[Susan Friedmann]
Welcome to Book Marketing Mentors, the weekly podcast where you learn proven strategies, tools, ideas, and tips from the masters. Every week, I introduce you to a marketing master who will share their expertise to help you market and sell more books.
Today, my special guest is Leanne Marie Webster, a transformation expert who is on a mission to help you live a life with no regrets.
She's been featured in a wide range of media, including MTV, NBC, the LA Times, and many more. She's a recovering attorney and triathlete who recently completed her first full ironman event.
When she's not working, you can find her wandering the aisles of a local Trader Joe's, searching for her next snack.
Leanne, a dear friend, and colleague, what an absolute pleasure it is to welcome you back to the show. Thank you for being this week's guest expert and mentor.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Thank you so much for having me back. I'm very honored, my friend.
[Susan Friedmann]
One of the reasons I love chatting with you, and we always have these great conversations, but one of the main reasons that I thought it would be good to have you back is that you have recently pivoted from one model of business to a completely different model. And I thought that might be interesting for our listeners since sometimes we find that it is something that we need to do. Talk to us about this Pivot and why you did it.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
The pivot, it's such an interesting thing to do in your business. When things were moving along with my business very well, I'm an email marketing expert. That's kind of what we call it, the prior version. I had a really good business, it was generating well, and it was working well.
And I had really lost my passion for it.
While I will always be very passionate about people using email as a way to connect and to grow their tribe and to communicate well and not to use email as a weapon, which is too often how it is used, it just wasn't getting me up in the morning.
And more importantly, upon reflection, we all go through those times as an entrepreneur, right, where some days were more excited about our business than others.
And when it kept happening and I kind of started to look at why is this happening and what is this.
Is this bigger than just a down kind of week or so? I realized that I wanted to connect with something that felt closer to my heart and that I had actually been hiding behind email for a number of years. That is what caused me to make the pivot.
[Susan Friedmann]
I love that. I think the most important thing that you said there is that you lost your passion for this. It didn't sort of excite you to get up in the morning, which is so crucial that you really enjoy what you're doing. And I really relate to that because I know that I was in the trade show industry for over 25 years.
I too lost my passion and it took me forever. I mean, in fact, if I think back, it took me about five years before I really, totally admitted that I'm going to let this go and move on to something that I really enjoy, which is my Aviva Publishing and working with my authors with their marketing.
Yeah, I truly get that. Let's talk about what you've now pivoted into. You told us where you were. Now, where are you going?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Well, the other thing I just want to note too, really quickly is that one of the other reasons I am pivoting is because the model wasn't working for me as well, right?
So there's the passion side, but if you've got the passion, then you can sort out the logistics of the model. And I wanted to change the model of how I was showing up.
So what I'm pivoting into is my “No Regrets Formula,” which is how to live a life with no regrets. I have this formula. It's a six-pillar formula about living life with no regrets. And that's part of a bigger intentional life operating system. Which is really what are you doing daily, weekly, and monthly to live the life that you really want to live versus the life that you maybe think you should be living. Or you're kind of just been living by default for a while.
[Susan Friedmann]
Also, one of the things that I know that you're doing is you're looking at a whole different area going into speaking. You were doing training, and I know you do summits, but now you've decided that you really want to do keynote speaking.
Talk to us about that. And that whole going into that, and I mean, it's pretty scary to go from not being a keynote speaker to going to be a keynote speaker.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Yeah, that's for sure. So, the good news is I've been speaking for about 20 years, not in the keynote format, in this other, like you said, more workshops or trainings or things like that.
I know that I'm really comfortable on the stage. It's one of those things whereas business owners, I think we have this great opportunity if we're paying attention, to notice what are the things that get me up in the morning? Or what are the things when I see that email come into my inbox? Or when I talk to someone about working on this project, what are the things that excite me about that?
And what are the things where I'm like, wow, I wish I could do that more? And what I kept noticing was every time I was on stage, it was like, that's where I just felt the most alive.
When I would come down off the stage, it was like, okay, when can I do that again? How do I do that again? How do I do more of that?
