Ever wonder how some entrepreneurs turn into local legends or industry rockstars? Say hello to Ramon Ray, author of The Celebrity CEO: How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive by Building a Community and Strong Personal Brand. Ramon reveals how he spun his own narrative into not just another success story, but a masterclass in personal branding.  

He's chatted with President Obama, stood shoulder to shoulder with big names like Gary Vaynerchuk, and now he's here to share the playbook for elevating your brand to celebrity status, no matter your niche. 

Ramon unpacks the secrets to becoming a household name within your own industry, emphasizing that the potential for recognition isn't just reserved for global superstars.  

The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Household Name in Business 

Ramon takes us through the trenches of PR battles and the triumph of securing top-tier publishers, all while maintaining a media presence that keeps the spotlight on him. It's not just about the glitz of the launch; Ramon emphasizes the groundwork of community-building and the art of storytelling that makes a lasting impression, ensuring that his message—and yours—doesn't just echo in the halls but resonates with a growing tribe of followers. 

We explore the nine core pillars essential to personal branding success, including the savvy use of webinars, social media, and the creation of a supportive community well ahead of any book release. 

Rise to Fame Strategies for Entrepreneurs with Expert Insights 

[17:38] - Strategies for Becoming a Celebrity CEO - Building a personal brand and becoming a 'celebrity CEO' through niche creation, community building, and strategic content repurposing. 

[30:17] - Importance of Book Marketing and Publicity - How key life events, media appearances, personal storytelling, and niche platforms solidify one's reputation and authority in their field. 

[34:52] - Interviewing President Barack Obama -  Ramon’s experience of securing an interview with President Obama, leveraging high-profile experiences for personal branding, humanization of celebrities, and addressing nerves associated with interviewing. 

[42:43] - Author Branding and Book Launch Strategies – Delving into authors' motivations, book launches, speaking engagements, financial backing, and brand building for subsequent books. 

Building a Brand That Makes You a Star with Ramon Ray 

Ramon reflects on the gravity of interviewing a president and how such milestones are more than just feathers in your cap—they're rocket fuel for your brand. He dissects the anatomy of a book launch, emphasizing the need for financial savvy and the real talk on what it takes to hit the lists that matter. 

Key Takeaways of this episode include:  

• Anyone has the potential to propel their brand to becoming a name people know and trust.  
• Solid strategies for marketing, PR, and storytelling are critical to the success of your brand.  
• Establish and nurture a supportive community to ensure your message thrives.  

Follow Lauren for more:  

Instagram: @lauren_cobello 

Website: www.laurencobello.com 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/laurencobello 

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@LaurenCobello 

PR for Authors: https://leveragewithmedia.com/ 

Follow guest , Ramon Ray: 

Instagram: @ramonraysmarthustle 

Website: https://www.ramonray.com/ 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ramonraysmallbiz 

Buy the Book, “The Celebrity CEO: How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive by Building a Community and Strong Personal Brand” at https://www.amazon.com/Celebrity-CEO-Entrepreneurs-Building-Community/dp/1948080850/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1568338247&sr=8-1 

00:00 - Lauren (Host)

Welcome to the Beyond the Cover podcast, a podcast that takes you on a journey beyond the pages of your favorite books. I'm your host, lauren Cabello. Join me for captivating conversations with the brightest authors who are also celebrities, influencers, entrepreneurs and successful business owners shaping our worlds today. We'll go beyond the surface, uncovering the motivations and driving forces behind their compelling narratives. Let's uncover the extraordinary together.

00:33

Well, I'm excited to have Ramon Ray here with us today. He is the celebrity CEO, and I am so excited. That's the name of your book the Celebrity CEO and he's a speaker, he's an author, he is a business coach. You've also sold a couple of businesses and has been on stages with some of the top people in the country, and he's even interviewed President Barack Obama. I have, oh my gosh Whoa. So this is going to be awesome today, because when I was reading through your book, I noticed that your book is really on par with this podcast and what we talk about, and even what I do professionally being a book coach and running a book PR agency. So tell me, what is a celebrity CEO? You coin yourself as that, but what does that mean?

01:21 - Ramon (Host)

Sure, taylor Swift. We know that name. Hold on one second. I'm talking to somebody right now Taylor Sorry, Taylor Swift, we know that name. Hold on one second. I'm talking to somebody right now Taylor Sorry, taylor Swift. We know that name. Usher, we know that name Beyonce, et cetera we know these traditional celebrities. I firmly believe that every business owner, every entrepreneur, can be that type of celebrity in their niche. So, although there's a very few people that are globally known as true celebrities but I believe that Becky, who has an amazing cookie company in Austin, texas, she can be well known as the cookie aficionado in that town, or she can be known as the best cookie place for grandmas, if that makes sense, right Could be a great author. Who's? Nobody knows him except if you're in the painting industry. You read his book about how to paint exterior drywalls, right? Yeah, so that's what celebrity means in the painting industry. You read his book about how to paint exterior drywalls.

02:05 - Lauren (Host)

I made that up, yeah, so that's what celebrity means. That's a great book, by the way, though.

02:08 - Ramon (Host)

How you can be well-known in your niche, and I think everybody has the chance to do that.

02:13 - Lauren (Host)

Right. So when you coined that topic and even wrote the book, was that something you thought of like 15 years ago, or is that kind of a newer concept for you?

02:20 - Ramon (Host)

Sure. Well, of course, it's been around for some time. Gary Vaynerchuk probably have to give him homage. There's Seth Zig Ziglar.

02:26 - Lauren (Host)

Yep, older guy, you've shared stages of both of those I have, which is awesome.

02:30 - Ramon (Host)

Seth Godin, the father of permission marketing. You then get to Gary. In more modern terms, promote, promote, promote our world of social media and PR that you do so well. So I think my point is the celebrity CEO. It comes from that that people ask me Ramon, how are you so well known all over the place? I'm not known all over, but to them, since we're in a similar circle as you and I are, they say Ramon, wow, you're all over the place, and that's the term celebrity CEO.

