[00:00:00] This is the Vanessa Barrington Show.
[00:00:05] Hey. Hey guys. So this is the next installment of our little mini series together where we are talking about. The six revenue buckets where you can really leverage a book to be able to not just create a fantastic story, but be able to really generate a global movement and leverage the investment and the time that you've made with your book to be able to go on and make more money, help more people, all of those things.
[00:00:36] And today we are expanding into speaking and media. I wanna talk about how do you leverage your book. To be able to. Get on stages, share your message with more people. And before we dive in, I just wanna remind you that your book is not the end of your journey. In fact, it's the beginning of a much bigger stage.
[00:01:00] And I do mean that literally. And today I am gonna show you exactly how. Alrighty, let's hop to it. Hi, I'm Vanessa Barrington, also known as the book doula, founder for Healing House Publishing, psychic, medium, and a woman on a mission to heal the world through stories. If you're a healer, coach, creative, or expert, I help you turn your story into a published book and a global movement that builds authority, impact, and legacy.
[00:01:29] This is not a writing podcast, it's a show where I ex. Explore voice, truth, spirituality, and what it really takes for you to trust yourself and share your story with the people who most need it. This is the Vanessa Barrington Show. Hello. Hello, beautiful souls. Welcome to episode 17. Now I wanna kick off today's episode and share a fun little story with you.
[00:01:54] Now, many of you that are listening to this may have heard. The old adage, having a book is just an expensive business card. Now, I was actually at an event. I think it was in September of last year where I was invited to this incredible full day strategy event with a group of incredible women, six, seven figure entrepreneurs, heart led, beautiful souls who are out there.
[00:02:21] Doing business, and there were all kinds of people in the room. There were people from retail, people with eCom businesses, product businesses, service-based businesses, artists, healers, you name it. That niche was in the room, and we were invited as part of one of the sessions to kind of buddy up with a couple of people.
[00:02:40] We were actually pre-organized into groups and I was placed with two women, and one of them was. Sitting with an idea for a book that she had been thinking about for quite a long time. Myself, book Doula, and then also another woman who, I think she was actually a neuroscientist perhaps, and she had published a couple of books and was now a professional speaker.
[00:03:05] One of the women said, we were chatting about writing a book and what's involved, and she said something along the lines of a book is just an expensive business card. Before I could open my mouth, the other woman jumped in who was the neuroscientist, and is someone that is leveraging her books and the authority that being an author gives you to be able to make money, basically.
[00:03:30] And she jumped in and said, actually, that's not true. And a conversation kind of progressed from there. But what this woman revealed is that in the last six months, she'd actually made six figures. By speaking on stages, and what she articulated in that conversation was that the book enabled those doors to open up.
[00:03:53] And that's really what we wanna talk about today because here's the thing, once you've written your book. Your book gets you into rooms that you simply do not get into without having that authority. That comes with being an author. It can open doors to podcast interviews, to keynote talks, press features, even guest editorial spots in media and panel discussions.
[00:04:17] What's really incredible about that is your book then becomes your brand anchor. It's like the storytelling and everything that comes from it is all linked back to your book. And of course, if you are out. At events, speaking on stages, what's the first thing people are gonna do? If they connect with your story?
[00:04:32] They're gonna buy your book. Right? And the other really cool thing about having that book is that if you know how to leverage it. You can then go on to, gets paid really to speak on stages. And many of my clients are now getting paid to speak on stages. And I wanted to share a bit of a quick example of that.
[00:04:53] And I won't name names just for privacy reasons, but I worked with a client a number of years ago and she had written a particular book about an area that she wasn't working in. It wasn't her niche per se, but she'd basically gone on a healing journey. She had gone through some pretty tough experiences and then her book, by the time she finished it.
