If you’re in the professional world, whether you just entered the field out of college or have been building your career for decades, you’ve probably heard about the importance of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the online place to showcase your resume, build career connections, and find new work opportunities, whether you are a freelancer, in a typical 9-to-5, or out of the workforce but still building your brand.

Like many other social media platforms, LinkedIn has a personal profile and a feed for scrolling other people’s posts, making it easy to interact with, even for people new to it. It is also an incredibly fast-growing platform with one billion members across 200 countries. 

In the words of LinkedIn, “The mission of LinkedIn is simple: connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” That’s the truth! LinkedIn is all about building connections, and this blog is the foundation you need to start leveraging the platform to grow your brand, career, or voice as a thought leader. 

So stick around, and we’ll give you everything you need to get started on your profile, build connections, join career groups, and more!

Your Profile Is Your First Impression

In the past, you made a first impression in an interview with prospective employers or organizations. Today, with most professionals on LinkedIn, a polished profile is critical to making a strong first impression as an employee or contractor. That’s why it is critical that your profile gives the best impression of who you are, your experience, your skills, and the types of people you want to work with. 

Breaking Down Your Profile Sections

Profile Image

Your header image is the photo that gives visitors to your profile an idea of who you are. Use a recent, professional photo, and update it every few years. When you join a Zoom or Teams call, you want people to recognize you at a glance! 

Headline

Your headline is the brief description directly below your profile image. LinkedIn limits this to 220 characters (roughly 30-40 words), so it’s important to keep it concise and direct with the most important titles or experiences you have. 

Contact Info

Your contact info, also located near the top of your profile, is where you list how people can reach you. All of these are optional, but you can add:

• Profile URL
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Website
• Instant Messenger
• Address
• Birthday

At a minimum, we recommend adding your best email address and a professional website link. 

About 

Your About section is arguably the most important part of your profile. This is where you get to describe who you are, your experience, what you’re passionate about, and where you hope new opportunities will take you. 

As you write it, consider what differentiates you in your industry and what unique value you bring to the marketplace. This will help set you apart from other candidates in your industry. 

Keep in mind that you are limited to 400-500 words in this section. However, we recommend sticking to the 150-300 word range (in 3-5 short paragraphs) to keep your viewers’ attention. In that section, you should also incorporate effective keywords related to your industry (read more about identifying the right keywords below). 

Featured

The Featured section on your LinkedIn profile lets you pin and display your best work. If a post goes viral, you share a major career achievement, or publish a book, you can pin it here as evergreen content for new viewers to see immediately. 

Experience

The Experience section is where you’ll stick the information from your resume, essentially. This includes your previous career experiences and your major responsibilities in those positions. If you’re a member of a board, you might consider adding that here too. Keep this updated as your career progresses!

Education

Continuing in the resume-like vein, the Education section is where you’ll put your education, including degrees and certifications.

Skills

The Skills section is where you can list any skills you’ve developed across your educational and professional journey, from writing to business management and countless things in between. 

One unique thing about LinkedIn is that you can also receive Endorsements for your skills from other LinkedIn members. This is essentially them recommending you for that particular skill, which is a huge boost for your credibility with recruiters or clients. 

Books & Publications

If you’ve written a book (or books) or have work in any publications, you can list those in the Books & Publications section. Updating this section is always a wonderful moment for our publishing or book launch clients!

Articles & Newsletters

LinkedIn also lets users publish long-form articles on their page or a company profile, which can include photos, links, and quotes. People can then directly comment on and engage with your article. 

Once you start publishing multiple articles, it can become a newsletter, which followers can subscribe to as you build your community. 

Add Focus Keywords Throughout Your Profile

You now have an outline of what you need to do to optimize your LinkedIn profile, but before you start writing, here’s one more tip: Keywords are a critical part of showing up online, and they are just as vital in your LinkedIn profile as anywhere else. 

Keywords are essentially the common words or phrases related to your work, skills, or industry that people will type in the search bar to find a professional or build their connections. 

For example, if you’re in the interior design industry, you would want to add keywords like head interior designer (your role), restaurant and hotel design (your specialty), expert in 3D visualization (your unique skills), etc. 

When selecting the best keywords for your profile, focus on a few key terms that potential searchers might use to find someone like you. Try to incorporate these keywords naturally across all sections of your profile, such as your headline, summary, and experience. While it’s beneficial to include your keywords frequently and in multiple areas, do so subtly and in relevant context to avoid sounding forced or obvious. 

Finding Your Posting Cadence: Focus and Consistency

Once you have your profile updated and optimized with keywords, you’re ready to move to the next step in growing your presence on LinkedIn: start posting. If you’re unfamiliar with social media, this may feel like a daunting next step. However, once you get into the swing of posting regularly, it comes naturally.

The most important thing when finding a good posting cadence for LinkedIn is choosing a frequency you can keep consistent so you can maintain focus over time. We see many of our clients get excited at the beginning and post several times a week, but then they get burned out over time. That’s why we recommend finding a schedule that works for you without becoming overwhelming.

Some people can fit in three, four, or even daily posts and have no trouble producing that much content. However, for others, it’s better to post once or twice a week and do it consistently without getting discouraged or burned out. We recommend narrowing your focus to produce one high-quality post each week rather than trying to quickly write three or four posts that won’t get nearly the same engagement as one well-thought-out, well-executed post. Like many things, quality far outweighs quantity. 