02:56 - Lauren (Host)

I love that. It's so so, so catchy, so let's back up a little bit. So you've been in the industry a long time. You've been speaking a long time, like we talked about, you shared stages with. Gary, vee and Seth and all the big guys, I guess.

03:10 - Ramon (Host)

Can I add one more name? Yeah, please do. Deepak Chopra, two guys named him.

03:13 - Lauren (Host)

Deepak in the house. I love Deepak, yeah. So yeah, you shared names, but let's not forget, you are one of those names, you're not.

03:23 - Ramon (Host)

I'll take that Okay To some degree, yes.

03:25 - Lauren (Host)

So let's not forget that. Ramon is one of those people as well. We put all of you guys on a stage together. When did that all start? Like it's not like. You just showed up there Sure, Like let's backtrack. Like how did?

03:45 - Ramon (Host)

04:23 - Lauren (Host)

Oh, back in, yes.

04:25 - Ramon (Host)

My grandma back in the day. So that was the speaking part. And then books, black Enterprise and Ink Magazine around a similar time frame, carbon copy contracts, you know. No, no digital signage. Ramon, can you write for us? And this is your world, right Media, a dollar per word. I'm like that sucks Like a dollar per word. They're like cause you write 4,000 words. I said stop, stop, stop, stop. I'm like whoa. I was like, oh if you think, a dollar.

04:51

I'm thinking a penny. I don't know what my mind thought. So blending those two speaking, it grew from there. You know I can share more. And then the writing and content, monetization, that whole game. I say in a good way, right, so that was really the celebrity CEO. And then, years later, as the internet got popularized, I was one of the first in my lane blogging Microsoft front page fuel. No, it brings back good, warm memories to you MySpace.

05:15

Yes, there we go, saving it several times a day, three times a day, ftping file transfer protocol. The file's up. So that was my world. So I've been in the content space of published, published, published content, probably parallel to Gary, as it were, you know, and others like this. So that's how I started. And once you're there, you keep doing it, keep doing it. You became known. So in my world, not known as the dentistry guy, not known as the wood carving guy, but in the small business world, smb influencer is a term that many people had been using. That's what Ramon Ray is today. That's awesome. That's awesome.

05:48 - Lauren (Host)

06:24

And to become a celebrity CEO it takes a long time. So I think that's an important thing to realize that when people are going into this, it's going to take some time.

06:34 - Ramon (Host)

It does a lot of time. And may I add one thing Dave Ramsey, many people know that name. He says in his nice Southern drawl 24 years maybe or so. Yes, we're over, not 24 years success.

06:44 - Lauren (Host)

So people see him today to your point.

06:47 - Ramon (Host)

No, the dude was in a card table teaching his prophet stuff with two people from his church back in the day. Only he has millions today. But to your point and thank you for saying that, that you see us, you see people, but I think it's the journey. It's the journey.

07:03 - Lauren (Host)

I've done so much national television and people would say like, oh my gosh, how have you been on the Today Show so many times? And I always would tell people I got really good at local television. I did local television for seven years as a nobody In my hometown. I was a somebody. I would get recognized in my hometown. But to then go on to national television and start doing Rachel Ray all the time and the Today Show all the time and people just thinking that that just happened. No, it was. I got really good at being okay, being the little person for a very long time.

07:34 - Ramon (Host)

That's right.

07:34 - Lauren (Host)

Right and my ego was not like I need to be. This Come on. And then when the opportunities arose and I got really strategic, that's when you start making those big moves to level up right and maybe hire the right people to get you there, Like I hired a publicist to get me to that next level and I had a publicist on my team for many, many years before I sold that company and started my agency. So I think that's an important piece too is we only see the highs, we don't see the blog spots.

08:01 - Ramon (Host)

That's right and, like you said, the little people. I think some people are not afraid or they reject being the little people, but isn't even that where you start, there's very few big people who are not the little people. You talk to senators and all that. I was the aid, the this to that big person. For years. I brought them their whatever, their food. It was a terrible example, but you know things like that. I was that person, their aid, for 20 years. Only when they retired they said oh, maybe you can be my bigger aid, and now they're a whatever.

08:31 - Lauren (Host)

So, yeah, it's so true Like being comfortable with being the little person first. I think that's really important when you're trying to be. I'm already working on my fourth one, Don't get me started. Well, the fifth or sixth. Are you comfortable being the little person? It's so true.

08:46 - Ramon (Host)

I'm liking it.

08:47 - Lauren (Host)

You're liking it. Yeah, no, it's so. True though. Right Is that you have to be able to be in that place. It's important. So I love the concept of the celebrity CEO. So how did the book come about? Like, I think, so many entrepreneurs and I hear this because I do like sales calls and client calls all the time right, and they're like I don't think I want to self-publish, I think I'm just going to go get a book deal, and I'm like Little people. I'm like, okay, well, let me tell you the process. Right, in order to get a traditional book deal like a big publisher, you need to have a platform. That's right. You need to have a business already. You, you need to have these things in place. So, when you did the and wrote the Celebrity CEO, did you have all of those things in place already?

09:27 - Ramon (Host)

Love it. So I was little people first and I'm still in little people.

09:30 - Lauren (Host)

But I had self-published. You're big people in my eyes. Thank you, I'll receive that.

09:34 - Ramon (Host)

But I had published technology solutions I think it is for growing businesses, Self-published just a small little imprint that I DIY, why I can't remember Literally myself, you send it to Hong Kong or wherever it came from. Another one then was with Wiley. That was a bigger people, but that was about Facebook. Then I had done one on something else. This topic escaped me right now, but then comes this one. So my point is that was hybrid and again we can explain that if you want. But that was where I wasn't ashamed to. I wasn't looking for the New York, as it were, the agency, full disclosure. I paid and got a hybrid publishing company to lay out, help me with the book cover and make it just look professional.

10:07 - Lauren (Host)

Let's talk about that for a minute, because a lot of people don't understand the difference between self-publish and hybrid. So why don't you explain that a little bit between the difference?

