So you want to write a book, but how do you actually publish it? In this episode, Melissa and Tony break down the three main publishing paths (traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing), share their own experiences navigating each model, and get brutally honest about the money, effort, and strategy involved.

Whether you dream of landing a book deal, distributing through indie bookstores, or owning the whole process from cover design to sales, this episode will help you get clear on your goals and pick the publishing path that works for you.

We discuss:

• The 3 main ways to publish a book
• Why your “why” for writing the book matters—whether it’s income, legacy, or lead generation, your goal should shape your publishing path.
• Why traditional publishing doesn’t remove all of your costs
• The pros and cons of self-publishing
• The benefits of hybrid publishing. Tony shares how he published his book this way and what he learned.
• Selling books isn’t just about writing—Melissa breaks down how she uses swag, bundles, direct sales, etc to generate income from her books.

Our Links

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Drip Trickle Flow Flood T-Shirts

We’ve got merch! That’s right, Drip Trickle Flow Flood t-shirts are officially here and they’re as comfy as they are conversation-starting.

Grab yours!

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.

In this episode of Drip Trickle Flow Flood, we’re joined by veteran loan officer Gary Tice from Edge Home Finance. With over 25 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Gary brings a calm approach and deep expertise to a topic that often feels overwhelming—home buying. From improving your credit to navigating loans as a self-employed professional to demystifying investment property financing, this is a must-listen for anyone thinking about buying, refinancing, or investing in real estate.

Key Takeaways:

• Credit utilization matters more than most people realize. Keep credit card usage below 30% of your limit at statement time to boost your credit score, and ultimately, your loan options.
• Self-employed? There are still plenty of mortgage options. If tax write-offs hurt your qualifying income, alternative documentation loans like bank statement or P&L loans can help.
• Have at least four “trade lines.” A strong mortgage application often includes multiple forms of credit—think car loans and credit cards—not just one or two.
• Don’t box yourself in with a 15-year mortgage. Gary suggests opting for a 30-year term and making extra payments instead. It gives you flexibility if life throws a curveball.
• Bridge loans are a game-changer. If you need equity from your current home to buy your next, a bridge loan can give you up to 12 months with no payment on your old home.
• The Fed doesn’t control mortgage rates directly. Mortgage rates are tied to the global bond market, and recent trends show rates improving, making now a smart time to explore refinancing or buying.

Our Links

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.

What started as a passion for backyard games turned into a Guinness World Record, a book, a multi-stream business, and a growing rental empire. In this episode of Drip Trickle Flow Flood, we sit down with Matt Greer, founder of Yard Games World, who shares how he built a thriving side hustle rooted in fun and competition. From cornhole marathons to social media strategy, Matt shows how play can pay, and why your side income might be one toss away from going big.

We discuss:

• The wild story behind his Guinness World Records
• How a love of yard games turned into a book deal and a backyard empire
• How a few social media posts led to a booming rental business
• How Matt’s W2 job helps him grow
• The unexpected combo of rentals, leagues, content, and product sales that power his brand
• How TikTok and Instagram helped turn his hobby into a recognized platform
• The advantage of being a generalist with a wide skillset
• His latest business expansion, and the bigger plans just around the corner

Links for Matt

Yard Games World

Matt’s Book: The World’s Greatest Backyard Games

Lawn Game rentals in Greater Boston

Our Links

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.

What if the weirdest commercial of your life could help unlock a whole new income stream?

In this solo episode with Melissa & Tony, Melissa pulls back the curtain on her unexpected entrance into a new income stream that’s quickly becoming a flow.

Melissa breaks down how she’s blending 20+ years of experience into a profitable new income stream, and why this space might be perfect for others, especially if you're over 40.

Tony and Melissa also spill the tea on their new merch line and what’s next for the pod.

Discussed in this episode:

• Your old skills still matter and they can make you money. Those skills can be repurposed in new, profitable ways.
• There’s power (and profit) in being 40+. In a digital world that often feels youth-obsessed, mature voices and faces are in demand, and often face way less competition.
• You don’t need a “big idea,” you need a fresh lens. Melissa simply reframed her existing skills in a new context and found a whole new income stream.
• Your everyday life is content. Whether it’s your pets, your partner, your routine, or your random hobbies, there’s a market for your story when you’re willing to share it.
• Side hustles don’t always have to be scrappy. When you start on “third base”—leveraging years of experience—you can go from “maybe” to “money” faster than you think.

AND … as promised … the commercial that started it all!

Check out the commercial on our Substack: https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Links

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.

