Chanel E. Martin is the Founder/CEO of Beyond the Book Media. She also holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering by trade. She has been able to utilize her training & background to help revolutionize the way both new & established authors publish new works of Non-fiction. She also places a strong emphasis & value on the importance of branding & niche publishing. For instance, to put it more clearly if you are an expert in a certain arena such as sports management, she helps her client to leverage that knowledge & business acumen into a whole brand including authoring a book to boost their revenue and credibility in the market. She is also a devout Christian & is not afraid to stand on her faith-based values within her business structure. Her company in fact is called Kingdom Business Network & she sites one of her favorite scriptures as 2 Timothy 1:7 which states from the new living translation which she loves, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” It has indeed helped to serve her well in her business practices as she has exhibited fearlessness and self-discipline throughout her career & I am thrilled to be able to help share her story in further depth.
Tell us more about the Kingdom Business Network & all of which it is comprised.
KBN is a faith-based media company headquartered out of ATL and Columbia, SC. We provide faith-based media content, and business coaching to entrepreneurs who want to pursue their business ‘God’s Way.’ Our main platform right now is on Clubhouse where we host over 100,000 members in our club and we have about twenty-five recurring rooms, ‘which we call shows’, where we have a whole host of people that share content inside of our club daily. Lastly, we also just launched our YouTube channel where we stream live productions including healing nights, faith nights, conferences, and so many different things. We’ve been able to have a global impact in helping people grow their business with God in God’s way.
You have described how the landscape of book publishing has changed since the onset of nationwide lockdowns to readers gravitating more towards digital platforms, eBooks, & Audio Books. How does this help/and or make it more challenging for the clients you represent?
Of course, it makes it easier because it does not take as much time to go to market. Typically, you would have to have a huge platform, need to get a publishing deal and have access to a large amount of capital to even publish a book or content. Now, you can do it for relatively cheap if you hire vendors, use platforms like Fiverr, or just do it yourself so that’s great!
Why do you feel it is important for entrepreneurs to become an entire brand & expand into authoring books, and teaching courses tailored to their specific area of knowledge & expertise?
The barrier to entry into entrepreneurship is super low so that means you can wake up tomorrow, start a new business and call yourself an entrepreneur. However, when you author a new book or create an entire course you are stamping yourself as an industry expert. If someone is trying to decide between going with “Susie Sally” who just launched her business two days ago versus your business where you’ve already authored books, created courses, and already shown your expertise then they are more likely to come to you.
At what point did you realize that you were called to equip & impart your years of knowledge gained into other business owners’ lives to help them grow?
I started doing this in 2014. I had the wonderful privilege of helping co-found a hair & beauty tech company called Myavana, and we got so much help and mentorship from top industry experts because we were in start-up accelerator programs. In those programs, you get access to mentorship and coaching that is typically either done by awarding of a grant or someone pouring equity into your company. As I started to transition out of those programs, I realized that a lot of people did not have that same knowledge. I received so many questions from people wanting to know “Chanel how did you do this? How did you raise money? How were you able to get onto national tv? How did you launch your business?” I kept getting a whole lot of how’s. It was then that I realized that everybody did not have the same access. That is when I started to do online courses. The first online course I ever taught was “How to Fundraise for Your Business.” This is when I realized this was my calling. I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and this was a way I can serve God’s people and operate in my purpose.
Many entrepreneurs are having to be creative to stay afloat during the pandemic. What is one thing that you have learned over the past couple of years that has helped BTBM to continue to flourish during this season?
BUILD A COMMUNITY! One of the things that have helped us is that we constantly build and serve our community. I use this methodology called ‘Serve First Sell Later,’ in which I serve a community for free or for a very low cost and I continuously serve them so that when I am preparing and ready to sell them something they have already been a beneficiary of the value that I bring. I always sell them the next step of something that I serve so if they can afford it, it is a likely option for them. So, when you have a community, you literally have access to people who will love you, who will buy from you and stick beside you. If you do not have one around you, get one.
How are you able to get your customers’ books published in 7-21 days which seems to be very accelerated as opposed to the more traditional commercial publishing house route?
Just to be clear we are not actually publishing books in 7-21 days; we are actually helping you WRITE your book in 7-21days. Now that is still very much accelerated because if you ask any author, they can spend an average of six months to 2-3 years authoring a book. I am a former chemical engineer by trade, and I look at everything as a process. I decided that I was going to help people write non-fiction books in as little as 7 days, so I created an accelerated outline that breaks down how many words you need to write a day, how many hours you need to spend writing, and how many times you need to write a day. We also teach you how to outline your book-making, which makes the writing process a lot easier. In addition to that, I also created writing prompts for those interested in writing a non-fiction book that shares their expertise. We have created an entire prompt framework where you just answer a series of questions and before you know it you will have a book.
You offer various other courses such as finance as well outside of BTBM. Why is this important to you?
Yes! I do have a fundraising course that teaches you how to raise money. That is important to me because that was the first course, I offered that seemed to also be the most impactful because people feel that they are extremely limited by access to startup capital, and it is because of start-up capital that I can do the business I do. In addition to that, inside of KBN, I offer a mentorship program called “The Master’s Mind” which is a mastermind program in which we equip faith-based entrepreneurs & provide them with the tools as well as community resources and support they need to be successful in business and in their faith & not have to compromise in any area.
You have a master’s degree in chemical engineering & Co-founded a hair & skin care company called Myavana in 2013, how does this background help with your present-day business practices?
I learned how to create processes and how to move things through processes quickly and that is how I use my chemical engineering background. Also, I know how to reverse engineer and solve the unknown. Let’s say that I am faced with a challenge or problem, and it feels like a really big one, I essentially map things out like I would any engineering problem. The same way I would if I worked in a manufacturing facility and there was something wrong with some of the equipment in our plant, we would have to do a series of tests, go, and analyze data, and figure out what is going wrong. I take that same approach in everything I do, especially in entrepreneurship. Also, when you systemize something, you can sell it. When you systemize it, you can also make it scalable and repeatable. That is why everything I do is scalable and repeatable, and if it is not, I will not sell or offer it.
Chanel Martin does everything she puts her hands to doing with a spirit of excellence. As should be clearly evidenced by now she believes in always keeping her integrity & faith intact while serving her clients & community. She knows in her heart that every arena & space she is blessed to work in whether business or the church directly is absolutely a part of her assignment & considered ministry, every opportunity is one for her to “Show the Love of Christ.” It is also a chance for her to “show her heart” which she clearly wears upon her sleeve. She strives to be a living representation of the glory of God and His goodness & mercy. Letting her light so shine so that everyone around her can clearly see her good works is how she is able to go beyond the book in such a positive and connected way. If you’ve ever thought about writing a book or perhaps you want to know more information about how to connect with her Kingdom Business Courses, or just want to know more about this phenomenal Woman of the faith follow her on her personal website at https://chanelmartin.com/ as well as her company site https://beyondthebookmedia.com/ for all the latest up to date details of her great work.
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