[00:05:13] Was around the topic of what she'd been facing. It was essentially a memoir. By the time she finished writing her book, she had had to do so much research and deeply, deeply understand not only because of her healing journey, but also just through the nature of what is involved in writing a book. She'd become an expert on this topic, and after her book was published, she was actually approached by a very prominent large charity.
[00:05:43] In Australia that does amazing work in the community, and she was invited to be an ambassador with them. Now, what is an ambassador? Basically, in this context, it was someone who would be able to go out, speak to organizations in a paid capacity to be able to share how. Her story had been transformed.
[00:06:04] Essentially just sharing what her experience had been, which they had read about from her book, and then inviting her to be a professional ambassador and do paid speaking engagements where she was essentially sharing keynotes. And workshops that all downloaded to her after and as part of her writing process.
[00:06:23] Now today, this particular individual is booked out. She's working with large corporate organizations around the country. She has also gone on to develop a digital product, which I'm gonna talk about. In the next episode, we're gonna talk about how to leverage digital products, and none of this would've been possible Before she had written her book, see, she had no idea she was gonna end up.
[00:06:47] Being an expert in this field, she had no idea that, and to be frank, I don't think she felt like an expert when she first started writing. She was just someone that had gone through something. And really felt called to share that. And that's what becomes possible for you when you go through the process of writing your, you don't need to be like the other example I gave you, a neuroscientist or with multiple degrees and all of that in your particular area of niche.
[00:07:12] What you need to understand is that your experience, just by nature of the fact that it's a true story or has a real lived experience in healing in the area you're talking about, makes you an expert because you are the best person to teach others that might be facing that particular problem that you are in.
[00:07:30] So I wanna open today's episode to say to you, you do not need to be a professional speaker to become a professional speaker. Okay? Your book proves that you already have everything that it takes within you to go on and do. Now, while the book does, publishing a book does give you built-in authority. It's really.
[00:07:50] Important to also point out that there are some traits that make a good pitch to become a speaker, and there is stuff involved in becoming a speaker, and that's exactly what I teach people as part of my book doula signature program. And so. If that's something that's of interest to you, you can check out in the show notes.
[00:08:09] I'll make sure that we include a link for the wait list for that because the program doors are gonna be opening in May, and in fact, we're only taking one enrollment this year. So if you are looking to really understand not only how. To write your book and sell your book, but all the ins and outs and all the opportunities that can come off the back of it, the book do program is gonna be a great starting point for you.
[00:08:32] Speaking is not about being seen. Okay? And a lot of authors I know just by nature, what makes writers and authors, great writers and authors is they're often times introverted or they might not be necessarily someone that's super comfortable with being visible. For some of you listening to this, I know that you might have found yourself thinking, I'm just not ready to get on stages yet, and I want you to know you're not alone.
[00:08:56] The feeling of not being ready is so common to be honest, and honestly, it shows. It shows to me if you are listening and you feel like, I would love to do this one day, but that feels so outta my comfort zone and I don't feel ready to take the stage, I want you to know that that just means that you care deeply okay about doing a great job.
[00:09:18] And that's great. But here's the truth. No one starts out feeling a hundred percent ready. To take the stage, think of becoming a speaker off the back of your book, publishing your book. A little bit like learning to swim. You wouldn't just throw your body in the deep end on day one. You start small, and maybe that's in the shallow end.
[00:09:38] Practicing gaining confidence and building your skill step by step. And the same really goes for speaking. You can start small and that can look like seeking out free low pressure opportunities. Maybe it's a local Toastmasters or a Meetup or a webinar, or even recording yourself at home. And then. You can build from there.
[00:09:59] You don't have to go out and take the stage, and frankly, you probably won't get that opportunity to until you've done some reps. You need to get the reps in for speaking, but the more that you do it, the better you're gonna get at it. And this is a skill just like writing, that you can actually learn and then leverage as a income stream for you.
[00:10:19] The problem with waiting until we feel ready is that. How long do we wait? What parameters are we waiting for? What does ready actually mean? You might wait forever and miss out on the chance to share your message and grow your influence, and most importantly, help the people that really need your story.
