests.

ANGELA J FORD: Well, I respectfully decline. I’m done with those band days. That’s as far behind me now. So..

KIM: Hey, I told you I would put you on the spot and that’s exactly what I meant.

ANGELA J FORD: I appreciate it.

KIM: What are the some of the struggles that you see aspiring authors and in general, entrepreneurs, having when they are trying to launch and what would be your foundational advice for how they can really get started in the positive productivity mindset?

ANGELA J FORD: One of the big things that I found that is hard that I heard from a lot of entrepreneurs is: “It’s really hard to launch something when you’re doing it alone, and you’re really the only one, and you really have to rely on yourself to get things done, have that accountability and meet those deadlines.”

And so what has really helped myself, is working with accountability partners and other entrepreneurs in my local area. So, whether that’s just choosing a day where we meet and we just work together for three or four hours, and we just encourage each other and we meet up and go: “hey, where are you working on today? What are your goals for the week? What do you want to accomplish?” and then spending that time getting that done and then checking in with each other and making that happen. That accountability piece has been huge, and there was also great to either work with a coach or another entrepreneur about at this stage ahead of you, where they can give you suggestions, coach you, brainstorm, really help streamline your processes and make it easier and better and just kind of help you avoid the pitfalls that they fell into when they first started out. I did work with a coach for your post plea for about nine months, just to really help with that. And that helped a lot, because then I knew what I need to do, in order to make things happen. I not only had the accountability, like meeting up locally with entrepreneurs, but I also had someone that I could look up to as a mentor. You know get their feedback on the different ideals that I had, and you know whether now’s the right time, or do I need to grow my platform or a little bit more before I release these ideals and get them out there, so those two things are definitely something that I would recommend. Then also for productivity, I don’t work a normal 40 hour week. What I do try to do at the beginning of every single week so, whether that Sunday sometimes it happens on Monday but towards the beginning of the week, I was just kind of write out my goals for the day and then go ahead and schedule out times in my calendar like say from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. I’m gonna sit down with my coffee, and I’m going to work on my blog posts for the week or from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. or 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. I have this website that I’m working on something to go and I’m going to work on that and I’m going to get to a stage where it’s finally ready for that first review.

So, just whatever it is whatever I need to get done. Just really making sure that I have a schedule for it and it’s not just like an ideal and it’s not just a checklist but it’s actually written down with time blocks and time block are huge, they help so much. But that really helps with getting things done.

KIM: So, are you a pen and paper girl or are you using apps for your to do lists.

ANGELA J FORD: I used to use apps but there’s just something about having a pen and paper in hand, or even a notebook or a calendar where you can just write down: “OK, 8:00 a.m. here’s what I’m doing just writing it out.” There’s a different kind of connection that happens with the brain when you write it versus typing it. It might be because I can type really fast but when I write it’s so much slower, because I actually have to write things down. It just helps me stay in that moment when I really think: “OK, this is what I’m doing and I’m writing it down. And it’s not just a checklist.” I do have checklists as well on my laptop. That I follow but just haven’t scheduled in, and then having the checklist as a reminder really helped with getting things done.

KIM: Oh I love that. And I’m the same way I use pen and paper because I feel like I absorb it, and I’m surrounded by white boards.

ANGELA J FORD: Oh, so smart.

KIM: Yeah. I use the chalkboard method. If listeners if you didn’t hear me refer to it in one of the previous episodes I’ll put a link. BIZ B.A.B.E’s has a chalkboard method that I use on one whiteboard that helps me track all my goals on a quarterly basis. But yeah, I’ve got pens and paper and that’s how I’m doing my tracking as well. Angela, what do you say that coaching was one of the best investments that you’ve made in your business?

ANGELA J FORD: I wouldn’t say it was one of the best investments but, I found it very beneficial especially for where I was at that time starting out. It was very helpful. I mean, I would definitely recommend it but, I wouldn’t say it was necessary the best one.

KIM: What would you say is the best?

ANGELA J FORD: Well I think what I – one of the best investments I think I made was more along the lines of my branding and design, and then my voice. I think really finding my voice and finding that in writing and finding that in visuals, was such a such a huge investment because the coaching kind of helped me mold, and decide what I did and what I actually did not want to do. And then the branding really helped me, just make it cohesive and bring my voice into the world. And I think that was so helpful especially with giving me a more professional look, and feel, because with – personally with the coaching I found it so beneficial but it actually helped me figure out what I did not want to do with my business and kind of drove me towards what I’m actually doing now.

KIM: I think that is so key, and I think a lot of people forget about that that there’s so many things that we really don’t want to do in our business but, we’re doing them because it’s a way to bring in money, or because you haven’t thought to outsource those tasks to somebody else.

