159 | The Power of Niching Your Business with Tim Grahl - Part 1

Jun 2, 2015

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Have you thought about writing a book to position you in the marketplace? Would you trust a book marketer that doesn’t have a book? Yeah, me neither. But today’s guest is Tim Grahl, an expert in author and book marketing. He is also the author of “Your First 1000 copies”. Listen to Tim in part 2 of our interview where he explains about he used his book to propel his business forward. Don’t forget the overall picture of this interview which is about niching.

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Target Audience: Tim helps authors build their platform, connect with fans and sell more books.

[spp-tweet ""I asked myself if i could find a common denominator in the things I enjoyed" ~Tim Grahl"]

As an entrepreneur you kind of flounder around looking for something that works. Before the glory days he is currently living, Tim was a freelancer working in a cubicle where he was programming code. He helped people build things like Wordpress in the days when no one knew how to build Wordpress. But, he couldn’t ever get ahead moneywise. He decided to hire a coach: Josh Kauffman. Josh guided Tim in identifying what kind of work did he really want to do in order to create a focus and a system that would produce result over and over again. This also finally allowed Tim to get really good at something rather than mediocre at everything. During this process, Tim discovered he really liked working with authors.

[spp-tweet ""I didn't just look at money, I looked at lifestyle too" ~Tim Grahl"]

As a beginner, it is perfectly fine to do many different things in order to figure out what you’re really good at. Once identified however, you want to hone in on a more narrowed array of skills and become the expert. Tim asked himself what the common denominator was in the things he enjoyed and focused. He not only considered the money aspect but more importantly what it meant for his lifestyle too. Although authors (his niche) can’t pay the most he knew he enjoyed the work and the lifestyle it provided him.

So why did Tim need to hire a coach? Tim knew he was making mistakes because he knew it wasn’t supposed to be so hard. There were so many details and he couldn’t see all the blindspots. His coach helped him to see what was causing him so much trouble. Nothing trumps getting one person who knows what they’re talking about to give you advice. Asking for this kind of help is a strength and the fastest way to get over obstacles.

[spp-tweet ""If I have to pick between time and freedom, I always choose freedom" ~Tim Grahl"]

Tim worked for Remit Seti who put out this pdf (along with Charlie Hoen) which turned into a book: The Recession Proof Graduate. It lays out a simple way of getting clients and experience in an industry you may not have any. It shows entrepreneurs how to build up a client base from nothing without putting in too much work while reflecting your expertise. Tim decided to focus on finding the big name authors and do the work for free. This helped him to collect valuable testimonials. He then Worked for Dan Pink and just asked that he intended to keep working with him. 6 years later- they still work together. Whether you continue to work with any client, it’s still experience and an opportunity gather testimonials either way.

[spp-tweet ""I knew i was making mistakes because I knew it wasn’t supposed to be this hard" ~Tim Grahl"]

Develop SYSTEMS & stop trading time for money...

A System allows you to do certain tasks over and over which yield the same results. You can either create checklist or you get a computer to do it for you. This simplifies things and frees you from hiring people.

Tim eventually created an online course to teach people these things. He now sells his consulting business over and over again in such a way that helps more people and frees up his time.

[spp-tweet ""I reached out to a coach because I was failing and needed help"~Tim Grahl"]

More to come on Tim Grahl! Stay tuned for part 2! In this episode we’ll cover:

Why Tim hired a coach and why you should too
How to stop trading time for money
The power of systems
Why Tim chooses freedom over anything else
Why working for free builds your reputation

[spp-tweet ""Nothing trumps getting one person who knows what they’re talking about to give you advice" ~Tim Grahl"]

Resources and Links

[spp-tweet ""Doing free work reflects your expertise and that you can be trusted goes a long way" ~Tim Grahl"]

Connect with me too on LinkedIn or Twitter @genehammett.

Do you have questions about today’s episode!?

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