Using Your Podcast to Launch a Book with Andrea Liebross

Andrea Liebross: It.

Stacey Harris: If writing a book has ever been on your to do list, your that would be an amazing thing to do list on your goal list. You're gonna want to listen to today's conversation. We've got a client joining us to talk about the process she went through to write her new book, how she used her podcast, how the podcast was impacted by taking on such a big project. We're gonna dig into put all of it in this conversation. Welcome to the More Profitable Podcast with Stacey Harris. I'm Stacey, and this is the spot to learn more about the strategies, tactics, and tools you need to build your more profitable podcast. My team and I work every day with podcasters like you to shift shows from frustrating time sucks to productive members of your sales team because your show should be built to generate and convert leads. So let's get into it.

Stacey Harris: We don't do this very often. We don't, but we're doing it today. We've got a guest. Andrea Libros is here with me to talk all things book writing and thinking big. She is the official like it's out in the world now author of she Thinks Big the Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and into the Extraordinary. I'm so excited for this conversation. We've worked with Andrea for a while now, producing her show, and we've had such an incredible time supporting her. And when she took on this project, we definitely had to get clear on some things so that she could have the space to do this, to take this on.

Stacey Harris: And we dig into that in the episode, but we also dig into how she used her podcast to help her get this done. It's an incredible conversation, and I'm so excited to share it with you, and I want to encourage you. Right now, the book is out. Go over to Shethinksbigthebook.com to get your copy. Highly recommend. I don't want to daily dally. I want us to get right into the conversation. So without any further ado, here's my chat with Andrea.

Stacey Harris: Welcome to the show, Andrea. I'm stoked that you're joining me.

Andrea Liebross: Well, I'm happy to be here. More than happy to be here.

Stacey Harris: I'm really excited conversation because I hear from clients, podcasters colleagues, friends, I don't know, I think some human, like three times a month tells me they want to write a book, and I'm like, that sounds like the most huge project I can imagine.

Andrea Liebross: It's pretty big. It's bigger than I even dreamed of. I don't know. Yeah, it's a big deal. It's a big deal, and it's big. Yeah.

Stacey Harris: We're going to talk a lot about that today because A, I think it's important to normalize it and B, you are so good with process and systems and thinking these things through and honestly getting it done that I think it will be a really supportive conversation for those people who are like, OOH, should I do this before we jump in? I know who you are, but in case there's some crazy listener who doesn't, can you let everybody know who you are?

Andrea Liebross: Sure.

Stacey Harris: What's happening in your business and your podcast?

Andrea Liebross: Yes. Hello, crazy listener who doesn't know which is probably most but my name is Andrea Libros, and I am a coach and a speaker, and I am the host of my own podcast, which Stacey produces called Time to Level Up. I think we're on to episode 139 or 40 at this point. And what I do when I'm not recording podcasts or writing books is I help. I like to say high achieving entrepreneurial women really shift from feeling overwhelmed and confused no matter what stage of their business they're in, to feeling like they've got some freedom, they've got time freedom, they've got money freedom. They've got freedom to think about what they want to think about and that they're not so stuck in the minutiae of the day to day and can kind of what I like to say, stop thinking small and start thinking big. I coach in a variety of ways, all virtually like most of the world is today. And I really enjoy what I do because I get to help people make decisions, create results in their business and grow not just business wise, but also grow personally, because I love to say that being an entrepreneur is really a journey in personal development disguised as an entrepreneurial adventure.

Andrea Liebross: So it sounds all fun and games, but sometimes it's not. And you really got to focus on you and understanding your own mindset and systems. Mindset and systems together are really the secret sauce that we concoct.

Stacey Harris: I love that you talk about the there is nothing that has done more for my personal development than owning a company.

Andrea Liebross: Isn't it true?

Stacey Harris: Working with clients, building sales skills, every single part of it seems to come back to personal development. It's like, oh, wait, there's more me to get better. Which is good because I enjoy that. But I think that for people who maybe don't realize that's going to happen, it surprised me. I'll be honest. I did not expect it to happen.

Andrea Liebross: And you also think it's going to be like, oh, okay, once I get this down, then I'm going to be good. But I mean, I talk about that in my book, actually, how I call it. Like, there's spirals. Spiral one is the kind of the stage one, spiral two. And the messy middle of those gets smaller. It just changes its form. It gets smaller. It does get, quote unquote, easier, but it's just different.

