Hey Chandler bolt here and joining me Today is Steve Sims uh for more than two Decades Steve has been the go-to contact For the wealthiest people on the planet This guy creates crazy unique Experiences uh or at least that was a Core part of his business for for a While through his company Um now he's a speaker he's a coach he's The author of multiple books including Uh blue fishing and go for stupid that's His newest book uh and I think we maybe Met way back at Mastermind talks maybe Yeah Jason early on my I don't even know If you know this about me Steve just Like early early on my hustle was I Couldn't afford to go to some of these Conferences so I'm just volunteer say Hey I'll sweep the floors I'll run the Mics whatever and so I think it was when I was volunteering at Mastermind talks We originally met and then now it seems Like we're speaking a lot of the same Events and somehow never run into each Other uh and so it's really fun to have You on the podcast welcome that's a Pleasure to be here and very smart of You for doing that at the beginning So I guess for starters why'd you write Your first book uh and and why have you Made books what it seems to be a a good Part of your your brand and your Business so this is the answer that Absolutely everyone's gonna freaking
Hate because there's a lot of people Like I did for my second book The Planned wanted desired to have a book I Didn't want to write a first book I Thought it was the dumbest [ __ ] idea In the planet Um I was literally at a party and I was Telling a story and someone introduced Me to someone else then I went up to New York someone introduced me to someone Else bang a week later I got a fax can You believe that this was only five Years ago but I got a fax not an email But a fax contract uh from Simon and Schuster asking me if I wanted to write The book and I'm like and here's the Dancing I didn't even know Simon's shoes To us I phoned up a friend of mine and I Said I've got a vaccine came from Simon And shyster Um and they want to do this and he's Like you kidding so a lot of people try To do books I didn't it landed in my lap And so I've always said when you know Great people and you're in great rooms And you know this when you surround Yourself with great people great things Happen that was the first book and when It got written I had so much naivety I Didn't know what I was doing I found out That this was a massive great production House Um I did the book and I thought great I Got paid well I've got the backing of a
Major publisher it's now gone out great I didn't realize that the book writing Is only one part of it when it gets Released into the world my God that Opens up all the doors so I was very Naive and I didn't really have a lot of People that helped me at the beginning Until I go hey are you ready for this Because you know I clearly wasn't the Book did incredibly well the second book I was able to plan off of all of those Um misrepresentatives Misrepresentations losses of media I was Able to make sure that my second book Was a lot more prepared than my first One And so the second book being more Prepared what did that look like Was it just planning ahead was it more Time writing was it prepped for the Lunch what's what were kind of the key Changes or differences that you you did From book one to book two so for start I Thought writing a book that was the Whole job you know that was it you Started writing the book you wrote the Book you checked out the design You Released the book you approved it and Then you went home and just got ready For the millions to land Um you very quickly realized that no one Makes a million out of writing a book And a good friend of mine Jay Abraham Said to me you're not gonna make you're
Not gonna get a beach house from writing A book but what the book leads you into Will have you picking out drapes on your Beach house so I thought the book was Everything but then afterwards it was a Case of hey I saw your book will you Speak on stage I saw your book will you Train my team I saw your book will you Do an online course I had no idea that The book actually therefore became the Beginning of everything Um and that was it so when the second Book I got aggravated enough to do the Second book I was like all right I now Know that this is the beginning so it's Got to lead into this I've got to make Sure it opens up the doors for this I've Got to put hooks in a book for it to be Able to do this so I was prepared that The second book was actually step one of 20 steps so I actually planned Accordingly I did more speaking gigs as A lead up I made sure my community was Strong I made sure my distribution was Strong I made sure my marketing and Media was strong so I made sure those Things were prepared for book two which I really hadn't paid attention to for Book one Got it now it looks like so you talked About the first one being with Simon Schuster yeah and then it was the second One um was that self-published yeah it Was self-published and I I'm friends
