0:00

Emma Dhesi: Woohoo. Dominic Dom Brightman DTM is an award

0:05

winning speaker and certified member with the john Maxwell

0:09

team. He is the best selling author of going north. tips and

0:13

techniques to advance yourself stay the course the elite

0:16

performers seven secret keys to sustainable success, and a

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contributing author for crappie to happy sacred stories of

0:24

transformational joy. Don hosts the going north podcast, a top

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rated self help podcast that interviews authors from all over

0:33

the world. His mantra is advance others to advance yourself. In

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the episode he has some great tips on how we can improve our

0:41

mindset to make sure we stay resilient, and even give some

0:44

advice. If you're thinking about starting your own podcast, let's

0:47

find out what he's got to say. Welcome to the turning readers

1:01

into writers Podcast, where we teach beginner writers how to

1:04

find the time and the confidence to write their first novel. I'm

1:08

your host, Emma Desi. And I'm very excited that you're here.

1:12

Thank you for joining me today. Because if you've been longing

1:16

to write your novel for forever, then this is the place to be.

1:20

Think of this as your weekly dose of encouragement of

1:24

handholding and general cheerleading, as you figure out

1:27

how you're going to write your first novel. Trust me, as a mom

1:30

of three young kids, I know how tricky it can be to tuck some

1:35

time aside for yourself on a regular basis. And even when you

1:39

do find that spare five minutes, you can feel so overwhelmed that

1:43

no rating gets done. Trust me, I have been there. But this

1:47

podcast is going to help you in practical ways. Because once a

1:51

week, I'll be delivering an episode that gives you steps to

1:55

building a writing routine, encouragement to build your

1:58

confidence and cheerleading until you reach the end. Okay,

2:01

let's start. Well, Dominic, thank you so much for joining me

2:08

today. I'm thrilled to have you on the show.

2:14

Dom Brightmon: thrilled to be here with you, Emma, Earl here

2:16

to be with you. Emma Dhesi: Now, I was interested that you've said that

2:20

you were a voracious reader. And I wonder, you know, since an

2:23

early early age, and I wonder what it was in those early days

2:26

that drew you towards to books and stories and maybe you could

2:31

share some of your favourites with us. Dom Brightmon: Sure thing so what drew me to becoming a

2:36

voracious reader, funny enough was actually dealing with life

2:39

setbacks, because with a, I'm pretty sure like, we've all had

2:44

books that we've been forced to read in grade school that we

2:48

didn't like to read. And it made me hate reading at one point.

2:52

And Funny enough, but this was even after getting a part time

2:55

job in a library no less, that actually having some setbacks in

3:00

life where there were some miscommunication issues with the

3:02

boss, among some other things of dealing with some family issues

3:06

that led me to realise you know what something has to change.

3:09

And in life, at least once a minimum, we're all gonna have a

3:12

desire to change. And that the mizzu, the leadership section of

3:16

the library, picked up a book by john C. Maxwell. And then that

3:20

just led me down the rabbit hole of really loving books again,

3:25

and just reading great books like thinking for change. That's

3:29

one of them. Definitely a great book, like no matter who you

3:33

are, what your background is, that's a definitely good book, because we can all pick up some tips on how to become a better

3:38

thinker. And Heck, even, especially when it comes to

3:41

writing where that is a mind process. It's a mental process.

3:44

And that even one of my favourite questions from that

3:47

book is what good will I do today, and just getting your

3:50

mind ready to do something good at thinking or something

3:54

positive and setting your intention for the day and even

3:58

the alchemist by Paulo Coelho, like, that's one of the few

4:01

fiction books that I've read. In the past few years I've really

4:04

enjoyed and just stuff like that, to really get yourself

4:09

going. So really just setbacks in life and falling in love of

4:12

reading because, like, no matter what the book is, like you can

4:16

learn from whether it's fiction or nonfiction, where you can

4:20

learn something new that you can apply to your life and change

4:23

your life for the better and not butter. Emma Dhesi: Yeah, no, I absolutely agree. It was in

4:28

doing a lot of those sort of mindset, reading a lot of the

4:31

mindset books and and trying to change my thinking, that's one

4:35

of the things that prompted me to get my writing life in gear

4:38

and kind of decide, okay, do I want this or do I not? And so

4:41

it's nice that the skills that we can learn perhaps in one

4:44

industry, we can then transfer them into another industry

4:48

that's more relevant to ourselves. But that's

4:50

interesting. You said that you you were working in a library

4:53

because libraries will in the UK I do they are I don't know about

4:56

in the States, but in the UK, they're a bit of a hot topic,

4:59

right? Now because there's less and less funding for them, but

5:03

it's still something that we need. The big debate around is,

5:08

are these still relevant in today's world in the 21st

5:11

century? And what are your thoughts on that?

