146 – Everyone wants to steal this lady’s ideas: Tom interviews Jane Ubell

Episode 146 – Jane Ubell
[00:00:09] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey everybody it's Tom here with episode 146 of screw the commute podcast I got Jane Ubell here I've known her for a long time and she was so sweet to help me develop my TV show that's in Hollywood originally was called the seminar scammers and changed to scam brigade now but but even bigger than that she's really a giver. She made her husband the tennis pro give pitiful old me a tennis lesson that's an even bigger sacrifice to help me out. Hope you didn't miss episode 145. That was one of my Monday training sessions where I went over the critical business skills needed by pretty much any business. So you want to make sure you go back and listen to that one. I got a big freebie to thank you for listening to the podcast. It's my twenty seven dollar e-book how to automate your business and just one of the tips in this e-book has saved me over seven million keystrokes and I also have another little gift over there I think you're going to like it's a white paper that has to do with podcasting. So you want to check that out at screwthecommute.com/automatefree and of course as always all the links we have and all the great stuff Jane has will be in the show notes. Now our podcast app's in the iTunes store you can go to screwthecommute.com/app where we have complete instructions to show you how to use all the fancy features so you can take us with you on the road. Now our sponsor is. It's me. Who else would it be on my podcast right. So if you'd like somebody to hold your hand through all the things you need to know to have a successful online business. Well you came to the right place. I've been selling on the commercial Internet since there was a commercial internet in 1994 and I know what I'm doing. So check out all the details we hold your hand with a yearlong program and we have the great internet marketing retreat center where you spend an immersion weekend there's no place else in the world you can do such a thing. And we also give you a scholarship to the only licensed dedicated internet marketing school in the country based in Virginia Beach. But it's distance learning so you can study from anywhere in the world. So check all that out at greatinternetmarketingtraining.com.

[00:03:01] All right. Let's bring on the main event. Jane Ubell is an award winning entrepreneur and former TV and film producer. Her credits include Good Morning America. I think it's Wall Street Journal TV E.T. and lots of others now in 2017 Jane founded. Listen to this bedside reading one of the most innovative author marketing programs in the world. Bedside reading places books by the bedsides in luxury hotels and in the media the hotel brands. Listen to this Waldorf Astoria Mandarin Oriental the Fairmont and many others. The goal of the company is to introduce and promote an author to new readers and build their fan base and she believes an author's name is their brand. And when you have the best hotel brands in the world promoting an author and their book to their guests and on their social media platforms in the media and at book signings at the hotel oh boy it can elevate the author to a whole other level. Jane is happily married and lives in Connecticut. She's also an abstract painter and I'm hoping really hoping she allows us to put some of her paintings in our show notes. But I know they're in demand and she's at art shows in New York City Hamburg Germany Beverly Hills and Stamford Connecticut. Jane are you ready to screw. The commute. How you been. It's been a while.

[00:04:40] It's been a long time and I'm actually great. I've been traveling around the world meeting authors going to book conventions book expos Frankfurt Germany London Vancouver New York California Florida you name it. I've just been traveling.

[00:04:57] You think of the greatest ideas. I mean you used to be I don't know if you still do the gift bags and all that stuff but that was a stellar idea. And people ever want to steal your ideas because they're so great.

[00:05:09] And people have stolen my ideas.

[00:05:14] So. So tell us more about this innovative thing. Boy what a great idea. So tell us how it works.

[00:05:21] So let me start from the beginning. Listen to this. When I was in my 20s probably about 22. I used to go out to the beaches out on Long Island. Actually it's called Fire Island. And I was dating a guy during the summertime named Rick. Another Rick. And he was a scuba diver. So of course being 20 something years old he convinced me that if I learned how to scuba dive and I got certified we would go to St. Martin's the Caribbean and we would scuba dive for a week. So of course what do I do. Being a 22 year old I went to the YMCA in New York City and I learned how to dive. And I got certified in this disgusting murky reservoir in New Jersey.

[00:06:04] You find any dead bodies.