See for yourself the difference consistency and value make in building trust with your followers and driving engagement in this case study for our social media client, Bonnie Marcus. (We grew her LinkedIn following by 116%.)

“While consistency sounds like a great idea, good intentions to create a consistent online presence can easily get derailed. The key to creating consistency is creating a sustainable approach.” (Reach, page 10)

What You Should Be Sharing on LinkedIn

In many ways, what you share on LinkedIn is very similar to what you would on Instagram or Facebook, including photos, photo carousels, graphics, and short videos. Like any other social media platform, your content has to look good and be engaging to perform well. 

As our social media client Lisa Fain learned under our guidance, creating value for your audience is pivotal to growing your success on social media. We worked with her to create short videos of her speaking engagements and interviews, host giveaways for her books, share meaningful information through articles and posts, and more. By helping her produce consistent, high-quality posts, we helped her social media profiles grow engagement, impressions, and followers exponentially. In fact, she earned a Top Mentoring Voice badge on LinkedIn!

Three Pillars of Great Content on LinkedIn

On Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner recommends three content pillars to help your LinkedIn Profile grow and reach the right audience in his article, “How to Create Content on LinkedIn to Attract Your Ideal Prospects.” 

• Awareness Content — Educational or broadly relatable content best shared as photo carousels, infographics, or short videos.
• Trust-Building Content — This content focuses on showing your professional experience or sharing a personal story so your followers connect with you on a human level. Trust-building content is best shared as a photo, carousel, or video. 
• Lead-Generating Content — This is the content that makes the “ask,” whether you’re trying to get people to book you for a speaking engagement, buy your book, or sign up for your webinar. Here, you can share graphics promoting your upcoming event, or case studies or client testimonial videos that drive people to your offerings. 

Building Your Community and Connections

While a robust profile and consistent posting are great steps toward organically building your following and connections, you also have to get out there and talk to people! LinkedIn is all about community, so aim to make as many connections as possible. 

Here are five ways you can do that:

1. Browse “People You May Know.” 

The simplest, quickest way to find potential connections is to explore LinkedIn’s recommendations. Select individuals you know or people in similar fields, then take a moment to craft a personalized note when you send a connection request. 

2. Look for people you’ve recently met in person. 

Have you recently connected with clients or prospects in person, or attended a networking event or conference? Review your collection of business cards to find the people you’ve recently met and make a LinkedIn connection with them!

3. Look for people you interact with daily. 

You may not have taken the time to connect with obvious people: coworkers, clients, and vendors. These are easy connections to make!

4. Find connections from other social channels. 

If you regularly chat with someone on Instagram or Facebook, look for them on LinkedIn and connect. 

5. Find people in your industry and tangential industries. 

Search for people in your industry or related fields and reach out to connect. They often create valuable content, and since you share an audience, it can be mutually beneficial!

Once you’ve built those connections, don’t forget about them! It’s important to continue building on the relationships you form on LinkedIn by engaging with other people’s posts through liking, commenting, and resharing, as well as replying to any comments they leave on your posts. 

Contribute to Groups 

Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn also has unique groups you can follow related to your industry or interests. Many of these groups are private, so you have to request to join them. Participating in a group can be a great way to meet new people, develop a client base, and even promote your brand. However, it’s important not to get carried away by joining too many groups at once. It is much more beneficial to join a few groups you can devote time to, because once you build trust in that group, they are much more likely to advocate for you and share your information with others.

Here are five ways you can contribute to LinkedIn groups to grow your connections and influence:

1. Answer questions that people ask in the group to share your expertise and grow your influence.
2. Add value by offering help when someone has an issue or is looking for resources. 
3. If you want others to read and interact with your content, you need to go first! Read and interact with the content others are posting, and leave encouraging, thoughtful feedback. 
4. Don’t use LinkedIn groups as just another place to drop links. Instead, share your content when it feels relevant and timely, and when it adds value to the group.
5. A LinkedIn group can be a great place to find and cultivate new relationships. If you see potential for a deeper relationship with someone you communicate with in the group, send a connection request. 

See Who’s Already Watching You

On your LinkedIn home screen, you can see the number of recent profile viewers in the right sidebar. While detailed information about who is viewing your profile might only be accessible to premium members (via a paid subscription), you can still gain valuable insights by regularly checking this section.

It’s useful to review Profile Views periodically to see whether you’re connected with the viewers. If you don’t know them, consider whether you should connect. If you do, it’s a good opportunity to send a connection request. If you don’t recognize the viewer, take a moment to review their profile and see whether it’s a good opportunity for a new connection. 

Giving and Receiving Recommendations

One unique feature LinkedIn offers is the ability to give and receive recommendations, which are listed on personal profiles. You can request recommendations and give others positive feedback, creating a great give-and-take that helps build your connections and trust on LinkedIn.

When you complete a project or engagement, ask for a recommendation, and don’t be afraid to ask former clients for recommendations, even months later. If you feel comfortable, you can also ask supervisors or coworkers for a recommendation based on your work together, and offer to give them feedback in return. 

The Bottom Line

LinkedIn is an incredible platform to grow your reputation and network as a professional, no matter what phase you are in your career. To get started, you need an optimized profile, a reliable posting cadence, and the drive to grow your connections through networking, groups, and recommendations. 

