Headsmack: Conversations with Misfits
The Headsmack Podcast with host Paul Povolni invites you to listen in on conversations with misfits, mavericks and trailblazers. Join us as we explore the life of difference-makers and those who have stumbled, fumbled and then soared.
Be inspired as they candidly share their journeys and the aha moments that changed everything.
Headsmack: Conversations with Misfits
Mike Fallat / The Book Guy for Entrepreneurs. Author. Founder
Imagine having a powerful tool that instantly positions you as an expert, builds trust with your audience, and generates leads on autopilot.
Writing a book is the answer.
As an entrepreneur, you're struggling to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Traditional marketing feels ineffective, and potential clients don't recognize your true value or expertise. You're working harder than ever but still fighting for attention and credibility.
Imagine walking into sales conversations where prospects already know, like, and trust you. Picture being introduced as "the bestselling author" before you speak at events. Envision clients seeking you out rather than you chasing them, all because you've established undeniable authority in your field.
Mike Fallat reveals how publishing a strategic book transformed his business overnight and how his company has helped over 384 entrepreneurs do the same. Discover his proven system for creating a bestselling book in just 21 days that positions you as the go-to authority in your industry and creates a consistent stream of pre-qualified leads.
Key Takeaways:
- Why storytelling is the most powerful tool for entrepreneurs
- How to turn your knowledge into a bestselling book
- The biggest mistakes to avoid when writing your book
- How to market your book for maximum impact
- Why books attract better clients and bigger opportunities
Paul Povolni, the founder of Voppa Creative, has been a creative leader for over 30 years, with clients around the world. He’s led teams in creating award-winning branding and design as well as equipping his clients to lead with Clarity, Creativity and Culture.
Headsmack Website
Hey, welcome to the head smack podcast. My name is Paul Povolny and I am excited to have another misfit with me. I have Mike Fowler with me and he is the founder of dream starters, publishing and the lead marketing CRM helping entrepreneurs publish books that generate wealth and influence. With a fearless, never say die attitude, he turned failures into success, proving that storytelling is the key to building a legacy. How you doing, Mike? Glad to have you here,
Mike Fallat (05:05.741)
Man, I'm thrilled to be here. Thanks so much for inviting me and let's talk a little bit about business, entrepreneurship, and maybe having fun as we build stuff. So thanks so much, man.
Paul Povolni (05:17.526)
Yeah. Yeah. Looking forward to it. Love that background. Love the spinning books. probably one of the best backgrounds I've seen out of the people that I've interviewed. so pretty awesome. And I'm looking forward to this conversation. I think we're going to have a lot of value for entrepreneurs, those that are interested in publishing, and those that are interested in growth. So I think, I think they're going to get a lot of head smacks along the way and appreciate you doing this. So usually I like to start kind of knowing a little bit more about you and you sharing that with the audience.
Mike Fallat (05:24.045)
Thank you.
Paul Povolni (05:46.73)
And so I'd like to start with origin stories. And so you can go as far back as would be relevant. But tell me the Mike story. How did all this start?
Mike Fallat (05:57.334)
Well, I'll go back to, guess, 10th grade whenever I started to put together maybe a plan of attack when I was about, you know, when I was planning on graduating high school, I was putting together a report on Navy SEALs and I was so excited to write about Navy SEALs. I'm like, this is what I want to do. Since I'm a shorter guy, how am going to get girls? Let me become a Navy SEAL. That's what's going to work. Right.
Paul Povolni (06:23.039)
Ha ha.
Mike Fallat (06:24.181)
And my dad was Navy. He did a couple things that are really cool in the Navy back in the day. And so I was like, you know, I'm to follow in my dad's footsteps and become a Navy Navy seal. He wasn't a Navy seal, but I would, would join the Navy to become a seal. And so I'm putting together this report and, and, and right around that exact same time, I'm going out to get my first job. so here I am with my mindset on joining the Navy. and I got my first job at this convenience store down the road for me.
And that's when I met the first millionaire that I ever met in my life. Like he was official. This guy was a millionaire. I'm like, my God, he drove the fancy cars, dated the pretty girls, had all kinds of cool stuff. Wait a second, maybe I don't want to do this Navy thing, right? Maybe I want to become this thing called an entrepreneur. It's the first time I ever heard what that exactly was. So he took me under his wing. He started to kind of give me a little bit of, a little bit of,
Paul Povolni (07:00.654)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (07:22.113)
you know, education on what it was like to get your finances in order. And the way I caught his attention was I didn't cash my paychecks. I mean, for six months, technically, I didn't cash my paychecks. And because I, if I didn't have the money, I wouldn't spend it. And so he came to me and he said, are you the guy that is not cashing his paychecks? I'm like, yeah. He's like, do you realize how much that's throwing off our books? You better cash those damn paychecks.
Paul Povolni (07:47.65)
hahahaha
Mike Fallat (07:49.156)
And I'm like, oh, okay. He goes, why aren't you? You're a 16 year old kid. Why aren't you cashing your paycheck? And I'm like, if I don't have it, I won't spend it. That's my way of saving my money. And he goes, okay, let me start teaching you about investing and all that. So that's whenever he took a liking to me and gave me the Kiplinger's magazine, showed me a little bit about stocks and all that. So I worked for him for two years and he said, what are you gonna do when you graduate from high school? Well, I was going to do, you know.
Paul Povolni (07:58.53)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (08:15.405)
Pitt or La Roche College. He goes, no, you want to go to Duquesne University. That's what I recommend. I'm like, I don't have the money for that. You'll get in, you'll get the money. Don't worry. So I got into Duquesne University he's like, you should take finance. I'm like, no, I love marketing. He goes, you can always get a marketing degree. Finance is where you want to go. So I kind of listened to this guy and while I'm in school, I'm still working for him. I'm learning from him. I just saw how people treated him. He was just very assertive.
Paul Povolni (08:34.862)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (08:43.893)
And then, and right around my junior or senior year of college, he gives me a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad. So you talk about defining moments. It's meeting this guy, but also him giving you Rich Dad Poor Dad. And that's when it hit me. When I graduated from college, I am into real estate. I want to start my own business. I want to get on the right side of the quadrant. If you guys are familiar with that book and that's, I knew my next step, become a real estate agent, start investing in property.
Paul Povolni (08:54.04)
Yeah, yeah.
Paul Povolni (09:03.883)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (09:10.371)
And I started investing right out of the 22, 23 years old, bought my first four unit building because of this guy. I left that job. I was off on my own and that's when I got cocky. Okay. I bought this first business. Here I am as a landlord. What do I do next? You know what? My heart is in startups. So I started four different businesses back to back to back and they were all major failures, right? So buying real estate is one thing, but starting a business from the ground up, totally different game. And so I started this business.