[00:06:07] Almost. It was really horrible. And so I'm ready I'm certified I've got the bikini I'm ready to go. We get to St. Martin's. This guy opens up the door. It's this gorgeous hotel room. And it turns to me he goes You know Jane. Why don't we just be friends. I'm just so not interested in you. And I was like What. I was so devastated. I'm 22. I'm crazy about this guy. We get there and he goes you know what. Let's just be friends. Luckily right before he left my stepmother Marsha had given me a book to read. It was called cry to heaven by Anne Rice. And literally I took that book. I devoured every single word every single page. And I remember thinking while I was on that vacation this book saved my vacation. And that kind of concept stayed in the back of my mind for literally 35 or 40 years literally in the back of my mind. And as you know my my career took off and I went in two different directions and I wanted to re invent myself re-evaluate everything I was doing I said to myself you know let me revisit this idea of placing a book by the bedside so that any traveler God forbid they're in the same situation that I'm in or there with a terrible partner or they're alone I always thought that a book by the side of the table by the bedside would be a really innovative idea. In fact look at Gideon's Bible and I do the job with that.

[00:07:47] That was your idea.

[00:07:48] That's my idea. You know like a hundred and fifty years ago. And so now what we do is we place business books we have fiction nonfiction memoirs. We even have a children's program a number of our hotels have children. Parents bring their children. So we developed something called the bedside reading story time at the Acqualina hotel in Florida Sunny Isles Beach Florida. and the Mandarin Oriental New York and the Mandarin Oriental in D.C. and the Fairmont and a number of our other hotels have little guests as well the younger set. So what I've been doing is we've been really you know sending really cute adorable books all the way to the different hotels in fact. Julie Chen from CBS is the brother the host is one of our authors and she's in about 20 hotels starting actually June 1st. So that's kind of exciting. And then what we do is as a partner to these hotels one of their. We give them books for free. The authors pay us or the publishers pay us a fee. We have the book shipped there. And then what happens is that the hotels are obligated to photograph our books and post them on Instagram or one of their social media platforms. Then what we do we also photograph the book and then we do giveaways of our books in all of the major magazines in fact. You know Tom I'm happy to do a giveaway for your audience. I would say you ran a number you know four or five of our great best selling books. And I'll ship it to them for free.

[00:09:26] That would be awesome. Tell us where to go.

[00:09:30] So if you think about it if you're a visitor and you go to this hotel then. So think about this. The people go into these hotels are pretty listen the hotels are not inexpensive. There are a five hundred to fifteen hundred dollars a night. So who's going. If you think about who's going. These people are decision makers they're influencers they're VIP they're celebrities and most people want their books in the hands being read by these celebrities. And so and VIP is in decision makers because even if you have a business book Tom you must know plenty of people that have business books. Sure. And I really you know done well that look attractive that are that are you know significant and interesting. So if you put in place a business book with a call to action inside the book inviting that person has picked up the book to call them for a complimentary consultation or. a conversation or a workshop or a keynote speaking gig. That means that the business owner that business book author has an opportunity that he would not have had before potentially big because it only takes one gig to come out of it. You know we have so as my business has developed we have 22 hotels where we've been written up in Forbes in Delta Sky magazine in hotel business and you know all kinds of different magazines you know around the world actually.

[00:11:06] Now these don't have to be brand new books right.

[00:11:08] No. Well now he does something. He I have this feeling this is what I think. I think that when you're an author and a book comes out there's all this hoopla. You get all your friends to go on Amazon. They buy the book and it becomes a bestseller for about a minute. And then what happens. Nothing. Nothing. Zero nobody remembers the book. Nobody cares about the book and nobody buys the book. Now we do not sell books. What we do is we promote the author as a brand. We get that author's book and the cover that book as far out as we can go. In fact I was I have a three page column in Hollywood weekly. I am now a contributing writer to Afar magazine. We every weekend during the summertime I select my favorite book to be read for the beach in the Hamptons. Like Southampton Press East Hampton Press and so on. So it's not just placement. It's lots of media. It's kind of a layered opportunity marketing opportunity because what I've discovered it's not one thing that makes a bestseller. It's many things. It's like buckshot it just goes out. You have to do. You have to play every angle. So we're a small niche marketing concept but we're effective. And I'm really proud to say that we just went on retainer with Random House So Random House Simon and Schuster and HarperCollins and all the big players are all. All have been my clients for many years because before bedside reading as you know Tom I did the celebrity gifting. And they've always been in my programs so they've trusted me for 18 years. So now as this new program has evolved there's so comfortable with me there's not a question about who I am and what I do. And the thing about being an entrepreneur is that you always have to pivot you know you have to read the signs ahead of time. You have to figure out what's working what's not working. And even our bedside reading we've pivoted since the beginning. Know now we realize we have to add more media opportunities more Instagram more access to the hotels and let the hotels promote the book. We're now doing live book signings at luxurious hotels. We're now doing a book festival. So we're really adding a lot of value to that author who joins us.