5:15

Dom Brightmon: Yes, I'm glad you brought that up, because I really get a chance to talk about it. Because from working

5:20

in the public library for 13 years in the states like it, I'm

5:24

not sure how it is for the UK, but they are a huge community

5:27

centres, especially with the huge sky high unemployment

5:31

rates, even before COVID that we have, we're dealing with where

5:35

people still looking for jobs. And the thing is, like with

5:38

lava, especially public ones, like from cradle to the grave,

5:42

we basically serve everyone getting folks to really get into

5:46

the reading early. And when they become teenagers do some teen

5:49

programmes with them, college, they may need some textbooks or

5:53

some extra books or the research papers. And adults Heck, even

5:56

when they have kids a place to take their kids to and when

5:59

their senior citizens, they may get some new technology, where

6:02

tech savvy librarians now where that's basically a requirement

6:06

to help folks get more used to using their iPad, their tablet

6:09

or smartphone or something like that. And even some folks who

6:13

actually didn't plan to well for life and are still looking for

6:17

employment even after retirement. So it's one heck of

6:21

a community resource in that given in the states with COVID,

6:24

thanks to the county funding, we're actually we're able to

6:29

extend our Wi Fi to reach the parking spots at the parking

6:33

lots of our buildings. So that way, folks can actually still

6:36

use the internet during COVID. Because not everybody has high

6:38

speed internet. And it's really just stuff like that, Heck, even

6:43

right now. Like there's even a small programme where we

6:46

actually give free meals to kids in the school district during

6:52

this whole pandemic thing because a lot of kids like the

6:55

school is really where they got their chance to eat. So

6:59

basically being a community resource, because that's

7:02

probably the biggest argument of maybe making that transfer of

7:06

thinking it as a place of just for books and card catalogues,

7:09

when those probably don't even exist anymore. Most libraries to

7:12

really seeing it as a big resource, where it's not just

7:16

books, it's the people behind the books, like you myself are

7:19

both authors. There's humans behind these pages here, whether

7:23

they're gone or still here. And those folks have at least once a

7:27

library at least once the check out a book or Nate, were

7:31

inspired by that. And just us as a community inspirational hub to

7:35

help folks realise like, hey, libraries is still needed. It

7:38

can be a community resource. It's not just a storehouse for

7:42

books. It's an information sanctuary. Emma Dhesi: Mm hmm. Yeah, I think we're, we're not quite as

7:48

far down that track as you guys are over there. But we're

7:50

certainly moving towards it being more of a community hub.

7:53

So I hope that helps. And it will in the long run, keep

7:56

libraries there and keep because there are people who need them

7:59

as you say, No, Euro you your first book when you were at the

8:03

tender age of 23. So what made you feel that you wanted to

8:08

write a book at that point in your life? And how did you go

8:11

about actually doing the writing of it?

8:15

Dom Brightmon: Sure things so after the whole, voracious

8:18

reading rebirth, of basically dealing with some life setbacks,

8:22

I went to a Toastmasters meeting. And for those who don't

8:24

know, Toastmasters International nonprofit organisation,

8:28

basically go and become a better speaker and communicator, and a

8:31

leader. And there was this one club I visited out in kaysville.

8:36

And they had a guest speaker that evening by the name of

8:38

Daniel alley. And he was around 25, at the time, and I was

8:43

around a good 2220 2221. And he gave this speech on how to act

8:51

like a leader. And his acronym for that actually went to being

8:56

audacious, contagious, and tenacious. And for those that

8:59

are writing, you have to be audacious enough to actually set

9:02

out to write a book. And then you have to be audacious enough

9:06

to hit Publish. And then you have to actually be audacious

9:09

enough to go out there. Promote the book is another thing, too.

