The Biz Book Broadcast

Poison is when you bite it. Venom is when it bites you. Why do you need to know this? Accuracy. Also - pedantry. Copywriter Rachel Allen of Bolt from the Blue Copywriting is back in the studio for a two-parter on that very topic. We're considering Eli Burnstein's Dictionary of Fine Distinctions, a pedant's dream about the tiny gaps between words that at first glance appear identical. We look at th...

A rabbit. A tree. No words. Yet somehow a superb illustration of community + belonging. Tonya Kubo - online community expert + host of Find Your Freaks - joins me to dissect Balint Zarko's gorgeous wordless picture book Bunny and Tree. We dig into what makes two wildly different beings become a thriving community + why belonging isn't something you can design - it has to be earned. And the moment...

Ron Tester is back for another History Pop-Up. This month as well as Ron's usual book on the great men of history (if you know, you know) we cover the author who created the entire true crime genre + visit ancient Athens. We also cover a short book that manages to squeeze in 500 years of art history + be funny as it does so. Which nicely balances out an enraging book about London. Ron kindly lets...

Finally, you've finished writing your book. Fabulous. Sadly, writing The End isn't actually the finish line it appears - it's just the start of getting it published. Sorry about that.  Emily Hitchcock - publishing expert + CEO of Columbus Publishing Lab + Boyle & Dalton - is back to guide us through what actually happens between a finished draft and a proper, professional book. We cover the th...

Do you actually know why your clients hire you? Not what you think the reason is - what they actually say when you ask them? Kathryn McGarvey - founder of Nosy HQ + client researcher - joins me to dig into why most businesses never ask their customers the right questions. And what happens when they finally do. We cover the questions that unlock better marketing, why surveys are mostly useless + th...

Marsha Shandur - our persuasive story expert - has a simple framework that makes everything you write for your business more persuasive. That's every presentation, email + piece of sales copy more effective. So helpful. She walks us through the whole thing - normally only taught in her workshops - as we look at Two Homes, a picture book about a kid with separated parents that turns out to be a mas...

As a keen reader - teetering on the obsessive actually, I read upwards of 600 books a year - I've had to get very good at choosing which books to focus on. I want to lock-on to the right ones fast + ditch the wrong ones for me faster. AI has changed how I do that. In this solo show I share exactly how I use it to get better recommendations, decide whether to abandon a book + extract the good bits...

Is the sky actually falling in? Or are marketers just very good at making you think it is? Forrest Linden - strategic advisor to knowledge entrepreneurs - joins me to take the Chicken Little story apart as a business tale. Because the panic merchants of the internet have a lot to answer for. We dig into what's genuinely changing in online business right now, what's just fear-mongering + why email...

When did you last read a novel from a Kiwi author? If it's been a while, we’ve got some cracking books for your list.  Kathryn McGarvey - marketing expert + founder of Nosy HQ - is back for a special New Zealand edition of our Fiction Pop-Up.  NZ literature is brilliant, yet sadly, criminally underrepresented in most people's libraries. Including, ahem, mine. We cover dystopian dread, a detective...

Publishing scams are everywhere right now. And the truly frightening thing? They're catching out really smart people - judges, lawyers, high-powered business owners. People who should know better. Emily Hitchcock - CEO of Columbus Publishing Lab + hybrid publisher Boyle & Dalton - is back to walk us through exactly what to look for. From dodgy website tells to the cold call that sounds too goo...

What makes a story actually land? Oddly, it’s not the big dramatic moments - it’s the really small ones. Marsha Shandur, of Yes Yes Marsha - our expert on persuasive storytelling - is back to discuss what a picture-book about a little girl missing her mum gets oh so right. We dig into why action scenes beat narrative every time + why business storytellers skip the thing that makes people actually...

The description on the back of a book is doing much more work than first appears. Get it wrong and readers feel genuinely betrayed - there's actual neuroscience behind why. Biz Book regular Rachel Allen - founder of Bolt from the Blue Copywriting - joins me to uncover what makes a great book description. We discuss the pitfalls that will lose readers + why the person who wrote your favourite book...

No business books today. Just me, a pile of fiction + strong opinions. (Would you expect anything less of me?) This is our second speed reviews solo - a quick run through of recent books from the finished pile. We start with a debut novel that everyone loved... except me. So often the way.  We look at a Glasgow crime series I can't get enough of - and the audio book narrator of dreams. Plus, my fa...