[00:13:31] Well that's that's a brilliant idea. Let me take you back in the early days. I mean did you know you had jobs because you were a TV producer.

[00:13:46] Well I'll tell you something I've seen my father is an entrepreneur. His father was an entrepreneur. And I remember when I was 19 I went to Colorado College and my dad calls me up one day and goes Honey Meet Me in Denver we're going to a sporting goods trade show. And my dad and his business partner my dad was in the printing business for 30 years. And he was really a brilliant business man but he started a side business called the poncho Saguaro sweet spot. That was a tennis racket that a friend of his had designed and invented that wherever you hit the ball in the middle of the racket you would get a sweet spot you would go ping that beautiful sound. This is what I could imagine. I still know the pitch. Yeah that's when I was 19. So I would work the sporting good trade shows. I was 19 my dad said You do whatever I tell you to do. You don't answer back. You just do what I say. Got it. That was it. So I would schlep around from the different trade shows with him when I was a kid in college learning how to sell on the floor with real customers and learning how to create relationships with those people and learning how to watch my dad in action which is always you know what he can sell anything and I think I've learned that gift of it's not about selling. It's really about offering something that people can really benefit from. So if someone does not benefit from your product you're not selling them anything and I don't believe in selling anything. Only if they can truly and authentically benefit from it. I actually going back to Bedside reading. I turn a lot of people down because I don't like the cover of the book because it's not good enough because I have to visualize it. Bill Gates is going into this hotel room or Richard Branson or Warren Buffett. Are they going to say this book is a joke or they going to go wow this is interesting. So that's you know a high bar. And I keep it that high.

[00:15:51] Does the hotel have a say.

[00:15:54] Yes. So although all the books what I do is I all books are vetted first by me. And I pass it along to the hotels for a second round and then they say yay or nay. Sometimes they say no it does. You know sometimes I have to change their minds. But most of the time they say yes the books cannot have any heavy duty sexual content or religious or political or violence. So and the violence is just me. That's my own personal preference. But. For the most part you know it's not that these books are benign they're interesting. I mean we have big huge bestsellers. You know Salman Rushdie was my first book to put in the hotel room. It was a random house book and I was called the golden house and I was able to put it into the Mandarin Oriental New York and then I put in Kelly Corrigan's book Tell Me More. And then Harlan Cobain's book and Fiona Davis and all these huge big best selling authors. And it just continued to grow. But here's what I know and this is how we talk about pivoting right. So in August it's usually a slow time in publishing because everybody goes away. So what I thought to myself Well everybody is going away and they're kind of like done for the year or done for the season. What am I going to do. So I decided that August was going to be my indie author month. So all these independent authors that can't get arrested I'm putting them in the Hamptons I'm putting them in my hotels and I'm making it a you know the bedside reading in the indie month the month of August. So I'm going to celebrate all these independent authors so I'm opening up the floodgates for the first time allowing my indie authors if it's a good qualified book to go into my five star hotels. So that's what it's pivoting all the time when you see an opening. You just got to walk through it.

[00:17:50] All right. Let me ask it. Are you putting your glasses in there too so they can read it.