9:12

You can write all day, you can publish books all day. But if no

9:15

one knows about it, then what's the point? And you have to be

9:18

contagious, you have to basically market yourself, and

9:21

then get to the point where you're contagious enough in a

9:25

good way that folks know about you enough. And then you have to

9:27

be tenacious, to keep going, no matter what happens with all the

9:30

setbacks that happened. And now granted, that wasn't the version

9:34

he gave, but those the same three words. And he had this

9:37

book called, you're the boss, and I was like, wow, like it.

9:40

Like this guy is a couple years older than me. Millennials still

9:44

still got glasses, and didn't have all the extra weight back

9:46

then skinny as me and everything. And he had this book

9:50

about the book from a wind home, read it, and I was like this

9:52

guy's writing about the same stuff I'm reading about. So that

9:56

inspired me to eventually write a book and came across another

10:01

book called The magic of getting what you want. And in that book,

10:04

I mentioned how you should write your own personal obituary.

10:07

Well, for some reason I wrote that was going to be a best

10:09

selling author of multiple books. And after that activity,

10:13

a couple more months down the line, I met this wonderful lady.

10:17

And I was handing out these wonderful reading lists to people called the 100 books or dynamic living, as opposed to

10:22

business cards, because business cards usually go in the trash.

10:26

And if your face is known, and folks don't remember it, then

10:28

good luck with that. And she looked at the list, she looked

10:32

right back at me looked at the list, look right back at me and

10:35

asked me where my name was on this list. And I was like, Nah,

10:40

my name is not on the list, cuz I'm not an author. And she's

10:44

like, Hey, why don't you write a book? And I'm like, I think I'm

10:50

good. This is after the obituary activity like that. I'm not

10:54

gonna do it. And just like, Hey, you know what, even better? How

10:58

about a year from today? How about we both write books and a

11:01

year from today? We could say we're both published authors.

11:04

And I was like, Yeah, nice. Sounds a little too intense. I

11:07

think I'm good. And then after the session ended, I basically

11:12

did some soul searching and realised You know what, maybe I

11:15

should probably write this book because I did some deep thought

11:18

was like, I did put this in a obituary, well, why don't I go

11:20

ahead and actually go and make this thing happen. So that was

11:23

around 2015. That year when the dare happened. And then October

11:27

2016. Right before November 1, it says, that was the day that

11:32

that conversation happened. My first book was published,

11:36

because I basically still took her up on that dairy, even

11:38

though we never really shook hands to make it official.

11:41

Because I had to wake up and realise like, hey, because it's

11:43

like, sometimes you don't get things instantly the first time,

11:46

sometimes the another knock on the head, or sometimes the

11:49

process some things. Emma Dhesi: Yeah, so maybe it sounds like it was there was

11:53

that little bit of them? And we all get it done with that little

11:56

bit of fear that says, Oh, no, I'm not ready for this. I can't

11:59

do it yet. And then it takes a moment to galvanise and think,

12:01

Okay, do I want this? Is this on my obituary? Right? I've got to

12:06

step up to the plate, and I've got to do it. So that's really

12:09

interesting. It took me about a year to do. So how did you

12:12

actually go about writing the book? Did you pen and paper

12:16

computer dictates? How did you do it?

12:20

Dom Brightmon: Definitely the first two, the pen and paper then the computer because that soul searching moment happened

12:27

in one of those Toastmaster meetings where there's a q&a

12:30

session that was required for the presentation. And my buddy

12:33

of mine who wrote a book of his own, asked me in the q&a

12:37

session, like hey, Don, when's your book. Now module, that

12:40

quest had nothing to do with the presentation, I was giving it

12:42

all. So he just saw an opportunity just to put a fire

12:46

under my butt. And when I went ahead and declared that mean,

12:49

that was gonna happen. I ran home and started writing

12:52

furiously, I wrote like 14 pages of raw content, like whatever

12:55

was came to me as a stream of consciousness, the pen was on

12:59

fire. And then I went through like a little hibernation period

13:02

for a few weeks, because that was no, I was like November when

13:05

that happened. Then December happened. And then January 2016,

13:10

I picked up the book project again, and set out every weekend

13:14

to get in the coffee shop. And that's another thing about writing, you got to be in your own place to productivity to