Stacey Harris: You know what I think for me helps it feel easier is I recognize it now.

Andrea Liebross: Yeah, well, your awareness is like, yes.

Stacey Harris: My ability to spot it happens way sooner now than it used to. You mentioned thinking big, so I want to go into the book because that's one of the things I love about the book. So tell us a little bit about the book, sort of the role you want it to play in your work with your clients and the impact it.

Andrea Liebross: Can have for them. I started my podcast at the very tail end of 2020, like November or December of 2020, and I found that it really is an amazing marketing tool. Both my own podcast and then guesting on other podcasts. A lot of times when someone finds out about me, they listen to my podcast as kind of like, gives a credibility factor. It's like, is she legit? Do I really like her? So when I thought about writing a book, which was not on my bucket list, by the way, I'm just going to put that in there. No, this was not something that I was like, I want to write a book someday. But my coach said to me, she's like, you know, what, have you thought about writing a book? And I was like, well, I've kind of thought about it, but I haven't really done it yet and I don't know. And then I kind of got to a place where I thought, all right, you know what, I got a podcast.

Andrea Liebross: And that's going, okay, I'm just going to write an ebook. So I went back, I can even picture the conversation. I went back and I was like, okay, I'm going to write an ebook. And my coach said to me, why don't we just write a real book? Why don't we just write a real book? Yeah, let's just write a real book. Like one with a cover that's paper or hardcover even. Maybe it's on audio. Let's write a real book. So that conversation and how it actually kind of relates to the podcast in a sense, what I really started to think about was just audio, okay? So I could put out and I had put out a bunch of audio.

Andrea Liebross: I had a bunch of Vlogs, I called them and I'm pretty active on social media. But by kicking it up to podcast, right? So just going from putting out audio content to putting out podcast, that's a way bigger marketing tool and it's a way bigger platform for me to explore my own ideas and figure out ways to share them with my audience and to serve. So then I thought, okay, well, ebook, okay, ebook is good. Ebooks like, all right, but real, we'll call it real book. That's big. That's even a bigger marketing platform and it's a different way to serve and to actually have people kind of see how a book evolves and all the steps involved in it. It's different than just an ebook because I think, number one, the length of it and the complexity of it, but even just the process of it, it took us probably seven stabs to get the back cover, right? That kind of thing.

Stacey Harris: Yeah.

Andrea Liebross: So you can do audio content or you can do a podcast, you can have an ebook or you can have a real book. That was kind of the evolution there of that. Yeah, it is.

Stacey Harris: It's a different level of positioning. I love that you shared that because I think oftentimes we're like, oh, well, we could just try this. And maybe for some people that's a great way to step into it, lean into that growth edge or that little bit of discomfort. I'll be fully honest, I would probably need an ebook first because books sound scary. Positioning change.

Andrea Liebross: Yeah. And it's kind of I mean, then the title of my book is she Thinks Big. So it kind of absolutely. Now, in retrospect, okay, now, like, looking back at this 30,000 foot view, writing the ebook is a step, but I think I was just like, well, let's just go for it. Okay, maybe she's just take this big step. Let's really think about it. So there's nothing wrong with an ebook, and I love ebooks, and I probably will write an ebook, but that's how this came about. It was really me not just taking a little step.

Andrea Liebross: It was like a leap. And it really and honest to God, now, twelve months later, it was a leap. It was a leap.

Stacey Harris: It was a leap. But I don't know, there's something so in alignment with the book that that story is that feels so like, I love that because it was you thinking big. It was you going big and playing big and stretching into that discomfort. I have a weird perspective because I edit and produce your show. But this is coming out the week the book launches. In the run up to that, we've been talking about a lot of these principles on the podcast, you've been talking a lot of these principles on your podcast and it's so funny to hear you say some of these things because I'm like, oh, that's literally what she's talking about in the course of these episodes. So after you're done listening to this episode, buy the book and then go subscribe to the show and listen to all of the episodes that we've released as sort of a countdown to the book release. Because it's so much of that value around leaning into your discomfort zone and being a little uncomfortable and managing that discomfort as you go through the process.

