Peaceful Profits Podcast Ep. 61 - The $9,000 Week That “Felt Effortless”
Synopsis:
In this inspiring episode, Chanelle Nielsen interviews Sue Sundstrom, a book coach, author of five books, and founder of The Write Now Method and Book Breakthrough Publishing. Sue shares how her passion for helping women of faith publish the “book on their heart” grew into a thriving business.
She opens up about the fears and doubts many aspiring authors face, how she overcame burnout from live events, and how joining Peaceful Profits transformed her offer, pricing, and mindset.
Sue walks us through her recent $9,000 week—including what led up to it, how she landed three high-ticket clients, and how she held her confidence during a gasp-inducing sales call.
This episode is a must-listen for entrepreneurs and aspiring authors who want to run a business with purpose, faith, and peace.
Transcript:
The $9,000 Week That “Felt Effortless”
[00:00:00] Chanelle: Hello, Peaceful Profits nation. Chanelle here with an exciting client spotlight episode for you today. Today, we're talking to our client, Sue Sundstrom, a book coach, author of five books and award winning entrepreneur and founder of the right now method and book breakthrough publishing. She regularly runs live events.
[00:00:20] Chanelle: Now attended by thousands of women of faith and has helped over 200 clients by coaching them on how to write, publish, and launch the book on their heart. She runs [00:00:30] both a group writing and publishing program and provides done for you publishing services and is passionate about helping women of faith, get the book on their heart out into the world.
[00:00:39] Chanelle: Finally, Sue, welcome. Hello.
[00:00:43] Sue: So nice to be here.
[00:00:44] Chanelle: I am so grateful that you're here. I am really excited to dive in, to learn more about your business and the amazing things that you're doing. So I would love as an introduction for you to start off by telling us a little bit more about your business, your backstory, [00:01:00] what got you started and a little bit more about that.
[00:01:03] Sue: Yeah, sure. Actually, I wrote my first book when I was 14 years old. I was bored in class, biology class, with a friend of mine. And so we decided just to write. And so she got bored of it and tired of it, but I actually continued. And It was this woman's empowerment story, actually, but about a princess and a monster and the princess saved the day.
[00:01:27] Sue: And it was amazing. I wrote the whole [00:01:30] thing. And what was great is at that age, you don't think that you can't do something, you just do it. But then I had no guidance, unfortunately, to take it anywhere. And I don't think I even shared it with my parents. So it never got published. Which is really sad and then fast forward years and years I still had this dream to actually write but I ended up in other careers and married kids, you know all of that and so It was only in 2016 [00:02:00] that I actually finally after a number of attempts managed to get a book written and published and then that together with Such a passion to empower other women, which I've always loved to do and always wanted to do.
[00:02:14] Sue: Having finally fulfilled this dream of writing a book, I just knew that I wanted to help others do the same. And once that first one had been done, then as you said earlier, I've done five now and it's just so much easier. [00:02:30] Once you have finally published the first one just to get out the second and the third and the fourth and I love helping women because I know many of them desire to but they just don't know how, they've got self doubt or they just are overwhelmed and don't know how to get started.
[00:02:46] Sue: That's what led me to business as a book coach and it exploded in 2020 during COVID amazingly, but then challenge wise what [00:03:00] I did find is I had lots of clients. I was running events. I was marketing a lot, but a couple of years in, I was starting to get really exhausted, really tired. And that's when I came across what Mike Shreve does.
[00:03:16] Sue: And that really appealed to me because. I could see he was running a business in a peaceful way without burning yourself out, exhausting yourself. This was a way to actually market in [00:03:30] a more balanced way to actually still have a decent life. Yeah. Oh, I love that. So I love that you come from this background of writing at a young age and wanting to get your book out into the world.
[00:03:44] Chanelle: I think that it's really interesting and in some ways not surprising that your business did take off in 2020 because so many people were home and could sit still and think, what is it that I want to do? And a lot of [00:04:00] them like you, they did have this book that they want to write. And so that's amazing that they turned to you and were ready to.
[00:04:08] Chanelle: So I'm curious, the people, the women who come to you and who are interested in writing a book, what are some of the things that hold them back from getting started? Why? You mentioned self doubt. I'm curious kind of what you're hearing that people, keeps people from taking action.