[00:17:54] So it's such a great question and the answer is yes. So years ago. This is a great story. The story is set years ago I had a business and it was. Well let me start with the goody bag business. So I used to be a TV producer and a movie producer and then I started a PR firm in New York City I'd move that I moved from California to New York to be with this guy that I ended up marrying my beautiful husband Rick. And. what happened was that 9/11 came and Rick and I had just gotten married on nine sixteen five days after 9/11 and I had a PR firm with another woman named Jane and all of our clients except for one left us. They said we don't know what's going on in New York City. Business is suspended. So I looked at my business partner and it was time for us to part anyway so we parted. And then a friend of mine said you know what would make someone make a lot of money if they actually would place gift bags on the Hampton buses. The buses that go to the Hamptons from New York to the Hamptons. And I said I don't understand what you're talking about. And she explained they went OK. So I literally by myself walked up and down Madison Avenue in New York City. I went into these beautiful gorgeous Madison Avenue stores and I said to them Hi my name is Jane Ubell and I'm creating a gift bag that's going to go on the buses to the Hamptons. Do you want to join us. And every single one of them said yes. And then I said to them Well great. So the price is twenty five hundred dollars and we need five hundred products and they go oh forget it we can't afford twenty five hundred dollars. So I said not a problem let's make it fifteen hundred. They said we can't afford fifteen hundred. And then I said OK eight hundred and they go yes. So eight hundred was the magic number that I started with. And I ended up getting thirty. Listen to this this is hilarious. Thirty products. I had 30 companies sending me five hundred products from skin care and hair care and books and chocolate to my house. And I just moved into this house. It was a small house it was in Chappaqua New York. And Rick the U.P.S. driver pulls up with a pallet. If anybody doesn't know what a pallet it it's a wooden crate stacked high with cartons and all Like Saran wrap so nothing falls off. The the guy has a forklift has to unload it in my garage Rick looks at me and says What are you doing. I have no idea. So I ended up hiring these local kids like twelve year old little kids on my floor and we got these picnic tables and we had this relay. I have like 10 12 year olds literally packing you know gift bags on my lawn and the backyard for like hours like six hours like child labor. And they put the gift bags all over the house and then about four or five o'clock. My husband said Time to stop take a break go get your nails done. You look terrible. You look exhausted. He would never say look terrible but said You look exhausted. So I go to the nail salon and I sit down and I just about burst into tears because I'm exhausted. I don't even know how to get these bands to Southampton where the bus. I've no idea. And I'm just about to cry. And this lovely young woman sits down next to me and goes what's the matter. And I I said I just started business. It's called Buzz bags. That was the original name. I've got the 500 tote bags of great products sitting all over my house and I don't know how to get it to Southampton and I don't know what. You know I'm exhausted and I said What do you do. And she says oh I'm a writer for The New York Times Bingo. Right out of the gate. The first time I did it I had an article in The New York Times. And after that article I entered the gift bags were a success I hired a man with a van my former business partners husband had a he was also in the printing business and he had a man with a van so I hired the guy for 300 bucks and he drove all the way he came to Chappaqua and drove everything out to Long Island which was perfect. And I gave him. And it was great. And then ultimately I ended up working with an organization called ARC which is Association for Retarded People. It's a terrible acronym but the way it is. And they were great. So we had these developed mentally challenged adults packing all the bags and then they had trucks and they would drive it out to the Hamptons. And that continued honestly for 17 years.

[00:22:27] Now when you're you're talking about you can't just go up to the bus and throw them on the bus.