10:15 - Ramon (Host)

Based on how I understand, but you're probably the expert. But how I did it was I wrote it all Word, google Doc doesn't matter. You write it, get your thoughts and that's a whole process how to get it. But you write it. Now you hand it off to a publisher, you're paying them, and they did two or three things for me. One they got me an editor and I must say she made that book great, like Ramon. You know what? Maybe we should move these four billion words and move it here, because you're talking about your mama and I'm like, can move this paragraph to the conclusion. What do you think? We move it to the end of the book. Smart, so she had all that insight. She really made it and massaged it. And Ramon, she taught more about this. So that was the editorial process. After I did as much as I could. Then two was the layout. I find that some people, their books, just look what's the?

11:02

French word Busted. Yes, I have this phrase write a book, not a pamphlet.

11:04 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, Because it doesn't look good. Yes, it really is important and you talk about that in your book actually that it really matters what the book looks and feels like.

11:11 - Ramon (Host)

Yeah, yeah, really important, yeah, and so those are the two things, that's, the hybrid publisher paying somebody to help with the guts of the book and the cover, and then the rest is distribution. Can anybody do that themselves? Of course, just like PR, you can do it themselves. You can work with a good person like Lauren. She makes it a lot easier. So my point is they got the distribution into bookstores a few, but Amazon was the one I wanted help with that and the rest is, as it were, history, because, as I know, you know, since I had a network, I had a following. The heavy part is on us authors really to market it.

11:43 - Lauren (Host)

Very few are the Tom.

11:43 - Ramon (Host)

Clancy's, who are like breathe and it sells 40 billion. Most of us. We got to work our little tails off to get it sold. But that was the essence of it A hybrid publisher, wasn't that? They paid me in royalties and all that. Nope Paid somebody. They laid it out, helped me design it with the cover listed, it got it pushed through ISBN and all that kind of stuff. And today I have Celebrity CEO which is selling pretty nicely.

12:03 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, that's awesome. So a well-known hybrid that I know is Greenleaf Publishing is one.

12:10

We do a lot of their PR for clients that come through. But that's a great one and I think that if you're looking at price, you self-publishing a lot of times. If you don't have an editor and you don't have that professional opinion, sometimes it doesn't look as professional right. You can put it up on Amazon. You don't have those upfront costs, so that's like the cheaper option, to go Hybrid. Sometimes you're paying between, I would say, 7,000 and even up to 30,000 to get your book published, but you need to make sure that they're not taking any of the royalties from you I think that's really important.

12:42

You don't want to make sure that they're not taking a percentage of your book sales. And then we have the traditional route, which is a big major book publisher we have the top five. There's a ton of smaller book publishing companies. They're going to take a big percentage of your money.

12:55 - Ramon (Host)

That's right. Right. And because they're fronting you money Exactly.

12:58 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, yep, and then you're going to get royalty costs and you might never see another dime after that advance.

13:03 - Ramon (Host)

That's right, that's exactly right.

13:05 - Lauren (Host)

Very common. Yeah, and it's funny you said that because I am seeing a difference.

13:08 - Ramon (Host)

I don't recall ever getting regular checks from other books I wrote, so I didn't again, now in hindsight, I just I did it for other reasons we can touch on. You know the PR reasons I did it for. But I'm realizing. But today, no, I get a check every quarter, every month, whatever it is for my book. So that's a great point. I didn't realize.

13:24 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah. So my third book was with Hachette and I did it for the notoriety Absolutely Right To say like I got a major book deal with one of the top five publishers. I mean that's a big deal. I worked really hard to do that and I think when people are looking at getting a major book deal, I actually started getting major PR two years before I started getting that book deal because I knew that the marketing that I needed for that book deal would be pretty robust. So I started going after national media two years before I knew that that book was coming out Smart.

13:55

So the strategy was let's get the national media now of getting the Today Show, getting Good Morning America getting on all those national shows. I was a regular on the Dr Oz show so that when I go to submit my book proposal Slow this stuff down about yourself.

14:08 - Ramon (Host)

I mean, can you just, can we slow the whole bitty, the whole show? I mean you can't just like I was a doctor. No, you can't say it again slow, just like yeah.

14:16 - Lauren (Host)

Dr Oz. Good Morning America. Today Show Rachel Ray all of those I was a regular on those for probably nine years on all of those shows. And the strategy was I know I'm going to submit this book proposal. I need to have a robust PR strategy behind it, so I'm going to become a regular on those shows first.

14:35 - Ramon (Host)

So you got it without the book, based on your own credentials and what you could share. Correct Got it, so I started the brand first.

14:40 - Lauren (Host)

Like you, you start the brand first, start getting media Brand first. Like you, you start the brand first, start getting media. If you want the big book deal, you need a robust PR strategy behind it. So I became a regular on all of those shows. So when I submitted the book proposal I had hey, I'm a regular on the Dr Oz show, I'm a regular on the Today Show, I can get the book on those shows and I think you know that sealed the deal for me and I know it's your show, but can I interview one man?

15:05 - Ramon (Host)

Thank you, sorry, it's.

15:06 - Lauren (Host)

Go over bone.

15:08 - Ramon (Host)

Can you tell us what was your expertise on those shows? Just to complete the.

15:11 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, so my first company was actually a frugal living website, so I taught like meal planning, frugal living budgeting tips. My third book was called the Recovering Spender, yep. So all of my expertise on those shows was like frugal living budgeting. I had a regular segment on the Today Show called From Trash to Cash.

15:32 - Ramon (Host)

Come on now.

15:32 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, and so I did that segment on Hoda and Jenna for many, many years.

15:37 - Ramon (Host)

I love it.

15:37 - Lauren (Host)

That's why I coined my own segment.

15:39 - Ramon (Host)

I got it, okay, yeah.

15:40 - Lauren (Host)

And I think it was in line with the branding and it was in line with the book, so that was a part of the book too. I love it yeah.