I think with anything we're doing in our business, especially around marketing, we can do the activities that have us light up, where we're excited, where we want to do more of them, and that naturally leads us to more clients and just more enjoyment in our business versus if we're doing things that we think we should be doing them, or because that's what we've always done. Because so and so told me that that's how I can build my business.
[Susan Friedmann]
I know you're taking this to the extreme and looking to put on a one-woman show, now that, to me, is nerve-wracking. I just couldn't even imagine that. So, what led you to that? I know you like speaking a lot more of it, so now you want to command your own stage, it sounds like.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Yeah. I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I'm actually doing this, even though it gets more and more real every day. Two things happen that have led to the show. One was I had a conversation with a mindset coach a little over a year ago. We started the conversation of, you do all these things for your business.
What are you doing just for fun?
And I was like, oh, right, yeah, we got to do things just for fun. I started down a path.
Well, I've never taken a pole dancing class. I'll go do that. I've never tried this restaurant. I'll go do that. I started doing things purely for the fun of it. In that line of inquiry, I started thinking, when was the last time that I did something again that felt so free and so fun, that I was like, man, I wish I could do more of that.
And I remembered that I had this slot in this variety show in December 2019 that my friend put on in Denver, and it was in person pretended, and I have 15 minutes.
Comedic storytelling slots, not the speaking that I usually do not stand up. I know I don't want to do stand-up, but I had taken a stand-up class before I had a ball doing that. I loved it. I loved everything about it, it was scary and it was fun, and it was awesome. And I was like, wow, I would like to do more of that.
How do I do more of that?
That gets your mind going, right?
Well, is that keynote? Now, that's not really a keynote, is it?
Stand-up? It's not stand-up, no.
It's certainly not improv, as that was going through my head with the what am I doing for fun?
I woke up one morning and I thought, what if I did my own one-woman show? What would that look like? Throughout my life, people have often come up to me and said, wow, you seem to live this interesting life.
I moved across the country a couple of times.
I left being a lawyer to go into sales.
I started a national dating trend.
I became an iron man.
I lived in a commune, and all these kinds of random things that I've done, People are always asking me for stories or commenting on my stories and saying, oh, you should tell more of this.
And, so it was like, a show is a good way to do that.
[Susan Friedmann]
Let's get into how would you even prepare for it? Yeah, there's one thing about going and standing up and telling stories, but there's much more that's involved in this. Talk to us about that.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
The first thing I did was I called someone. It's like, who do I know who's done a one-woman show? It turns out I knew three women who have done their own show, which is, I think, just extraordinary.
So, I called all three of them.
And one of them had been thinking about putting together a year-long training program to help other women create their shows because it's such a unique format.
And there's not a lot of you can read like a book on how to do a show or you can talk to someone who's done it.
But until then hadn't been a program that kind of just took you through the whole process. She ended up creating a beta program for me that she will be doing with other people once I complete in April.
And she's literally helping me. I have a writing coach that helps me write the stories. I've got PR support. I've got graphic support.
She's walking me through what she did to create her show and kind of guiding me with all the pieces of it because I have no idea what to do.
[Susan Friedmann]
I certainly wouldn't have any idea.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
You hire an expert. That's the answer.
[Susan Friedmann]
I think that's the key. I was going to say literally, when you don't know how to do something, yes, there is a ton of material out there, google search and books and articles.
But to find a true expert who can really help you and guide you by the hand, I think there's nothing else it's invaluable.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Absolutely. And that I also find will help you because what I wanted and what I often want if I go and search something like this is, I want someone not just to say. Here's how to do a show generic. But it's like. Here's how we create the show that really reflects me and holding my hand through that part of the process so that they can discern the information that I need in order to make this not only successful. But a true reflection of me.
[Susan Friedmann]
Now I know something else that you got right up your sleeve, and that's coming up quite soon, and that is your own summit. There are summits. A lot of people are doing summits these days. Talk to us about that, the process, and literally why you're doing it.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Sure. Summits have been around for a number of years, and that was as part of my prior business or the business I'm moving out of the email side. I've produced more than 120 virtual summits. My hair should be grayer. Thankfully, this is not a video. The summit process, I love it.
It's unique.
I specialize in what's called a mini-summit, which is a two-day live program with eight speakers.