Paul Povolni (09:27.555)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (09:31.48)
Wow.
Paul Povolni (09:38.082)
Right, right.
Mike Fallat (09:39.864)
failed, next business failed, next business failed, next business failed. Here I am desperate in severe debt. I had to take a corporate job to save my ass at the time. And I said, what the hell? Why would these businesses fail? I thought I could make money as this entrepreneur. Why don't I try one more time at a business that's very easy to build, a direct to home dog product service, because I love dogs. And I started to go to dog shows and pet expos and
Paul Povolni (10:04.951)
Yeah, yeah.
Mike Fallat (10:09.601)
Here I am selling these delivery boxes for your dog. And I started making money, brought my guitar, I'm singing, and it works. I am telling you, Paul, people started to see me as a success because they saw me at these events. I'm making money. And the way that I look at a successful business is if you're making more money than you're spending, to me that's a success. I would say that I probably would only make about $40,000 in a year if I stayed at that. But here I am making money rather than losing money.
Paul Povolni (10:16.862)
Ha ha ha.
Paul Povolni (10:30.904)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (10:36.909)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (10:39.361)
And individuals came out of the woodwork asking me, how did you do this? What would you do when it comes to an LLC? What do you do about branding? And that's when the idea hit me. Why don't I write this down on what made this successful as compared to the first four businesses that were major failures, simplicity, demand, having vision, right? Understanding the business in totality, put that in a book as if I would give my former self. And that's when I put it up on Amazon and turned it into an Amazon bestseller.
Paul Povolni (10:59.085)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (11:08.311)
The girl who I was dating at the time was an editor. She helped me put it together. I talked to a guy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I'm located on how to become a bestseller. I did it. And when I became a bestseller, that's whenever it hit me. my God, I have this new accolade. It's going to change my life. And if I use it properly, I'll get speaking gigs. I'll get attention online, which I did. And I will start to really build my personal brand, which is exactly what happened. And I thought I would help people start businesses.
Paul Povolni (11:08.515)
Wow.
Paul Povolni (11:24.493)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (11:35.684)
turns out when you write a book and you're very vocal about it, individuals all over the United States will ask you, how did you do that? And that's when the other light bulb went on and I said, why don't I just do it for you? I'll interview you, I'll write it up for you, let's turn you into a best seller. And that's when the idea of DreamStars Publishing hit me. That was right around 2016, early 2017, and since then we've done 300, and as of right today, 381 best selling books for entrepreneurs.
Paul Povolni (11:44.214)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (12:02.966)
Wow. Wow.
Mike Fallat (12:04.119)
From there, I met many people, invested in other different businesses, and it's been a wild ride ever since,
Paul Povolni (12:10.572)
So the learning from that, you got for doing the product stuff, where did, where did you learn? Was it from the mistakes? Was, was it from a book? Was it from another mentor? Like, how did you turn that around to doing it right? Where did that learning come from?
Mike Fallat (12:30.433)
Well, the first four businesses were based off of me thinking I was Steve Jobs, right? All right, how do I just build a business that I truly don't understand, but sounds really sexy? I was into data, analytics, big events company or events and entertainment company, things that are really pricey, expensive, time consuming, but takes a lot of time. So I thought I was trying to build businesses that were very sexy, right? On paper.
Paul Povolni (12:35.372)
Hahaha
Paul Povolni (12:59.522)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Fallat (13:00.201)
And to the average person, like you would walk into a bar to try to impress a girl and you say, I get this data and analytics and analytics company. And, and, and it didn't make any money because it was so hard to sell. And when you're a startup entrepreneur, you really need to boil everything down to a sentence. And does that sentence add value to somebody out there? And are they willing to pay you money right then and there? And I realized for the first four businesses, everything was complicated. took time to understand, but the
Fifth business direct to home dog product service known as Doggie Surprise, was basically a monthly delivery for your dog, right? Do you want that? Yes or no, $30, right? You know yes or no. And not only was it yes, and it's inexpensive, but it was something that people value not just once, but monthly. So it taught me about recurring revenue. And I think it was really just trial and error, but.
Paul Povolni (13:33.582)
Ha
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right, yeah.
Mike Fallat (13:56.216)
When you go into too many different directions or try to be something that you're not, you really have to humble yourself, break it down and say, okay, even though it doesn't sound that sexy, let me make sure that I'm of service to those around me. If I could add value to somebody who's around me, they're willing to pay me for it. So forget about all the hoopla, make money by being of service. Just like Jim Rohn said, be of service to the many for service to the many leads to greatness. Don't think money first, think.
Paul Povolni (14:08.375)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (14:24.045)
how could I add value, how could I serve you, the money will come.
Paul Povolni (14:28.084)
Nice, nice. So where did that model come from for the, for the, home delivery was like Dollar Shave Club. Like what, what inspired that, monthly delivery model for you.
Mike Fallat (14:37.717)
You know what? think I saw it from a few different businesses and I was starting to put it together and then I did see a bark box. It wasn't, I don't know if it was bark box that I saw first, but when I saw bark box do it, I was like, my God, I could do this, but I could do it a little bit bigger, not bigger as in like I can reach more people. Maybe I can make it a much bigger box for a hundred dollars or 500 or only do it for special occasions. So I started to see how I could be.
a little bit different, have a competitive advantage and be more local. It's kind of weird to say this, but I focused on Pittsburgh and I think that gave me an advantage over certain bark box customers or bark box marketing. I was able to say I'm from Pittsburgh down the road. We will, we bring everything in Pittsburgh and we can send it to you. So that was another way of having a competitive advantage over a bark box company that was national. There was no tie to it locally.
Paul Povolni (15:19.469)
Yeah, yeah.
Paul Povolni (15:33.1)
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. And so how long did you continue doing that after you wrote the book?
Mike Fallat (15:38.884)
I didn't do it for much longer. I would probably say for four months afterwards because individuals were willing to pay me and this is crazy at the time, but it was $2,000 to write their book. I would interview them for three hours. I would hear everything through a Skype, I think it was at the time. And then we eventually transferred to zoom. but I would listen to their story. I would ask them questions, hit stop and then write for 30 days, hand it to the girl I was dating. She would edit it.
Paul Povolni (15:41.052)
Hahaha.
Paul Povolni (15:50.734)
Wow.
Paul Povolni (15:56.11)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (16:06.903)
I would do cover designs, I would say, what do you think about this? And they would say yes, no, I would fix it up. And I wrote probably the first 20 books. And so you get very good at, I guess you could say clarifying someone else's message. And then you realize maybe I'm great at sales and marketing and just having a great conversation. I guarantee there's somebody out there who can write way better than me.
Paul Povolni (16:14.67)
Wow.
Paul Povolni (16:32.108)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (16:32.257)
And so that's when I started looking on Upwork and a couple other places to find a writer. found three writers, two of them worked out and we started to grow from there.
