Creating Author Systems - Part 1

The Importance of Systems, Part 1 In this video I'm going to talk about creating systems for your writing business. I'll give you a simple strategy that will streamline your work and make your decisions much easier. Systems. Authors don't usually have them because if you think about it, the concept is contrary to how we work. Think about a corporation, or a grocery store, or a school, and you can see that they all have systems in place to help them run efficiently. But authors are often one-person companies and we do everything ourselves. We just do stuff and don't think about systems until we get so overwhelmed that we aren't getting any writing done. Don't wait until you're underwater to develop systems for your business. I am a methodical person by nature, so this comes easier to me than most. But I'm going to break this down for you. The lesson is this: scrutinize every aspect of your career today to see if it can be systematized. To do that, remember the acronym: www. It stands for: What is my job description? What are the things that only I can do? What do I hate doing? Have you ever sat down and written your job description? You know, like the ones you see at big companies? What would an indie author job description look like? It might sound something like this: "An indie author creates content for readers in exchange for income. He/she also runs the day-to-day operations of their business, marketing and customer service for that content. He/she also hires for services that may be needed such as attorneys, accountants, cover designers and/or editors." That pretty much sums up our profession in a nutshell. Of course that's just a general description. You would also need to describe ALL the responsibilities. And there's a lot of them. But when you make a list of everything you do, even the little things, you'll start to see how out of control it can get if you let it. So, that's where the next w comes in. What are the things only you can do? Here's a list: "Only you can create content, create and follow the vision for your business, manage the money, be the main spokesperson for your brand and contract with freelancers." That’s a start, though some of the more successful authors might be able to outsource of some of the above. And I know some of you are thinking: but what about this and that and that other thing? The rest of it can be outsourced, guys. At the end of the day, your job is to be a visionary for your business, write, and create opportunities for that writing to find the right people. That’s it. Don’t get hung up in the glitz and glamour of the Internet. Because trust me, marketers will bombard your inbox and tell you that you need to focus on this, that you need this app, that you need to go to this retreat, or that you need this course in order to be successful. Everything in today’s age moves at the speed of light. But slow down, and focus on the essentials. Which brings me to the third w: what are the things you hate doing? I hate doing cover design. I refuse to do my own editing. I don't like spreadsheets or anything that has to do with scheduling events. I’m awful at all of those things. I outsource my cover design. I write novels in one draft and I hire an editor so I don’t have worry about editing. But I choose to do the scheduling and spreadsheets for now because I'm not quite at the level where outsourcing those would get me a positive return. But you can bet that as I grow, someone else will be taking care of those things for me. It pays to think about these things because it will guide you as your career grows. It will also help you figure out what business expenses are most important so that you can invest in your business in a way that will lead to more growth and not stagnation. So remember the three w's: What is my job description? What are the things that only I can do? What do I hate doing? This simple framework will help you determine what to systematize. Now you’re probably thinking, “Michael, how does all of this come together?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Because in the next video, I'm going to teach you how to actually create systems once you've identified your needs. And I’ll be using real-life examples so that you can see how this simple framework works. That's it for this video. If this is your first time watching, I'd love to have you subscribe. And if this video helped you in some way, do me a favor and click the like button. Thanks for watching.