With Taco Mac so Tucker helped me out And I went through scribe uh for those Guys Cool so what um what was you what was Kind of the difference in experience It's interesting because I felt like Almost your your perspective and spirit And experiences maybe flip for most People it's like the traditionally Published book that they did they really Planned and it was a big launch and Everything and then the self-published Sometimes because it is self-published It's like you just put it out and that's Almost like the the flaws the way that You look at it is you don't plan as as Well ahead so how did that flip for you And what was your difference in Experience between self-publishing and Traditional publishing So first of all I knew nothing that was That was the first thing I knew not so I Had nothing to compare it to but I'm a Selfish guy I want to make sure needles Are moved otherwise that what's the Point I'm not an ego guy and I'm not an Extrovert if it's not making a point I Don't want to touch it so when the first Book came out as I say I thought that Was all of everything they gave me a Ghost Rider I had a team I had a Marketing team wink wink that never went Anywhere Um I had all of these promises everyone
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Was like oh my God Simon and shoes and Get don't get me wrong great Relationship with the guys thank you Very much for what you did But there were certain points that never Came to fruition And it was a case of uh you know build It and they will come and a lot of them Didn't and so on some aspects people Think that having a self-published book Hey you're more credible you know I'm Sorry having a a major publisher Publisher but you're more credible but Here's the dial thing for most readers They don't know the difference between Self-published and published if you sync Your focus into doing a good book and It's got a good cover and it's got a Good design and it's got a good layout 99 of the planet are not going to know The difference if it's penguin or you Self-published it that's just not gonna Know it's The Ghost Writer it's the Layout and the attention you pay to the Book but what I did notice and it was a Friend of mine that actually taught me The difference You have more control over Self-published when it's published You've sold the baby you know you no Longer own it you want to do a course on It you gotta split the fees you want to Suddenly start releasing parts of the Book you've got to get permission all of
A sudden you have no control over this Anymore if you want to do something with It ah no no we don't want to do that It's already been published it's done Yet with a self-published book you can Update it you can edit it you can stick In links you can stick in QR codes you Have more control over your distribution But I didn't know that until Simon Schuster did my first book very very Proud that they did my first book they Did a phenomenal book and machine on it But there were certain things that just Didn't come through that I was able to See the gaping holes and make sure they Didn't happen in this one Um and so I would assume that's why you Self-published the second book Looking back are you glad that you did If you ever do a third book do you think You would self-publish it traditionally Publish how would you look at kind of That decision third book self-published Well for start don't want to do a third Book Um I actually I hate writing books um I Hate you writing blue fishing there were Nights I was I couldn't sleep going oh My God it was like a therapy session With yourself as the doctor it's very Intrusive Um you feel very uncomfortable and I I Didn't like it and then I had to do the Audiobook what what are the worst
Experiences of my life you're sitting in A room reading your own book it was just Oh my God you know it's like reading Your own accolades and stuff it's just Horrible and of course I I've just done It for the second one and I came home And just had to sink a couple of Whiskeys just to bloody calm down so the Idea the idea of me doing a third book Is on an even par With Me growing a full Head of hair you know I just have no Desire no contemplation don't care but If it ever comes up 100 without a doubt Self-publish hey I love you Simon and Schuster but I think the planet has Changed so it's got nothing to do with The Publishing House certainly don't Want to bash them without those guys Wouldn't be where I am but 100 The world's changed and I think you have More control over self-publish Got it Steve's approach to publishing books is Mirrors his approach to growing hair you Heard it here first So you you mentioned the audiobook was Always you said I think the worst day of Your life or the worst that you've ever Done why and are you glad that you did It in retrospect or no Uh thrilled I did it which was the only Reason I've just recorded this one on Audio Um for some reason and I now know why
Most writers don't read their own book Um they get other people to do it but When you read it You're telling your story you emphasize Certain areas that a narrator wouldn't Do Um It comes from you you're verbiage your Tonality your excitement your passion it Comes through in the words because hey No one can read you better than you can Read you But the experience of standing in Something which is basically like Standing in a port a toilet with all of These little rubber uh cones staring at You to reduce the sound reading your Book and there's nothing in there you Know I remember the first day I turned Up I had these cargo pants and I I just Sound silly to say but I have these Cargo pants and the person that was Doing the audio she went uh are you Muscling I went once she said I can hear The bus it was my trousers it could pick Up on the bloody mic that I had these Cargo pants on I had to run home and put Jeans on so it was just weird that that Had to happen and you had No Light No Natural flow in air it was just I was in This dark box for two days and it got to Lunchtime the second day and she said Should we have a break we'll only need a Couple of hours in the afternoon and I