Stacey Harris: Was there a lot of discomfort for you as you moved through this huge, big, think big process?

Andrea Liebross: Tons. There's tons of discomfort. And I kind of go into this in some of my podcast episodes, but at the very beginning, the first thing is the publisher said to me, okay, we've got to figure out a framework. What's your framework going to be? They're going to be the four keys to whatever, or the ten steps to blah, blah, blah. Okay, so here's something interesting. I am super used to thinking that way because really, when I outline a podcast, I'm trying to give you the five steps to finding whatever right. So I can do that, I can do that. I know how to do that.

Andrea Liebross: But what I found was that's really what I learned, what they would call in the publishing world, short form content. So I'm producing a 30 minutes podcast, or maybe I'm writing a series of ten emails that's short form content, and I got that down. But this is long form content. Writing a book long form content, and that's a lot harder. And I'll be honest, I super struggled with it also, because what I wanted to share in the book is not something that's linear. It's not step 1234. So it took me a boatload of time just trying to figure out how to organize my thoughts like a really rough outline framework before I could even dig in and start writing. And at some points during that I thought, oh my God, is this really going to be this hard? Why does this feel so hard? So I got through that.

Andrea Liebross: The writing of it, I think the book ended up being about 45 or 46,000 words. I mean, I probably wrote 80,000 words, so we had to cut out tons. So it wasn't like I had lack of content. And I did use podcast episodes as a platform for that. So I went back through every episode and I did old school note cards and wrote the topic of each of them on there and kind of three or four main points, and then kind of played solitaire with the note cards trying to figure out, all right, where would this fit in, what chapter, part of the book. So the podcast content came in handy. Very much so.

Stacey Harris: Now, in the course I'm sorry to interrupt, but in the course of writing the book and using the podcast content, was it just using sort of general ideas or were you able to be like, oh, I really like how I phrase that. How can I pull that in?

Andrea Liebross: Was there any of that? Yeah, there was that. I liked the way I explained this because there's a lot of storytelling going on in the book. I bring in a lot of client examples. I'm pretty big into giving an analogy for something, and I do that on my podcast. So it wasn't just the concepts or the topics. It was actually sometimes the content. Like, I pulled up the transcript and.

Stacey Harris: How did I that's awesome.

Andrea Liebross: See that? What did I do?

Stacey Harris: Once you figured out how you wanted to express an idea, especially when we're working with analogies or stories, once we have figured out how we want to craft that, how many ways can we use it? That's sort of a win in there, right?

Andrea Liebross: It is. It's a huge win. You're right, it's a huge win. So the podcast helped me in the writing of then, you know, the writing was completed. We'll call it and Stacey, I cannot believe all the pieces of the puzzle that happened after the writing. So it's kind of like this is my analogy to know after I record my podcast and I give you the link, I say bye bye, and then I just see it when it appears, and I never have to be part of all of that. Well, in the book writing, even though I had a publisher, I'm not self publishing, but I'm still making more. You are making a lot of decisions for me in the editing process and in okay, what are we going to make the social media post look like? Well, in this book thing, I had to still be the one giving the final yes or no and putting in a lot of opinions and giving a lot of green lights or red lights.

Andrea Liebross: So that was exhausting.

Stacey Harris: Just going to be honest, the decision fatigue that comes with that has got to be massive because there is there's so many touch points, it almost feels like writing the book. Like the initial draft of the book is like step zero. Like the actual process of getting the book done.

Andrea Liebross: Yeah. And my mind would kind of go to places where as I was writing, I was thinking about, okay, after the writing, what do I want the COVID to look like? Or what is the I hadn't even really decided on the title until I was done writing, and that was draining. There was definite decision fatigue, and we're also in the middle of building a house, so there's like double decision fatigue.

Stacey Harris: So you just thought, let me make a ton of really important decisions all in one.

Andrea Liebross: I'll do it in twelve months. Let's do it. Let's do it. It sounds like a plan.

Stacey Harris: Yeah, I like it, but it is.

Andrea Liebross: What I'm helping my clients do. What I'm helping them do is make decisions. So this was a great opportunity for me to hone my decision making skills.

