My interview with Rebecca Hamilton – Owner of the Six Figure Author Coach. She is one of the many women that is wanting to help the indie authors and other authors to make a full time living from their writing and their imagination. She is an inspiration and an amazing woman.
When did you start your business, and why did you create it?
I originally started helping other authors in 2012. I was doing well with my own books and was excited to see that translating to consistent results for my friends as well. I wanted to see how consistent it would be, and soon learned that anyone who applies my techniques 100% was getting results. Eventually, those results were so big I ended up transitioning into the Six Figure Author Coach.
How did you choose your business?
More like the business chose me 🙂 Started with friends asking me to help them get the same results and offering to pay me for my time.
What do you like most about your business?
I soon learned that helping people was rewarding beyond just being paid for my time. Obviously, that’s a must, because taking time away from my own books meant I was taking a cut on royalties, and since I was helping other authors make six figures, it made sense to have them pay for my time – otherwise, it’d make more sense to just focus on my own books. But that was just a TRADE OFF. The real “win” was how amazing it feels to see so many people getting great results by following your advice. Then it wasn’t just, “Look what I did one time, for one person (me).” But “Look at the hundreds of authors I’ve helped make six figures a year! Look at the thousands I’ve helped increase royalties for with my smaller programs.” One girl even said my $40 course got her $3000 a month! To me, that’s just SO much cooler than getting results only for myself.
What are your plans for the future with your business?
Well, I think I’m hitting a point where all the authors who are really serious about this are already in my program, so I’ve been working on next level programs for them with great success. Getting clients to $500k a year now and working on getting one of them to seven figures soon. But I think with time, I’d like to get back to focusing more on my own books(It’s hard to see my own royalties drop to $5k-$20k a month because I only work on my own career a couple hours a week, meanwhile, my full time clients are making over $50k a month). Just being honest that, yeah, sometimes I want to go back to that and not just doing it for everyone else. That said, I don’t think I’ll ever stop helping people. I enjoy it too much, and truth be told, I feel like I’m a better coach than I am an author. I do think the balance is going to shift going forward, though, where maybe I don’t neglect my own career so much.
What do you feel makes your audience/readers special?
My readers are just SO LOYAL. And patient. Even though I’m not the fastest producer when it comes to books, they are always ready for the next one. Sometimes I think part of why they don’t get upset with me is because they know I’m helping other authors, and I often introduce those authors books to my readers, so they always have plenty of amazing books to read. I’d say my readers are special because they were willing to become friends. I can share things with them, and they share things with me, and we enjoy the book world together.
Has anything surprised you about starting a website?
Not really!
Did you do your site yourself website? Do you use WordPress?I have a few sites. My author site is a wordpress site that I had designed but am able to update myself (or have my PA update for me). Then I have a teachable site and a kajabi site for my courses. For my services, I have an ionos site that Cyber Witch Press built, and for my book promotion site, Book Rebel, that was a custom built site entirely…almost more of an app. It cost $40,000 to build! But it brings authors and readers together, so it’s worth it. Authors get BIG sales and readers get new books. The investment will pay off eventually.
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting their own business?
Go for it! But don’t cut corners. If you need a loan to do it right, try sites like Fundbox or Paypal loans. Refi your house to get cash out. Find a private investor. But do it right. It’s worth it. Also, the best thing I ever did was hire a business coach. (It wasn’t cheap – over $20,000 – but I made that investment back ten-fold.)
If you could go back in time and do something differently, what would you do and why?Stop saying “I can’t afford to do things right” sooner. 😛
How fast did your audience grow?
How many visitors/subscribers do you have?I actually don’t watch that on my sites. In my group, we get about 1000-2000 new members a year.
Is this your only job?
Did you launch your business while working another job?I was a stay at home mom when I launched this business and my author business. I was for part of that working third shift as a customer service operator for a cab company.
Do you have an email list? If so, did you start it when you launched?
I have a few. My first was launched I think around 2012?
How do you promote your site or business?
My books I promote with promotional newsletters, social media, and CPC advertising. My business is mostly word of mouth.
Do you earn money from your site, and if so, how?
Affiliate marketing, ads, products, etc.? Did you intend to earn from it when you launched?Most of the money earned is through product sales, but I do have some affiliate accounts for other products I really believe in. The goal was always to make the money selling products.
Who are some of the authors you work with right now?
I have hundreds of current clients, but some I’m allowed to name include Jessica Wayne, Emma Hamm, Annie Anderson, Zoe Blake, Khardine Grey, and Megan Ward.
Tell me 5 fun facts about you:
- I don’t know my left from my right.
- I started my adult life homeless, lived over a decade in poverty, and now make over six figures a year.
- I have 6 kids.
- We homeschool.
- I almost failed English class in 8th grade.
Thanks for the super fun interview!
Thank you so much Rebecca Hamilton for your wonderful interview. If you guys are looking to learn how to promote your books and have the help of this wonderful woman click here.
I wanted to share with you one of my favorite authors L. Wilder and my last review of her book.