It's time for another History Pop-Up with Ron Tester. We’ve got a mix of assassinated Presidents, smuggled books, a surprise for the beer drinking book nerd + a disagreement about a murder victim.  Look for more History Pop-Ups where we abandon business books entirely + indulge our other book nerd tendencies. Books discussed in this episode: Destiny of the Republic - Candice Millard The CIA Book C...

You know that vicious little voice inside your head telling you you're a fraud? Today's guest Terri Trespicio has some thoughts on it. Because there's nothing worse than being bullied by your own brain.  Terri's an award-winning writer and speaker. She’s delivered a wildly successful TED Talk with over 8 million views. Gosh.  She knows a lot about that nasty internal voice. We discuss why imposter...

What can a quiet little boy, a dying tree and a box of lost mittens teach us about standing out in a world of bland and often AI-generated copy? Quite a lot, actually. Rachel Allen - copywriter, author + Chief Marketing Officer - joins me to discuss Jacques Goldstein's gorgeous picture book Bertolt.  We discuss why it's a masterclass in messaging, what grief has to do with your best creative work...

What can palm trees in LA + board games teach you about strategy? I talk with executive coach Juliet Corbett about finding strategy lessons in unexpected places. We explore how childhood games taught Juliet to be a strategist + why the board game Labyrinth is a lesson in agility. I share how I have difficulty visiting an ice cream shop and not entirely reworking their entire strategy in my head. L...

It’s that time again – another fabulous fiction Pop-up.  Word-nerd and Biz Book regular Rachel Allen is with us again + this time we’ve both got a linked theme for our books (check out how fancy + organized we are) Look for more Pop-Ups – the last show of most is either History or Fiction and packed with reading suggestions Books discussed in this episode: Forever Amber - Kathleen Windsor Hooked -...

Right Tools, Wrong Strategy | Classics with Ron Tester Ever bought a course you never finished? Yeah - me too. Ron Tester is back to discuss Oliver Jeffers' delightful book Stuck + what happens when you keep throwing things at problems without a strategy. We discuss why buying courses feels like progress when it isn't, the difference between tactics + strategy and why more is almost never the answ...

Ever opened an email that's a wall of text + had to scroll all the way to the bottom just to find out what it's actually about?  Communication expert Chris Fenning quite literally wrote the book on why this happens and - more importantly - how to fix it. We discuss two simple frameworks for clearer communication, why waffle reads as disrespect rather than charm + the uncomfortable truth that peopl...

It's been a while since we had our Your Biz Needs a Book strand front and centre. So it's time to remind you how helpful a book can be.   In the studio Sean Platt is back - he's written 200+ books + ghost-written plenty more. He's never found a business that couldn't benefit from one - even the local chiropractor. We discuss why writing the wrong book can actively hurt you, the question you must a...

Growing up - did you love Where the Wild Things Are? Gorgeous book, but thing is, it's a terrible template for business. Kym Medina joins me to discuss Maurice Sendak's classic + what it teaches about seagull management. We discuss why the book lands so differently in the UK vs US, the difference between loud borrowed power + real sustainable power + why creativity collapses without responsibility...

What if you stopped trying to control time? Executive coach Juliet Corbett joins me to discuss Oliver Burkeman's transformative book 4000 Weeks + why accepting you can't do everything might be the most productive thing you ever do. We discuss the difference between clock time + deep time + how the pandemic gave us all an experience of medieval time management. Plus, why flow state would make your...

The Day the Crayons Made Friends | Classics with Ron Tester  If you’d like my help with your Business go to www.lizscully.com/endlessClients ==== And don’t forget to get your reading list of the 10 essential reads for every successful biz owner - these are the books Liz recommends almost on the daily to her strategy + Mastermind clients. This isn’t your usual list of biz books, these answer the ch...

Some people lead by telling others what to do. Others lead by simply being themselves. In this Classics episode, I’m joined by copyright + trademark attorney Kathryn Goldman to talk about the classic kids book Madeline. We explore creative courage + thriving inside structure rather than rebelling against it, and why this maps so cleanly to creative entrepreneurs. We also get practical about intell...