Paul Povolni (16:41.378)
Wow. And so had you ever written a book before that or where did the writing skill come from? Like where did.
Mike Fallat (16:46.941)
Ooh, that's a great question. Yeah. what's, what's, this sounds crazy too. Now that you bring this up while I was starting those first four businesses, I think one of the, one of the reasons why I did it was to impress a girl. I think everybody does. Yeah. So the girl that I lost out in college, she was this English major and I thought, you know what? She's still connected with me on LinkedIn. Why don't I write these books or write these blogs online?
Paul Povolni (17:01.038)
That's how most stories start, right?
Mike Fallat (17:17.219)
to explain what I'm doing and how I'm doing it and how far we're taking these business ideas. So I started writing blogs almost every single day outlining what we were doing and how we were doing it. Now we weren't making money, but it was really exciting. I was getting interns from Duquesne and Pitt. I don't know if you're familiar with Pittsburgh, but there was a couple of colleges really close to each other and I got like 40 interns. You know, if you know the right people, you can get interns for your company.
Paul Povolni (17:32.184)
Ha ha ha.
Mike Fallat (17:43.144)
and you don't have to pay them at all. So I had 40 interns working for me, there was no money coming in. Yeah, 40. So it taught me a little bit about leadership and I sucked at it. So, you know, I was writing these blogs day in and day out, posting it on LinkedIn. And I'm telling you, it's funny, I was working at a gym in the morning. So 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. I would work at a gym and from five to seven, nobody's coming in. So I would have time to just clarify.
Paul Povolni (17:45.058)
Hahaha
Wow.
Mike Fallat (18:09.539)
what I was doing and how I was doing it, put it down in a blog and share it on LinkedIn. So it did get me to fall in love with writing, but I realized the intangibles of writing, of how much it does for you as a communicator. You're able to articulate your thoughts, and if you could do that, you could lead people much easier. So I saw the benefits and I thought it was helping out with the girl on the front line. Turns out, are you ready for this little caveat here? She was not reading these at all.
Paul Povolni (18:09.751)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (18:16.086)
Yeah, yeah.
Paul Povolni (18:21.304)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (18:39.341)
But it got me to a point where I was writing enough that that's whenever when I write, I put out my, when my first successful business hit the ground, I was like, why don't I write a book on this? It was so easy to take a bunch of those blogs, simplify it, and that's when I caught the eye of the girl that I was trying to impress back in the day. So turns out the editor was the girl that I was trying to impress. And so guys, if you wanna get the girl, I don't know if it started a business or right.
Paul Povolni (18:53.015)
Right, right.
Paul Povolni (18:57.742)
you
Mike Fallat (19:06.967)
but maybe the combination of those two will do it for you.
Paul Povolni (19:09.356)
Yeah, yeah. And those are a lot healthier ways to get the girl than what some people do. And so those interns, those 40 interns, were they working for the dog, monthly dog product? OK.
Mike Fallat (19:15.395)
Yeah, for sure.
Mike Fallat (19:24.355)
No, no, was, know it was when it was the dog business. It was just me. breaking everything. I mean, it humbled me because here I am having 40 interns running these data and analytics events company. it was basically a rewards program. If you shopped around at different local businesses, you're able to get points that you could use on this website that will get gift cards for the businesses. And we were able to get the data and then sell the ads to them. It was just so complicated.
And it sounded really cool, just no money coming in. And I'm telling you, no matter how cool your business is, if you're not making any money, nobody cares. That's it.
Paul Povolni (19:54.732)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Paul Povolni (20:00.558)
And so for that, for that first book, maybe I missed it, but what, what inspired you to collect all those blogs and put them into a book?
Mike Fallat (20:11.723)
So I got a lot of questions from people. And I think I was smart enough to know that I could put a book out and it will change my identity. And if I could become a bestselling author, because I think I heard about this, it's just a game, right? It's all leverage, positioning, and timing. Anybody can become a bestselling author. Anybody can be a number one rated podcast in a certain category. If you know the game, if you understand leverage, if you understand positioning, and you know the timing of things.
Paul Povolni (20:13.72)
Questions, okay, yeah.
Paul Povolni (20:26.904)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (20:41.513)
You can win these little games and these little games can give you a new identity that will open up many doors. So I knew it was powerful. I will say that when it hit number one, I, the best way to explain it is I felt like I got a chainsaw when everybody else had a hatchet. Like I could cut through the noise. Like people, people could see me coming. If I was, if I had a best-selling book, nobody that I knew around me in any entrepreneur space close to me at that time had a best-selling book. So it gave me an advantage.
Paul Povolni (21:02.509)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (21:08.941)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (21:10.817)
And all you're looking for as a startup entrepreneur is just as an advantage somewhere. And then you exploit the hell out of that advantage.
Paul Povolni (21:16.461)
Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, so talk a little bit about that for the, for the entrepreneur, for the business owner, for, anybody, that this might be for, talk a little bit more about the advantages of getting a book out. Like what are some of the other things outside of, you know, what others might think that that's the way to find success or that's the way to get to attention or that's the way to differentiate. I talk a little bit about the value of a book or published book.
outside of maybe those other things or in addition to those other things.
Mike Fallat (21:51.78)
Well, I think it converts you into a teacher more than anything, right? You're a sales guy. All you're there to do is to sell. Well, turns out if you educate and if you teach, you are now adding value. And when you give enough value, people look at you in a different light and they say, you know what? This person has already given me so much. I'm willing to now give up a resource other than time. I'll give up my money to either be close to them, hire them or partner with them to some degree. So it turns you into a teacher.
But I would say the number one thing it does is it gives you authority. Right? When you think of all the people who are experts in their field, there is one characteristic that they all have. Most of them, would say most, not all, most have a book. Right? So you want authority when you walk into a room or on stage or on a podcast or a sales call or in your team meetings, you want authority. You don't want to walk in and say something and nobody take, take notice of it. Right? So in order
Paul Povolni (22:49.389)
Right.
Mike Fallat (22:50.029)
for you to boost your authority. You could do that many different ways, but the root word for authority is author. Makes so much sense. So when you have a book, you boost your authority. And then what you can do with that is you basically give a glimpse behind the curtain. And so let's say you give value. I talked about being a teacher. Here are 10 steps on how to get in the best shape of your life. Five ways to make money today. Here's how to generate leads. Here's how to grow a business.
Paul Povolni (22:56.462)
That's awesome. Yeah.
Paul Povolni (23:07.875)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (23:19.677)
Nobody cares about you. Okay, until you help them with their life. So you become a teacher give value, right? You also boost your authority by having something that most people do not have is up and they want most people want to have a book someday, right? That's a legacy piece. You're accomplishing something that they want to accomplish. And then the other piece of it is you you peel back the curtain and you show who you are as a person. And here's the the the phrase that I live by nobody cares about you until you help them with their life.