Once you have a solid following and a framework for creating great content, you’ll be well on your way to leveraging LinkedIn to grow your career, enhance your brand, sell your book, and more. 

Take Action

We’ve given you the tools to get off to a strong start on LinkedIn. Are you ready to get started? If you need to, start small by developing a content strategy to post once a week for the next three months and devote an hour or two every week to growing your connections. You’ll be amazed at how even this small commitment can help your profile grow! 

However, if you’re still not sure you’re ready to begin on your own, Weaving Influence would love to partner with you to provide social media management and strategy for LinkedIn and any other platforms you want to grow. We are book marketing pros, and we partner with nonfiction authors every day to grow their online reputation, provide public relations support, build custom websites, and more. Learn more by contacting us to set up a free consultation!

The post Everything You Need to Know To Get Started on LinkedIn: Optimize Your Profile, Build Your Community, and More appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Dr. Denis Cronson, author of The Executive Condition: The Hidden Health Crisis of High-Performing Leaders. Laura and Denis discuss the book’s central idea: a leader can look successful on the outside while their biological, cognitive, and emotional capacity quietly declines beneath the surface. Denis asserts that because high performers are often exceptionally good at compensating for problems, organizations may not recognize the warning signs until the decline becomes much more serious. He suggests recognizing early indicators, measuring health and performance trends, and personalizing recovery rather than waiting for burnout.

Key Points From This Episode: 

[01:48] Dr. Denis Cronson introduces himself and his background, defining the “executive condition” and the premise of his book. 

[04:16] Denis explains how the condition isn’t limited to corporate executives and how similar patterns can occur in other high-pressure leadership environments, reinforced by company values of overcommitment, self-sacrifice, and depletion.

[6:31] Denis describes how burnout is the endpoint, not the beginning of the problem, saying “performance drift” is the first sign of a problem. 

[12:00] Denis details how he extensively researched the biological basis behind leadership characteristics, discussing the approximately 300 research citations in the book. 

[16:51] Denis encourages wearables to track heart rate, sleep, and more so leaders can monitor the direction of change and risk.

[24:54] Denis outlines the Resilience Typing System (RTS) in the book, describing the different leadership/stress-response profiles. 

[30:47] Denis explains how different biological recovery goals can require different interventions, including stress recovery, sleep quality, and mental clarity. 

[31:27] Denis tells Laura why he chose hybrid publishing. 

[34:00] Denis shares his book’s upcoming global/U.S. launch and confirms plans for an audiobook.

Resources:

• Order your copy of The Executive Condition: The Hidden Health Crisis of High-Performing Leaders. 
• Follow Denis’s work on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

They’re using the skills that brought them success—their intelligence, their grit, their willpower, their ability to spot patterns and intellectualize solutions—to camouflage their progressive decline. – Dr. Denis Cronson

Frankly, the village constable and their dog can identify burnout. What’s far more subtle and far more important, and frankly far more consequential in an organization, is the depleted leader who still looks like success and who’s still charged with making important decisions. – Dr. Denis Cronson

The executive condition could very easily be called the residence condition or the consultant’s condition in a medical environment because decision-making is degraded, and yet it’s a high expectation of the institution that doctors work in to maintain that level of output, to see the cases, to perform at a high level, to be perfect, to not make mistakes. – Dr. Denis Cronson

This hidden state of high-performing decline is a massive blind spot in leadership science. And it’s a blind spot because it’s actively hidden by the executive; it is rewarded by the organization; it’s defended by the identity of the leadership; it’s accommodated by the leadership team. – Dr. Denis Cronson

Wearables have opened up a whole new world by enabling proactive identification of strain, overload, metabolic instability, and stress hormone imbalance, and they’ve made executive health management far more nuanced and accessible than ever before. – Dr. Denis Cronson

The executive leader has to pitch up every day, perform for their team, perform for their organization, perform for their family, in highly consequential situations. And yet recovery is not only the last thing on their mind, but an existential threat to their identity as a powerful, invulnerable leader. – Dr. Denis Cronson

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 6: The Executive Blind Spot Nobody Is Talking About appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Congratulations! You’ve written a book and gotten it published, but now comes what we call “the hard part”: figuring out how to market your book on social media (and everywhere else). 

If you’re feeling lost, trust us, you’re not alone. We’re here with some helpful tips for how to promote your book on social media and start planning your book launch strategy.

Before You Get Started: What Are the Best Social Media Platforms for Authors?

With your book launch getting closer every day, you’re probably feeling pressure from your publisher (and especially yourself!) to start promoting your book on social media. But before you get started, it’s important to know where to begin. 

When we start discussing a book launch strategy with our clients, we first help them identify which social media platforms best fit their voice, brand, and audience. Let’s quickly go through the six primary social media platforms.

Facebook

Facebook, owned by Meta, is the world’s largest social media platform and is widely used to connect with friends and family, community groups, local news, and businesses. You can post any kind of content, from a simple written message to a long-form video, making it easy to share whatever media you want. 

Instagram

Close behind Facebook in terms of users is Instagram, also owned by Meta. However, Instagram is visually driven above all else, focusing on Reels (vertical videos under three minutes) and photo carousels. Instagram creators focus on lifestyle, aesthetics, and humor, creating catchy content that quickly grabs their audience’s attention. 

