How to Attract Dream Clients towards 7 Figures

1. What was the deciding moment to write this book?

I always knew there needed to be a “side hustle” book. It was evident that 40% of executives do side hustles but have no idea where to start. There are 400 million small & medium size businesses (SMBs) and 11 million tech reps, most of whom live on 50% of their earning potential on roller coaster commissions. Everyone relies on passive inbound or traditional marketing tactics like selfie videos, YouTube blogs, websites, and constant content posts, waiting for business in uncertain economic climates.

Based on my work coaching consultants, coaches, speakers, fractionals, and solopreneurs, the goal would be to break new ground going outbound. The coveted 7-figure threshold has always been the crowning achievement for all these folks. I remember the taste of victory when I hit it seemingly against all odds. 5% of coaches earn $1M/year and 1% hit $1.5M/year per the ICF – International Coaching Federation.

2. How long did it take from concept to launch?

My books are fast-paced, concise reads (45K words), so I can complete them in 120 days or less. The key is my publisher, Jeremy Jones, outlining the process, which truly helped. I spend 100 hours on a book and 50 on all the edits. This was unique because I injected a ton of humor, so it took time for comedic timing and style points to sit right with me and my audience.

3. How did you perform the research to create the practical content?

I’m a hardcore student of coaching, consulting, and traditional selling methodologies. I drew significant inspiration from authors like Alan Weiss, David C. Baker, Rich Litvin, and Steve Chandler, among others I attributed. I have held thousands of Zoom calls myself and recognized three primary walls for coaches: 1) nobody wants to coach, 2) nobody has any money, and 3) once you teach them everything, they quit. I created a process called the 4th Frame™ to get prospects to calls systematically via chat flows. I next created a formula called the 7-Step Close Process™ for running a first call and shifting polarity so it’s their idea to buy, which defers from 90s-style relics like BANT (budget, authority, need, timeline.)

Then, I thought through The Money Conversation so you can have a breakthrough and win the emotional first sale on every call. That breakthrough is investing in you! Breaking the Third Wall requires varying your delivery algorithm to gain lifetime value (LTV). There is so much more in this powerhouse succinct book.

Bryan Franklin, Reid Hoffman’s coach and a personal mentor who did $10M in three years and now I share his goal, $1.6M working two days a week, mentored me a great deal when I worked for him as CEO and Co-Founder of OutboundWorks. It formed the basis of the mega-scaled AB testing for my first bestseller with Tony J. Hughes, Tech-Powered Sales, where we effectively predicted ChatGPT.

4. What was the biggest challenge along the process (and how did you overcome it)?

The hardest part was making this thrilling, practical, and super actionable. I injected screenshots and scripts, but then I needed to anonymize them. Because I had hundreds of pre-readers, they asked every question about the corner cases on this material, kicking the tires hard. Doing comedy is challenging; I watched the Seinfeld documentary about how he built routines over a year on the road. I easily spent 30 hours editing the jokes alone.

5. What was your own reflection along the journey?

I realized that the client acquisition space for coaches, consultants, solopreneurs, speakers, authors, and “fractional” has never been disrupted or codified by fusing modern “outbound methods.” I innovated selling tech at 13 startups, which I outline in the rest of the Justin Michael Method (JMM) Series™. Since 40% of executives have a side hustle, this book can unlock an additional $100K/year in income for 11M tech sales reps with my background by simply applying it verbatim.

By creating a Venn Diagram of all these worlds and studying the choreography of communication with direct messages, I found new patterns to help my clients break through or speed up sales cycles. The future is “chat and grow rich,” so the book is heavily centered on LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Text, Facebook, and any platform where you interact in real-time. “RT” makes client acquisition more potent than waiting for email responses or returning your VM. Plus, cold calling for consultants and coaches often comes across as “low status.”

Another big crutch is AI; the original cover had a cyborg, but I realized almost every coach I talked to was trying to automate LinkedIn outreach and use ChatGPT constantly. So, I switched to a “Top Gun” fighter pilot analogy because the human pilot is still the X Factor to win the prospecting game in the AI era. Risks: 1) all the messaging sounds the same. 2) LinkedIn caps automation at 40 sends a day, while manually, you can send hundreds. So, with the JMM techniques, you can get “human” sounding high-quality messaging deployed at higher scales for better conversion.

6. What is the outcome in having this book available?

People warned me that if I released this, everyone would copy me, and my business would tank. But as a result, one-third of my business is now coaching fellow coaches and consultants. In the past, “coaching coaches” were cult-like and MLM-style, shrouded in secrecy, so I aim to open-source and democratize access to these methods to bring dramatic ROI, like 2-5Xing your income. I have many testimonials, so I let my clients' results speak.

I’ve seen reps leave corporate and hit 20-30K/month within six weeks under my guidance with these techniques. I’ve helped three clients pass $100K in months. Some of the top 7-figure coaches around the world are acknowledging the book. I will finally help millions of underserved people get a system to solve this problem. I’m being compared to Alan Weiss, David C. Baker, Rich Litvin, Steve Chandler, Steve Hardison, and Michael Neill, and it is an extreme honor as they paved the way.

7. What would you advise others about writing their book?

Focus on your outline to stay organized and speed up the writing process. You only need a dozen chapters. Create a Venn Diagram of who you seek to help. Get them into the doc as you write it. And take the feedback seriously as it’s “the wisdom of crowds.” Think about synthesis vs. invention. Mash up things that came before into a new blend or gestalt. Write like you talk and advise, and you can’t fail. Be authentic and original and open up about your life story, failures, etc. Vulnerability is powerful.

As Earl Nightingale wisely shared, to innovate, “Watch what everyone else does–-do the opposite. The majority is always wrong.”

Leverage AI tools like GrammarlyGO and LLMs to tighten grammar and get you out of the white space but agonize over keeping your original voice and ideas intact. If you can hire a professional editor, it’s worth it; I know a few, especially in the UK (to give a global perspective.)

Don’t become enamored with the major publishers; Indie ones can sometimes give you much more love. I have three publishing deals and am grateful for them all. Amazon has a crazy quick distribution network worldwide, so it’s great to lean in on.

Lastly, take risks with your cover design and obsess over your title. Everyone loves the WWII fighter plane analogy now, but in the beginning, I got a ton of confused reactions. It’s one of the most memorable covers for this genre ever, and it pays homage to an era of courage and flight. Write like the reader is opening the book up in 2055; go for a timeless time capsule of evergreen ideas; most of the vendors in Tech-Powered Sales released in 2021 are under new names now. However, that book will hold until the Singularity.