Paul Povolni (23:25.624)
Yeah, yeah.
Paul Povolni (23:42.723)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (23:48.28)
but nobody trusts you until they know your backstory. So it gives you a reason to become a storyteller. Tell the stories of your failures, of your divorces, of your mistakes, of the things that don't paint you in a good light, because that will humanize you. And they will say, you know what? They have the courage to talk about their failures. And you know what? I tried that. You know what? I wanted that type of car. my God, I did that too. I like this person more.
And so you know the common phrase that people do business with those who they know, like, and trust. You're doing that as you tell more stories about yourself. And the more and more you do it, people get to know, like, and trust you at a higher level, which allows you to speed up the timeframe of whenever you meet them on a sales call or at a meeting, it's almost like they know you before they met you. And if you can do that, you can do wonders with your business. So I would say those three aspects for sure.
Paul Povolni (24:17.08)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (24:26.316)
Wow.
Paul Povolni (24:39.64)
Wow.
Paul Povolni (24:45.516)
Wow. That's so good. So good. And that's kind of why I even format this podcast. The way I do it is I start with origin stories. Cause you know, I've interviewed people that, the last episode was somebody that, that had made $111 million in six years. And, and then I interviewed somebody that made 57 million from one webinar. And, know, and you hear those stories and it's like, wow, and that's so unattainable. But when you hear their backstory, when you hear their origin story,
It just makes it so much more doable. makes it so much more, okay, they wrestle with the same things I'm wrestling right now. Now, you I haven't made that, but they were at a place that I'm at right now. So, you know, it gives people hope and lets them kind of see that's backstory and allows them to see, can, you know, maybe I'll reach what they reach. Maybe I'll surpass them. Maybe I'll get half or a quarter of that, but at least I kind of know where they're coming from. So I love that you shared that about, you know,
being an author and writing a book is some of that backstory makes a difference.
Mike Fallat (25:49.026)
Yeah, I think a lot of people say to themselves, nobody cares about who I am or where I come from. That's not true, right? If I'm going to do business with someone, even if it's at a low level, let's just say it's hundred bucks or a thousand dollars, the older I get, the more I feel like money is just a representation of energy. I want to give my energy to people that I share common values with. And I think that that's why people do their brand and their personal brand, especially a disservice to not talk.
Paul Povolni (26:09.058)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (26:16.629)
about certain things that are extremely important to them. I I talk about my Christianity. I talk about politics and how I'm a Trump guy. And you think that that might hurt you amongst the community. Well, it bonds you. You become a magnet of like-minded people. And especially if you have a service-related business, don't you want to wake up every day and say, man, I can't wait to work with my friends to some degree? Well, if you hide all the stuff that makes you who you are, you are going to attract potentially the wrong.
Paul Povolni (26:32.471)
Right.
Paul Povolni (26:39.245)
Yeah, yeah.
Mike Fallat (26:45.795)
person and I think that does you and your brand a disservice.
Paul Povolni (26:49.622)
I love that. Well, yeah. And it'll, it'll attract those that you want to attract and it will repel those that maybe would be problem clients or, or, you know, there might be a conflict at some point. you know, sharing that stuff authentically, you know, it's going to stir people up, you know, anytime you get into religion or politics, you're going to get people that are very vocal and very opinionated by it. But you just got to learn how to filter. You got to learn how to kind of be who you are and, and build that personal brand.
And so for somebody that, you know, it's like, okay, I want to write a best-selling book. that's, want to, I want to, that's the next thing I know. And actually I do want to write a book, based on this podcast is I want to take all the interviews and put it into a book, and call it the head smack, book, conversations with misfits. so that is one of my goals for this year is, is to do that. and so, you know, so for somebody that's wanting to.
Mike Fallat (27:24.161)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (27:36.843)
love it.
Paul Povolni (27:44.076)
to start a book. First of all, let's filter it a little bit. Who shouldn't write a book?
Mike Fallat (27:51.716)
That's a good question. So I'm going to be, you know, I guess this is such a generic, bland answer, but I believe everybody should write a book. And the reason why is because it gives you such clarity on where you come from, where you're at now and where you want to go. So forget about business for a second. It's going to give you clarity. So that's why I say, even if you're not going to sell it online, write a book. It becomes sort of a diary, right? But what you're doing is providing
a glimpse of your life and seeing if it's number one entertaining, if it's valuable to your former self, right? That's another way I gauge success is have you learned enough that right now, if you got back, if you went back to 1990, 1995, 2000, whatever, like I always have back to the future stuff within my brand because it does make so much sense. If you got in that DeLorean and went back 10, 20, 30 years and gave yourself, your former self a recipe for success.
Paul Povolni (28:42.416)
Ha
Mike Fallat (28:50.925)
Will that recipe really speed up that timeframe of success? And will it get them on the right track? You know, very much like how Marty goes back to his dad and gives him the mindset that you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. All you need to do is those little lessons that you might take for granted now, if you think, my God, if it's valuable to my former self, I know for sure it can be valuable to someone out there right now. If you can answer that question, you should write a book.
So to kind of jump off of that and go into the direction, if you're a business owner, we're 100%. And here's why you want to lead with value. Very much like Gary Vee, even though I'm not the biggest Gary Vee fan, he does nail it with the give, give, give, and then ask. The jab, jab, jab, and then the right hook. You could walk up to people, you could have it on your Facebook page, you could have it as a promotion. If you sign up for a call, I'll give you a free copy of my book. It's the give.
And so what you're doing there is you are now breaking everything down into lessons you'd give your former self or your clients. You're articulating the stories that taught you that lesson that gives you clarity, which allows you to become a better communicator on stage or on a podcast. And then you are really thinking through that avatar. Who is the perfect reader? And what's really cool about this is that it you a better marketer. Who is the perfect reader? Who is going to pick this book up and gain value from it?
Paul Povolni (30:13.368)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (30:17.891)
And if you can connect those dots and you put this book out there, anybody who reads that book is going to be in line to maybe watch that course, sign up for a consultation, or invite you to their event for you to speak at their event. So think about how it's a daisy chain. And when you put it all together, it makes your life easier. So clarity, self-awareness, it also makes you a better communicator, it makes you a better storyteller, and it helps.
maybe put those check boxes in line for that business, I usually say hero's journey or customer journey, however you wanna look at it. When they get the book, maybe they schedule a call, maybe they sign up, maybe they come to the webinar, and so it does flow very nicely. So everybody should write a book, especially if you have a business. And the marketing, I will say this nice little equation for you guys, is it more important to have the greatest content or be the better marketer?
Paul Povolni (30:53.154)
Right, right, right.
