Copied from Fabulous Female Founders by Mia Birk

Dear FFF,

Before the pandemic, I'd been a consultant focusing on active transportation and recreation access. Once the lockdowns happened, I leaned into my creative talents, using the time to shape my memoir manuscript. Now that book is about to meet the world! Heidi Across America is set during the summer I pedaled solo across the country getting “unstuck” from a low point in life. 

This year, I'm headed out again as an expert on slow travel. Even though I don't know my eventual business destination, I'm confident I'm on the right path. While I'm out on my book tour this year, I want to be mindful of developing opportunities. How should I approach this?

- Excited and Optimistic

Dear Excited,

Congratulations! What an excellent story of turning lemons into lemonade! I applaud and honor your tenacity and strength. (Having written multiple drafts of a not-ready-for-prime-time second book myself, I have to admit that I’m a tad jealous!) I’m happy to share some tips from my book, Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet, which was indeed an excellent engine for business development.

Set Your Intentions

First, I invite you to set an intention of what you hope to achieve on your book tour. I set mine as threefold: open doors for my company and our mission (creating active communities); earn enough on book sales to at least recoup what I spent; and enjoy the adventure of being a published author. I did this as a way of keeping my Oprah book club fantasies in check and overcoming the disappointment of not seeing my book on the “recommended” shelf by the doors at Powell’s Books. Having clear intentions also helped me know when to say yes vs. no as opportunities arose. 

At the very least, I’d suggest you develop conceptual business goals. You say you don’t know your business “destination” but perhaps you know what you don’t want to do, what you’d love to do, and what you’d consider doing given the right circumstances. As you ponder these questions, you’re likely to find some clarity—and more questions to evaluate. Think of this as a living document you’ll revise on your journey as you gather more information. 

Develop a Marketing Plan

Next, I’d suggest creating a marketing plan for both your book and business that includes a list of potentially interested parties in the field of “slow travel.” (I’m not sure what that is or who your client base will be, but it sounds intriguing!) Select two or three passages from your book that illustrate the services you might offer. Create and rehearse speeches to go along with these. Ideally, you’ll get booked for paid speeches to enhance book sales. At your speech or book talk, make sure to weave in your business throughout, and conclude with a direct ask to connect with folks interested in your services. Get your print and e-cards ready to go. Pick a platform for collecting contact information (e.g. Excel, Pipedrive, or Air Table) and follow-up within a day or two of each meeting. You’ll need a social media strategy as well.   

In each city you’re visiting, reach out in advance to potential clients, including possible teaming partners in your new field. Invite them to your book talk. Offer to present at their staff meeting or happy hour. Set up one-on-coffees, lunches, or rides and listen, listen, listen. Business development is all about active listening, asking the right questions that reveal a problem you can solve, and telling the right story at the right moment. Know that business development in consulting is a long game; think of every meeting as a seed you are planting in a vast unfertilized, untilled field. Some of those seeds will flourish if you do nothing, but the more you nourish your seeds, the more will grow.   

I spent about 18 months touring in support of Joyride, stopping in 60 communities. Parts of it were awesome, like when Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Stephen Benjamin gave me an old-fashioned “key to the city.” A man in the front row in Denver sobbed when I shared that just after 9/11, thousands of people holding candles circled downtown Portland’s riverfront trails in a show of solidarity, leading a major news outlet to flip from trail critic to supporter. (We talked afterward; he’d lived in NYC during 9/11, had lost a number of friends and colleagues.) I got to do a TedX talk, take bike rides, visit with family members and staff in various cities, and meet tons of interesting people.

Other parts didn’t go so well: missed flights, an asthma attack and hives in Boise, stressful moments dealing with my oldest son’s health crises from afar, no one showing up at a bookstore event in Tucson, missing my kids. But all in all, I met my three goals and helped grow my firm’s business in the years that followed.  

Excited, I’m excited for you, and wish you a successful, productive, and enjoyable adventure in the months to come. My last piece of advice: bring a bike helmet and go for a ride everywhere you visit. Enjoy! 

- FFF

To purchase Heidi Across America, book Heidi for speaking gigs, or learn more about slow travel, visit www.HeidiAcrossAmerica.com.