13:18

write, like if you need to place with ambient noise, like a

13:22

coffee shop, or just have music on your headphones. Like I

13:24

listen to music a lot when I write, because it usually

13:29

provokes like a lot of different thought and helps me to remind

13:32

remind me of certain things, and really just taking it so

13:36

deciding a time to write like in one of the episodes where he

13:38

mentioned how you have to have a writing routine. And Time

13:40

management is definitely a requirement. Like really just

13:44

being aware of how much time you have and using it to your

13:47

advantage and scheduling it. Because that's really where the

13:49

magic happens. Because every weekend after work, I set aside

13:53

time to write. And also I would keep pen and paper with me in my

13:57

car. So that way, if something happens to me, especially after

14:01

a workout session, because if you do is sweat, you're

14:04

eventually going to have something to come out of your

14:06

head and inspire you. And just basically ink it when I thought

14:09

it so when you so it could when you think it when it comes to

14:12

mind like that. So that was really part of it. The other

14:15

piece was basically typing in all the stuff I wrote down. So

14:19

I'm basically editing my thoughts as I'm going around

14:21

before actually submitting it to an editor. And that was the

14:25

process for book number one, because with the writing, it's a

14:29

lot faster than typing, at least for me. And usually, it's a lot

14:34

Not only is it faster, it actually sticks a lot better

14:37

when you see it on paper in your own eyes. And then as you type

14:40

it in, you'll be like, oh god, what influence was I under when

14:43

I was writing this? And you're like, oh god, no, let me go

14:46

ahead and change this up or polish it up and make it even

14:50

better. So there was actual writing happening with the book

14:54

there was still writing and typing.

14:57

Emma Dhesi: Now that's very similar to myself. Actually. I

14:59

can ingredient that I love that bit of handwriting, there's a

15:03

connection between the brain and the hand isn't there in it, you

15:05

can just let it all out. And then when you transcribe it onto

15:09

the computer is like having that first edit, and you can start to

15:12

shape things and tighten them up. So, yeah, we work in a

15:15

similar way. I like that. And now I I kind of tell my students

15:20

that having the right mindset being in the right frame of mind

15:24

is half the battle to writing your book, no matter whether

15:28

it's fiction, nonfiction, memoir, whatever, because it

15:31

takes resilience and it takes and commitment because it's, for

15:35

most of us, it takes quite a while to write the book. It's

15:37

not something you do in a couple of days. And and I wonder if you

15:41

have any thoughts on some of the ways that agents can perhaps

15:44

develop a more positive mental attitudes towards their towards

15:49

their writing? Dom Brightmon: Yes, yes, indeed. So for positive mindset to

15:54

develop it, I like to drop the rave method, that's something

15:58

that I use for rock solid optimism. And the acronym rave

16:03

stands for AR. So the RS for reading, reading great material.

16:06

So make sure you read Emma's books and a bunch of other great

16:09

books out there. The A is for audio immersion. So if you're

16:12

listening to this podcast right now, then you get a gold star.

16:16

And then there's the V for visual stimulation where you're

16:19

making sure you're having your eyes set on something positive,

16:23

everyday, like having quotes like heck even. I'll even pull

16:26

up one of these sticky notes I got right here. I'm not sure

16:29

folks be able to see it on the zoom thing. It says always focus

16:32

on the payoff, where I basically keep Inspirational Quotes and

16:37

Sayings because that even Daniel actually brought him on as my

16:41

coach at the time when I went to his home, like he had sticking

16:44

to him and his girlfriend has sticky notes everywhere have

16:47

goals and inspirational sayings. So you basically have to have

16:51

your environment ready, kind of like with the P o. p, the place

16:54

of productivity earlier, when you're being in your place of

16:57

productivity. It's got to be in a place where creativity is

17:00

allowed to flow. It's making sure it's an area where it's not

17:03

too much cluttered, because I've actually talked to a declutter

17:07

expert before a couple of them. And they said things which I

17:10

agree with is effect that creativity flows a lot better

17:14

than the open room where it's not cluttered. Because if the

17:16

room is cluttered, you think, oh, crap, I got these books

17:18

everywhere, got all these papers everywhere, it's like making

17:22

sure your space for writing is clean and open and ready for you

17:26

to take action and letting that creativity flow. And of course,

17:30

the E is encouragement, encouraging yourself and others

17:33

because it's great to encourage other people, we all need it.