15:45 - Ramon (Host)

Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome so you can have your show back. I'm done interviewing now Everybody. I'm out of the interviewer seat now. I'm giving it back. You're giving it back.

16:07 - Lauren (Host)

But I think you know when you're talking out in the chapters, but then also you even talk about when you're launching your own book. What are the things you recommend. So start with like the first part of the book and like what are some of the things that help you become that celebrity. Ceo before you even write the book Sure.

16:23 - Ramon (Host)

Yeah, no, I love your recollection and all that. You're such a good interviewer, well duh. So there's about nine core pillars, if I'm answering the question right, nine core pillars that I talk about in Celebrity CEO. I don't have them all nine in my head, but having a book is one of the nine pillars. Doing webinars, doing events, publicity and PR, social media strategy website pretty good, that's six out of the nine. That's good. I think I don't know if I said events or not.

16:47 - Lauren (Host)

No that wasn't.

16:47 - Ramon (Host)

That's a good one. Great and maybe podcasts is eight, If I didn't say that there's probably one more I'm missing, but I'm sure it could be a self-promotion. But there's nine core things that are the aspect of being the celebrity CEO. So that's the world.

17:16 - Lauren (Host)

Anyways. So you start with that. Somebody would love it. Somebody would be like I need to learn how to drink from a cup because I slurp too much. That's right.

17:24 - Ramon (Host)

So you have that. So you have your webinar assets on that. Then maybe you move to your podcast. You have your event. Hey, all the Slurpee Cup Awards. We're gathering in New York City. You know your event bringing together your people, all about cups. So you get where I'm getting at.

17:38

This is how you start, seth Godin bringing your tribe, your community, together under a banner or under a person, which is mine, it's Ramon. Happen to be on entrepreneurship, so you don't have to do all nine of those pillars. I happen to have done them all and I'm sure you've done all, or, if not, more of them. But that's how one starts. Pick something. We're going to go to a WeWork, a small office, and every other month I'm going to gather seven people together and we're just going to have a little discussion group about whatever it may be. That could be your event. Now you're videotaping that. Now you have number two. Now you're doing some social media. Number three Now you're saying, if you didn't get the replays, you see the engine I'm building just at the top of my head. I love it. And you build it. And then after, wow, instead of 10 people around a small coffee table, you have a whole engine. Now you can do your book. Call Lauren, and the rest is history.

18:26 - Lauren (Host)

I love that because I've always seen everything strategically right Is doing one piece of content like this show. Now we have a podcast, we have a YouTube show and we have all the short form video content that we possibly need. So from one interview, we have three channels right and then from there we have another project launching which I can't share quite yet. What'd you say it was about? Again, I missed it, sorry. What'd you say? It was about the next project.

18:52 - Ramon (Host)

The one you can't say yet, the one I can't tell you yet You'd trick her.

18:56 - Lauren (Host)

That was good, you almost got me on that. Wait, did I say that yeah?

19:00 - Ramon (Host)

And the other channel is the guest channel. I mean that's a different thing, but you have your own, and then the guests are amplifying.

19:06 - Lauren (Host)

Exactly, and then we get to teach people, which is important. We want to share our knowledge to help other people. All of us are impact-driven people and I love that piece because we don't need to reinvent the wheel every single time, right? Okay, so we have all of those pieces set up and I think you have a very key piece of this. Some people come and they want to start the book first, but what you're saying is you have to build the tribe first, which is very important. So you built the tribe first, and then you had a couple other books beforehand. Then this sounds almost like the flagship book, right?

19:41

That kind of brings everything together, and it's interesting that you went from traditional to hybrid, which actually is what I'm doing with my fourth one is I'm not doing traditional anymore. I don't want to deal with the headaches of it. I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

19:56 - Ramon (Host)

Yeah, I think, the allure for those of us again, by God's grace, you know, for fifth, same with you. I wanted, I just wanted. I don't care who did it, I just wanted to say it wasn't me. Somebody did it Exactly, somebody's doing it, but now sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth, going back again, you'll hear me say Seth's name a lot. I just like the guy. Most of his books he does it. He has such a big following.

20:19 - Lauren (Host)

My book is coming out right.

20:21

So tell me about the launch of this one. Right, it's hybrid, a little bit different. You know you're retaining your earnings from that and you're trying to launch the book. You've done a couple, so you've learned. I think the first book. We all are like well, that was hard, I didn't know anything, right, every time a first time author comes to me, I'm like please listen to me. They usually don't, cause they're like well, this is my first book, I'm just going to you know, try and figure it out. And then they come back to me at book two and they say I really wish I would have listened to you on book one because I didn't really sell any you know, or like it's like you don't know what you don't know until you realize you don't know it Right.

20:58

So, on this book, what was the launch strategy?

21:00 - Ramon (Host)

Sure, I think a few things people can do. I think one is decide what your goal is. I do think it's important. That's important, yes, Because if you feel free to touch on that, if you want vanity metric, which is important I'm not saying in a pejorative it's a choice that maybe you haven't had the Amazon bestseller, which, as we know, is a little easier to get today, but still it means something, especially for new authors. That's a game you can do take a while for the pre-order and the image and all that just a geek note, but then drive to that that one day, two days, whatever the timeframe is for Amazon or Barnes Noble. So I'll put that aside.

21:30

But a few things that I would say. One is part of the pre-launch is have the book ready to pre-order. That's nice that people can do that to one. Number two call all your friends who owe you favors. Hey, listen, can you have me on your shows and can we please try to release that show, or can you talk about it in this timeframe? So I'm a firm believer of podcast. Number three don't forget bloggers, even niche bloggers blogging on LinkedIn, blogging on Medium, blogging on Substack, whatever it may be.

21:54 - Lauren (Host)

Substack is big right now. I think that's a huge one that a lot of people don't realize. They think blogging is dead. Substack is huge.

22:01 - Ramon (Host)

It's huge. I follow so many people on it because money is amazing. The podcasters and others now are starting to use Substack. Even if it's minimal monetization, there's some threshold. So blogging is get all the bloggers to talk about it. That's three. Number four I'm a firm believer.