ANGELA J FORD: Yes..

KIM: And – when you realize you don’t want to do, and what you do want to do. It seriously like out of a cartoon where the sun just shines out from behind the cloud and it’s like the Aha. That’s so close I get to singing

ANGELA J FORD: Yes, like the light bulb goes up, and wait a second, this is actually what I want to do.

KIM: Oh absolutely, I mean when I read it and when I had the aha, it was almost like instant joy coming into my everyday running my business because I love what I do now. So, what’s a – oh, I just got it like a flood of questions to keep in my brain.

ANGELA J FORD: Oh, good

KIM: yeah, What did pointing to your branding look like? Did you interview a whole bunch of brand strategists? Did you develop that on your own? How did that process work for you?

ANGELA J FORD: Yeah, actually It just kind of fell into my lap. One of the girls that I went to college with actually does branding and design and we reconnected after I quit my full time job, and we were just like talking and you know just having coffee just encouraging each other. We meet up and work together. And at one point, she looks at me she was like: “Wait a second.” She was like: “You’re writing a book?” And I was like: “Yeah, I am.” And she was like: “Well, wait who’s doing your book cover?” I was like: “Oh, I haven’t gotten that far.” She was like: “I would love to do it.” I was like: “OK” And she really didn’t have a portfolio at that time. I had no idea what her work would look like, and it was like: “Well, you know, it’s a test. If it does not get, I’ll just, you know move on to the next one.” And I got that first proof of my book back from her. I absolutely love it. The guy had almost no changes. I just looked and I was like: “This is incredible. Like for someone to create a design that I love on the first round is amazing.”

And I mean we did end up going back, and we changed up some things like font and some little tiny things. But after that I had her do my actual brand. And so, she did my logo, the fonts, the colors. And we really had a couple of different conversations around that, so we talked about what what my goals were at the time. And then what the time of my short term long time goals, and then what I wanted my voice to be, and what that look and feel is. And so the key word cycle coming up the whole time we were discussing with something very classy and sophisticated that stands out. That’s also a ginger neutral brand so, it’s not super girly to drive away then, but it’s also not something that’s like super boring so, that you know women won’t be attracted to it as well. So, just like thinking through that whole thing was quite a process. I did a brand brief as well. So, she came out with that look like, and then she created two logos for me, and the one that she love, the one that she was like: “This is exactly who you are. Everything we discuss this is it.” She handed it to me, and I was like: “Oh yeah! That is it.” And that was that it was amazing. There was also a very simple easy process to go through. Even though, I was allowed rounds of revisions, I really didn’t have any, just because she was able to capture exactly what I wanted to do, like what she understood it as she was able to capture that and show me a visual that was everything that I wanted it to be, and that exceeded my expectations.

KIM: That is so amazing, because a lot of people don’t have that experience but it’s what everybody wants. I mean if all you had to tweak was some fonts. I mean that is a blessing, and font really can be a pain.

ANGELA J. FORD: Yes. Oh my goodness yes!

KIM: I am addicted font scroll. You eat up hours of mine every time I enter your site. Thank you.

ANGELA J FORD: Oh I believe it. Which is so helpful to have someone else make those decisions especially, when it comes to my book cover. And, you know what I should be using on the website is so helpful, because I’ll sit around with font pairings and play with them all day. I love it.

KIM: Speaking of book covers, I would love to hear your thoughts on how much or how little effort should go into a book cover, because there is that saying – “People Judge The Book by the Cover.” So, when somebody enters your program and they’re writing their book. When do you recommend that they get started on their book cover, and how do you recommend they do it.

ANGELA J FORD: I recommend they do it almost as soon as possible so, maybe not when they’re starting their first draft, but you know once they have that concept and they know like the storyline for the book, and what’s it about, and just the all the key plots are the key notes, you know, in regards to whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, just kind of what those internal struggles are about, I recommend getting it done pretty quickly, because I love using the book cover to kind of promote in pre-sell the book as well. I do think it’s really important to look, at genres and what genre are in your book is on and then look at the bestsellers, and those genres and take a look at what you really like about it. You really don’t like about those book covers. And also work with, maybe like sit down with a professional have a brainstorming meeting to discuss, because I found that I rarely sit down with a designer to talk about my vision or what I want to do. I always get so many more ideas, and I’m like: “Oh, I had thought about things from that perspective. And yes, this will look really well in the market.” Just because they are so focused on treating visuals that sell themselves, really the writing the book is the hard part because you know once people get past the cover and they’re like: “Oh, this is really what it is.”