[00:04:28] Sue: I hear funnily enough the same [00:04:30] things over and over again.
[00:04:31] Sue: Yes, self doubt is huge. So mindset is so important when it comes to actually writing a book. Finishing writing a book and so many of them just think I'm not an expert. I don't know enough. Who's going to read it? Why me? Who am I to write a book? And so I love to dismantle that. And I love to just show them how if they have some knowledge and expertise, then they're [00:05:00] good enough, they just need to be ahead of who they want to help.
[00:05:02] Sue: They don't have to be number one expert. So that's the biggie. Others just have a fear of what people are going to think. Which is linked to the self doubt, but then also on top of that, just that fear of stepping out in case they're going to get criticized or doubted naysayers will come, people.
[00:05:24] Sue: Other people will say to them, who are you to write a book? And so there's this incredible [00:05:30] fear holding them back. Then there's just a lack of time. Women generally give out to everyone else except for themselves. And we tend to think of ourselves a loss, especially when we're wives and mothers.
[00:05:43] Sue: And so when it comes to our own dreams, We've actually found it difficult to find the time to pursue our own dreams. So there's this lack of time, they're juggling so many different things, and then simply they don't know how. They don't know how to [00:06:00] start. So there's also an overwhelm which holds people back.
[00:06:03] Sue: They have all these ideas swirling around in their head, but they don't know how to structure it, and they just literally don't know how to get started.
[00:06:12] Chanelle: Yeah, that makes sense. And I love that you're there, further down the path to guide women along in this journey because there are so many internal things, internal and external, that can stop and hold people back.
[00:06:27] Chanelle: And yet one of the things that I read in [00:06:30] your bio that really stood out to me is they want to launch the book on their heart. I love that verbiage that it is something that's just calling to them. I'm curious to hear more about how women know that it's the book on their heart or what this looks like.
[00:06:48] Sue: A lot of them, because they're women of faith, have literally heard a God whisper. So they feel like God has actually told them, you should write a book and [00:07:00] that it's inspired by him. Also, there's often a burning message in their heart. So there's something they feel really strongly about and passionate about.
[00:07:11] Sue: Maybe it's justice for a particular cause. Maybe it's. And a righteous anger against domestic violence or neglect of Children or some other. Issue, poverty worldwide, whatever it [00:07:30] is, or woman's identity. A lot of them they want other women to know, the real identity that they have.
[00:07:36] Sue: So they have also, as well as the whisper, they just have something that burns literally in their heart. So it's not even just a head thing. It's something that they feel down deep to their very core that they are meant to do this. And they got to get it out. It's like a message that just has to come out, but it has no expression.
[00:07:58] Sue: There's all this stuff holding [00:08:00] it back from being expressed. And so it's quite extraordinary when they do actually finally do it. It's really quite transforming for a lot of them.
[00:08:09] Chanelle: Ah, that's beautiful. That is beautiful. And I think, what a process for them. It's beyond, the book itself, getting that message out would then become just this transformative process of becoming an author.
[00:08:27] Chanelle: It shifts your identity in some [00:08:30] ways. And so I think that's a beautiful thing that you do, because it's beyond just writing some thoughts. It's writing the book on your heart. And so it becomes a much bigger thing.
[00:08:41] Sue: Absolutely. And just that sense of satisfaction, knowing that you're impacting other people who are all over the world who you may never meet.
[00:08:51] Sue: And you have this legacy as well. So long after you've gone and you've left the planet, you've still got your words, your [00:09:00] message, your expertise, or your, your heart and knowledge and wisdom, it's still available for people. And, I've learned from. Many people who have passed on through their books.
[00:09:11] Sue: So I think that's an awesome thing. And I think we have a responsibility to do that. And I would hate to have stuff inside of me that other people needed to hear. And I didn't get it out before I left.
[00:09:26] Chanelle: Yeah. Yes. It is important to pass that [00:09:30] on, to share it, to save it. That's wonderful. You mentioned that a couple of years in your business, you got really tired and that is what kind of led you to Peaceful Profits.