22:13

I like something like hey, get a free copy of the book Seth Godin I think did this with one of his books years ago but a free copy because you want to build your email list. I like how you started first, so do you. I find I'd like to know your thoughts that email is a big driver email. But the other one then is getting your friends to post on social and a link. I like the podcast and all that, but I do think for launches there's something about not even IG, because IG doesn't have a link. That's just my personal. I like a LinkedIn, a Facebook, an X, a threads because they have live links.

22:45

Sounds minutiae, but you get what I'm getting at. If all your friends are posting a few times a day under a compressed timeframe, your book will sell a lot, and then the rest is history selling bulk order and keeping it selling. My friend Phil Jones talks about. You may know Phil Jones. He loves to say there's so many things you can do with the book because to somebody else it's new. Even if you wrote it 10 years ago, five years ago, it's new for them.

23:07 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, and what kind of strategy did you have? Or did you have a strategy with speaking engagements? Because we talk about the benefit of being a speaker and pre-selling your book and negotiating your rates with book buys.

23:21 - Ramon (Host)

Talk about that a little bit, because you speak all the time For sure, two things I would say to that. So one, I think pre-selling the book is good for speaking, but I also find that's the thing I find that keeps on giving you know. Hey, listen, I'm coming to speak A can I sell the book myself? You don't owe me anything more. I'll bring a hundred copies myself. That works more. As part of this Again, I get this from somebody else. He's like I'm coming to speak. Do you want your attendees to have the book? What book? Oh, you didn't know. I wrote a book on the same topic you asked me to speak about. Oh, it's kind of a tongue in cheek, but the point is I think, yes, it can be part of the launch strategy, but I do like speaking as part of that. The book can keep selling and having attendees. I have pictures of my book. Today I was at a nonprofit.

24:09

Also, say, another friend of mine, lamar Tyler. He has a company called Traffic, sales and Profit. He talks about using the book as a simple lead generation. He gives away thousands of copies of his book. What do they cost us? $2, $3, $5, depending. So that's a strategy for him. Builds the brand Celebrities. See, you have all the selfies. Imagine 100 selfies from an event tagged to you. A people can still give reviews. They show the book, amazon allows that, and then three, it just builds great lead generation. So that's another way, whether launch strategy, building it beforehand, or even post book, using it as a gift that keeps on giving.

24:43 - Lauren (Host)

Yep. And then there's a phrase butts in seats when it comes to speakers.

24:47 - Ramon (Host)

That's right.

24:47 - Lauren (Host)

The first hundred people get a copy of his book Definitely Gets people there on time and I think that's a great strategy. And I find that I see speakers they have the best success of their book with traditional publishers getting second rounds of printing because they're just constantly selling and selling and selling all year long and that strategy is super solid and I think it makes you as a speaker look super credible.

25:14 - Ramon (Host)

It does for sure. A book just uplifts you. And going back to Launch Our Sales was that something I did for somebody else as an ambassador program Sounds weird. I don't know. It's just pop stars do this. It's a little silly because everybody can market. But oh, I'm part of so-and-so's ambassador program. That's another thing you can do pre-launch. Do you want to join my special exclusive ambassador program and get stickers or just get a handshake?

25:35 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, we call them book launch groups a book launch group. So with a lot of our clients we're doing a book launch strategy where we get like 75 people and we send them a copy of the book with branded boxes.

25:50 - Ramon (Host)

Yeah, jay Baer does that well, yep.

25:51 - Lauren (Host)

Yep, and then do it that way and you know it can be a little bit pricey if you're self-published, but a lot of our authors. And then we do like you need to post this on pub day and all of that, and it explodes on the internet, which is really cool, and they have to post a link and all of that kind of stuff. It goes viral. Yeah, it goes viral, and everybody's like, oh my gosh. And then pair that with media segments, which I know you're a big proponent of too. Very much. So talk about what your launch was like, besides having the traditional bulk buys and pre-orders and all of that?

26:22

Did you have external PR? What did that look like?

26:25 - Ramon (Host)

Sure, yeah, I mean, I've hired for it and I think hiring just helps you do it faster and smarter, which is your great work you do, and if you have connections, you can do hand-in-hand hybrid right? Hey, here's my list. Can you help me do it more? Or I can handle these three and can you do the other 75,000? Exactly Whatever you want, but, yes, it works. Because, again, I think when you have a great name and you have a visual, you're on that set, whether it's Fox or the FX Boys, which has two people and their grandmother, whatever, you want to do millions, or not, it's just something to it.

26:51

You have the book there. It's a central point for people to talk about and remember. As hosts, we want to anchor it on something right. We can talk to people whatever. It is about any topic, but the book is just. It's like a new baby it is. People will always come to your house, but when you say I'm dead, come to my funeral, I have a wedding, come to my wedding. Or a new baby come. There's some occasion and preferably I want people to come to my funeral too, but I prefer them to come to a wedding or baby.

27:16 - Lauren (Host)

Right, that's more, and it's so true I think about when you're a business owner.

27:26

There's lot of times in your business that are absolutely crucial to market, and I can't think of a more important time in your business than the time when you're launching a book and if you're only going to do one book, if you market that book right for six months, those six months will follow you the rest of your career. You can now say for the rest of your career. I was on Good Morning America, I was on Today Show, I was on Fox News and I think this is something that I see. A lot is well, I don't watch TV anymore. Okay, great, I'm so happy for you. But you know what? The 5 million people that watch Good Morning America are still watching.

27:59 - Ramon (Host)

And the credibility of the logo you get.

28:01 - Lauren (Host)

And the credibility of the logo and chopping it up for short form video, that's right. And the 3 million social media followers on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube, those 8 million people might care, yeah, yeah. So let's just like take that little phrase of I don't watch TV anymore and throw it out the window because there's 8 million other people that do so. I don't know a single person that if I came up to you and said, hey, I'm going to have 8 million people look at your book today that would say well, I don't like walking down that street where 8 million people are going to be.