[00:22:33] This is funny. So after I figured out like who was the owner of these these buses in the Hamptons everybody said to me Oh you better be careful the guy is terrible he'll never call you back. He's really awful so I decided that I was going to go drive to the Hamptons and just stalk him and I did. I went there I found him and I introduced myself. And I did some clever research on him and I found out that he was a tennis player. So I basically bribed him with my husband. Works every time. So I said Oh my God you love tennis. My husband was a professionally ranked tennis player around the world Wimbledon U.S. Open French Open. Why don't you. I'll have him play with you. And then it was like Great. What do you need from me. I said I just want to put these bags on the bus. And it was not a problem. And so that was really great. So you imagine first time out. You know I have 30 people paying me eight hundred dollars. You do the math pretty hefty paycheck. Then after the New York Times article came out we started getting calls from believe it or not Sting's company. He hit the Rainforest Foundation called the Central Park Conservancy called then the Billy Joel had this Broadway show on Broadway and they called. So we started doing gift bags for all these people. And then I had a partner at the time. and she got us into Entrepreneur Magazine and I had a full page in entrepreneur and then Entrepreneur magazine called and United Airlines called. So they kind of parlayed into doing gift bags for United Airlines for first and business class passengers which I did for five years. And that was excellent. And then one day and one of the perks of being in business with an airline or doing being a vendor is that they get to fly you around. So one day I was flying from New York to L.A. and I had just gotten my first pair of reading glasses and of course what happens. I left them someplace else and everything what happened was that day I said to the flight attendant Do you have any reading lessons. And she said No I said Well why not. Somebody should sell them on the airline. I went that should be me. So I went to China. I got them made. I made a deal with United Airlines and I ended up also selling them to united for five years. And so but after five years the third party vendor that I worked with didn't pay me. And they were backlogged and payments I went. I am too busy with my gift bag business because by then we were working with the Grammy Foundation and working in reversal and we were doing all these huge events in L.A.. I ended up pulling my eyewear from United. And then of course what happens when you have five thousand pieces sitting in your garage.

[00:25:22] Ten thousand lenses. Right.

[00:25:26] That's right ten thousand lenses and then basically all of my which is really funny was that literally when I got back the product back into my garage I got an e-mail from some guy who said oh I just saw your reading glasses on you're not on United Airlines in the catalog. Can I sell them for you on my deal. It was like a Groupon it was the Groupon. So then I drove straight into this how entrepreneurs have to pivot. And when an opportunity presents itself. they said We'll sell it for you. And then AT&T called and Groupon called and I started selling my eyewear so I had to pick up one of the most important skills shipping. How do you ship all around the country. And I figured that out. And then you know it kind of evolved but I still have believe it or I have about. 50 reading glasses left and weirdly enough. I still have a Web site that sells them weirdly enough. Yesterday somebody bought five pairs. Where did that come from. I don't even talk about it anymore I forget that I have it. So and but we do see it when I first started the business and I was working with shutters on the beach. The executive actually said I said to her you know I've got this really cool reading glasses. She goes oh I need them. So she bought a couple hundred pairs and then she moved to the Fairmont. in Miramar in Santa Monica. So now we're working on another deal. And then I have another huge chain 33 hotel chain in New York. And now we're talking about doing reading glasses for them as well. So the truth of matters is that I thought the reading glasses business was gone. Apparently not.

[00:27:07] But you did, I don't want to use the pun, but you did Pair it with the book deal.

[00:27:12] So it's kind of separate. I just say you know the books are free for the hotels but if you want the reading glasses we do charge a fee. But you know I think that the whole thing about being an entrepreneur is that you have to really understand see where there's an opening. You know entrepreneurs have a million different ideas a day they do. That's the way our brains are wired and what the big the one big piece of advice is number one beware of shiny objects not all of your big ideas are shiny and fabulous. And be careful. Just focus on one thing and I think the success of bedside reading is because I've only focused on bedside reading for what for two years this August 15th will be my second year in this business. And everybody has been dangling in front of me. Oh do this do that do this do that. And I'm thinking no. Focus on one thing. I'm just going to ignore all those shiny pretty objects and other ideas but I do keep a journal for big ideas. Because someday I'll look at it and go you know that wasn't such a terrible idea or maybe that was what was I thinking. So you know as an entrepreneur you know I do work probably as hard not as hard as you do Tom but I work pretty hard.

[00:28:32] Well I was going to ask you what's a typical day look like for you.