Stacey Harris: Practice, practice, practice. I love that. As you were working through the process, were you ever using the podcast? I know we've talked about this in strategy from time to time, but was there ever times where you were using the podcast, where you were like, I'm getting ready to write this and I want to have a way to flesh out this section or this story even. And we'd sort of create a podcast episode with the intention of helping you flesh out something that was going to end up in the book.

Andrea Liebross: Yeah, that did happen a bunch of times where I thought, all right, this chapter is going to be about how to create your vision, and then I would do an episode about that and I would actually kind of forced me to think through these ideas. Also, the other interesting thing was you and I have deadlines, so I would think about, okay, well, I have to get this podcast done, outlined and recorded by Friday. I'm going to use what I'm outlining and recording by Friday for the book. It was kind of happening simultaneously. And it's how you say it is different than how you write it. But what I realized is that my book became very conversational because it is kind of, in a sense, how I talk. The best part was when I submitted my so when you write a third of the book, you submit it to the editor. So I wrote the first third, and I never met my editor, and she didn't know me and about anything about me.

Andrea Liebross: And so we had our phone call, and she's like, okay, I'm going to be honest, and I appreciated this. So thank you. Melanie, if you're listening, said, I listened to a bunch of your podcast episodes and this book, it doesn't sound anything like you. It just doesn't sound like you. And I said, well, I've been feeling that she was expressing in words what I just wasn't able to put in words because when I first sat down to write, sound felt very awkward because I wasn't talking, I was writing.

Stacey Harris: You were trying to be a writer.

Andrea Liebross: Yes, I was trying to be a writer. So she's like, you're really good at talking and explaining things. And she said, that's probably how your coaching practice works. Because it's kind of like a feedback loop, in a sense. Yeah, but writing isn't that's not coming across in your writing. So I think we're going to start writing like you're talking. Like, okay, let's do it.

Stacey Harris: I love that.

Andrea Liebross: So I audio or I voice recorded. What's the right word? I recorded a lot of my book and then transcribed it awesome.

Stacey Harris: If I were to ever write a book, I think that's the only way it could get done because the filter between my brain and my mouth and the filter between my brain and my hands is just like a different system altogether.

Andrea Liebross: Yes. Well, that was what was going on. She's like, I think you need to talk out the book. I think you need to do that.

Stacey Harris: I love that you were able to use the show to help flesh that out. Because to me, it almost is like and this is a bad analogy because I'm not as good at it as you are, but it's almost like, I'm going to go use the muscles I know works, the system I know works to get this clear for myself and for somebody who's going to consume it at some point. I'm going to go use this mechanism I know works so that I can lift it and put it into this mechanism I haven't figured out yet.

Andrea Liebross: Totally. That's exactly what happened.

Stacey Harris: I love that. And I love that you're really let's do.

Andrea Liebross: She's like, I think we just need to talk this book because you're not writing it the way it's almost like you're not being your best self as an author right now, andrea, let's just be your best self as a podcast host and let's just do it that way. 100%.

Stacey Harris: I love that. So moving sort of through the process, the book is releasing to the world this week.

Andrea Liebross: Yes.

Stacey Harris: How counting down to that, which I'm sure has been like a full on countdown at your house, how have you been using the podcast to gear up for the book release?

Andrea Liebross: So I'll give a couple of ways. Number one is I wanted to get some endorsements for the book. So one of the very last steps, I had to put a list together of people that would endorse it so that their little blurbs could go at the beginning. And I sent them what's called advanced reader copies. And I then decided, okay, let's go for some I'll call them heavy hitters, let's go for some really big people. And I invited them on the podcast as kind of a thank you, like, hey, will you read an advanced reader copy of my book? If you love it, would you be willing to endorse it? And I would love to have you on my podcast, one, because I think you can help serve my audience, and two, because I want to showcase all the great things you're doing. I love that I use the podcast in that way.

Stacey Harris: I love that because it's a way we've talked about or I've talked about recently with a lot of people, which is the networking power of the networking power of featuring guests. I talk a lot about being really intentional with why a guest is on your show. Where is the win win? The win for you, the win for the guest, and the win for the listener or the audience. And that is such a great example of a win win. You got to introduce your listeners to the people who they're seeing their names in the front of the book. And also, you got to say, again, a thank you to the people who were making that swing and endorsing the book and have a really meaningful conversation with them. It's such a good way to use podcast guests that we don't talk enough about is that networking perspective, that relationship building perspective.