But as long as the cover is absolutely gorgeous, and enticing makes people want to buy it, cause this is what the book is about, I think that is such a priority, and that helps a lot especially with using social media, because I’ve found that when people see my book cover, they want to buy the book, even though they don’t necessarily know what the book is about. They just think it’s really pretty and they’re like: “Oh, that looks so good on my shelf, I want to take pictures with that. Send me the book” and–

KIM: That’s incredible.

ANGELA J FORD: Yeah, I think that can definitely make or break book sells, just have that gorgeous color cover on there.

KIM: That’s awesome. Listeners, I don’t think I’ve ever really told you that before a guest comes on the show. I do have some questions that you ask in one of the questions that I ask is: “What does positive productivity mean to you” and Angela answered: “Getting things done while expecting excellent outcomes.” So Angela, on the circle back around to you about this, because as we as entrepreneurs are going through launches, we often go in with really high expectations or dream expectations.

ANGELA J FORD: Yes.

KIM: And it’s really important to have that positive mindset and expect the best. But there are times when it doesn’t happen. So, what would you recommend for somebody going into a launch, who really wants to just blow it out of the water or you know having one million dollar launch, as far as, staying positive on keeping an eye on her goals but staying realistic at the same time.

ANGELA J FORD: Yes, so I think it depends on whether it’s your first launch or you know the 15th launch. But most of the time, first launches are kind of a learning process, and we can do it, and we’ll launch big, and you can make a splash. But sometimes it falls short of your goal, because it is very first time and you know so much more after one when the next time around. With that, I would focus on the positive things that come out of it. So, the benefits like maybe you didn’t hit a million but you had 800,000 like that’s still awesome. That is still amazing. So, just focusing on you know. OK. Well I did not hit 100 %  of my goal but you know I almost got there. So so very equals. And then also having the right team, the right cheerleaders around you to kind of encourage you to keep you going to keep you motivated, because one of the things with – I like to think of whether it’s a book launch is coming out or a course or, you know, you’re launching your business. The fact that you’re making an impact on one single person or one single life is enormous.

And I think that’s so important especially for where people are just learning and they’re like: “OK, I’m starting a blog and I have one person on my list” and that’s one person who wants to be on your list. And they they want to learn from you, when you have something to say. It’s kind of like you’re standing out in the middle of the street and one person walks up to you and they’re like: “Hey! like I need help with this.” You’ll you be more than happy to help that one person or to give them directions or you know just kind of help them out with whatever they need, regardless of whether there’s another 10,000 people standing behind them in line or is that one person. So, I think as long as you have one like that. That is the starting point. And you can absolutely reach your goals.

KIM: Oh, I absolutely love every bit of what you just said. And I got to be totally honest when I launched this podcast, I was thrilled when I saw the first download come in.

ANGELA J FORD: Aha! Yes!

KIM: Just one! I was thrilled. I got a download, and I let my husband know and I was just so excited. It was probably on, lets say honestly just me but I was still thrilled.

So yeah, I mean even if you launch a course and you sell none, you’ve launched a course, there are still many people who just sit there and they don’t ever launch. They think about it, but they don’t do it. And then you have those awesome book ideas or course ideas or business ideas in their head but they keep on thinking: “Oh, maybe tomorrow.” Well you did it today. So congratulations!

ANGELA J FORD: Yes! and in the book “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert she talks a lot about – ideals and I love the way that she explains. She kind of like talks about an ideal that comes like shooting over the hill, like comes to you and wants you to like run with it, and create it, and get it out into the world. And if you don’t do it. That idea will move on to someone else. So, I was like think about it. I’m like, well if I had this great ideal for course, then I’d rather do it and get it out, because someone else is also going to get the same idea. And if I sit on it. They’re going to produce it. But if I produce it they’re probably going to set on that and be like: “Ugh, you know the market saturated. I’m just not even going to bother.” But there’ s a room for everyone, I mean I always think about like how many people, how many billions of people are in the world and I’m like: “Yeah! yeah! There’s definitely a market for everywhere and it’s just it’s just a matter of reaching the right people.”

KIM: I loved “Big Magic” and I loved that section especially – didn’t she sit on an idea and then “Ann Patchett” is that how you say her last name, ended up writing the book that she had in her head.

ANGELA J FORD: Yes. Yes exactly. She said that she sat on it and then she realized that someone else wrote it. And there was like her idea. And I’m like: “Yeah, cause she didn’t do anything” —

KIM: In detail her idea, like the the whole story. And that blew my mind. I mean in the book industry, it’s a little bit harder to take somebody else’s book, and rewrite it in your own way. But I mean you can read a romance novel, fifty different romance novels and you basically get the same story just different names and timelines or whatever..