And the idea behind it is you pick a topic or a theme, and then you select the speakers, and each of the speakers promotes the event. When they promote the event, people register for it. And that's how you build your email list. One of the reasons people do it is to build an email list.
And one of the other very primary reasons and the reason I'm doing my summit is that I'm going through this shift. I want to position myself as an expert in a different field. This is a way for me to do that and to say, okay, here's what I'm about now. Here's the conversation I want to have and lead, and here's who I want to position myself with in terms of colleagues and other experts.
The summit is a way to do that relatively quickly in the sense of positioning.
[Susan Friedmann]
If I'm hearing you correctly, this is a very strategic move, as you said. The shift that you're making into this new area of the no regrets formula, that's how you want to become known. So this whole summit around that subject matter, am I understanding that correctly?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
That's correct. The summit is called the “Full Self-Expression Forum.”
The idea of it is just this conversation we've even been having right now. Right?
What does it mean to be your true self and to step into that version of yourself?
Versus so often we get caught up in I'm an entrepreneur and I do ex or I'm a lawyer or I'm a mother or I'm a best friend. We have these roles that sometimes are put upon us, and sometimes we put upon ourselves. Oftentimes we do that out of a kind of momentum because this is the way it's always been done, or this is how I thought I would do it when I was growing up versus taking that time to step back and say, is this what I really want to do? Is this who I really am? Is this how I really want to show up?
That's the idea of the “Full Self-Expression Forum.” Is tapping into that. And frankly, I've been on this journey for a couple of years, and so a lot of the people I'm interviewing are people who helped me through this journey, including the woman who asked me that question that had me create the show, Monica Reyes.
[Susan Friedmann]
Fabulous. And you've got an incredible lineup. I know I'm going to be on that. Many people I know, and many people I just want to hear, too. So, the difference between being the organizer of the Summit versus being a speaker at the Summit, what would you recommend?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
They serve two different purposes. Quite honestly, not everybody wants to do both roles. If you're the host, one reason you do it, as we said, is to build your email list. But one of the big reasons that a host will do it, and then also to position themselves as an expert, it does drive revenue into your business.
You don't make an offer during the event but after the event. There's often a program that you want to grow or build. It's a nice way to generate leads for your business and to really step into your thought. Leadership is a reason to host. And by the way, hosting takes time. It's a lot of detail. It's a four to six-month process, depending on how you're doing. It's an investment of time, money, and energy. It's certainly not for everyone. As a speaker, the great thing is you can come in, you get positioned as an expert and as a thought leader. Right. That's why you get selected to be interviewed.
You do need to promote the event. The great thing is you get to offer a free gift, or some people call it a lead magnet as a way to build your email list. So you won't get all the registration, but you'll at least be able to offer something to the audience so the people who are hearing you and are interested in taking that step with you can get on your email list and ultimately become a client of yours. Speaking is a great entree point for it because you can get that exposure and get that positioning without having to invest all the time, money, and energy of being a host.
[Susan Friedmann]
That's why I take the latter route.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
I don't blame you, sister. A lot of people get that.
[Susan Friedmann]
I love being on Summits, but the idea of hosting one myself yes, it sounds nice. And the work behind it, you're a detail-oriented person. I don't necessarily fall into that category.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
It can be well, I have a team that's really good at that. That's the key help.
[Susan Friedmann]
Yes, because you do this as business as well. Summits are away, you're doing a one-woman show, you're doing keynote Speaking, and this all is now leveraging a new message, a new formula. What else have you got up your sleeve?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Isn't that enough?
[Susan Friedmann]
Well, just in case you had a little bit of spare time, I thought.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Maybe I'm climbing Kilimanjaro in a few months.
[Susan Friedmann]
Yeah, because you've got to train for that. So you're taking time off to enjoy yourself as well. And I think that too, is so key. The work and play. I know that you're training, so that sounds like work to me.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
After doing an Ironman, there's not a lot of things that feel like that much work, so high tolerance for it. But it's fun. I mean, to me, training for something like Kilimanjaro was fun. That means I get to go on hikes. It means I get to be out in nature more. It means I get to move more. All of that is pretty fun.