Said to her if we break now I'm not Coming back no so let's not do the break Let's continue and we got it done by Like two o'clock and this one I said to A friend of mine that owns a studio I Said I'm gonna turn up at nine o'clock We're not going home until it's done and I was there from nine o'clock in the Morning uh thank you Joe for helping me We were there until nine o'clock at Night and I knew that if I went and had A break I wasn't coming back but there's A massive difference when you read your Own book Agreed I completely agree and had a very Similar experience where it's it's For me it was you kind of got to imagine Because it seems like we're very I mean We both do a lot of speaking and it Seems like we're similar in kind of this This external feedback loop and and when Someone's nodding their head it's like Oh this is engaging like this thing that I'm saying is interesting but when You're in the booth you don't have that And so I almost imagine kind of Imagine Right behind the mic is someone just Smiling and nodding their head while You're while you're reading the book and Kind of imagining looks like you're Delivering it in front of an audience I Feel like it was helpful but still to Your point it's you're in a box uh That's hot and there's no light natural
Light and and all that stuff It's tough It's very very tough but as You and I have both said if you're out There and you're writing a book be Prepared them a lot of people and I'm on About 40 of your crowd and your tribe Want to listen to it on audio while They're on their Peloton so make sure You do the audio you do it with your Voice in the autonality yeah and they Can they want to hear from you and it Just makes a big difference and Especially yeah I mean podcasts are one Of the best ways to sell books like this Right and and when it I think it's a Good if you're on podcasts those people Listen to audio content they will Probably want to listen to your book Versus read your book and so just like This is there's people here in Utah Steve and they're like oh cool I'm gonna Get that audiobook because I want to Hear he's an engaging funny guy like I Want to hear him read this yeah and so It makes makes a big difference mine's Got to be edited Um so I don't think mine's coming out For probably a couple of months Um I'm sure we're gonna do some cool Bundle deal you know when we know it's Coming out but it's it's it has been Done but it's still a way off hmm I know you've been doing a lot of Speaking and I'm sure some of that is
Part of the the launch of the book but How have books helped grow your your Speaking business or the speaking side Of your business it's a it's a complete Dovetail you know your book People read your book they love your Stories and then they need to see social Proof that you've been on stages so that That eliminates the risk then they ask You to speak on stages and then when you Speak on stages it sells more books and It starts the the cycle again so being An authority the first word of authority Is author so when you're an author of a Book you're now an authority in that Subject that does help and dovetail you And again more stages Love that root word of authority as Author Your newest book Go for stupid What's what's oh yeah there we go if You're watching on the YouTube channel You can see it here go for stupid the Art of achieving ridiculous goals what What are some of the Core Concepts of That book and how can authors Specifically use some of the concepts in That book to be more successful with Their books that's good all right so um The concept of the book is to get people To do more stupid goals Um people today are living within their Means settling with our standards going
For what they feel is achievable whereas Everyone we Revere Steve Jobs Disney Henry Ford uh Elon Musk for Richard Branson they all had stupid goals and They went from with me in my life I've Always gone for stupid goals okay I like This how can I make it ridiculous what Massive concept can I come up with and I Always believe that today in a gorgeous Society and in the council culture we're Not frightened of trying things and Failing we're actually fighting to being Laughed at so the whole book goes Through examples of what I've got up to In my life and how I've changed my Mindset to go for stupid goals and then How the biggest people we Revere for From the Steve Jobs to the to the Edison They went for stupid goals and how they Achieved it and how you should emulate It so that's the concept behind the book And then how I'd laid it out how I've Done the podcast how I've done my book Launch how I've done the videos how I've Done the audio should be a good copycat For people to see how they do books how To how to put it on a website how to Make sure the appropriate landing pages Of how to make sure the correct funnels Are set up how to constantly keep adding Fuel To the fire and Flame of the book and Again launching it is one thing the lead Up building up your community is one