[00:28:36] So a typical day is I get to be around seven seven thirty. If I'm inspired I'll go to the gym and then I go I get into the office tween 9 and 9 15 and then I have a team that comes in at 10. We went to a great phenomenal office space in fact you know how they have in New York City and other places like it's called we work. So I don't a company called camaraderie in Stamford Connecticut. They have about 20 different companies and we all have our own offices. They gave me a warehouse area for my books. So it's worked out beautifully. So and I love it because when you go in there is like you know your tables and kitchen and people are milling around and there's a lot of like chatter and it's fun and I have a friend that has an office there so it's been really fantastic. So we have a guy next to us who has a cannabis business on one side of me. Then I have another friend who has a public relations firm and there's another guy who does you know the I.T. stuff and another guy another woman just you know one guy does Chipwich cookies you know that different kinds of companies are there. So I'm really loving being out of my home and I love being in an environment with other like minded entrepreneurs.

[00:29:58] Beautiful. Now what do you like best about working for yourself and what's the worst part.

[00:30:04] The best part about it is that I get to do what I want when I want and I actually hired somebody a little while ago and she said to me that's not going to work. Do not do this. And I looked to her and I said you know what. Guess what. I am a grown up. This is my business. I get to do what I want. So the answer is no and she was fighting me and I went you're not you don't get what I get. And I am much older than you and I know what I'm doing. So this is not a good fit though. Number one you get to do what you want to do. Now having said that I'm totally open always to scaling the business growing from others. And if I want to spend a thousand dollars getting on a plane and booking a hotel room to go to London I don't have to ask permission I just go do what I need to do. So the negative part is that right now I'm alone. I'm so to things that I'm looking for. I might as well put it out into the universe. I'm looking to hire somebody in Stamford Connecticut that is a social media marketing person and an assistant. My wonderful assistant assistant. Currently Her name is Nora and she is going to the non-profit world and she is leaving about a month. So very sad but we wish her well.

[00:31:14] And so I'm looking for a fabulous assistant and I have other people that work for me. We have there's three of us right now. They have to be in the office. There's so much that goes on. It's crazy. I mean we do so many things we do media recaps we're doing an Instagram program for our clients we're doing media postings we're doing. I mean some of the people the kids that work with me one day a week they'll work remotely from their home but I don't like it because things happen face to face with energy and you know we love talking about different ideas and when you work remotely quite honestly you're not given the full attention that you need. That's what I believe so. And then the other thing I'm looking for I think it's time for me to have a partner. I'm really growing and I think that I have twenty two hotels I could have 50 hotels but there's one of me. And I can't do everything. And even though I delegate. It's really about creating the relationships with the publishers keeping them up keeping the authors happy keeping the publishers happy. Doing book signings book events running around the country doing going to the book conventions. It's a lot of work and I'm exhausted. So the negative part is it's me. But I understand that I'm in the growth phase. I just understand it.

[00:32:41] Well all you do is you go get your nails done.

[00:32:46] I do get my nails done.

[00:32:48] And then you find your partner there.

[00:32:50] And Maybe you're right maybe you're right. But you know what. I think that being an entrepreneur. I think there are a couple of things that are really important and in the nuts and bolts of it you have to understand money. You have to understand how to read a P&L. Profit and loss statement. You have to understand you know money can come in. But there are always expenses and you need to be on top of it. And you also should remember you should be the only person to sign the checks. Yeah you should never delegate that to anybody else no matter how big you are. And we're the kind of I mean I'm the kind of person that I do I'm very trustworthy and I trust a lot of people but I keep my own counsel. I don't tell everybody everything. And I think that as an entrepreneur you have to plan vacations you have to plan how are you going to pay yourself. You have to reward yourself and you also if we're going to give you one really important mantra I mean to say you've to create something that you say to yourself every single day when you wake up which is. Everybody can rephrase it but you have to do some self positive talk because it's very easy. If you're an entrepreneur to go into a negative spiral. So the self talk has to be. How did I get so fortunate to have such an incredible business even if it is not. You have to say to yourself. So it becomes true. How did I get so fortunate to have thought about this idea. And now it's an international success. That's you know you have to self talk your create your own positive mantra every single morning.

[00:34:32] Because one of the things that was gonna ask is how you stay motivated. And that seems like part of it right there.