TikTok

Like Instagram, TikTok loves visuals, but it centers on short, engaging videos. People turn to TikTok for entertainment, to catch up on trending events, and to explore helpful tutorials. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great platform for professional networking, where people share career updates, companies look for new team members, and industry leaders share valuable insights.

X

X, formerly Twitter, is all about real-time conversations in short-form written posts, images, and videos, with people commenting on current world events and discussing breaking news. Industry leaders in business, news, politics, and sports have to keep up with conversations on X to understand how people perceive them. 

P.S. Although X still has a large user base, many professionals are moving away from the platform because of its controversy. Do your own research before you decide whether or not you want to invest your time on X. 

YouTube 

YouTube has been the go-to platform for video streaming for years, with long-form videos, Shorts (similar to Instagram Reels), tutorials, and live streams offering versatile options for sharing all kinds of video content.

Pick 2-3 Social Media Platforms: Don’t Stretch Yourself Too Thin

Seeing all those platforms listed, you may feel nervous because you feel pressure to be active and engaged on all of them—but that’s not the case! The best approach to social media is to pick two to three platforms that interest you most and where you feel your book can reach its best audience, then start posting. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself at the beginning of your book launch strategy by overcommitting to too many platforms because you run the risk of getting burnt out before you can develop the audience you need. 

For example, if your book offers practical, down-to-earth concepts you can share in short videos or graphics, Instagram or TikTok may be the best option to begin promoting your book. Or, if you’re talking about business concepts from your book or discussing case studies, LinkedIn and Facebook would be great places to reach an audience that connects with your book.

The 80/20 Rule

One of the most frequent comments we get from our clients when they’re trying to learn how to promote a book on social media is “I don’t want to just post about my book all the time. People will get tired of me!” Our response is “You’re right! You shouldn’t just post about your book all the time.” 

This is where the 80/20 rule applies. When you create your monthly social media calendar, only 20% should promote your book or brand. The other 80% should be helpful information, interesting events from your life, responses to thought leaders in your industry, etc. When you think about it like that, it becomes a lot less intimidating, right? 

After all, once you build an audience that is interested in what you have to share about your industry or specialty, they’re more than likely going to be interested in your book as well! 

Get Inspired for Your Social Media Posts

When you sit down to write social media content, you may feel stumped about what to say. But you wrote a whole book! You obviously have plenty to say about your area of expertise, and you should share your thoughts because what you have to say is important.

To get you started, here are some freebies to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Do you have any upcoming author events?
2. Are there any thought leaders who inspire you?
3. What’s one valuable quote from your book?
4. What are some misconceptions about your industry/expertise?
5. What’s the most surprising thing you learned when researching your book?
6. Has anything changed your perspective in the last year?
7. Are there any current events that resonate with you?
8. What is one applicable framework from your book?

Guess what? If you want to post twice a week for the next month, we just gave you your first month’s content calendar.

Build the Right Audience for Your Book

Now that you have chosen two to three social media platforms and have some ideas for social posts, you need to build the right audience for your book. Start by thinking about your “ideal reader.” What are their interests? What questions are they asking online? What communities/podcasts/thought leaders do they follow?

Considering these questions will help you define the major themes to focus on in your content so you can connect best with your audience. For example, if your book is about trail running, you could post:

• How to effectively plan runs
• Your favorite high-carb recipes
• Comments about national or global running events
• Success stories from your favorite runners
• The biggest struggles of trail running

As you post about topics that are valuable to trail runners, they will see and engage with your content. Then, when you post about your book during the 20% of monthly promotion, they’ll be sold on your value as a thought leader and ready to make a purchase to get more of your insights.

Be Yourself and Find Your Voice 

In the oversaturated world of social media, where it can be difficult to parse out what’s real about people’s appearance and opinions, it is becoming increasingly important to be your authentic self. People want you to be genuine and vulnerable about your values, perspective, and experiences. 

We’ve seen the value of authenticity firsthand with one of our podcast guests, Ginelle Testa, the author of Make a Home Out of You: A Memoir. Her book is a deeply personal journey of overcoming addiction and finding self-love, and showing up authentically in online spaces helped her grow her social media presence and reach new audiences with her important message. 

Instead of hiding her struggles, she used them to connect with an audience that wanted to hear what she had to say. What vulnerabilities of your true self would resonate with your audience? How can you be your most authentic self when posting about yourself, your life, and your book?

P.S. You can learn more about Giselle and her social media journey by listening to our podcast.

Consistency Is Important, But Choose Quality Over Quantity

Consistency is one of the most pivotal aspects of social media success, but that doesn’t mean posting every day or even every other day. It just means finding a posting cadence that works for your life and sticking with it. Maybe that’s three times a week or maybe that’s once a week. The quantity of what you’re putting online doesn’t matter nearly as much as consistently contributing valuable content that your audience wants to see. 

How do we know consistency works? We’ve seen it time and again with our clients. Alison Fragale, the bestselling author of Likeable Badass, attributes her success on social media to staying proactive and consistent to keep her audience engaged. As she says, “Consistency leads to growth.” Hear everything she has to say on our podcast. 

Review What’s Working—And What Isn’t

Once you’ve gone through all the planning, posting, and engaging with your audience, you have to do the scary thing: find out if it’s actually working. At the end of every month, go back through your posts and see what did the best (a.k.a., which posts had the most likes, comments, and shares). If you notice a particular format (photos, videos, or graphics) or a particular theme is performing the best, experiment with more of that in the next month. 