Thing the launch is one thing the after Launch is another thing the perpetuation Is another thing understand that this is Chapters going through and how to keep It going it is not a one and done you Don't release it on Tuesday at 12 O'clock and then start picking out your Drapes it's a constant burn that you've Got to keep going and if you don't pay Attention it'll Sizzle out of someone Else to pip you at the post of the uh The attention Um yeah I completely agree so I call That the one year launch right A lot of People are doing the one week launch and You really need to do the one year Launch and dedicate that that first year And it's hot I've messed this up on Multiple of my books right it's because It's easy to just drop it like it's hot And move on to the next thing and even Just we you know you and I talking Before this interview it's like man it's Exhausting you've just been on weeks or Months of just speaking gigs and and so It's it's very easy to move on to the Next thing yeah it's very very no you're Right and look we all learn out of Mistakes you know I learned that there Was stuff when the first book came out I Didn't even have a landing page when the First book came out I thought you'll get It on Amazon I didn't even have a Landing page well I wasn't capturing
That traffic I wasn't capturing that Community not making the same mistake Now If you wait look if you want an example Go for stupid.com look at how I've set It all up it's separate to the Stevedsims.com but you'll see how I'm Running two different attacks look at Those pair and emulate it for your Launch that's great check it out emulate It Steve what what would be an example Maybe of how you've gone for stupid with This with the launch of this book or or An example of a way that an author can Go for stupid Um with their book So you've got to understand what your Goal is you know if you if you're Goalish you have no idea if you're Achieving it so are you going for Distribution you know do you want to Sell 10 000 copies do you want it to Drive traffic to your coaching program Do you want it to help your investment Project you've got to know your goal Posts and I had three goal posts okay Two of them I've already achieved I Wanted to make sure I was the best Seller on the list well we all know how That can be created so I needed to make Sure that was done I needed to get good Distribution so it would go wide I did That and I needed to make sure I had a
Clear funnel back to my front door and That was one of my keys for my coaching Clients the sims.media for any of my Other projects and speaking gigs I need You to make sure that this was a lead Back to my front door that's what you Need to focus on you need to make sure What is in it for you if you're Releasing a book and you don't want to Do speaking then don't put it out to People that are going to want you to Speak on stages but if you do want to Speak on stages make sure the book is Tagging all of those events that you Should be speaking on Great so begin with the end in mind and Advertise Stephen Curry would say and And And it sounds like connect it to the end Goal that some people might say is Stupid yeah that's beyond the book That's not just publishing the book yeah You know you've got to like look Imposter syndrome's terrible I spoke to You about it about um driven which is Perry belcher's new community I'm on the Faculty I'm one of the trainers and I'm Stood next to like Randy God Perry Belcher custom Aslam Eric huberman and The Imposter syndrome is very easy to go My God I'm nothing compared to these Guys and I'm pretty much nothing against Them I have a different perspective and A different viewpoint but understand
This to somebody out there you're some Big [ __ ] and what you're talking about Is going to change their life so speak To those people and and get it out there Where can I find more of those people Understand that you are something to Somebody Um that's a good encouragement One thing I wanted to ask you about Steve is just noticing from your social Media posts from you speaking at events From even just how how you talk on this Interview and the title of your book and All that I feel like you're in an Extremely authentic person and that's Something that I've always valued and And trying to do as well is what you see Is what you get but like you said it's Hard because people are afraid of Getting canceled or getting laughed at Or whatever how do you remain authentic And and was that an always thing like This has always been like hey what you See is what you get was there a moment Where you said all right screw this I'm Just gonna be me like any encouragement For people on that authenticity piece so I grew up ignorant and stupid and didn't Give a [ __ ] so you know this was me this Was as good as it gets you like it great You don't go away and then I started to Deal with some of the billionaires in The planet and started getting connected And I changed I started kind of like you