17:36

And it'll pay off where it'll come back down to you down the

17:40

line. And we always have to encourage ourselves to

17:43

especially when we get up in the morning and actually doing the

17:47

business for ourselves and still having a day job to fund our

17:52

creativity habits. Because very, because very few folks make

17:55

money off of writing. And if they make money off, right, it's

17:57

because of all the systems they have around it. Like a bunch of

18:00

big name authors, you pay attention and do some studies on

18:04

them. Heck, even books in the personal development space, like

18:06

Brendon Burchard, like his, he basically buys all of his books

18:10

themselves, himself gives them a wave to people. And they send

18:15

them to his online courses like James Patterson has a bunch of

18:19

Ghost Riders with them writing all these books cranking out

18:23

almost like crazy, probably a book a day almost appeals like

18:26

with him. It's like rabbits at given Joanna pen with all the

18:29

stuff that she does. Like she has a podcast, the audio book,

18:33

and uses her one book to create multiple streams of income. So

18:38

basically remembering yourself to encourage yourself. So just a

18:41

quick recap of it, the our reading great material, a audio

18:45

immersion, the stem visual stimulation and encouragement,

18:50

encouraging yourself and others to stay positive.

18:53

Emma Dhesi: It's a great acronym. I love that that's superior. I'll be I'll be remembering that one. Sweet. And

19:00

just kind of following on from that slightly. You've said that

19:03

there are three skills that millennials in particular needs

19:06

to develop, which as I am long past being a millennial kind of

19:10

amused me. So I wonder if you could share that with us. And I

19:14

wonder if they're also clickable to the writing life?

19:18

Dom Brightmon: Yes, they are. One of them is building strong

19:21

relationships, especially with people of high value. Now

19:26

everyone is valuable everyone is I'm not saying no one is more

19:30

valuable than other. But I'm just saying there are some

19:32

people on a scale, they may be a one. And some may be an eight if

19:38

you want to be around more eights than ones because some

19:40

ones are those who may have not and gotten over certain things

19:43

and they try to spread their misery around others. So making

19:48

sure that you're around people that that are actually positive

19:51

now she helped you even call you out on your bs from time to time

19:55

that helped me to be better. So building those relationships and

19:59

applause Writing because in this big, small world of the

20:02

internet, if you pay attention to people, like a lot of books

20:06

are starting this podcast nowadays, like the book itself,

20:09

the writings, one thing like that, I think there's still a

20:13

part of the world where they think the writing is the hard

20:16

part. Yeah, it's hard, especially for a fiction book,

20:19

because you have to have all these characters and stories have to make sense. And, really, you have the main character,

20:25

Mom, but every side character thinks of the main character in

20:28

the story. But you have to also, like keep the relationship thing

20:32

in mind. Because there may be like podcasts like, like Emma's

20:35

podcast, you may want to get onto hers, just listening and

20:37

subscribing to hers. And so sharing your posts and

20:40

everything, so that we can be on the radar. And if you do it

20:44

enough, and then when you get close to close to your book release, then you'll have one outlet to get your message out

20:49

there, because you still have to promote your work. And Heck,

20:52

even strangers, or sometimes the new family in a way, like

20:56

there's this one quote, where it says that friends are God's way

21:00

of apologising for your family. And that's depending on your

21:03

situation, of course. And just having those relationships of

21:07

wonderful people and building them up is definitely skill.

21:10

Number one, skill number two is communication. And that can go

21:14

in multiple ways, because there's written communication,

21:16

of course, writing a book, verbal communication, public

21:19

speaking, and of course, the selling of your stuff as well.