Don’t be offended and discouraged by posts that didn’t perform well. Social media is all about putting yourself out there and discovering what people relate to the most. It’s a learning process, so stay open to learning, growing, and meeting new people along the way!

The Bottom Line

Leveraging social media to promote your book and amplify your brand is an important step in your book launch strategy. However, before you get overwhelmed, focus on two to three platforms, set a consistent posting schedule that fits your life, post topics that resonate with your audience, and be your authentic self. If you do that, you’ll be well on your way to building an online presence that you can enjoy—and hopefully sell some books along the way.

Take Action

We hope our guide on social media for authors helped you feel a bit more confident about launching your book strategy online, but if you’re still feeling uncertain, you don’t have to do it alone. 

At Weaving Influence, we are committed to helping nonfiction authors amplify their books online through social media promotions, email marketing, public relations, and so much more. We would love to partner with you to share compelling content and connect with the audience that most needs to hear your message. Get in touch with us to schedule a free consultation!

The post How To Promote a Book on Social Media appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Ronit Ziv-Krieger, editor of The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously. The book was created by Momentum, a global organization engaging 25,000 mothers in 40 countries to foster stronger families and communities. The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously is based on surveys of 10,000 mothers to identify the most meaningful topics about life, family, and health. The book features wisdom from the Jewish tradition, applied to contemporary life, and includes contributions from various experts and storytellers. It aims to foster resilience, combat anti-Semitism, and promote meaningful relationships.

Key Points From This Episode: 

[01:40] Ronit describes the book’s creation process, including surveys of thousands of mothers to identify the most meaningful topics about life and family. 

[04:12] Ronit explains Momentum’s global work in 40 countries, engaging thousands of mothers in a year-long learning journey.

[7:48] Ronit discusses the book’s focus on applying Jewish wisdom to contemporary issues like friendships, parenting, and mental health.

[9:33] Ronit explains the book’s approach to nourishing oneself with beauty, wonder, and relationships.

[13:56] Ronit shares the story of the 12 scouts from the Jewish tradition, highlighting the importance of perspective and outlook.

[18:11] Ronit discusses the book’s role in combating anti-Semitism by fostering a strong, meaningful Jewish identity.

[23:19] The practice of chavrutah, or studying with a partner, is emphasized for fostering deep relationships and mutual growth.

[28:34] Ronit shares that book bundles are available for group learning or gift-giving, and thanks Weaving Influence for making that option possible. 

Resources:

• Learn more about Momentum and order your copy of The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously. 
• Follow Ronit’s work with Momentum on LinkedIn. 

Key Quotes:

As the global director of education, my team and I curate amazing resources for that journey, helping mothers build cohorts that foster strong families and strong communities, creating women who become agents of hope not only for their families but also for the communities they live in, and building global relationships among us. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

“The Art and Practice of Living Wonderously” is for anybody seeking to draw wisdom, inspiration, wonder, and awe into their own lives, into the lives of their children, and into the circle around them. This is what this book offers: the wisdom of the Jewish tradition. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

I love books I can put by my bedside that help me transition out of the day and the challenges—sometimes the heaviness, sometimes the intensity—and help me relax, get inspired, feel nourished, and find guidance for living well into my dreams. That I can wake up feeling refreshed, and that my soul is also nourished. So that’s what I imagine this book to be. It doesn’t take me long, just a few minutes, and I get a nitbit that relates to my life and can help me in that kind of way. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

With those challenges, there are also nuggets of wonder, beauty, relationship, and soulfulness that one can tap into. It nourishes us from within and gives us more inner strength to address what is difficult. We take time to build the muscle of nourishing ourselves with beauty, with wonder, with awe, with relationships, with kindness, with gratitude. Then, even when we’re dealing with painful situations, the way we approach it is different. It’s transformed. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

Build a practice to start each day connecting with something beautiful first and foremost from inside you, your pure soul that doesn’t get tainted by your mistakes, by your foibles, by your failings, by your challenges. Our sense of hope, our sense of possibility, our sense of strength, our sense of courage—it all gets nourished from that. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

Judaism encourages us towards action, towards doing things that bring goodness. And one of the ways we bring goodness is to foster strong, deep relationships. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 5: Growing in Wonder and Resilience: The Wisdom of Jewish Tradition appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Jobert E. Abueva about the concepts behind his new book, The Janus Plan: A No-Resolutions Path to Begin Your Year with Intention. Inspired by the Roman god Janus, who represents dual perspectives and transitions, his book guides individuals, families, and teams in reaching sustainable goals by reflecting on past experiences and setting realistic, SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives. Abueva highlights how understanding our limitations and learning from the past can empower us to plan better for the future.

Key Points From This Episode:

[01:48] Jobert discusses why it’s so difficult to keep New Year’s resolutions and how The Janus Plan changes your approach to goal-setting. 

[04:28] Jobert explains how reflecting on your past allows you to set more intentional goals for the future. 

[10:11] Jobert describes how he discovered the Roman god Janus and why the dual perspective symbolism has helped him throughout his life. 

[13:26] Jobert explains why it’s important to set goals throughout the year, not just make New Year resolutions, and not be afraid to pivot those plans if your circumstances change. 