28:35

That's right. Like it just doesn't make sense to me.

28:37 - Ramon (Host)

Not at all. It does not.

28:38 - Lauren (Host)

It does not make sense to me, so that's just kind of something that I've noticed you know, and that's just kind of something that I've noticed you know, and when you're announced on a stage, what do they usually say about you?

28:48 - Ramon (Host)

Well, I craft that for them. Right, definitely. What do?

28:51 - Lauren (Host)

you say Author, celebrity CEO, okay and unapologetically positive always. Do you ever mention your past press?

28:58 - Ramon (Host)

Oh sure, that part of it, yes, yes, when I was interviewed in my case, all five sharks on shark tank, you know, et cetera, et cetera, for sure, and I like how you said for businesses, because it's one thing I'm pitching you hey, cover me, because we have a new VP of marketing Boring. We have a new product Boring, but I have a new book out. You know what I mean. So, to your point, it's a softer way to get more press, more listening.

29:19 - Lauren (Host)

Exactly, but also using pitch not so much to pitch the book out but the topic around the book. So, for example, if your book is on breast cancer and it's breast cancer awareness month, let's not lead the pitch with the book. Let's lead the pitch with your story. Let's lead the pitch with some breast cancer awareness tips and tricks, and then the book comes in as like the supporting actress.

29:40 - Ramon (Host)

Absolutely Right, come on.

29:41 - Lauren (Host)

That's how I see it Right.

29:43

So I think that that's kind of a key thing as well, but I think this notion of anytime you go to an event and I love this and I sit and I watch a lot of these entrepreneur events we're in a lot of the same social circles. Even though we've never met before, we know a lot of the same people, which is funny. And I listen to the intros of the speakers and it always says so-and-so who's been on the Today Show and been on this and been on this. And as much as I love podcasting and I absolutely love this platform, it doesn't mention like they've been on the Lauren Cabello Beyond the Cover podcast, like that's not going to be in anybody's bio, but the TV segments and they've been featured on Wall Street Journal will.

30:30 - Ramon (Host)

Yeah, we all recognize it Right, and both are important, though the Lauren Cabello that's how you get the reels and the social and you get it forces you to speak more. Yep, it's one of those nine pillars right that you talked about to have all of those complete.

30:46 - Lauren (Host)

So right that you talked about to have all of those complete, so I think that's super important. And to have those other cool things in your bio, like what you talked about interviewing the five sharks and Barack Obama. So talk to me about that, Like how does one get to be called upon to interview the president?

30:58 - Ramon (Host)

Yeah, Well, there's 800 number, you just call and the 100 interview president You're like well.

31:01 - Lauren (Host)

I would like to interview President Barack Obama. It was the suit, that's what it was.

31:06 - Ramon (Host)

I think so.

31:06 - Lauren (Host)

He was like, this guy looks good. Thank you.

31:09 - Ramon (Host)

But for when President Bush was in office I think it was him or Clinton. I remember I got the White House to call me. Really I was so annoying.

31:14 - Lauren (Host)

Okay, how did you do that?

31:19 - Ramon (Host)

Well, I wrote letter after letter after letter, I, and somehow I overwhelmed them and said listen, the bottom line. I'm kind of a stick, you know I like to tease a lot. I wasn't meaning between you and I, but the bottom line, I'm on there. She called because I had White House in my caller ID. I was working at the UN at the time. I see White House calling. She said Mr Ray, we've gotten all your letters, all your faxes. Thank you, this is executive office, meet the president. She's saying no, thank you. I'm not saying you can never meet the president, but, as you can appreciate, he's a very busy man and we went in circles.

31:48

She was trying to be nice, but that was Bush or Clinton, but Barack Obama. So Google at the time you may remember Google Hangouts was that the name and they were launching. When did they disappear, I? Feel like wow, somebody just placed them. Not Periscope, but that was a time of Periscope and all that, but somebody just placed them and, I think, faded.

32:06 - Lauren (Host)

That's kind of one of those things that just like disappeared and I didn't even realize it's gone.

32:10 - Ramon (Host)

32:21

So they had a contest where they were saying you can interview the president. It's my understanding 300,000 people applied. That's a number I got somewhere had to be more than 3,000. And I was in three to four rounds of interviews where again you kind of get the sense you're in PR, I don't know what you're looking for, Right, and you may not know what you're looking for. You're looking for something. It's the president, diversity, different people, different questions, a whole different things, and so that's the story. So I applied, went online, submitted this, that, and the other Producer calls me, interviews me for half an hour. Political affiliations, questions, all kinds of things. We'll get back to. You had another call, probably the same questions. I probably had a third call, fourth call, Next thing I know, Ramon, you and four other Americans can interview President Barack Obama.

33:06

And it didn't have fancy. You know where a lot of us at least had home studios. I rearranged my living room. They were like, oh, this wall has a small crack, Can we move it? Here? I had my love seat, you know, blankets high and to get everything right. And next thing, you know, hey, Ramon, how are you?

33:21 - Lauren (Host)

I'm fine. Mr President, Okay, who was the first person you called when you found out you were interviewing Barack?

33:26 - Ramon (Host)

Obama, probably everybody I could. You know. My family, yeah, probably posted it on Facebook somewhere. I get excited, not so much about the action it's just me but about the feather in my cap. Sounds weird, yeah. But the TED Talk, the interview, president, I didn't do the TED Talk, but those things, yeah, it's Talk, but those things it's exciting, but for me it's a stepping stone. As you know, this is the world, so it's not being on. Today's show is cool, rachel Ray, in your case, but for me I bet you agree is that's nice. But now I can say it and that's to me talking about celebrity CEO, building a personal brand to those listening and watching. That's for me, the name of the game. It's nice that you did it, but now leverage it for more. I can say I interviewed all five sharks at Shark Tank. That's a bio builder.