21:22

And that can branch off into copywriting and so many other

21:26

skills. So communication would be number two. And number three

21:31

would basically be financial literacy. Because that's

21:34

something that a lot of folks aren't taught in schools, like I

21:37

remember, I don't even think I'm sure folks out in the public

21:41

schools in the States, but I had a consumer math course. And that

21:44

was like 12th grade. And that was 12th. Grade now is one

21:49

class, like God forbid, who knows what they may have gotten

21:52

in the public area. Because to be honest, depending on the

21:55

area, some schools don't teach the things that people should

21:58

know. So the three skills would be building strong

22:01

relationships, especially with high value people,

22:04

communication, written verbal, and although the good stuff, as

22:09

well as a third one, which would be financial literacy,

22:12

Emma Dhesi: and action, which is so important, and so I think

22:15

undervalued, and certainly here in the UK, we stopped doing any

22:19

kind of, we have the option to stop doing any kind of sums or

22:22

math at the age of 16. But even a lot of what we're taught in

22:26

those classes, it's not relevant to your day to day life and

22:29

trying to manage a budget and live within your means. So yeah,

22:33

I'd love to see a big overhaul in that. I keep thinking I might

22:36

be a rich woman by now doing more at a younger age. Maybe

22:40

not, anyway, awaits you. I'm going for it. And now you have a

22:49

podcast to call going north. And tell us about the podcast and

22:53

why you started it. Dom Brightmon: Sure thing. So the podcast was an original

22:59

idea. I was going to start that before ever writing a book was

23:01

on my radar. Because folks would tell me for years, I've got this

23:05

great voice radio, and oh my god, cool. Right. So podcasts

23:08

should be a good way to use it for good. I don't know what

23:11

they'll my podcast is going to be about. But I decided you know

23:14

what, let me go ahead and start one. Then after publishing my

23:17

book in 2016, six months after it was published, I lost my

23:22

father, after as long battle with all summers. And I slacked

23:26

off on the marketing for obvious reasons, grief and everything.

23:29

And I realised You know what, I should probably get back to

23:32

marketing his book. Here's my first one. And I said, I got

23:35

another one coming out. Two years after that. So want to

23:38

start a podcast. And after talking with a buddy of mine,

23:42

and that kind of goes with the whole relationship building thing, I talked it over with a buddy of mine over coffee, and

23:48

she was like, Hey, why don't you call your podcast going north

23:50

podcast because you basically have a brand new year, because

23:53

going north that's usually my response to people when they ask

23:56

me, how's it going? And the book is called going north. So why

23:59

don't you make the podcast going north? I'm like, you know what,

24:03

I think I'll do that. Because virtually gonna call it the Mr.

24:05

Music and reads podcast. And it just ended up being about that.

24:10

And then then, basically, every Monday and Thursday, a new

24:14

episode goes up. It's an interview with an author,

24:17

different author, no matter what the job well, of course, if it's

24:20

politics or something I like to delve into politics, especially

24:23

when it being election year, people are kind of going stark

24:26

raving mad this year. But visually if it's except for

24:30

like, politics, or maybe like maybe something dark like most

24:34

folks like it, I've had multiple offers on my show. I've had

24:38

about about 331 episodes in so far. And every Monday and

24:44

Thursday, a new episode goes up. I've interviewed a bunch of

24:46

others before, fiction, nonfiction, and of course me

24:50

You're always welcome to come on the show too, because I'm always

24:53

looking to return the favour for fellow book casters to really

24:56

get their message out there because it's bigger than me. It's like yeah, I want to promote my But this is really a

25:02

better way to promote myself as a brand as well, because

25:06

podcasting, there's a million podcasts out there. And not

25:10

everybody is going to keep their podcast up. Like there's that

25:12

pod vaping thing where folks, like have like a few episodes

25:16

up. And then they feel like you know what? I'm not a millionaire

25:20

yet. I don't see a Joe Rogan contract, some acquit. Even

25:24

though Joe Rogan has a whole life outside of his show for

25:29

decades before he even got that contract. So really, the podcast

25:33

happened because I wanted a new way to market my book. But to

25:36

make it bigger than me, I made it all about having a place make

25:40

a platform for authors get their voices heard, because that's

25:42

something I needed. When I first published my book is no one

25:45

knows what they're doing. Like you can know everything in the

25:48

world and still not know what you're doing because you're stuffed, apply a certain tactic a certain action to a certain