[19:01] Jobert discusses why you should take a step back from your responsibilities at times to broaden your perspective.

[22:11] Jobert describes New Year’s celebrations from around the world and the importance of goal-setting in all cultures. 

[25:19] Jobert explains why you have to see your life like a tapestry, taking the good and the bad together. 

[28:32] Jobert lists the many ways readers can interact with The Janus Plan and get the most out of the exercises in the book.

Resources:

• Learn more about The Janus Plan and pre-order your copy. 
• Follow Jobert’s author journeys on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

When it comes to setting goals, you want them to be SMART; it’s an acronym that many may be familiar with. You want your goals to be sustainable, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The more your goals adhere to this model, the more likely you are to meet them, if not succeed in them. — Jobert E. Abueva

Look to the past. Understand what the lessons are before you look to the future. — Jobert E. Abueva

Many countries and cultures share the same mindset or anticipation of the new year, but before you enter the new year, there is a lot to be said for reflection and understanding what the past has taught us. That’s really what Janus, the Roman god, is all about: beginnings and endings, past and future, looking to the past for those lessons and looking to the future with energy, enthusiasm, and goals that will last. — Jobert E. Abueva

It’s really critical that once we set goals at the beginning of the year, the month, the week, the day, that we have checkpoints along the way to just see if we’re still on track. If we’re not, why might that be? Take a reset, a step back, and don’t be afraid to pivot to adjust your direction to reach your final goal, because conditions change. — Jobert E. Abueva

It’s really critical to have that broader perspective and to get out of your head. That’s what The Janus Plan has offered me: the perspective that there is more to life, my day, and my week than what I got myself so caught up in. — Jobert E. Abueva

I use the imagery of weaving and tapestries. Each year is a tapestry. Once it’s done, hang it up and admire it, all its imperfections, all the beautiful threads in it, because that’s life. Life has the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s really appreciate and understand it before we move into the next year with whatever goals, themes, and milestones we want to accomplish. So, if anything, live in understanding your past before you step into the future. — Jobert E. Abueva

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 4: Understand Your Past and Step into Your Future with Confidence appeared first on Weaving Influence.

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Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with David Alsop about the concepts behind his new book, Making HR Matter: What CEOs Want and How to Deliver It, coauthored with Ted Forbes. As the very first title from Weaving Influence Press, Making HR Matter is an excellent example of how indie authors and hybrid publishers can collaborate to create something special. David shares concepts directly from the book about how to make HR matter, while also reflecting on the experience of writing with a coauthor and what he hopes readers will gain from reading it.

Key Points From This Episode:

[01:33] David shares the primary audience for Making HR Matter and who he and Ted wrote it for.

[02:58] Why is there a negative perception around HR? David explains the history. 

[06:08] David reveals how HR can be a value creator for a company. 

[11:15] David outlines the four essentials of RelevantHR, which are a key component of the book.

[19:51] David expands on the concept of being “mentored by your enemy.” 

[21:55] David reflects on the possibilities that unfold when executives, managers, and HR professionals unite around a shared path forward.

[29:34] Discover what it was like for David to write Making HR Matter with a coauthor and how they tackled the author experience together. 

[32:18] David shares the number one thing he wants listeners and readers to know about Making HR Matter.

Resources:

• Learn more about Making HR Matter and order your copy. 
• Follow David and Ted’s author journeys on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

Where HR people get held back is they get into benchmarks of what everyone else is doing to retain people—they start paying attention to every other company instead of their own unique needs. —David Alsop

As HR people, we are the stewards—the facilitators of systems and tools that maximize the partnership with employees. —David Alsop

You can create a system where you bring people in and you increase the number from 20 to 30 to 40 people who are rock stars. You’re never going to have perfection, but you have to shepherd that culture where everybody is willing to step up and give their best to the organization. —David Alsop

We’re meant to get out of our comfort zones to grow our mentality and our perspective. When we grow our perspective, we empathize with more people to navigate the chaos and difference of our country and our society and our business. —David Alsop

People who acknowledge their weaknesses with confidence are able to identify the opportunities to fill those gaps. —David Alsop

There are jobs for everybody that will work for everybody, and if we’re not honest with one another, we will put people in jobs where they’re not engaged. —David Alsop

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 3: The Ultimate Guide to Making HR Matter appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Dr. Karolin Helbig and Minette Norman about the concepts behind their new book, The Psychological Safety Playbook for Changemakers. Together, Karolin and Minette discuss the surprising story behind their collaboration, which began with a “crazy idea,” what psychological safety really looks like in practice, and how their playbooks help cultivate workplace environments where people are inspired to do their best, most creative work.

Key Points From This Episode:

[02:18] Minette begins by sharing how she and Karolin met and what sparked their collaboration as coauthors. 

[04:04] Karolin expands on that story by reflecting on how they wrote their first book without ever meeting face-to-face.

[05:52] Karolin talks about who both playbooks are for and how The Psychological Safety Playbook for Changemakers builds on the first one.

[09:20] Minette tells the story of a time she knew her workplace was not a space that promoted psychological safety. 

[12:17] Karolin explains where readers should begin with both psychological safety playbooks and whether they should be read in a certain order. 

[14:21] Minette shares some tips to help with everyday behavior in the workplace and increase psychological safety. 

[17:46] Karolin reflects on why managing our reactions is one of the most powerful and most difficult disciplines of leadership. 