Andrea Liebross: So that was like, hey, if I want this person to endorse my book, I need to have a conversation with them, right? And how can I have a conversation with them? Well, I can invite them on my podcast and we can talk about all sorts of things and I could ask them, hey, would you read this book and help me out? So the podcast was a great networking tool. It was an amazing networking tool. And I've met some really cool people through podcasting, like me being a guest on their show or vice versa. It's a great way to meet people 100%.

Stacey Harris: I love that. I love that you shared that. So how else have you been counting down to the launch date, because I know you've talked a lot about the book process and some of the pieces of the book highlighting what's coming for them as we've sort of counted down these last couple of weeks.

Andrea Liebross: Well, it's a platform to really discuss some of the concepts in the book. So I decided in the weeks leading up to this launch day this week, to kind of go almost chapter by chapter and think about what's in each chapter, what can I pull out that's super valuable, and how can I use some of that content that I've already really thought through now in different ways? And so I've created whole episodes around chapters in the book. I've also created blogs around chapters in the book and social media around chapters in the book. And it's really actually helping me almost. It helped me in the last two months organize my content. So there'd be a podcast episode, a blog, social media, and there's always social media that goes with the blog or goes with the podcast episode, and there's always the transcript of the episode. But then I added some other pieces. But it really when people say, create a content calendar that works for you.

Andrea Liebross: So the podcast was really a huge piece of content that I could tie to the book. It kind of made my content more robust, I'll call it. Yeah, I love that.

Stacey Harris: I really like that.

Andrea Liebross: Yeah. And the other thing is, just thinking about the podcast really made me think ahead. I mean, think ahead about the launch, think ahead about all the things that are going with the launch. I'm calling it a think big insider session in October. If you purchase the book and then send me what your order number is, I will send you a complimentary ticket to this kind of think big insider session with author Andrea, where we're going to talk about how you yeah. So how are you going to move from being just a reader to an implementer? How do you take that next jump? How do you start to really think big in your business and your and that's I had to start thinking about, okay, what am I going to do? How am I going to do this? Long time ago when we were planning out our episodes. So that was a great way that I viewed the podcast.

Stacey Harris: We've been talking about the book launch for what, six, nine months?

Andrea Liebross: Six months.

Stacey Harris: We've been sort of going, okay, so this is what it's coming out. What pieces do we want to put in place? One of the things I love about you and the podcast is that action piece is generally there is something at the end of the episode the listener can do. They can look at, they can evaluate, they can ask questions of themselves or someone else. There's some sort of next action for them to take to be an implementer and not just a consumer. And so I love that you built that into the book launch as well. Before we close. We'll close up officially here in a minute, but in case someone's listening right now and saying, I want to be an implementer and I want to go to that event, where can they go find the book? Let's give them that information right now.

Andrea Liebross: Okay, so best way is to go to Shethinksbigthebook.com and you're going to find all things related to the book. You're going to be able to purchase the book. You're going to be able to tell me you purchased the book and get a ticket to that event or that online event in October. And once you purchase the book and dig in, you're also going to have the option to go access the toolkit where I've put lots of fun goodies that can help you start to think bigger. There's something in there which I love. It's called how do you work in your zone of extraordinary achievement? So not how do you delegate? What do you delegate? How do you do the things that you want to do and that no one else can do in your business? And how do you get rid of all the things that other people can do for you? So there's a toolkit. The book is pretty robust, and hopefully it's not something that's going to sit on a shelf. It's something that you can use and implement pieces of immediately.

Andrea Liebross: So she thinks bigthebook.com is the best way to get access.

Stacey Harris: Awesome. I'm really excited for that. As we start to wrap up, is there something from this process in writing the book that you didn't expect to learn, feel, see, that sort of popped up for you? Because I think it feels like such this mysterious process to those of us who have not done it. I'm wondering if you're like, oh, wait, this is different, or exactly the same as I expect it to be. Were there any surprises?