25:54

specific time of the day, and then reassess what happened

25:57

after that action happened. So that's basically where the

26:00

podcast came from. Emma Dhesi: Fantastic. Yeah, we need them spacey can't, there

26:04

can't be enough spaces for new authors coming up and trying to

26:07

find a space for ourselves, especially when you know, for

26:11

the indie world, particularly when there's just so many plates

26:14

to spin at one time, whether it be the craft of writing, the

26:18

publishing, the promoting, or the right side of it. And

26:22

there's such a lot to sort of take in. So I'm always looking

26:25

for, for good podcasts. So when I should certainly be adding you

26:29

to my subscribe button. Now, if we find anybody listening out

26:33

there, who perhaps has written a nonfiction book, or has a love

26:38

of a particular genre, for example, historical romance, for

26:42

example, and they're thinking, yes, you know what, I love this

26:45

topic, and I'd love to start a podcast about it. What tips

26:49

might you give somebody who's is thinking about dipping their toe

26:53

in the water? Dom Brightmon: Sure thing. So knowing your why is definitely

26:58

the main thing, because that's what's gonna keep you going.

27:00

Like if money is your reason for starting a podcast and look for

27:03

something else, like you have a better chance of network

27:05

marketing, then a podcast if you want to make money from it. And

27:11

getting your wise definitely the main thing and knowing your

27:14

audience is something that I wish I would have known when I

27:16

started my podcast, because after watching other folks in

27:20

the podcast based I realised you know what I kind of messed up

27:23

that name because it it on one hand, it's like, you know what,

27:27

maybe I screwed up in a, in a way in a bit, because I didn't

27:30

know exactly whom I just was like, Oh, just everybody. And

27:33

there's the phrase of if you're speaking to everyone, you're not

27:36

speaking to no one. And at the same time, it's like, you know

27:40

what, at the same time, want to keep it diverse for people. So

27:44

knowing your why knowing your audience, and always promoting

27:48

your work to because like that, like with anything you do, you

27:52

can't just put something up there once and then just wait

27:55

for folks to walk past and just grab like 10 million copies of

27:59

it, or press download 5000 times a once on it. Like you have to

28:02

actually get out there and do the work like with the mindset

28:06

work. Like it's, you have to have the right mindset going in.

28:10

And definitely while you're in the trenches, so to speak with

28:15

it. So basically knowing your why, why you want to do it. And

28:18

basically knowing your audience for the work. And Heck, even as

28:23

another tip like going where other folks have gone like one

28:26

of the past guests on my show, she actually mentioned how one

28:30

question she wished you'd be asked more often, instead of how

28:32

do I become a best selling authors? How do I become a great

28:35

author. And one thing you can do that is by paying attention to

28:40

those in your space, like with historical fiction or historical

28:44

romance, like, like check out the genre, head over to

28:46

Goodreads and see some of the top authors in that space, see

28:50

what they do, and see what the folks are commenting on that

28:53

page, and then serving them. And you basically can find your own

28:57

metaphorical congregation, if you add value first, and see

29:02

what they like, see what they dislike. And if you can add

29:05

something that they're looking for that that author isn't

29:07

giving them, that'll give you another edge. So those are just

29:10

a few things that I wish I would have known started my podcast

29:14

and for authors who want to go the book casting route of not

29:17

only being a book writer, slash author, but also a podcaster.

29:21

Emma Dhesi: Yeah, it was great that you get started though, I think, half the battle sometimes just getting started. And then

29:27

you can learn as you go along. And the advantage of being an

29:31

unknown as that you can make a lot of mistakes before you start

29:34

to build any of your audience's following and, and try and learn

29:37

from them as best you can. And so I've got to sort of follow up

29:41

questions. One would be you produce a twice weekly podcast,

29:45

that's a lot of work. And how do you fit that in around

29:48

everything else? Do you have a team that works with you? Are

29:50

you are you a bit of a lone ranger like me?