[20:13] Minette explains what it takes to deliberately restore psychological safety after it has been damaged.

[23:06] Minette builds on her previous answer by revealing why apologizing in the workplace can actually strengthen a leader’s credibility and influence.

[26:15] Karolin shares an example of a team that has been particularly skilled at developing psychological safety and the impact it created.

[29:42] Karolin discusses the process of creating the artwork for the playbooks.

Who These Playbooks Are For:

1. Whether or not you’re even familiar with the term “psychological safety,” both of Karolin and Minette’s playbooks are for you. Every single one of us—whether in our personal lives or our professional lives—works in groups. We all interact with others, and we all want those group interactions to be more enjoyable, more productive, and more creative. You have the opportunity to start a positive, contagious ripple effect.  
2. If you care about psychological safety but feel like you have too much on your plate to focus on it, these playbooks are for you. The Psychological Safety Playbook for Changemakers won’t cost you any time—you can flip it open and immediately put it into practice. Even with an overwhelming schedule, you can pick up Karolin and Minette’s books and find something practical immediately. 

Resources:

• Explore The Psychological Safety Playbook website, as well as Karolin and Minette’s individual websites.
• Sign up for The Psychological Safety Playbook newsletter, learn about the certification program for facilitators, and download the free resources. 
• Follow Karolin and Minette on LinkedIn. 

Key Quotes:

What came out of our “crazy idea” is two books, a program for facilitators, workshops, and keynotes. —Dr. Karolin Helbig

We wrote our first book without ever having met, without even sharing the continent or an office. —Dr. Karolin Helbig

The first book lays the foundation of psychological safety. The second book builds on that same structure and looks deeper into the real work of establishing psychological safety as a culture in real life. —Dr. Karolin Helbig

This kind of stuff happens all the time, where someone says something, they get interrupted, they get eye-rolled, they get ignored, they get a big sigh—and all of those things let us know that it is not a safe work environment. —Minette Norman

Both books are standalone books, so you can start anywhere. —Dr. Karolin Helbig

People want their leaders, their changemakers, and anyone they work with to be a human being, just as we all are. They do not expect absolute perfection. In fact, I think people are suspicious of seemingly perfect people who never make mistakes. —Minette Norman

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 2: How a “Crazy Idea” Turned Into Two Psychological Safety Playbooks appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this introductory episode, Laura sits down with Becky Robinson—host of The Book Marketing Action Podcast—to unveil the vision behind this new podcast dedicated to thoughtful nonfiction books and the independent authors who write them. Together, they explore the evolving world of publishing and how Weaving Influence Press is taking a marketing-first approach to helping authors connect with readers. Tune in as Becky and Laura share a preview of the inspiring lineup of upcoming guests and books featured this season!

Key Points From This Episode:

[00:08] Becky Robinson announces that Season 7 of The Book Marketing Action Podcast has wrapped and introduces a new podcast, Indie Author Chat, alongside host Laura Finch.  

[01:08] Becky and Laura talk about some of the biggest challenges for authors and readers at this time in the publishing industry. 

[2:25] Becky shares her thoughts about what it means to launch a book and why it takes so much effort. 

[03:18] Becky and Laura reflect on the longevity of the books that Weaving Influence Press authors are writing. 

[05:00] Becky talks about her time hosting The Book Marketing Action Podcast and the amazing listeners it continues to attract. 

[06:21] Learn about Weaving Influence Press and how it inspired the creation of Indie Author Chat. 

[07:08] What is the impact of working with a marketing-first hybrid press? Becky explains.

[08:27] Becky and Laura discuss who should listen to Indie Author Chat and why. 

[10:00] Becky and Laura provide a sneak preview of the season ahead and the incredible first guests. 

Resources:

• Subscribe to Indie Author Chat.
• Learn more about Weaving Influence Press and our authors.
• Follow Weaving Influence Press on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

We’re hoping that through this new podcast, we’ll connect our authors with a new set of readers who we may not have reached with some of our outreach in the past. —Becky Robinson

Book marketing really is a long-term initiative, so most of the books our authors are writing will add value to people in the marketplace for years. —Becky Robinson

What’s unique is that Weaving Influence Press is a marketing-first hybrid publisher. —Becky Robinson

We have a decade and a half of experience supporting authors and marketing their books, and we’re bringing that wealth of resources to the authors we’re partnering with at Weaving Influence Press. —Becky Robinson

Anyone who loves to read nonfiction books should listen to Indie Author Chat. We will connect you with the best guests who have exciting books and a deep passion for their work. —Becky Robinson

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 1: Introducing Indie Author Chat appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Season 7 of The Book Marketing Action Podcast with Becky Robinson, where we give you information you can immediately implement to increase your influence and market your books more successfully.

In this final episode of Season 7, Becky sits down with Lara Love Hardin—president and founder of True Literary and bestselling author—to explore the powerful story behind her memoir The Many Lives of Mama Love. Lara shares her journey from addiction and incarceration to rebuilding her life as a ghostwriter, literary agent, and bestselling author. Together, Becky and Lara discuss the courage it takes to tell the truth through writing, the realities of publishing a memoir, and the transformative power of sharing your story. Lara also offers insights into what makes a memoir stand out and what it really takes to bring a book into the world.