[Susan Friedmann]
It is, yes. I'm just pulling your leg. Why not mistakes? I love talking about mistakes. How about mistakes that you feel along the way with your experience, with so many things that you've done? What are some things, if you had a chance, that you would do them differently?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Are you asking me if I have regrets?
[Susan Friedmann]
That was pretty quick.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
I do believe it's interesting because I have this no regrets formula. And I won't say I don't believe in regrets, but I don't believe in being weighed down by regrets is probably the best way to say it. There are certain things that I would do differently, and the biggest one is that anytime I haven't followed my gut, that's been a mistake. Anytime my gut has said, boy, this client is going to be hard, don't work with them, and I've overridden that, man, do I pay?
[Susan Friedmann]
I know that one. Yes. And you hang on to it because you think, well, I'd rather get paid, and maybe I can deal with this person.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Right. It won't be that bad. I need the money. Usually, when I've done that, it's quite frankly been, I need the money. How do I say this the right way? I'm not competitive enough to close it for any reason. And I'll admit, every now and then you go through a dry spell in your business, and every now and then it's like, oh yeah, I could use a deal. I have a closed for a while. So it's kind of like, yeah, this person, you know, 80% or 85% and yeah, I'll sort it out. No.
[Susan Friedmann]
Have you ever fired a client?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
I have. I've fired friends too.
[Susan Friedmann]
Sometimes we have to do that. Unfortunately.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Yes. It's always been for the best. Yeah. I've had conversations with clients where we've gotten started, and then I've said, you know what? I really have thought more about this, and with what you want to achieve, I don't think I'm the best person. It usually sounds something like that. And quite frankly, often if you're at that point, then the other person feels it too. They just might not want to say anything because it could be perceived as losing face. Although I don't think that's possible, but you know what I mean. But sometimes people don't want to admit that they may have made a mistake. Also in hiring you, there are some.
[Susan Friedmann]
Very important lessons there in terms of yes, is it the right fit for you? And doing it just because you're going to get paid for it. I remember in the beginning when I started in the speaking business, it was like, I'd do anything for anyone. I'd speak about anything just to get paid.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Right.
[Susan Friedmann]
It was a nightmare because I was speaking about subjects that I didn't necessarily know that much about. I was like, why am I doing this?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
And then you're not having fun and you're not delivering at the best level because you don't care quite as much as you would about this other thing. And then they don't have as much fun. It impacts everywhere.
[Susan Friedmann]
Yes, I think you're absolutely right. It impacts you, your mood, and then, of course, you take it out on a spouse or a child or a dog or a cat.
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
Right.
[Susan Friedmann]
So Leanne, if our listeners want you to find out more about you, your summit, your one-woman show, how could they do that for the summit?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
It's full selfexpressionforum.com for the show. The show is called “Fancy Meeting Me Here.” And if you go to Fancymeetingmehair.com, there's a little bit of information right now. It won't be on stage until April 2023, but that's where you can also sign up for emails there to get information as it rolls out. And then “No Regrets” if you're interested in that, you can go to NoRegretsformula.com and get a little info there.
[Susan Friedmann]
I'll make sure that I put those links into the show notes because we want to get this out before your summit. Yes. As you know, since you've been a guest on the show before, we always end up with a golden nugget. What would you like to leave as your golden nugget?
[LeeAnn Marie Webster]
The golden nugget is just to trust your gut. I'm just going to keep it simple. Just trust your gut, go where it takes you.
[Susan Friedmann]
Yeah, that absolutely is. Just listen to that inner voice that's saying, yeah, this is right. Well, maybe it isn't, but trusting your gut, that's beautiful. I love it. Thank you. As always, you've got so much wisdom, so much energy, so much enthusiasm, and your passion for what you're doing now.
Obviously, it really shows, it comes out and I love that.
Thank you for taking the time to do this when you're busy, schedule as you're getting ready for all these other things. Thank you for sharing that wisdom and thank you all for taking time out of your precious day to listen to this interview, and I sincerely hope that it sparked some ideas you can use to sell more books.
Here's wishing you much book and author marketing success.
Click here to attend LeeAnn's "Full Self-Expression" Forum
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