29:54

Dom Brightmon: Lone Ranger like you definitely a lone ranger

29:57

swag because I've gotten better with the editing over the years

30:02

because like when I first started the editing was hell at

30:06

my tech didn't work properly. And my guess is sound wasn't as

30:10

great. So outsource the first episode because I know what that

30:13

was that I was doing. And then eventually as a watch enough

30:16

YouTube videos and followed enough where I got to the place

30:20

where I'm comfortable with editing. And heck even getting

30:24

over my semi perfect hearing of hearing every Ohm that the guest

30:29

says, I bet so he got over basically the editing piece and

30:34

just still doing it. So I usually fit that in like with

30:36

with the editing, it usually takes at see a good half hour if

30:41

I do a deep focus with it. Now if the if it's one of those long

30:46

episodes, and of course can take an hour or two. And Heck, even

30:50

sometimes just basically putting aside Thomas sketches like okay,

30:54

hey, this is the first edit, I'm gonna put the music in the

30:57

intro, and everything else at once and just having things

31:01

preset, like have a few preset intros have a few outros already

31:05

pre recorded and just rotate them out. And then with the

31:09

actual interview piece in the middle, like the meat in the middle, just editing any background noise and things like

31:14

that, that's really, I do it just making the time for because

31:17

we all have the same amount of time, we just have to choose

31:19

what we decide to put in it, you have to really kind of schedule

31:23

everything in a way. And I've actually become more reliant on

31:28

my Google Calendar more than before, because I've noticed

31:31

that a lot of folks recently mentioned how to do lists, even

31:35

though they're great starting out. After a while they keep

31:38

getting bigger and bigger. And all these rabbits aka tick box

31:42

appear on the list. And you're like, Oh crap, how to get this

31:45

done, as opposed to schedule where you set aside some time to

31:47

do it. So basically scheduling, just about everything is setting

31:52

aside time to do it. And that even having fun with going back

31:56

in the conversation and writing things down that you didn't hear

32:00

the first time. Emma Dhesi: Yeah, yeah, no scheduling. I'm a big believer

32:04

in scheduling. And it disappoints me sometimes I do

32:07

because then I used to think of myself as quite a rebellious

32:10

person who just went by the seat of their pants, and now

32:13

everything is on the calendar. And I don't know if it's just a

32:16

sign of age or just being more organised. I'm not sure but

32:19

yeah. That's my second follow up question to that was you talked

32:27

about, you know, it's all very well making the product, whether

32:30

it be a book or a podcast episode, where you've got to let

32:33

people know about it. So where can people find out about your

32:36

podcast and your books online?

32:40

Dom Brightmon: Sure thing so if you head over to DomBrightmon.com. Dom.Brightman.com you find

32:45

everything about me the podcast and all things dumb, and

32:49

everybody else that knows about dumb been on the show. And if

32:52

you head over to that wonderful website, you'll get a free gift

32:55

called the 21 lessons learned from two plus years of

32:57

podcasting. It's my gift to your wonderful artists, wonderful

33:00

listeners, for those who are looking to start a podcast and

33:04

want to get a nice little glimpse of what's really behind

33:08

the scenes of it. So yep, DomBrightmon.com.

33:11

Emma Dhesi: That's lovely. Thank you so much for joining me

33:13

today. I really enjoy chatting to you. Thank you. Whoo, right

33:17

Dom Brightmon: back at you, I appreciate you. Emma Dhesi: Before you go, I want to tell you about my

33:26

Patreon page, whenever anyone supports the show, it expresses

33:29

just how much you're enjoying the content and how much you

33:32

want it to continue. Your support helps maintain the

33:35

podcast and keeps it going. It means I can create better

33:38

resources for you. When you're listening to the podcast or

33:41

checking out the webpage, it means I can focus on getting a

33:44

higher reach of audience. And when we get a higher reach of

33:47

audience, we can get more guests, guests that are really

33:50

going to help you and then who knows where it'll go from there

33:53

as a new podcaster and someone who's starting out and finding

33:57

their feet in the podcasting world. Just as I'm helping you

34:00

find your feet in the writing world. I can't do it alone. I

34:04

always need help. So I'd love it. If you would support the

34:07

show by signing up. There's just one tier $3 a month. And for

34:11

that, I'll make sure that each week I'm delivering the best

34:14

podcast I can for you and as a way of saying thanks. I'll give

34:17

you a personal shout outs on the show. So check out the page at

34:20

Patreon.com/Emma Dhesi. That's p a t r e o n .com/EmmaDhesi. See