Key Points From This Episode:

[02:16] Lara shares her life journey as she wrote about it in her memoir, The Many Lives of Mama Love. 

[04:40] Lara goes deeper into one of the stories from her memoir, recalling the time her employer found out about her past. 

[12:42] Lara explains the experience of stepping out of the shadows and finding the courage to share her story with the world.  

[18:01] From the perspective of having contributed to multiple bestselling memoirs—in addition to writing her own—Lara reveals what it takes to write the kind of memoir that acquires representation and a publisher. 

[24:14] (AD) Learn about Weaving Influence Press—Weaving Influence’s marketing-first approach to hybrid publishing.

[25:12] Lara talks about the biggest factors that contribute to selling non-celebrity memoirs. 

[26:31] Lara reflects on her decision to form her own literary agency and the vision she has for being a different kind of literary agent. 

[28:40] Discover the types of authors and stories Lara is most drawn to representing.

[33:23] Lara reveals when an author should decide which publishing path to go down.

[36:00] Lara shares the original title of her memoir and who she would pick to play her in the TV adaptation. 

[38:00] Lara reflects on which parts of her journey have felt the most surreal. 

Action Steps:

1. Find a collaborative group of writers and take classes to improve your craft. It’s important as a writer to seek out others who can help you edit and improve your work. 
2. What’s something you hoped was possible for your book that you haven’t been able to achieve yet? Own that goal and think about what you can do right now to move toward it—don’t give up on your dream. 

Resources:

• Follow Lara on Instagram. 
• Get a copy of Lara’s memoir, The Many Lives of Mama Love. 
• Learn more about Lara’s literary agency, True Literary (currently closed for submissions).

Key Quotes:

People always rise to the level that you believe in them. —Lara Love Hardin

I realized I could do some good with my story, and I wanted more of that feeling. —Lara Love Hardin

I think ordinary people have extraordinary stories, and everybody’s extraordinary story is a guide for someone else who is going through something. —Lara Love Hardin

Genius is always a collaborative effort. —Lara Love Hardin

The hardest thing in the world to sell as an agent is a non-celebrity memoir. —Lara Love Hardin

I’m a big fan of the underdog. I’m a big fan of people who have been underestimated or dismissed or shoved to the margins of the world. —Lara Love Hardin

People think they just need an agent, but they don’t—they need the right agent. —Lara Love Hardin

I have so much empathy because everything my authors have done, I had to do. —Lara Love Hardin

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and gain access to ongoing learning and conversation.

The post Episode 168: The Courage to Tell the Truth Through a Memoir appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Season 7 of The Book Marketing Action Podcast with Becky Robinson, where we give you information you can immediately implement to increase your influence and market your books more successfully.

In this episode, Becky sits down with Jim Murphy—performance coach and author—to explore the extraordinary journey behind his book Inner Excellence. What started as a self-published book that sold 8,000 copies over 16 years transformed into a #1 New York Times bestseller after A.J. Brown was seen reading it on the sidelines of an NFL playoff game. Jim shares the behind-the-scenes story of how his book found its way into the hands of professional athletes, the years he spent refining his message, and why he never gave up on the work.

Key Points From This Episode:

[02:05] Jim shares some background about his journey as an author. 

[07:41] Jim talks about the various contributing factors that led to his book, Inner Excellence, becoming a New York Times bestseller for several weeks in a row.

[12:27] Jim reflects on the 16 years between the original publication of Inner Excellence and when it really took off in January of 2025. 

[16:13] (AD) Learn about Weaving Influence Press—Weaving Influence’s marketing-first approach to hybrid publishing.

[17:50] Discover what Jim did to keep Inner Excellence in the conversation throughout the years after publication. 

[20:45] Jim shares the story of a life-changing moment for him. 

[27:22] Jim talks about what’s different when it comes to marketing his new book, The Best Possible Life, and what his greatest hopes are for it. 

[29:44] Jim elaborates on his marketing plan for The Best Possible Life.

Action Steps:

1. If your book has been out for a while, continue to think about ways you can share it with others who might benefit from it. You never know when the right person will pick it up, and your whole life might change.
2. Reflect on this question: What is most important to you about your message, and how can you stay connected to that? Remember that book marketing is not self-promotion; it’s message promotion. 

Resources:

• Explore Jim’s website and learn more about the Inner Excellence retreats.
• Subscribe to Jim’s Substack newsletter.
• Follow Jim on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.
• Get a copy of Inner Excellence and Jim’s latest book, The Best Possible Life. 

Key Quotes:

I decided that for my master’s paper, I would interview Major League Baseball managers and coaches on how to build a championship team. —Jim Murphy 

I had an affirmation in my phone that said: “I’m a New York Times bestselling author.” It was 16 years before it happened. —Jim Murphy

Now the book is going to be in 29 languages, so it’s been really incredible how it’s taken off. —Jim Murphy

The best possible life is where you feel fully alive, and you have amazing experiences and deep, enriching relationships, where you’re learning and growing and making a difference in the world, and you have a purpose beyond yourself. —Jim Murphy

One of the things I teach authors about book marketing is that longevity is incredibly important, and that when we write a book, the book has value long beyond launch. The book can be a value for years to come. —Becky Robinson 

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and gain access to ongoing learning and conversation.

The post Episode 167: Why It’s Never Too Late for Your Book to Take Off appeared first on Weaving Influence.