[00:10:39] So why not start now, if you are listening to this and you've got a published book, I invite you to take that first small step. Practice and watch your confidence or your voice matters, and the world is honestly waiting to hear from you. And remember, your audience is not looking for perfection. Look at this podcast.
[00:10:55] I record this on a weekly basis, and. You guys get me in all of my moods, all of my emotions, all of the different things that are going on each day, and I still show up. And that resonates for people. Hopefully it does. Otherwise you wouldn't be here. Right? And think about what you connect with on social media.
[00:11:13] More and more. We are not looking for perfection. We are looking for resonance. We want real. Okay. And you are real. So bring the realness of who you are out into the world. Now, I know for some of you, you might be thinking, okay, great, but what would I even talk about on stage? And it's a common question that really stops people before they even start.
[00:11:35] And look, I totally get. Figuring out your cool message can feel really overwhelming. You need to make sure that what you share is valuable, that it's coherent, that it's clear, that it resonates with your audience. And this is exactly why. In our book Allah program, I've dedicated a whole section just around.
[00:11:54] Understanding your voice, understanding your brand essence, understanding your unique position, and deeply understanding who your audience is. I actually show my one-on-one clients and we spend quite a bit of time on how to reach out and also craft compelling speaking topics and how there is very much a science to creating.
[00:12:15] A powerful keynote, and what I want you to know is that you get to leverage your book's, themes, and personal stories and experience to be able to do that. It's a step-by-step process that can allow you to understand your unique message and how to deliver it effectively to your audience. Many, many, well.
[00:12:35] Speakers really began by sharing their personal story or lessons learned. We think about Brene Brown's talk on vulnerability that emerged from her research and personal experiences and made it so authentic and relatable. If you've written a book. You already have the bones of a great signature keynote.
[00:12:54] You just don't know it yet, okay? And I want you to know that thinking that you need to be perfect or have a grand topic to start with, or all of those things, is really going to prevent your success in this space. That's why it's so important for you to understand how to build your personal brand and how to position your story.
[00:13:13] In a way that's engaging to an audience, because look, taking the chapter outlines of your book and then building a keynote off that is not going to make a great keynote. I'm gonna tell you that straight out. But when you understand how you, you can actually design that and use the knowledge and use your expertise, and use your experience, you get to reach audiences that you never would've before as well as.
[00:13:36] Doing that in a paid capacity. Now, some of you might be also listening to this and thinking, oh, like, that sounds really cool. But all the events I've, the speakers are always so polished and they, they know their speech, their speech off the top of their head, and I'm just not polished enough. And if that's you, I see you.
[00:13:55] Okay. I want you to know that it's a really common. Thing to feel like you need to be perfect before you take the stage, and it's something that many, many people struggle with. Okay? You're not alone. It's normal to wanna be prepared. It's normal to wanna look good on stage. It's normal to wanna come across as polished.
[00:14:11] You don't wanna look like an idiot, of course, but Polish. Comes from practice. So instead of waiting to be perfect, start speaking, as I shared earlier in smaller, less formal step settings. Even going live on social media is a great training ground for you to start developing your style, developing your confidence, and getting really comfortable with showing people who you are.
[00:14:36] And every speaking opportunity that you say yes to is a step forward to becoming more polished. Okay? If we think about some of the best speakers in the world, think about Tony Robbins. Simon Sinek both began with really rough starts in life, and they refined their style by getting on stage repeatedly.
[00:14:54] You wanna really make sure that you're not waiting for perfection, because when you do that, you really lose the opportunity to start. And this is where we've really gotta have a bit of compassion for ourselves. So really being able to understand how you can take what you know and bring it out into the world.