ANGELA J FORD: Absolutely..

KIM: But the same goes for the online course industry or anything in business people are already doing what you want to do. So, don’t be frustrated. I mean you yourself do it in your own transparent way and somebody is going to love your style more than they do somebody else’s.

ANGELA J FORD: Oh absolutely. Like there are so many like I’m in natural So, there are so many authors that they do a lot of what I do. Like they’re “Michael Hyatt”. I mean he write books. I mean he’s to be the president and CEO of a huge publishing company. There is “Jeff Koinange” who does a lot with with writing and selling books or book launches. There are so many people like right here that are like down the road for me. And they do a lot with marketing and helping writers. But, you know, I do it in a different way. So there are still people that come where like: “The way you explain that, the way you talk about it. It’s amazing. And I really like it. Now I get it.” And it’s just, because people need different perspectives and they need different people to learn from, because what someone else says might not necessarily resonate with them the same way that you say it.

KIM: Oh absolutely. And I totally agree. I mean “Michael Hyatt” and “Jeff Koinange”. Yeah. Can I come down to Nashville and join in for a weekend and just go out and try to like hook up with those people. Hey, if you’re listening I want you on the show so, just contact me through my website.

ANGELA J FORD: There you go.

KIM: Hey ,  I’m not ashamed to ask for what I want. And that should be the same in anything in your business. Don’t ever be afraid or ashamed to ask for what you need and what you want to take that next step into launched.

ANGELA J FORD: Absolutely.

KIM: And it probably goes the same for – and I haven’t written a book, but for a book launch I mean asking people, getting the nerve together to ask somebody you to read your book before you launch it. I can’t even imagine how scary that can be.

ANGELA J FORD: Oh! It’s nerve wracking. I always, I’m the kind of person, I don’t really like asking people for things but with the book I was like: “Well, I have to get your reviews. I have to get reviews, because that will help sell the book” it’s like get someone we pull that up on Amazon. They say that it has five star reviews. Then they – that encourages them to go ahead and purchase that. And so, I remember I reached out to a professor at a local university in Nashville, and he’s here an English professor and he’s amazing. I just love his stuff. And so I was like: “Well I know he’s busy, even though it’s the summer right now, he’s teaching college courses, he’s prepping for his next run the soonest. I’m sure all he does is read” but as soon as I send my novel and I was like: “Hey! Here’s my book, here’s a free copy, I’d love for you to read it, and review it.” And you know what he did – he did and he wrote a review on Amazon. He sent me an e-mail about it. It was fantastic, and I was like you know even the people that are super super busy, you know, if you ask then you just never know the answer could be: “Yes! I hear you. There you go.”

KIM: You have 50% chance of getting “Yes”. So, why would you want to go to tomorrow and wonder what the answer would be. Right?

ANGELA J FORD: uhmmn

KIM: So, you said you know your daily routine isn’t necessarily set and you set out your tasks like at the beginning of the week. Do you have any type of daily rituals for keeping a positive mindset or for keeping productivity or anything in general do you have any type of daily rituals in your life?

ANGELA J FORD: I do! One of them it’s kind of funny but I love my coffee. So, I always have a cup of coffee. One of the other things that I do that also helps is just plain to spend time doing it, doing like personal development. So, whether that’s listening to a podcast episode or reading a book which, I do a lot of readings so a lot of times it is reading a book or reading a blog post. I tend to do that a lot, like just set aside time where I sit on my coffee and I sit down with a book that I’m reading and just read the chapter every single day. Just to help maintain that positivity in that mindset, and then I also have – so entrepreneurs that they’ll say to me the way like: “Oh, did you watch this video ,  it’s so inspiring or did you read this book or this article online or listen to this podcast.” So that also helps as well. But just setting aside daily time where I know that – I was just going to focus on that and not look at my phone or be on Facebook or answering emails that really helps maintain that mindset.

KIM: So how many books do you read at one time?

ANGELA J FORD: Wow. OK. I probably read around 10 books at one time just because I like to read. So, I like to read my self-help books because it’s more personal value that helps me with my personal growth, and like business and life. But then I also absolutely love reading fiction. So most of the books that I read are suspense, thriller, mystery, novels I love reading those. But and then things that come out on the best sellers list those are huge. And then I also read a lot of books from fellow Indie authors. So, yesterday an author, he had a book come out and he asked me to read it and review it. So, it was actually so short that I sat down and I read it in like two hours, that’s just setting aside time for things like that. So personal development. Other Fellow author books. And then just, you know, whatever’s out and on the best sellers list that I think it’s been fascinating.