34:10 - Lauren (Host)

Yep, so I interviewed the president. I absolutely love that. What was it like? Were you nervous? Because to me, I'm just going to say this I've met so many celebrities.

34:20

I don't get nervous, I'm just like they're a person Like I've sat with, like Hilary Duff and like I think my kids the Meghan Trainor, my kids freaked out about, like, I've been on so much television. My kids don't even care, but yeah, they care about everybody and me. Sure, they don't care that I have done so much television, they just care about me. So I met Jerry Springer, who is very tall. I was very surprised by that, but they're people, Sure. Met Jerry Springer who is very tall. I was very surprised by that, but they're people. Sure, I just don't look at them. I guess if I was in their shoes, I think I would want to be looked at as just a person. Sure absolutely.

34:51

Not everybody's like that, but what was it like?

34:54 - Ramon (Host)

So no, I wasn't nervous, Similar to yourself. I don't know because it's how we're born and built or because of our experience, but I think I rarely get nervous and then excited and like honored. But here's what gets me nervous If President Trump, Biden, Barack was sitting here, the nervous thing would be the wire that's right here. If I move my leg, as has probably happened once or twice in this interview, am I going to rip the microphone off?

35:19 - Lauren (Host)

the table.

35:20 - Ramon (Host)

When I'm drinking water, let's say with soda, is it going to drip my shirt? So it's those things. So when I was doing it, we didn't have these.

35:27

36:16

Something happens and it was live, so it was live. That's what made it more Immediately live streamed on YouTube. So that was the pressure no pressure, no pressure at all.

36:28 - Lauren (Host)

I want to go back to something real quick about what you said earlier in the interview that I think is really important.

36:33

You said, you have to know your goal of launching the book right, because everybody has different goals. We have people that come in and they say I want to be a New York Times bestseller right off the bat, okay. We have people that are like I want this to enhance my speaking skills, I want this to help build my business, I want this to help get me on TV. There's so many different goals that we can have as authors and I know that your goal solidifying the brand, but also help with speaking. What was your initial goal with this book?

37:05 - Ramon (Host)

Yeah, I think the initial goal was I don't know if I had a smart goal, particularly because the initial goal was I just wanted to get it done. People kept asking me Ramon, you seem to be the celebrity CEO, and I said that sounds like a great name, let me get it done. And so that was a thought process that makes sense. Now I have another book that's inside me. I'm asked a lot to talk about human connections in a digital world. As you may know, it's not my space, though I'm not the Brene, whoever owns that emotion.

37:29 - Lauren (Host)

Hi everybody.

37:31 - Ramon (Host)

Welcome to Get Centered With Yourself, love her, though, breathe in. I'm not that guy, but I am an edutainer and I've been talking about it successfully several keynotes. Yeah, so I have a little thing I'm going to do human connections into the world. The purpose of that is so I can hand it out at events. So, to your point, what's the purpose? So, celebrity CEO, that purpose was to increase Ramon's brand recognition as being the master in my space noting you're here of personal branding for entrepreneurs.

37:59 - Lauren (Host)

That was the purpose of it.

38:00 - Ramon (Host)

So the next one I do. It may be different thought, different reasoning.

38:04 - Lauren (Host)

So that's why I's why I think that's so important. We have some clients that are doing it solely for the purpose to get on TV and to increase their branding, and they don't even sell the book, they just literally give it away and I'm like don't you want to make any money?

38:15 - Ramon (Host)

It's a good tool for you.

38:16 - Lauren (Host)

You're like thank you, this helps me get you on TV Exactly, and it does, cause I think authors are easier to book on TV because it shows even the TV producers that they're more credible, right, they're not just Joe Schmo walking down the street, they have written a book and they're branded right. So thank you for clarifying that, because I think everybody should go into their launch with a goal, whatever that is, and also know the realistic goal of like if your goal is New York Times bestseller, talk to somebody about what that's going to take that's right, that's right, it's achievable but it's a game.

38:51

It's achievable, but it's a game Like I do a lot of book ordering for our clients and there's backend book sales that I have to do and it happens a lot with book strategy and speaking. That's a big hand in hand thing. People that have the best time hitting the lists are people that have a lot of money and people that speak a lot, and so you have to be realistic with your goal and what lists you can hit and speak to somebody that knows how to do that.

39:13 - Ramon (Host)

That's super super important.

39:15 - Lauren (Host)

Okay, so we have the book, you have the speaking. What's next? What's the goal besides writing the other book, maybe to hand out at events? What's next for Ramon?

39:25 - Ramon (Host)

Oh, for Ramon, I would love to hear Wow, okay For Ramon and the brand. Wow getting a little personal, yeah, so what's?

39:31 - Lauren (Host)

going with the business.

39:33 - Ramon (Host)

I'll tell you yeah, I would love to hear that, but just between you and I, I mean, it just can't get out.

39:39

Yeah, just nobody't. Thank you for asking a few things. So Ramon Ray today and historically, has been this entrepreneur who started several blogs smallbiztechnologycom, which I sold, smarthustlecom, which I sold, an event business, small Business Summit, which I sold, and a few other smaller things generating less than a million dollars in revenue which I'm proud of giving people hope. It's not just billion-dollar valuations that run America. There's a few of us who a couple hundred thousand dollars in revenue. We're fine, so that's my gift. What I do at blogs. What's next for Ramon are three things. One, I'm embracing that Ramon is very unfocused to a degree and has a lot of ideas. So I'm in the hunt, I'm interviewing, I'm hiring a COO, because I have several things I want to do About two or three things.

40:21 - Lauren (Host)

I don't know what that's like at all.

40:25 - Ramon (Host)

No, you don't, of course. You're laser focused, doing one thing at all.

40:29 - Lauren (Host)

I think just to give us all credit. I think we're all like that if we're visionaries, If we're a visionary person.

40:35 - Ramon (Host)

That's the word I've been using. I need an integrator, though.

40:37 - Lauren (Host)

Yes, integrators are so important. What is that book?

40:41 - Ramon (Host)

Attraction, Attraction and Rocket Fuel same author. Rocket Fuel is the one I was thinking about.