Mike Fallat (31:15.607)
That is a tough question, but I would say 80 % of a success of a book is on how you use the book rather than what's inside of it. So if you can market it better than the next person, even if it's not a better story or maybe even a better amount of lessons in there, if you're a better marketer, you could use it properly and gain the advantage of getting a community, a marketplace and boosting yourself up as you're helping more people along the way.
Paul Povolni (31:24.503)
Wow.
Paul Povolni (31:45.974)
Wow, that is so good, man. So, okay. So everybody needs to write a book, but, I'm sure there are different types of books as well because, know, different types of people, different kinds of business owners own different kinds of businesses. And so, you know, a coach or a branding guy or a guy that speaks on certain topics, you know, or, you know, a coach or somebody, you know, they have. Topics that they can write on that's maybe a little easier, but what, you know, what about the
chiropractor, the roofer, the, you know, should they write a book and what would a book like that be like?
Mike Fallat (32:22.627)
Yeah, yeah, great questions. The equation I said before, general lessons tied to specific stories geared towards a specific audience. You remember those three pieces, general lessons. Do not overcomplicate it. This is a first date. This is not about marriage, right? You're not trying to give every detail of your life and give everything you've ever known in this world or learned. You want generic lessons. So...
Paul Povolni (32:41.07)
Ha
Mike Fallat (32:49.133)
Boy, and that's another art of this, right? You are simplifying your life and key characteristics of your life that you wanna give to someone else. You would think that the more you complicate it, the smarter you sound. Steve Jobs proved that wrong. It's all about simplicity. That's why everything that they do is very simple because the real artist makes it simple. so break everything down to a word or a phrase, all right? So chiropractor, you do not want...
Paul Povolni (33:04.898)
Right, right.
Mike Fallat (33:17.357)
You do not want to go into the ins and outs with your first book. Now as time goes on and you build that following, you might want to get very specific. But this is like a funnel, top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel. Think about you're going to give this book out to 100 people. 95%, no matter what, even if it's the greatest book ever written, will not read it from cover to cover. So you want to give enough information in there that will help them with their life on an airplane ride. We call them airplane books.
So general lessons, you're not gonna get into the details. So a roofer, for example, if I was a roofer and I was putting on a book, I would say, all right, let me put together a book on 10 ideas on how to boost the value of your property. Or if there's one that's like 10 things to look for before you buy your first property, right? You are now starting to give,
enough value to anybody who's a homeowner or before you sell your house or I wouldn't really as a roofer, I wouldn't say like 10 ways to fix your roof, right? Because you're not going to give that to someone who's going to hire you. It's going to be someone who's going to do it themselves. I would do it in a way where it's like, all right, if I want many clients, I would give this to homeowners everywhere.
Paul Povolni (34:19.853)
Right, right?
Paul Povolni (34:26.193)
Hahaha
Paul Povolni (34:34.894)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (34:42.461)
wait a second. The guy who wrote the bestselling book on how to boost the value of your property or 10 things to do before you sell your property. Number 10, get a new roof. Here's why or whatever. That's a part of it, which now makes you more of a general lesson guy that's adding value to their life within as being a homeowner. And then one of it is if you need help with your roof, I could come out and give you a free quote. Right. So you tie it in cleverly.
Paul Povolni (34:49.955)
Right.
Paul Povolni (35:01.432)
Ryan.
Paul Povolni (35:08.141)
Right.
Mike Fallat (35:11.053)
but it's general lessons. The more specific you get with the lessons, you're gonna lose people. And that's not gonna do your brand too much of a service. general lessons. And then so you talked about the different businesses. I'm just gonna hold up a few of them here. These are examples. This just became a best seller last week. His name is Billy Batt, all right? Unlimited seller's guide for finding businesses to buy at will, right? Unlimited seller's guide. All he's trying to do is help people buy businesses.
Paul Povolni (35:12.951)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (35:24.587)
Yeah, awesome.
Mike Fallat (35:38.678)
So lesson number one, let's just see what he puts together here. Building your foundation, finding the right business, cold email strategies that work, the power of referral partners. You've heard these things before, many times, right? But this is his recipe. And then you tie in the stories of what he went through as a kid. You should hear the stories coming from Canada, difficulty with his ex-wife, all the, you really like this guy afterwards. So.
Paul Povolni (35:55.416)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (36:06.729)
If I'm gonna buy a business, you know what, I'm gonna scan that QR code, I'm gonna have a call with him, because I like him. So I've heard these lessons before, but you know what's different about this guy is the story behind the lesson. So that's why you wanna make it so it falls in line with your business, but you don't go into the weeds of every single thing. And I think Alex Hormozzi has said it before, but basically you give everything you can in a book or in a course, information is free. The application.
Paul Povolni (36:11.468)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (36:16.384)
Right, I relate to him, yeah.
Mike Fallat (36:34.977)
the actual doing is what you charge for. So you give enough to get them started and then if you want them to really be dangerous, you actually do it for them.
Paul Povolni (36:37.774)
Thanks
Paul Povolni (36:44.334)
Right. And so for example, for that author there, um, what does, what does he sell? Like, what does he actually do if the, if the book itself isn't, you know, everything or the, you know, the, the details of everything that he does, what exactly does he do? So, so I want, I want it, cause I want to relate the book and the vehicle and to what he actually does. What does he actually do?
Mike Fallat (37:06.497)
Yeah. So he has services that look for businesses to buy. So he will do data scraping, find businesses for sale, reach out to businesses that are maybe in decline and try to see if he could maybe help them sell or help them grow their business using AI and certain technology.
Paul Povolni (37:12.951)
Okay.
Paul Povolni (37:30.744)
So it's kind of like you shared is it's the do and yeah. Okay.
Mike Fallat (37:33.716)
It's the do. Yes. Yes. So he's going to do it for you. Hey, I'm to teach you what I've done. Here's the thing. Even if you have every piece of detail of what you do in a book, still there, there's still something that they need. Maybe they're handheld to some degree. There needs to be a Mr. Miyagi in their life that says, here's how you do it. Here's what you don't do. I've done it. You could do it yourself. Tony Robbins gives us everything he needs.
Paul Povolni (37:37.848)
Right.
Paul Povolni (37:52.322)
Right.
Mike Fallat (38:03.051)
or we need, but to go to the event, to really experience it, it's probably one step higher. So it's only step one. Rich Dad Poor Dad. Have you read that book, by the way?
Paul Povolni (38:08.779)
Right.
Paul Povolni (38:13.654)
I have it. I haven't finished it yet. I collect books more than I read them. I'm terrible at that.
Mike Fallat (38:15.824)
my god, it's one of the greatest books of all time. So it maybe is the greatest.