Know take I took out my earrings I Covered my tattoos I tried to speak a Little bit more eloquent and I suddenly Realized I was a fake And I didn't like that I hated me if I'd Have met me I'd have punched me up so I Didn't want to be that person And I realized That to be successful People have to hate you now this is a Weird thing to say but I can guarantee You now on this podcast with you there Is a group of people that are sitting There cheering going Steve Sims yeah He's great I want to buy gopher stew but I want to have a beer with that guy this Guy's awesome he's calling it as it is I Love him and I guarantee you there's People that probably already hung up Going can't understand what the guy's Saying don't like him don't want Anything to do with him I don't like That guy But There's nobody on the fence There's nobody confused there's no one Sitting there going gee now I just don't Know about that guy and in today's world Of distraction and Distortion you've got To be crystal clear to your audience Make sure that they love you they hate You but there's no one confused and so For me it's easiest Marketing in the World if someone reaches out to me
They've seen a video they've read my Book they've heard a podcast they've Seen me with you they're gonna get what They reached out for from what they saw And there's not going to be any Confusion let me give you an example Real estate agents now I do a lot of Speaking of real estate uh events how Many times you see these Realtors and They're trying to look Uber sexy leaning Up against his car you don't want to you Don't want to go out with them you want To buy a house But for some reason they get confused And they put up all this and when you do Finally meet them now 30 years older Than the picture they used Whenever you meet those people you get This sense that you've been cheated you Know you've been lied to it's like a Website you see someone you hear someone And you go oh my God I really like what They stand for and when you meet them You realize that they couldn't have Written that copy they got someone you Know that knows big words to do it and You feel cheated you feel frauded so With me I want to be the person you Always end up with I don't want to leave It up and open to game and let's be Serious it takes zero effort for you to Be you Hmm Zero effort
Yep That's called a mic drop moment Because I'm like okay on one hand It does take no effort but then on the Other hand I almost feel like the the Fighting the internal thoughts oh shut Up here we go here we go the problem is You are now talking yourself out of Being authentic by letting that little Devil in the back of your head actually Have an opinion You just said it yourself it takes [ __ ] All effort for you to be you But I'm scared of how people will look At me interpret me think about me can I Do that do I dare to be me Just show up You know don't listen to that little Devil in the back of your head people Are gonna dislike you For your shirt for your hairdo for the Cologne you wear whatever and the other People are gonna love you for those Reasons so just let it happen naturally Don't fight it because here's the Downside I'm going to give it to you Directions If you adapt Change tweak falsify who you are to Attract people You're going to end up with people you Have no connection with They've just turned up because of your Persona and then they finally meet you
How many times you've been on a date and You're like this person's really cool by The third date you're like my God that's The devil incarnate how the [ __ ] hell Did I ever go And how many times that also happens When you interview someone for your job You know you interview them and you're Like I like this person and then like Four weeks later they're a method and You don't know how they go through the Door the bottom line of it is you want To be able to make that decision as fast As possible whether or not they should Be in your sand pit or whether they Shouldn't and don't let your little Devil talk yourself out of it Um that's great Steve what will be your Your reporting piece of advice for the Steve from how many ever years ago Before you wrote your first book and all The other Steve's out there who are Thinking about writing their first book Um Do It Um it's an uncomfortable unnerving uh Horrible experience But I'm I couldn't be prouder than when I get a DM or I get a tweet from someone That I never would have connected from Somewhere the other side of the planet That says hey if it wasn't for you I Wouldn't have got XYZ done XYZ or been Able to you know conceive XYZ there's no Better feeling don't sit there watching
Your bank balance suddenly thinking You're going to be buying yourself a a Zoo or a country that ain't going to be Happening but the impact that you can Generate from what you do if you focus On that Truly can't be replaced Steve it's great man really really great Where can people go uh to buy a copy of Your new book to learn more about what You're up to all the good stuff it's Easy Um Steve D Sims I'm everywhere at Steve D Sims D for dash in and only 1M in Sims Uh Instagram Twitter wherever you get Your Social I'm at Steve D Sims you can Go to stevedsims.com and actually see The book there and you can search it up On Amazon and go for stupid or even just Go go for stupid.com and you'll see my Funnel there Awesome go for stupid.com check out the Book y'all Steve appreciate you uh Thanks for having me wait and thank you Very much for pushing people to do books You do a simple system that works Congratulations on you and more people Should be listening to you thanks man Books change lives yep