[00:15:14] The other thing I wanna talk about is that speaking actually, and media opportunities is something that's applicable for nonfiction authors and fiction. So for your nonfiction books, my nonfiction writers. Obviously there's a level of expertise as I shared, that comes with sharing nonfiction work, whether it's a personal memoir or a research piece, fiction nonfiction for fiction authors, it can be a little bit harder to identify how you would do that, but the thing is, what you have specialization in, in terms of the type of writing that you are doing and the world building that you're doing could be something that's highly valuable.
[00:15:52] So think about where you could reach out to different. Places to do that. That could look like volunteering as an author, to do an author talk for a program like mine, for example, the book Doah program. It could look like doing school visits or teaching kids. It could look like doing live readings, open mic nights.
[00:16:11] It could do, it could be pitching yourself to be on a panel at a festival. And it's really just about putting yourself out there. And I think that really. The thing that we haven't talked about today that I see that most people hold back from is being seen and putting themselves out there because they're scared of either not being liked or being rejected or not being good enough and waiting for the right circumstances.
[00:16:36] And if that's you and if you are feeling those things, I'm here to tell you that you can actually reprogram your mind to not have those thoughts and you can work with. A coach like me, this is exactly what I work with my clients on, on how to drop those limiting beliefs and how to reprogram your subconscious so that you are not holding back on those opportunities, avoiding those opportunities that are preventing you really from reaching the people that most need your story.
[00:17:03] I want to just invite you for a second to imagine what it would feel like to walk into a room where everyone already knows your message and they already know what you can offer. What would shift if people started quoting your words back to you? That is what becomes possible for you when you start actively pursuing speaking opportunities as an author.
[00:17:29] And the other thing I wanna invite you to consider is maybe your next opportunity isn't pitched. Maybe it comes to you simply by nature of having your finished book, and can you imagine what doors that could open up? That is like probably one of my favorite things about considering what a book can actually do.
[00:17:49] Your book can do the teaching for you, so all of a sudden you are not trading time for money. Because your book is doing that for you. Your book is reaching the audiences and the organizations that most want you. Now, if you know that this is something that you really wanna learn how to do, if you know that you are here to leave your legacy, I'm, I'm here to tell you, the book is the only way to do that.
[00:18:11] Okay? Your book is the, the thing that is going to get you on stages and when you know how to do that, and there is a process for it. It gets to change everything for you. If you know that this is something you want to do, you're gonna want to jump onto the priority list for the book doula program. Doors open one time only in 2026, and that is going to be May.
[00:18:35] And if you're not on the priority list, you are not going to know. So make sure you head to the show notes and get on that priority list and then you can get all the information once doors are open. And finally, before I wrap up today's episode, I wanna say to you. If you feel that quiet pull to speak, don't ignore it.
[00:18:53] Okay? Because your message really wants a mic, and you are the best person to share your story. You don't need to be an expert to do it, and I invite you to get brave, get courageous, and start thinking about how you can share your message. With the world. All righty, guys. Next time we are going to be talking about how you can monetize your book into digital products.
[00:19:17] Now I have to just let you know that this is the most exciting. This is actually my favorite way to monetize your book as an author. So you're wanna make sure you're subscribed. Whether it's through Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen to your podcasts so that you don't miss that episode.
[00:19:35] 'cause honestly, even if you've always thought, I don't wanna do a course, I don't wanna sell a course, that's cool. That's not what we're gonna be talking about. We're gonna be talking about so many opportunities. For how you can leverage your book. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I wanna say thank you for being here, and thank you for giving me this opportunity to share a little bit of wisdom with you.
[00:19:54] And I hope that you enjoyed it, hope you found it valuable, and make sure that you tag me on Instagram or drop into my dms. I wanna know what is it that you are doing after listening to this episode? 'cause there's no point listening and not taking action, guys. So I want you to think about one bold, crazy thing that you can do as a result of listening to this episode.
[00:20:14] You are going to put yourself out there for so that you can start sharing your voice with the people who most need it. Have a beautiful week and I will see you really soon. See you guys.