[00:09:41] Chanelle: Talk to me about that part of your journey.
[00:09:45] Sue: I was running live events. So that was my primary method of marketing. Which was working very well, but it takes a lot of energy, a lot of effort. And when [00:10:00] you are at that beginning stage of your business, you don't have a team yet. You don't have a big team. You have maybe a little bit of help here and there.
[00:10:11] Sue: It's all encompassing. There's so much to do. There's so many moving parts. And running events like that every single month, I was doing them almost monthly was literally exhausting. And yes, I got a lot of clients. I built an email [00:10:30] list through it. I did I ran paid ads. So I believe in paid ads.
[00:10:33] Sue: They're awesome for, targeting the right audience, but it just became unsustainable as a means of bringing in customers as the only means of bringing in customers. And so when I saw that with Mike's program, I could do it a different way without me having to go live all the time. And in fact, not have to [00:11:00] rely on making back the ad spend.
[00:11:04] Sue: After I'd actually acquired the leads. So this was a way to break even minimum or even make a profit on lead generation. And so that combined with. Just it being so much more relaxing, so much less effort once the asset is set up with just a very attractive option for [00:11:30] me. Plus, my teachers on systems and systemizing as well, which also was the next step that I really needed.
[00:11:39] Chanelle: Yeah. So since coming to Peaceful Profits, what has shifted in your business?
[00:11:45] Sue: The, one of the first things was when he reviewed my offer, my high ticket offer, it fundamentally shifted for me, my sense of the value of what I do. So [00:12:00] it elevated for me, the value of what I do. He was immediately just saying, Oh no, you can't charge that.
[00:12:07] Sue: You should charge this. And It was so validating for me just to hear that and know that I could be comfortable raising my prices and that in itself just becomes more peaceful. When you do that, you don't need as many clients to pay the bills [00:12:30] and continue in business. And so you can actually devote more time to the clients that you do have, and you just start feeling more like you are getting paid your worth which feels good.
[00:12:44] Sue: Don't want to start feeling resentful. And So it raised my confidence in my offer. He helped me refine my offer as well. And just the pricing around it, I started getting a whole lot more confident [00:13:00] charging higher prices. Like I used to be nervous about that number coming out of my mouth on the phone with someone.
[00:13:10] Sue: And it took a little practice the first few times, but after hearing it from Mike and Knowing that I needed to just be willing and confident to charge what I was worth. It shifted things in terms of my confidence [00:13:30] in myself as an expert in my space, started seeing myself as more of an expert in my space.
[00:13:35] Sue: I'm now more confident actually approaching other influences because I think when you're charging less, you don't really see yourself on their level. And so now I'm starting to attract even higher quality clients. So literally there's a, a multimillionaire or someone who's made multiple millions in his business and I'm helping him with his book [00:14:00] and.
[00:14:01] Sue: It's just something I didn't really see myself doing six months ago.
[00:14:07] Chanelle: Yeah. Oh my gosh. That's awesome. And I love that piece of first, what it's done for you, raising your confidence, validating, what you were already doing. And also what the shift that then comes in with your clients, with who you're attracting and with how you're serving That is some really powerful stuff.
[00:14:27] Chanelle: I know that you recently had a major [00:14:30] success in your business. You had a 9, 000 week. I would love to hear about that. Yes, that was awesome. So that was three clients. And literally, it's funny how they came in because it felt so effortless. It felt so easy, but Admittedly, when you've been running for a couple of years, there is some momentum that seems to be generated.
[00:14:57] Sue: Finally, when you get to a point where you've [00:15:00] had a number of clients, you've worked with a number of people. And so with this week in particular, one was a referral from another client. Another one was a client in my group coaching program who decided she wanted done for you instead of done with you.
[00:15:19] Sue: And then a third was in another business community I'm in and so she heard of me and then came across me. I had four calls. That week [00:15:30] actually, but I closed the three of them. I think the fourth one was someone who'd been in my community for quite a long time. So yes, she'd been in my community probably for a year or more, never been a customer before, suddenly reached out to me and on the phone bought some done for you services.