[00:34:38] You know I'm saying this to my dad. My dad's gonna be 88 in August. And we were talking about it. So he he's really old school he calls me up every day. He goes OK how many sales did you make today. And at some point I you know I had gone through not recently maybe it was about three or four or five months ago I'd gone through a slump or I hadn't made a sale in like a month and I was so depressed and I was really you know I'd wake up in the morning. Oh my God maybe I'm in the wrong business. Maybe this is not real maybe this is not happening. So I made a couple of decisions. I decided that my dad said you know what. Sales goes in cycles sometimes you're like in this fast paced up up up up and sometimes it's a slump. It has nothing to do with you. It's just cyclical. That's the nature of life and that's the nature of sales. Everybody goes through it. So if you are in if you understand that you could ride out the times when it's slow.

[00:35:37] So don't spend all your money when on the upswing.

[00:35:40] No. Be careful. Right. Save your money save your money. So what are the things that has happened to me in my life. So in twenty seventeen. March 27 2017. My best friend Norine passed away. Yeah that was terrible. So I had just finished doing an Oscar event with my lovely gift bags and I had gone to Mexico with my other friend Jane and we are in Mexico and Cabo San Lucas. And I said to her and I said I'm done. I cannot do these celebrity gifting events anymore. I'm done. I don't enjoy it. I'm out of here. So Noreen passes I go to come back early from Mexico I go to the funeral and through the next couple of days I'm thinking to myself you know I need Noreen because I have a belief system that everybody's a spirit and energy that Noreen's on the other side. So but I was wondering like month after month would go by and Noreen never visited me in my dreams. So one day I said to Rick Where the hell is Noreen. I said I need Noreen to visit me and tell me what to do. Literally the next morning I woke up and there was a very intense wonderful dream with Noreen and I sitting at this big table she clasp my hands and I said How can I feel your hands you're dead. And she goes you need to feel that I'm with you all the time. And from that moment on I had this idea to do bedside reading. and I made a decision that was non-negotiable. That Noreen was my partner from the other side. And to tell you the truth I talked to Noreen every day. All moments I just talk to her constantly and I feel it's a self soothing thing to know that Noreen's energy is helping me from the other side. So. hey it has to be successful because Noreen's my partner could be delusional. People say crazy. That's OK.

[00:37:38] That's how people were successful with whether they're telling you you're crazy.

[00:37:42] Exactly. You know it's fine you know. All right Noreen I wake up in the Morning now and I say OK Noreen let's make some sales today. All right let's rock and we do. And I just have every confidence the world that Noreen has my back. We're making sales. And the last time when I was looking for an assistant I said okay Noreen. Bring me the right assistant and all a sudden this woman Nora Believe it or not. When I came into my life and she was my assistant is the one who is leaving. But that's OK. But I went OK Noreen that was cool Nora Noreen. That was pretty cool. So now I now I have to go back to Noreen We wish Nora well. And now let's bring in another phenomenal human being to really help me grow because I need to get to another level. And perhaps Nora as much as I love her is not the right person. I need somebody else.

[00:38:33] I can't wait to hear the name of the next person.

[00:38:37] I have no idea what's going to happen.

[00:38:39] All right we're going to take a break sponsor break and then when we come back we want you to give. We call people list of the screwballs give him your parting thoughts to either start a business or take their business to the next level. So folks people back when I get started the people were charged in 50 and 100 thousand bucks up front to teach small business people the kind of stuff that I do sell on the Internet. Then and now I'm a small business advocate. I knew many small businesses couldn't really afford that kind of upfront money. So I made all the gurus mad and I charge a relatively small entry fee to my program. But I also get a percentage of profits that's kept. So you're not stuck with me forever and you get a year long training program. You've got unlimited access to me and my whole crew here. And it's really it will save you a fortune in making mistakes and give you the positive side of things that are working and aren't working on the Internet. Plus you get the Immersion weekend at my school. And also the scholarship to my school which you can either gift not in a gift bag which you can gift it to somebody or use it yourself. So check it all out if you really like to have the kind of business that I'm talking about here at greatinternetmarketingtraining.com.