So that book itself talks about being a business owner and an investor, and it talks about the importance of real estate. Now, if you read that, like I did, all right, I'm gonna become a real estate agent, and I'm gonna buy my first property. Still, when you buy your first property, you are going to make mistakes. They have an event to go to called the Rich Dad Poor Dad Seminar, which you can team up with people, spend the 10, 15, $20,000, and they'll walk you through the entire deal.
Paul Povolni (38:50.35)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (38:50.401)
So the book is sort of like, here's my flag. Are you in for this area or not? you know what? You got enough to be, to get started, but not to be dangerous. Come to this event and we will coach you through it for your first, second, third properties, and then you're off on your own. So that's what I recommend. Even like this guy right here, built to win, Tim Lyons. He owns multiple gyms. He helps people grow gyms. Everything that he teaches people is in one of his three books that we worked with him on.
And it's all there. But you know what? Whenever the rubber hits the road, there's still gonna be situations. Is this gym, I read the book, but is this gym in a good zip code? This population is only growing at this rate. What about this branding? you know what? If I get this equipment, do I put it in this area? Do I do all coaching or do I do all machines? You know what mean? So it's these little questions that a guide.
Paul Povolni (39:31.077)
Yeah, yeah
Paul Povolni (39:42.538)
Right, right.
Mike Fallat (39:45.398)
And if you have enough books, if you have enough podcasts, you've done enough speeches, you're the guy that's going to attract the attention. So in my opinion, this is how the world works. The greatest marketer always wins. You need to do more, say more, be more than the other real estate agent down the road, even if they really know their stuff. It's all psychology. If you have the book, if you have the podcast, if you're out there showing yourself on social media,
The average person is going to say, you know what, this person seems more committed than that guy down the road. Even though that guy's been doing it for 60 years, I just don't see his stuff. Maybe he's not going to be here next year. I trust this guy. Right. And so that's what we work with. That's what we help people maybe build that stepping stone from book to how to use it as a growing, uh, business, um, addition, if that makes sense.
Paul Povolni (40:17.08)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (40:23.544)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (40:36.054)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and, as you were saying, I know the quote, I don't know who originated the quote, but it's not the best who wins. It's the best known who wins. And, you know, and, to be the best known is, you know, as you've shared, one of the ways to do that is to do it through a book is, you know, to get out there and start getting exposure through publishing a book. And so some of the things that you shared, I want to kind of tag onto and also get a little, maybe more elaboration because.
Mike Fallat (40:45.749)
yeah, that's a good point.
Paul Povolni (41:05.998)
You know, somebody might push back and say, you know, I don't want to put everything I know into a book because then will people still contact me if I've given them everything and you already shared that they still do. you know, every author, still gets booked to go to speaking events and paid lots and lots of money for it to basically say what's in the book, you know,
Mike Fallat (41:29.566)
Yeah, right!
Paul Povolni (41:31.742)
And, I've seen it over and over where it literally a author will, will create a bestselling book and then get speaking gigs and get engagements to basically say what's in the book. And so I do want to encourage those that might be hesitant and say, well, man, if I just put all my ideas and all my thoughts and everything in the book, then what are people going to pay me for? Right. And so, so what else would you add to that?
Mike Fallat (41:57.336)
Man, that's common. And you know what? It's more common amongst the people who are not successful. They're always holding on and it's a scarcity mindset, right? There's, have the answer and I don't want to give it because if I give it, then they're going to steal it. You know what? We're all saying the same stuff. I've interviewed hundreds. Today's our 381st bestselling book push. I've interviewed pretty much every single one for hours. I don't hear too many new ideas.
Right? So it's amazing how everybody thinks they have this new idea and this new strategy when reality, we're all learning the same stuff and you can go back to different historical, you know, pieces of content, whether it's the Bible, whatever. Eventually you start in a, you see common trends and the people who hold onto it, it's a limited mindset. They're saying, you know what? I'm not going to tell the real information on social media and a book or on a stage until they pay me.
Paul Povolni (42:27.512)
Ha ha ha.
Mike Fallat (42:56.737)
Not how the world works, right? If you talk to Napoleon Hill, right? Napoleon Hill puts out a book. It's the secrets of the ultra wealthy back in the day and it's, know, think and grow rich. If he would have said, you know what, I don't want to do this because I want them to pay me first. He would not be known as the great writer and communicator as he became Jordan Peterson. You think he's really holding back? No, I have seen the people who are the most successful say, listen, I know you're not going to implement it.
Paul Povolni (43:15.724)
Right, right.
Mike Fallat (43:25.891)
I'll do it for you, but I'm going to tell you exactly how I'm doing it, where I got it from, what to do next. And you know what? If you do that enough times on enough mediums, people are going to say, God, that person is just full of insight. It's always a new idea. What would it be like if we bought that program? What would it be like if we actually work with his team? He's just, he's changed my life. Even though Robert Kiyosaki is kind of getting a, a, a
Paul Povolni (43:26.631)
Ha ha ha.
Paul Povolni (43:44.888)
Yeah, yeah.
Mike Fallat (43:53.488)
I guess you could say being known as sort of a grumpy old man. I will hold him with such high regard for the rest of my life because he changed my life. If he would have held back in that book, even though it was Sharon Lector, which was the actual ghostwriter of that book, if they held back, man, my life would be different. So I say give, give, give, and then eventually ask, you know what? I've given you so much value. People are going to feel obligated because you know what? This person changed my life. This person didn't.
Paul Povolni (43:56.878)
You
Paul Povolni (44:01.932)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (44:11.169)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (44:21.003)
I'm going with you. I'm joining your webinar. I'm buying from your service. I really want to talk to you because you're so full of insight. Don't hold back. It's going to limit you. And here's the thing. Every day you should be changing. Every day you should be learning more. So what you learn today, all right, feed it. Feed it to the AI machine. Feed it out into the world because tomorrow you're going to adapt and evolve and you're going to have new ideas, new content. And so if you become a person of value, that's be valuable to valuable people, you're constantly
Paul Povolni (44:33.708)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (44:45.388)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (44:50.549)
adding value to your life. So what you learn next year wasn't in that book. So keep producing new content, keep adding value to yourself and just watch how people treat you. So don't be that person that's saying, I'm gonna hold it all in. Because if you do, you're gonna be holding in a lot that could help another person. And I just think the laws of the universe will not serve you if you keep it all to yourself.
Paul Povolni (45:07.17)
Yeah, yeah.
Paul Povolni (45:16.332)
Yeah, man, that's so good. All right. So I'm going to make another assumption and, and, I do want you to share maybe the real assumptions or pushback or, resistance that you've seen people have, but would another resistance be that, do you know what? just, I have not made that first hundred million. I have not achieved this, this, this, level of, of achievement that makes me worthy of writing a book. You know, why do I am just, you know, and it's a mindset of course, but.