[00:15:52] Sue: So That was amazing. The one who was a client who'd been in my group coaching [00:16:00] program, which is obviously costs a fair bit less, she, funnily enough, she actually gosped when I told her the price and then she pulled out her credit card and paid. And I was amazed, and I think if I had started backtracking or started justifying or excusing then possibly I would have lost the sale, but I would just keep quiet.
[00:16:25] Sue: And she just said, Okay.
[00:16:27] Chanelle: Good for you. [00:16:30] In that moment she gasps and you kept quiet. What were you thinking?
[00:16:36] Sue: I was thinking, Oh my goodness, am I charging her too much? Oh my goodness. Can she afford this? She's going to say no. Yeah. I was having those fearful, nervous, self doubt thoughts. Absolutely.
[00:16:52] Chanelle: Yeah. As most of us would, and then she turns around and pays. That's awesome.
[00:16:59] Sue: And [00:17:00] she's so grateful for the help because she couldn't do it on her own. She couldn't. She's it would be too much for her.
[00:17:05] Chanelle: Which is wonderful, which ultimately, like you mentioned earlier, that is why you're charging these prices so that you can serve at the highest level.
[00:17:14] Chanelle: And so it's great. It's awesome. Now I'd love to hear you have this 9, 000 week. How does that impact your business moving forward? And how does it impact you personally?
[00:17:28] Sue: That again, [00:17:30] validated that I can charge higher and get yeses. One person turned me down, but three said yes, and I was happy for the one who said no to go and she did it because she felt it was too much.
[00:17:45] Sue: And what was amazing was I didn't try and discount. I didn't, reconsider what I had charged. I just thought, okay, that's fine. It's not for her right now. And maybe it will be in the future, [00:18:00] but that's fine with me. I still stand by what I'm going to charge and also showed me that it's repeatable.
[00:18:10] Sue: So it just gave me the confidence to keep doing it and keep going. Yeah.
[00:18:17] Chanelle: Yeah. And it's so easy to want to backtrack and say, Oh, let me take the price down. Let me do this. And so I love that confidence and that foster. And even [00:18:30] that thought that hope maybe she'll come back. Maybe she will realize in the future that she needs me.
[00:18:36] Chanelle: And that's a great thing because it allows you to just. So it's really important that you understand where you're at and serve at the highest level. So that's fantastic. Now I want to go a little bit deeper. We talked a little bit about your sales calls and how those went on. So those four sales calls you mentioned one was a referral.
[00:18:55] Chanelle: Are you actively recruiting for referrals? Is that something that you [00:19:00] ask for?
[00:19:02] Sue: Bye. Oh, no, actually, I don't. I do have I do sometimes when I'm doing an event, I will I will, then I will sometimes ask for referrals and provide a referral link for some of my best customers and a couple of referral partners.
[00:19:23] Sue: So some peers, for example, a speaking expert. So she has a similar audience to me and she's a good [00:19:30] friend. So yes, sometimes, but no, I probably don't really actively ask every single client that I work with, tell your friends about me.
[00:19:41] Chanelle: Yeah. And yet it still happened, which always speaks to the quality of work that you're doing and the way that you're helping people if they're willing to refer.
[00:19:50] Chanelle: And then the other one I wanted more details on is this person who had been in your world for a while. What were you doing to nurture that [00:20:00] client and to stay top of mind that caused her to reach out?
[00:20:04] Sue: I tried to send. Emails or posts of value in my Facebook group and then on my email list as well.
[00:20:14] Sue: So just regularly providing some sort of value to them, whether it's a short video clip from one of my events, so a part of, a short part of my training, something in my coaching program that I can clip a little [00:20:30] bit from and send out to people or other writing tips and techniques that I can send to people by email.
[00:20:39] Sue: That's essentially what I do, and then sometimes I will put out an invitation For people to book a call as well. So it's mainly that and then some organic reach as well, so some DMing and just asking them. How's your book going? Especially if I see that they've been engaged They've either been [00:21:00] engaged on my email list Perhaps they're replying to me or they are engaged in my facebook group or they've been at a live event And they were taking part a lot And yet they haven't bought yet.