KIM: Absolutely I love that and curious minds including mine want to know what is one or are a couple of the podcasts that you listen to.

ANGELA J FORD: I listen to a Suitcase Entrepreneur by Natalie Sisson. She my gosh I found out about her four or five years ago and just started following everything that that she did. And that actually a fun story there. I reached out to her and I was like: “Natalie I’ve been following you for a while. I really want to be a guest on your podcast.” And so she said: “Yes!” she allowed me to be a guest so that was really cool. I also listened to the “Fempreneur Show” with – wow their names just escaped me oh, “Mariah Coz” and “Meagan Minnz”. So I listen to their. Their podcast is fairly new it hasn’t been  out-launch . So that’s the one that I listen to a lot. And I think it’s fantastic. And then the others are listening to different episodes from them. I don’t necessarily listen to them regularly but they’re different episodes and people were like: “Oh! this is amazing. Absolutely, you need to listen to it” So, I’ll pull that up and listen to, every now and then.

KIM: I love that. And I haven’t listened to either of those. I’m going to have to definitely put them into the show notes for other listeners as well. And congratulations on getting on “Suitcase Entrepreneur” I mean that’s another example of putting out your – your ask and I can’t even imagine how overjoyed you were when you heard the “YES” back.

ANGELA J FORD: Oh I was so thrilled. And she’s in New Zealand like she said in e-mail she was like: “OK, well what you want to talk about?” You know she has themes every single month and it just so happened that. She was having a whole month dedicated to self-publishing and book launches. And that ended up being fantastic. I was like: “Wow! Just happened to reach out to her before that month came up.” But yeah, she was in New Zealand so we had kind of scheduled at an odd hour, but it worked out, it was amazing.

KIM: Angela do you believe in luck or fate?

ANGELA J. FORD: I do. I do. So to speak.

KIM: Some people are “yes” some people are “no”. I’m somewhere in between. I do believe that everything happens for a reason. So, I’m just not sure that they believe it’s luck.

ANGELA J FORD: Yeah.

KIM: Yeah. Listeners, you can you can leave your comments and tell me what you think. Tell us what you think on the website. Wow. I would love to hear more and I’m sure the listeners would love to hear more about where they can find out more about you and learn or sign up for your course. Can you share all that good information with us.

ANGELA J FORD: Yeah absolutely. So my main hub where I hang out online is my website. It is AngelaJFord.com and you’ll find links to all my social media. Twitter actually is my favorite. And then, I’m also on Instagram but that really is just promoting my fantasy novel so, if that’s your thing come across and you can learn all about it and all about fun, crazy adventures. Things that are unrealistic but quite entertaining. And then I also have the book launch course and several other like free and paid resources for authors who are looking to publish there. Go ahead and sell your books get it out there and then launch with a splash so actually make it, make it big get a lot of attention online. Get those books sells and and then figure out what they need to do in order to keep marketing their book and to keep getting those consistent sales. Every single month so, the book launch course you can also see that right on my home page on AngelaJFord.com

KIM: I love that you love Twitter.

ANGELA J FORD: I’m obsessed.

KIM: Yes, so am I, and most people well, not most but a lot of the guests are they have their home base for social media on Facebook. So I think you’re actually one of the first who actually said “Twitter” So, thank you. I feel like I’m not alone in the Twitter spirit now.

ANGELA J FORD: Yes. Yay! Yes. I get a lot of people are like I absolutely hate Twitter. They’re like: “How did you grow such a huge following” and I’m like: “I’ve been on there since 2009, you can’t really like sit there and be like – oh! you have all these followers. How did you do that. Like it – it was a growing process”

KIM: Oh it definitely its a process and one that I would recommend that any listener does not get frustrated with because it does not happen overnight at all. And but it can be so lucrative. So do not give up on Twitter. My little Twitter spiel for the episode. Well thank you so much again for being here Angela, it’s been an absolute joy listeners, again you can go to Angela’s Web site at AngelaJFord.com. I got that right. Right.

ANGELA J FORD: Oh! you did. You are amazing.

KIM: I try. It’s really been an absolute pleasure. So thank you times a thousand.

ANGELA J FORD: Thank you. I’m so honored. Absolutely love chatting with you.

KIM: Oh, and me chatting with you as well. Thank you listeners for being here for another episode of Positive Productivity please, and I’m sure Angela will love this as much as I do. If you gained anything off of this episode if you know any aspiring authors who are looking to launch anytime in the near or far out future share this episode and give them some tips and advice and links to the Angela’s course and also love your ratings and reviews. Over on iTunes or Stitcher until the next episode. Make it positively productive day.