Mike Fallat (45:35.426)
Yeah
Paul Povolni (45:46.466)
But is that a legit one that you've seen? Is that one that I've just made up out of my head? What are some of the resistance that you've seen people give you when you've said you need to write a book? What are some of those things that they've said?
Mike Fallat (45:59.042)
Yeah, that's, that's called imposter syndrome and everybody faces it. It doesn't matter if you've just broken 100,000 or 1 million or 10 million or a billion. If you say, you know what? I am not going to write this book until I break a hundred million. Do you realize that in the eyes of, Eli Musk, that means nothing. A hundred million. Right? So there's always going to be someone who's so much further than you. Here's the answer. Can it help someone anywhere?
Paul Povolni (46:19.95)
Right, right.
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (46:28.981)
in this world, can it help your former self? So that imposter syndrome I think is there to help, to protect us to some degree. you know what? I feel like I don't belong here, but I need to fight through this, right? And that fighting through is where you have to prove it to yourself and to those around you that you belong. When I put out my first book, people always said like, my God, my close friends even, who do you think you are writing a book?
Paul Povolni (46:56.11)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (46:57.379)
and becoming a bestseller, who do you think you are? You start to change the hierarchy and maybe this new identity is where you start to find more confidence in yourself. so imposter syndrome is always there. Case in point, I always bring up Robert Kiyosaki for this reason. If you listen to one of his books, he actually says he fought imposter syndrome when Donald Trump called him to do a book together. Now here is Robert Kiyosaki in 1998 or 1999, somewhere in there.
getting a call from Donald Trump. Now at this point, Robert Kiyosaki is the bestselling author in personal development in many, many years, and he's crushing it, right? He's at the top of his game. Everyone knows him. He has this event. It's unbelievable. He's very successful, multimillionaire. But Donald Trump, the billionaire, just called and said, let's do a book together. He almost turned it down because he said he was not ready to do a book with Donald Trump. Who am I to be in that book with him? So even when you hit the game at the top of the level,
Paul Povolni (47:50.862)
Wow.
Mike Fallat (47:56.972)
you're going to feel it. You have to fight through that. So it's natural, but the people who I've seen become very successful put out a book. And rather than just have that as something that people can judge you upon, they say, watch me now. I'm going to do that book, turn it into a best seller, get on that stage, create an event, serve thousands of people, change people's lives, read the reviews that are on Amazon. Now I'm going to apply that to more books, more content, more ideas, more businesses. And so you're always fighting it.
And maybe that's there to either keep the people who don't want it bad enough out and as a test for those people who really want it bad. So use that fear of what people are going to say about you as fuel. Allow it, push you through the finish line and then keep running to continually find new finish lines to push through.
Paul Povolni (48:32.056)
Yeah.
Paul Povolni (48:46.858)
Wow. Wow. So what are the resistance to people give you to writing a book?
Mike Fallat (48:51.777)
Well, I don't have the money. That's resistance. But so that's a reality. Yeah. So it's usually imposter syndrome. It's I don't know what I want to write about. It's I don't know what type of business I want to start. The the greatest barrier is is lack of clarity. And I've been in many masterminds. I've in twenty twenty three. I think I was a part of nine or ten masterminds.
Paul Povolni (48:53.742)
Yeah. Well, that's, and that could be a mindset, but that's sometimes a reality too.
Mike Fallat (49:21.293)
you know, spending over six figures on personal development groups. And people always ask me like, what's the, why are people not moving forward with you on those sales calls? And I said, they just are not clear on where they're going in life. And I can't help them with that. Right? I can't tell you, you know what, 10 years from now, you should be the tax guy. You should be the person. This is a, this is a self-awareness check that you have to know yourself on where you really want to go. So the people who struggle are the ones who don't know where they're going and they want to be perfect. Right? They want.
Paul Povolni (49:35.459)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (49:51.086)
perfection. That's another limitation. I want it to be perfect. Here's the kicker. Nothing's perfect. The perfect book to me, in my opinion, was Rich Dad Poor Dad. The girl who I was dating at the time hated that book. Right? That's not, wasn't perfect for her. She liked fiction. And most, you know, most people who are not in personal development, love fiction. Right? I hate fiction. So everything is subjective, whether it's a business you build, whether it's the book you write, whether it's the content you put out.
Paul Povolni (49:53.624)
Yeah, yeah, right.
Paul Povolni (50:07.95)
Yeah. Yeah.
Paul Povolni (50:14.861)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (50:21.373)
And I think as long as you feel like this, there's a great book out there, Sean Whalen, I don't know if you're familiar with him, but Sean Whalen wrote a book and it's full of errors. And this is something that people come up to me and say, man, I read that book, it's full of errors. And why would he put it out there? You know why? Because the book's called How to Get Shit Done. And it changed a lot of people's lives. It helped people get into the game of entrepreneurship. So even though I'm maybe not the biggest fan of everything he's done or what he says, he did put out a book.
Paul Povolni (50:28.748)
Yeah, yeah.
Paul Povolni (50:41.558)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (50:51.255)
that was full of grammatical errors and all kinds of problems within the book, but it got people ignited for entrepreneurship. So forget about perfection because nothing is perfect. Even if you write this book a year later, a month later, a week later, you're going to find something and you're going to say, you know what? I should have wrote it that way. Damn it. Another reason I always say perfection is the enemy is because Jordan Peterson wrote his first book. Are you familiar with Jordan Peterson? Do you follow his stuff?
Paul Povolni (51:09.58)
Right, right, right.
Paul Povolni (51:17.429)
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, super smart.
Mike Fallat (51:18.625)
Love the guy, right? I went to the event in Pittsburgh when he was here. So Jordan Peterson even said he wrote his first book, Maps, Maps and Meanings, right? I don't know if you've read that, but that's one of his least popular books. It's his first book. Now he put out 12 roles or there's Wrestle with God. These are much bigger books, but his first book, he said he rewrote every sentence at least 10 times and he spent X amount of months on it that he shouldn't have and he will never do that again.
Paul Povolni (51:38.499)
Right.
Paul Povolni (51:42.958)
well.
Mike Fallat (51:48.044)
So trying to be perfect is going to limit your success and really make it a marathon when it can be a sprint and probably, you know, kind of hurts your chances of success in general. So I say get things done as fast as possible and then refine as time goes on with your new content, with your new ideas, because repetition is what creates greatness in my opinion. So get a book done, find your weaknesses. Don't worry about being perfect.
Paul Povolni (52:07.244)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (52:16.397)
Fight through that imposter syndrome. Be of value to those around you. Tell stories that are meaningful to you so you can give a glimpse of who you are as a person. And then start to identify who this book or this content can really help. And if you do that enough times, you're gonna get very good at it.