After 20+ episodes, Melissa’s husband Gary finally joins us for a lively conversation that zigzags from building a monthly personal financial statement to flipping roadside finds, starting a finance club, and how pickleball coaching principles apply to money. You’ll hear how Melissa and Gary tag-team investing (research meets execution), why “movement without vision is chaos,” and how tiny, compounding actions create real freedom on the court and in your bank account.

We discuss:

• Building a personal financial statement: list assets (investments, art/watches you actually enjoy, etc.) and liabilities, then track net worth over time to see if the graph is moving in the right direction.
• Keeping tabs on where your cash and exposure live (T-bills, equities, commodities, etc.). Use tools to make idle assets work without overreaching into margin.
• A finance club can be two people and a Thursday. Swap short lessons, compare notes on markets, and use ChatGPT to structure a smart agenda so it’s more than talk.
• From hydrangeas to Facebook Marketplace flips, small wins compound. Don’t obsess over “hourly rate” during downtime. Stack drips and trickles and let them add up.
• Gary’s coaching mantra—“movement without vision is chaos”—applies to sport and money. Decide why you’re doing something, then commit. Chunk skills, chase 1% better daily.

Links

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.

What do you get when a seasoned fractional CMO starts growing vegetables in her backyard? An unexpected pipeline of leads, and a brilliant example of drip, trickle, flow, flood in action.

In this episode, we’re joined by Dusti Arab, founder of Hearth & Hollow, The Reinvention Co. and host of Referral Worthy. Dusti walks us through her multidimensional career as a marketer, her new passion project (a backyard nursery), and how saying yes to creative ideas like growing shishito peppers in a greenhouse can bloom into something so much bigger than you'd expect.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Dusti’s greenhouse hobby unexpectedly led to new marketing clients
• What a "plant CSA" is, and why no one else is doing it
• The reality of slow seasons in business and how Dusti weathered them
• How markets and in-person connections can revive your creativity
• Dusti's ecosystem of income: retainer clients, VIP days, courses, and now plant sales
• Why she's writing a productivity guide for her 13-year-old (and yours too!)
• How her family embraces entrepreneurship
• Real talk on what’s changing in the marketing space, and how she’s adapting

🎧 Listen now to hear how Dusti’s backyard garden turned into fertile ground for reinvention, and how you can start small, experiment smart, and build a business that actually feeds you.

Check out Hearth & Hollow

Check out Dusti’s website

Listen to Dusti’s podcast, Referral Worthy

Links

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.

In this episode of Drip Trickle Flow Flood, we unpack a recent Fortune article about the rise in delisted homes, and what it really signals about the current housing market. Is it strategy? Stubbornness? Or something deeper about how people are processing a market that no longer feels predictable?

We discuss:

• The psychology behind sellers refusing to lower prices
• Why real estate is more emotional than people admit
• The myth of “real estate only goes up”
• The trap of low interest rates and how it’s freezing movement
• What sellers can do besides slash their price
• How to make smart moves whether you’re buying, selling, or holding

Links

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.

In this episode of Drip Trickle Flow Flood, we sit down with the brilliant Jessie Rosen, USA Today bestselling author of The Heirloom and All the Signs, screenwriter for major studios like Warner Brothers and Netflix, and creator of a Substack newsletter all about bravery. Jessie opens up about the realities of money as a creative in Los Angeles: the shame, the hustle, the luck, the leverage, and the life choices that shape not just a career, but a sustainable and fulfilling life.

Takeaways from this episode:

• Why money conversations can feel taboo among creatives.
• The mix of luck, leverage, skill, and tenacity that shapes creative pay in Hollywood.
• How Jessie built multiple income streams: from writing, teaching, copy gigs, and publishing, to Airbnb hosting.
• The hidden shame many creatives feel about side hustles.
• Why comparing your behind-the-scenes to someone else’s highlight reel is a losing game.
• Jessie’s reckoning with what she truly wanted her life to feel like, and how money became a tool for designing that life.
• The importance of financial literacy, asking “embarrassing” money questions, and saving early for long-term freedom.

Links

Check out Jessie’s website and buy her books

Subscribe to Jessie’s Substack

Tony’s website

Melissa’s website

Rate and Review

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to rate and review Drip Trickle Flow Flood on your favorite podcast platform. It helps new listeners discover the show and it makes our day. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe to this newsletter for income ideas that drip, trickle, flow, and flood into your life.

https://driptrickleflowflood.substack.com/

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. The opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the views of any companies or organizations they may be affiliated with.

Listeners should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee that the information presented is complete, current, or applicable to your specific situation. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge and agree that the hosts, guests, and producers are not responsible for any financial decisions you make based on the content discussed.