Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Allison G. Daniels. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Allison thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Tell us the story of how you came up with the idea for your business? Paint the picture for us so we really understand the context, circumstances, the emotions etc. Walk us through how you knew this was a worthwhile endeavor – talk to us about the logic of why you felt this would work? Were you solving a problem that no one else was solving? Were you offering a unique approach or what about this idea got you most excited? I grew up writing in journals and notebooks. I grew up around 4 beautiful black women who gathered around a dinner table to read, write and discussion the bible. I believe that my writing started from that point. When I turned eight or nine years old, I started writing in a journal and keeping a journal every year. I knew that I needed a way to share my feelings, emotions, and things that I was going through growing up but didn’t have an outlet. So, writing became therapy for me. It was a healing remedy that gave me great joy to look back over my progress. Writing became my remedy, my answer to a solution.
In 1994, I started off writing poetry books and made a decision to write a book every year. I also wanted to create an avenue or a platform to assist authors and writers with getting their story out. I continue to release a book every year 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 etc. I continue to speak on several stages, churches and events programs and received numerous awards.
So, I continue to do my research down through the years and found out how I could turn my books into a business. I started doing research on how to start my own publishing company. I started sending out emails and inquiring information from others on how to get started.
In August 2019 during the Covid-19 pandemic, I launched my publishing company, AGD Publishing Services, LLC. From this point, I had to determine what kind of publisher I wanted to be because publishing companies can fall into several categories from traditional to self-publishing. Here are a few of the steps that I have taken in order to get my publishing company up and running listed below.
(1) I choose my business name
(2) Developed/created my business structure (LLC)
(3) I registered my business
(4) I obtained my EIN
(5) I opened up a business banking account with my publishing company’s name.
(6) I hired my personal attorney to oversee my business needs.
(7) I consulted with my attorney to trademark my publishing company. Kindly note that I consulted with a lawyer throughout my entire process but there were a few things that I could do on my own, through my own research and what I couldn’t do I turned it over to my attorneys.
(8) I needed to decision on my primary or genre was ___. I wanted to narrow down what market I wanted to target or focus in on. This is where you will need to understand your audience.
(9) I purchased a domain name
(10) I hired a website designed to create a website for my business.
SOCIAL MEDIA
https://twitter.com/AllisonDaniels9
https://www.instagram.com/allisongdaniels/
https://www.facebook.com/AGDPublishing
https://www.facebook.com/allison.g.daniels
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-g-daniels-b701342a/
Allison G. Daniels – YouTube
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
Allison G. Daniels is an Certified Diversity Trainer, Book Writing Coach, Multi-Visionary strategist for non-fiction authors, 15x best-selling author on Amazon in the Christian-fiction, non-fiction who has written over 31 books, Co-Author of 14 books, Visionary Author several books and her latest book anthology is titled: “Unshakable Faith , Redirect, Define and Renew you. She is the Founder/President of AGD Publishing Services, LLC, which is a publishing and coaching company where she is passionate about turning writers into successful published authors and coaching and helping women to overcome their personal and professional life challenges to share their transformational story through writing, to make an impact in the world. She offers a “30 Day Write 2 Finish Book Writing Program”. I help authors, aspiring authors, consultants and goal-setters to write, share and publish their book to create multiple streams of income, gain authority in their field and maximize their book sales” I help turn writers into successful published authors and apply those same principles in the publishing industry.
She is a notable (or distinguished) speaker, coach, and book writing expert. She has a Segment on Facebook Live @ 5am and Gospel Time Machine at 6am. She is the Host of Authors Chat with Allison Podcast and The Authors’ Lab Podcast. She has been married to her husband Earl for over 19 years and she is the proud mother of two beautiful Queens, Kristian and Damona. She uses her books, coaching and her mentoring skills as tools to help and assist those who are ready to lead with authority. Her mission is to aspire, dream and motivate others, in helping them reach their full potential.
Her personal philosophy is:
“There is power in sharing your story and speaking your truth because your #Story Matters!” WRITE IT NOW! Allison continues to create her own lane in the publishing arena.
SOCIAL MEDIA
https://twitter.com/AllisonDaniels9
https://www.instagram.com/allisongdaniels/
https://www.facebook.com/AGDPublishing
https://www.facebook.com/allison.g.daniels
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-g-daniels-b701342a/
Allison G. Daniels – YouTube
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
It really goes back to the advice I shared a few years ago. When I started my first business, Allison Daniels Ministries, LLC coaching and consulting business, I did not think that I need to create nor implement a business plan for my ministry because I was already doing it. I didn’t think I needed to hire a business coach nor a mentor because I had been in business for over 7 plus years. Well, my business suffered financially for the first 3 years of me not knowing where to turn or what to do. What I found is that because I had been around several entrepreneurs in my career that taking a loss for the first 5 years was okay. But what I failed to realize was that I needed to be preparing my business for those months as God allowed me or my business.
I was not completely aware of how much I was making and how much I was spending per year. Therefore, I was constantly spending more for my business that I was bringing in each month. My business was turning out to be an expensive hobby. I never learned how to re-assess or re-adjust my business for success. In 2017, I drafted my business plan, hired a coach, hired a tax attorney and began to know my numbers. So, I was seeing the fruits of my labor.
Any advice for managing a team?
My advice that I would give for managing a team and maintaining high morale would be to make sure that you high a manager to help you manage the needs of your business, spending quality time building your team for success and then be prepared for the ups and down of business and build as you grow.
Don’t give up on your dreams. Whatever you are passionate about find ways to connect with a mentor or coach that have already done what you want to do. Make sure that you put in the work, stay focused on your goals even in tough times. The road to a successful business is not always paved for you to follow. But you must begin to start where you are and write your own truth. You are empowered to Win!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.allisongdaniels.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allisongdaniels/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AGDPublishing
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-g-daniels-b701342a/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AllisonDaniels9
- Youtube: Allison G. Daniels – YouTube
Image Credits
Emma Burcusel