[00:40:01] So let's get back to our superstar guest Jane UBell and Jane thanks so much for coming on this my very inspiring. You know I've known you for a long time and I always do that. You came up with things that people just want to copy because they couldn't think of it. So what kind of parting thoughts do you have for our screwballs out there and Oh wait before that. Please tell them about your artwork please.

[00:40:27] Ok. OK. So I am an abstract painter and while I haven't been painting the last year or so because I've been busy building my business you can go to JaneUbellpaintings.com and you can see my artwork. And you know we've sold I've sold like 35 or 40 of them. They're still there. Some of them for sale. And that's kind of a passion of mine and it makes me happy and it destresses me. In fact I probably should go back to it because I need to destress a little bit.

[00:40:57] So tell the authors out there. Also if they're interested in being in an indie thing how do they go check it out.

[00:41:07] Thank you. Thank you for saying that. So it's very simple you have to apply and all you have to do is go to bedsidereading.com/apply or right on my Website. There's a button you can click that says apply application. Pretty simple.

[00:41:24] Bedsidereading.com and that'll be in the show notes everybody. Of all of her sites.

[00:41:29] Yeah. You know it's funny because I want to talk about parting words. Ready. There are a lot of naysayers out there. But if you really have a passion for something who cares what somebody else says. and you have to decide if you have to evaluate if your if your idea actually has legs and can be financially beneficial and it can really help people if you are doing a business just to make money. It's not going to work. if you're a business. If your business idea is there to serve people and to really help others and you can make money that's a good idea. Even if the other people have done it before the way you're going to do it is going to be totally unique. You know people used to say oh people can cop anybody can put a book in a hotel room. Well you know what. No one Gideon's Bible has been there for years. Who cares. Number two nobody is doing it the way bedside reading is doing it because we have a system a formula that is been wowing everybody and it would be too difficult for anybody to replicate what we do because. the reason why I'm successful is because I've developed relationships with so many brands and so many people that what I call they understand who they're getting what they're getting and there's trust there. So relationships are the number one key to success. Be kind to people. Oh I have to tell a short story. A gazillion years ago 30 years ago I went to a cocktail party in New York City and I met this guy and it was completely not my type. Yet he kept hanging out like all over me and it was like Not for me. I flew back to Los Angeles where I was living and a couple of days later the guy calls and my assistant says oh Jane this guy's on the phone. I went oh please. I didn't really want to call him back because what I knew what he was going to do was ask me out on a date and I was not interested. However my dad told me something really important once you said call every single person back because you do not know what they have to say what's in their mind. You don't know. So I said OK he's in New York I'm in L.A. I'll call at eight o'clock L.A. time it's 11 p.m. Eastern time and he won't be there so I'll just leave a message and I'll be done with this call. Well what happens. I call him and of course what happens. He picks it up and I said Oh hey Stuart how are you. What was going on. And he said to me you know I met somebody at a cocktail party. and he wrote a book and I think this book would be a great movie. What do you think. And he told me the name of the book was called Leona Helmsley the queen of mean. And I said yes what a great idea. And from that moment by returning that one call where I thought the guy was gonna ask me I'm on a date I end up making quite a bit of money you know way over one hundred thousand dollars. So what I would say to everybody is my parting advice pick up the phone and call people back return their emails return their texts. You can not. You do not know what's in their brains. You don't even know what they're thinking about because you're not them. Be curious be kind and return everyone's phone calls.

[00:44:56] Great great great advice from somebody that's been there and done that and a hundred grand. I'm gonna go call everybody back. Well thanks so much Jane for taking the time. Very inspiring story. How this all came about and you put yourself out there and you do a good job and you created those relationships and the paid back handsomely for it. So thanks so much for coming on.

[00:45:23] It's my pleasure. Thank you Tom. I love talking to you. Always.

[00:45:27] Well same here and everybody else. This has been episode 146 and make sure you go to screwthecommute.com/146. That's how you find this specific episode. And like I said maybe we'll have some links there to Jane's artwork and also links to her site where you if you're an indie author you can give it a shot or maybe if you're a major publisher call your publisher up tell her to give her some books to sell or to place. So thanks everybody for listening and we'll catch y'all on the next episode.

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