[00:21:11] Chanelle: Yeah Perfect. So I hear a lot of just being very aware and intentional of the people who are in your audience of the people who are interacting to keep drawing them in and pulling them back. I think that's really powerful. So once you have [00:21:30] evolved with this business and continued to grow your business and yourself, I'm curious what has been The rewarding part for you.
[00:21:39] Chanelle: What has been, for this business, what have some of the rewards been personally and professionally?
[00:21:46] Sue: Personally, I love seeing women fulfill a dream. And so to fulfill a dream of writing a book when so often it's been such a long held dream. It's very satisfying to me. [00:22:00] When a lot of them are holding the books in their hands, there's often a lot of tears.
[00:22:05] Sue: And I can truly see just how much it means to them. And then knowing that they finally got their message out there and that they Are then able to impact other people so I feel like there's a ripple effect as well So i'm helping them impacting them and then they with their book and their message are impacting however many other people and so there's this exponential effect [00:22:30] which is so gratifying and amazing and especially as The women that I work with, they are all putting out something very positive, something very life giving, something that really wants to help other people.
[00:22:45] Sue: So on a personal level, I love that. I love producing my own income just as a woman. I love it. I found it difficult just being at home with the kids and not having. I don't think I've produced any of my own money. [00:23:00] So running a my own business is just personally very satisfying to me.
[00:23:05] Sue: And it's so nice not always to have to ask permission on everything that I'm buying anymore because I'm making my own money. Even though, we share everything. It just. It just really feels good. And I love the freedom of it. I've always wanted the freedom of working for myself and not working for someone else.
[00:23:26] Sue: I did work in the corporate world for a while, and I just [00:23:30] always wanted to lead my own thing and have my own thing. And then just the fact that it's location independent. It's so amazing for me as well. I've gone to Mexico and done coaching calls from Mexico and California and run a coaching call from California, and it's just so fun to be able to go anywhere in the world.
[00:23:53] Sue: And then still be able to handle the business, keep up with. What I [00:24:00] need to do and it doesn't matter where I am.
[00:24:04] Chanelle: Yes. Wonderful. Okay. That's so great. Thank you for sharing that. And now we are at my favorite part of the client spotlight episodes, which is this question. What is the number one piece of advice you'd like to share with others who are listening?
[00:24:21] Sue: Oh, my goodness. So there's so much I could say, but just what I've learned from other mentors. There's [00:24:30] so many amazing golden things I've learned from other mentors. But number one is you have to take action. You have to take action and you have to stick to one thing until you've completed it. I see so many people failing because of shiny object syndrome.
[00:24:48] Sue: And they bash the heads against the wall again and again because they try one program, they half attempt it. They give up on it before completing it, as soon as it gets [00:25:00] hard, and then they move on to something else, and then they're chasing so many different things, and they're not succeeding, so find a mentor who's done what you want, and is succeeding at it, and then just do what they say, and follow the recipe, and keep going until you've completed it.
[00:25:19] Sue: I just. That is so much a part of any success that I've had is just when I've focused, just focused on one thing and finished it. [00:25:30] Even with a book, just focusing on one book, not writing three books at once and just finishing it and just don't quit. I, there's so many times in my entrepreneurial journey, I could have quit just before the breakthrough.
[00:25:46] Sue: And if you don't quit, you will get there. You will.
[00:25:51] Chanelle: Yeah. Fantastic advice that so many of us need take action, stick to the one thing and don't quit. I love it. [00:26:00] So to wrap this episode up, can you tell us how our listeners can find out more about you and what you're up to?
[00:26:08] Sue: Yeah, sure. So obviously I'm on Facebook.
[00:26:11] Sue: That's probably my favorite platform. And I have a Facebook business profile as well, which is suesundstrom.com. So that's dot. com literally. But for any woman of faith who want to come to a writing event, they want some writing tips. They [00:26:30] want to know just how to get started. Best place to go to is rightnowchallenge.
[00:26:35] Sue: com. So that's literally write as in write a book right now challenge. com
[00:26:43] Chanelle: perfect. Okay. Thank you Sue so much for being with us, for teaching us. It's awesome to see your journey and the way that you're helping women keep at it. Thank you everyone for listening and for being here on the podcast and we will see you next time.