Andrea Liebross: Yeah, I think I didn't expect it to be a platform for me to solidify some of my own ideas. So I'm full of ideas, but to really kind of hone in on what are the most important parts, what's my signature process for helping entrepreneurs move? I call it say, move past the messy middle and into their extraordinary what does that really look like? And yes, it's different for everybody because everybody is unique and has a different business, but there's parts of it that are always exactly the same, and it gave me that push to zone in on that. Like, what is exactly the same about it? And also, I think something that was unexpected is it forced me to even think bigger than I already I i just had to trust. There's a lot of trust that had to go into it. And I think trusting is part of thinking bigger and really accessing who you want to be in. The future. So what would future Andrea do? What would she decide to do? She how does she want to show up? What decisions does she want to make and how is that going to affect who she is? So that was kind of another fun aspect of it. So keep thinking big.

Andrea Liebross: That is my message.

Stacey Harris: I love how much the process of getting this book done and out and into the hands of readers was your own sort of exercise in what this book teaches.

Andrea Liebross: It was.

Stacey Harris: You wrote it. I think that's just cool to know as you read the book, too.

Andrea Liebross: So I wouldn't have read the book if I didn't think I had already done that. I had experienced that and I had. But guess what? You continue to experience it and you kind of keep going to places where you really didn't think were possible. So I guess I wasn't thinking about that when I started, but I'm thinking about it now. It keeps going in a good way. In a good way, yeah.

Stacey Harris: Well, I have been in business twelve years now, and I was talking to somebody not too long ago about it who is earlier in their business, first couple of years, and they were like, wow, twelve years, that's a long time. Did you imagine when you started that your business would look like this? And I go, no, I had no idea what my business looks like now was an option when I started my business. Until you start thinking bigger, you can't see bigger than whatever, bigger than where you are.

Andrea Liebross: It's right now, right?

Stacey Harris: There's no visual on that. So I love that this book helped you see what your next bigger was and your next, and your next. I love how in line the value of this book is with the process. I don't know why. It's very meta, but I love it.

Andrea Liebross: Well, I loved writing it, and I am really excited to help other entrepreneurs through the book. I think this book is a vehicle to help others, and that's kind of what I'm all about.

Stacey Harris: It feels like a must read. It feels like an absolute must read. So shethinksbigthebook.com yes, that's where you're going to find the book. That's where you're going to find everything. And then, of course, we'll have links in the show notes to Time to Level Up podcast and your website. Is there anything you want to leave our listeners with before you bow out?

Andrea Liebross: I think if you've got a nudge, there's something nudging you to do something bigger, like write a book or even start a podcast, you have to kind of assess, like, why aren't you doing it? What's getting in your way? What's the roadblock? And usually it's just yourself. It's just yourself. So there's a pull quote in my book, which I learned what a pull quote is. Pull quotes are things that kind of stand alone on pages of books. There's a pull quote. Just I think in the intro, that says something to the effect that I knew something was wrong, but I didn't realize what was wrong or what was stopping me was me. So if you feel like it really kind of comes down to you stopping you and you want to do something big, then trust, get out of your own way and take the leap.

Stacey Harris: Awesome. Thank you so much for spending some time with me. Thank you for writing this book. I'm so excited to send it to, like a Bazillion people now along with this episode so they fully understand that everyone is always sort of working towards what's that she thinks bigger moment is. I love that. Thanks you for hanging out with me today.

Andrea Liebross: Thanks for having me. Stacey.

Stacey Harris: Thanks so much for listening to the show. Remember that content consumption does not make changes, so commit to doing something from today's episode. Maybe it's taking action on what we talked about. Maybe it's reaching out to me and learning more about podcast strategy intensives or what podcast production looks like with our team. All of that is over@uncommonlymore.com. And if you haven't yet signed up for the podcast newsroom, I want to remind you that is a great next step. If you're not really sure what comes next, hang out over there. Get those exclusive private episodes.

Stacey Harris: That's over@podcastnewsroom.com. And the last favor I will ask, because social proof is endlessly important for sure, is to leave a rating or review for this show. If you go to ratethispodcast.com more, that's the easiest way to do it. But I would love to hear what you thought of the show, what you think of the show, and if the show has been helpful for you, I can't wait to chat with you. So this is just the start of the conversation. Reach out so we can keep you going. Talk soon.