40:46 - Lauren (Host)

But I have ideas every day and I got to catch them. That's right. Put them on paper.

40:52 - Ramon (Host)

That's right. Yeah, and sometimes me, I don't catch them. The balloon's so big it pulls me out. Oh yeah.

41:07

I've been you about thinking of really what I want to do with it. I've written as much as I can probably get somebody to help me with it. Number three launching some sort of an agency in partnership with others. And then the rest I don't know, but that's pretty much where Ramon's that's so exciting. The main thing is, I believe it's time for me to get a COO because I've been solo. The last I had a partner when I did Small Business Summit. She was amazing. We sold that and did some other things and I think I miss having a partner.

41:31 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, it's very nice to have a team behind you yeah. I actually just hired my first CFO. I have a fractional CFO, which was a big deal for me because the numbers of the company should never be trusted to myself. As a visionary, I love just having the ideas and so setting up the team behind you to have the COO and have the integrator and have a team behind you, it's so important.

41:58

So, important and to be able to use your giftings in what you're good at. I think that is the sign of a good celebrity CEO.

42:06 - Ramon (Host)

And I'll tell you one more thing, because it directly involves you, so I'm just going to break the news-ish and make the ask in front of all these people. Oh, nobody's here though. So I have a show on USA Today, and I'm so happy for that and grateful for that, and I believe it's time for me to even get on a bigger and bigger platform. So maybe you know some people who does that for a living. Maybe I don't know who helps people do that, so I just wanted to put out there, Wait.

42:29 - Lauren (Host)

so let's talk about this, that we haven't talked about this yet, that you have a show on USA Today.

42:34 - Ramon (Host)

I do, which I'm happy with. That's a good thing, yeah.

42:37 - Lauren (Host)

Okay, so you want to get that on a bigger platform.

42:40 - Ramon (Host)

Correct. I mean, I'm happy with what they did, in case they're listening, I'm happy for that. But I believe it's a great thing to see how, with them or otherwise, to just take it not just whatever people are watching it, but even a bigger platform. I believe I've, but you or others have to judge it, or the producer have to judge it, and I know there's a lot of ideas. But I believe Ramon Ray has the years of experience, as you do, but the years of experience to go to it, to reach a broader reach. I'll put it that way, my goal. I'll just proclaim it to you. If you can help make that happen, you can let me know. I want to be the Steve Harvey or the Tyler Perry of entrepreneurship. I love that End of story and I dare to agree but I want to have it in you.

43:13 - Lauren (Host)

I want it two more levels up. Yeah, I think that's amazing. Thank you, I'm going to say it right. Allie, my COO, is in the corner here laughing now. Yes, I'm starting my own show, congratulations. Yeah, tell us more In Chelsea Studios. Okay, I am starting my own TV show. I love it. So we talk about strategy. Is that we have the podcast and we have the show and we have all of this amazing content.

43:45 - Ramon (Host)

Why are you doing that? I'm going to do a just 30 seconds interview while you're doing an interview. Okay, okay, here we go. This is amazing. See, people have never been done before, never been done before. She's interviewing me and I'm going to interview her just 30 seconds. Okay, break the news.

43:58 - Lauren (Host)

What are you launching? What's it all about now? Well, I'm launching my own TV show in Chelsea Studios and it's going to be coming out this summer, and you're first on the Beyond the Cover podcast. Just don't tell anybody. No, we won't tell anybody. It's a secret. It's a secret. I love it.

44:16 - Ramon (Host)

Congratulations. Yeah, yeah, this is amazing.

44:20 - Lauren (Host)

So it's been a dream of mine ever since I've been on TV for 15 years, and I hope my goal is to help lift other people up.

44:28 - Ramon (Host)

Love it Right and to help. Thank you, yeah.

44:30 - Lauren (Host)

To lift other people up and help them get their books out there. And so we're going to have a lot of authors on to help them get their books out there Celebrities, cookbook authors, children's book authors and it's going to be like fun lifestyle, similar to what, like, rachel Ray and Dr Oz were. So I'm really excited about it. I have an amazing production team and cats out of the bag, yes, yes, so I'm excited about that.

44:58 - Ramon (Host)

So I'll have to have you come on that show. I would love to yeah.

45:01 - Lauren (Host)

It'll be exciting. I'm excited for it. So well, this has been an absolute pleasure, Thank you.

45:06 - Ramon (Host)

You're amazing, we are. Thank you for having me.

45:08 - Lauren (Host)

Yeah, I'm so excited. So where can people find you and buy your books? Because, you have multiple books, but I want people to go and buy the celebrity CEO and all of his other books and follow you. Go and watch his show on USA Today, but where are all of the places people can check you?

45:26 - Ramon (Host)

out Two main things RamonRaycom, RamonRaycom, or ZoneOfGeniuscom ZoneOfGeniuscom, my publication about entrepreneurship. So those are the two main places, or just the Google or the Bing or the AI, you'll find me, but thank you for having me. You're an amazing host and a lot of fun.

45:43 - Lauren (Host)

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for being here. You're welcome.

45:52

Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Cover podcast For behind the scenes clips, footage and reels of this show. Go to laurencabellocom and find all of our social media links where you can find TikToks and Instagram and Facebook reels on all of our social media links, where you can find TikToks and Instagram and Facebook Reels on all of our socials. Search me on Lauren Cabello on Instagram, tiktok and Facebook and you will be able to find all of the behind-the-scenes video clips. You can also watch the video of this podcast on YouTubecom. Slash Lauren Cabello to watch the video. Cabello to watch the video.

46:23

And thank you to our sponsor, which is Leverage with Media PR, a book PR agency for nonfiction, celebrity and entrepreneurial authors to help you launch your book so that you can become a bestselling author. So thank you again for tuning in to this episode of the podcast. I would love for you to subscribe and share the show for anybody who wants to know the latest, greatest authors and also maybe know a little bit more about launching your book. Thanks so much and have a great day.