Paul Povolni (52:30.474)
Wow. That's so good. So, you know, we're quickly running out of time here and I have a dozen more questions, but, yeah, this has been awesome, man. and so for, know, you've shared right there in that last, last snippet, you shared a lot of great value. and so the first step is you've mentioned clarity several times. What, you know, if somebody's like, okay, I'm ready to write a book, I've got him passed imposter syndrome. I've got him passed, you know, feeling that it needs to be perfect. I've got to pass all those things you said.
Mike Fallat (52:35.811)
We can always do it again.
Paul Povolni (53:00.671)
I'm ready to go. What's the first thing that you seek from them or tell them they need to do to get going?
Mike Fallat (53:07.683)
Okay, so it's very easy. When I meet with them, I say, okay, do you have 15? That's the magic number. 15 lessons you would give your former self, yes or no? I'm looking for 15. And this could be, oh yeah, you know, I would tell that person, you know, your net worth is based off your network. Perfect. It's a general lesson that you would tell yourself. So join many mastermind groups, get around very successful, high level thinkers. Great, okay. Do you have a story tied to that lesson? Yes, I do actually. Great, perfect, you're good. And who's the perfect reader for this book?
Most likely an entrepreneur maybe 25 to 35 who is in a home service business. Oh perfect done So now you got lesson story target audience you do that 15 times and then you would say okay if to me if this is something that's really important For me to know but also for yourself. How will you use this book when it's done? That's all it really matters when this book is done. What's your next chess move? Are you going to send it out to podcasters to get on podcasts? And if those listeners like you will they go to your website?
to schedule a call with you or even buy the book itself. Yeah, you know what, that's the next step. Perfect. Now you have the next chess move, which I'm gonna help you bridge that together through the book and also in the marketing. Title of the book, subtitle, forget about that stuff until the book is written. Use AI, use AI for all it's worth and maybe help you put together the title and the subtitle when it's written. And we are using AI to a high degree now and it's changing the game. So.
Paul Povolni (54:29.592)
Yeah.
Mike Fallat (54:34.147)
Title and subtitle comes after it's written. And then you put together a cover design. Whenever we do the official book writing process, we base it off of the, you know, the title and subtitle that most likely AI will give us. Cover designs are very easy. If you use programs, whether it's 99 designs or Upwork or some other programs, you could find great designers, title, subtitle, two to three colors that are dominant. Make sure it's in line with your brand that you see yourself talking about and showcasing when the book is done.
And now don't overcomplicate it. Title, subtitle, make sure the title's a positive synonym for your name. Don't make it negative. Mike Fallot equals 99 ways to get more leads. Mike Fallot equals million dollar book. Mike Fallot equals the dream starter, which is all book titles. And when it's written, we use either, we use a writer combining with AI and we do it within 21 days. Send it to you, refine it two, three times.
That book is done, upload it to Amazon, Amazon prints it for about $4 per copy. You get it in the mail and you say, oh my God, this is a real book. I just paid $4 for this from Amazon. They delivered it to me because it's print on demand. Review it one last time, give us the thumbs up. We put you on a schedule. We turn you into an Amazon bestseller. And what that means is we're trying to get 50 sales within three hours. So it's not too hard guys. It's just, you just gotta know the game. In the right category, on the right day, Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 12 o'clock Eastern time.
Paul Povolni (55:39.128)
Ha ha ha ha.
Paul Povolni (55:52.098)
Wow. Wow.
Mike Fallat (56:00.718)
Don't do it on a weekend. Don't do it near a holiday. Don't do it on a Monday. A couple reasons for that I can get into some other time, but Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 12 o'clock Eastern time, your friends, your family, all by the book, three hours, and you will have an accolade that will never die for the rest of your life.
Paul Povolni (56:05.07)
Hahaha
Paul Povolni (56:17.976)
Man, that's so good. All right, how do people get ahold of you?
Mike Fallat (56:20.439)
Yeah, so go to dreamstarterspublishing.com. you schedule a call with me, I'll give you a copy of my book. I'll give you an audio copy. Everything that I just talked about, I do myself. So you'll see, once you schedule a call with me, I can show you what we do, how we do it. I can go into all the details, answer any questions. And you can always see me on Instagram or Facebook. Very easy to find, Mike Fallot, that's F-A-L-L-A-T.
and the best Instagram channel right now that you can find me on is The Dream Starter.
Paul Povolni (56:51.916)
Man, that is so good. Well, you've got me more inspired than ever to get my book going this year. So, yeah, it's been amazing. so final question, as we wrap this up, you you've you've written a lot of books, you've published a lot of books, you've probably read a lot of books and you reference back to the future. So if you were to take one book back to young Mike, what book would you take back to him?
Mike Fallat (57:16.899)
man, it's a really good question. All right, so the book that I would have to, it's probably not the most successful for my business, but it's the one that means the most probably. But my book called Never Say Die, you see my sign back there, Never Say Die. The reason why is because May, 2023, my mom dies, okay? And I'm putting together her obituary. And here I am, the writer of the family, writing my mom's obituary.
And you realize stuff, everything that she has done, everything she's accomplished and she's the greatest mom and all these memories, you boil her life down to a few words. And that's when it hit me. What are the few words that I want my life to be based upon? What am I going to stand for? Am I going to stand for books? Am I going to stand for books? 500 years from now might not exist. So am I really the book guy 500 years from now? What would I really want to be known for? I want to be known for the guy who just never gives up.
And if you never give up and if you never surrender and if you never wave that white flag, you have a chance at anything, whether it's the girl or the business or the success that you dream of. And you can really inspire those around you. I'm not here to say I can compete with Elon Musk on intellect. I think he's the smartest and greatest entrepreneur that's ever lived. But what I can say is, you know what? I have the heart to just keep going. And you know what? If I am just remembered as that.
and I give that inspiration to somebody as in my former self or someone around me, they have a chance. And so Never Say Die is probably my favorite book, even though it's probably one of the least successful financially, it is my identity that I really want to share with myself or my former self and those around me. So it's a great question.
Paul Povolni (58:59.138)
Man, that's awesome, man. Well, thank you so much for being on today. And that hour went past way too quickly. And so I appreciate you coming on and I appreciate you sharing what you've shared. And I know there's so much value in just even, even this one hour that we've shared today that somebody can get inspired to get a book out there. I know it's inspired me to get busy with my first book, Head Smack, Conversations with Misfits. And so I'm looking forward to.
going back and listening to this again and maybe reaching out to you at some point to get this done. Thank you, man. Appreciate you being on.
Mike Fallat (59:35.927)
Well, it was an honor. love talking with you. Anytime I hear the word misfit, I'm in. So anytime you want me back on, I'd love to be here. yeah, you're doing awesome stuff. I love the podcast and the direction. So anytime, any place, man.
Paul Povolni (59:49.23)
All right, thanks, Mike. Have a good one.
