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5 Powerful Reasons You Should Write a Business Book Now
As a business owner, chances are your schedule is so full that writing a book is on your 5- to 10-year plan, at best.
Many picture writing and self-publishing a book to be a benchmark reserved for the end of their run with their business — maybe even during retirement as they look back on all the lessons they’ve learned.
But in waiting to write a book, you might be missing out on some important business growth that you can take advantage of today.
Writing, completing and self-publishing your own book gives you opportunities beyond the basics you might have imagined. The process can help you stage yourself as an industry educator and follow through with that reputation with new skills and opportunities.
Grab your business plan and get ready to write that book you’ve been dreaming up. Now is the best time to get started!
Writing a Book Establishes You as an Influencer
An influencer is someone people turn to as an industry advisor. And where trust goes, money follows.
The act of self-publishing a business book can be enough to start building trust with your audience. Many entrepreneurs plan to write a book about their experience and successes, but never make it happen because of the time and work that goes into it.
By putting your book on the shelves, you’ve already shown your audience your ability to execute on your goals. And if you have timely, useful, and informative content on top of that, your status as an influencer only grows.
Others in your field can use your book’s content for reference — not only for themselves, but for those they’re mentoring and working with.
Take the story of urban planner Mike Laydon, for example. Laydon launched his urban planning company during the recession, when potential clients were unlikely to want to invest in large-scale projects.
Instead of giving up, Mike decided to tap into what people did want, and established himself as an expert in the area. He noticed low-cost experiments like turning high-traffic areas into bike and pedestrian-friendly places were growing in popularity.
He launched a series of case studies on this growing trend, and published the final product as an eBook on his personal website.
Since the content was both timely and relevant, full of reliable information for those looking to stay ahead of the game in urban planning, his eBook was a hit, with 10,000 downloads from his site right off the bat.
Due to the success of the book, he published 2 more, with even more detailed information about the topic. He ended up with over 160,000 downloads, and a reputation as a thought leader in urban planning.
Writing a Book Sets Your Business Apart from Others
Humans thrive on relationships. Whether they can meet you face to face or not, writing and self-publishing a book is a way to establish a connection with readers that sets you apart from other businesses.
Think about the last time you were absorbed in a book, whatever kind it may have been. Chances are, the more involved you became in the story, the closer you felt to the author.
With non-fiction, you can even get to the point in which you feel like you know the author personally. And the next time you see their name on something, it might feel like they’re an old friend or mentor.
Readers are much more likely to pick up the work of someone they relate to than a generic corporation that lacks personal connection.
In the same vein, imagine you’re interviewing potential business partners. The first interview is with an average CEO who goes about their day-to-day in meetings and on phone calls. They’re not necessarily bad at their job — there just isn’t much that sets them apart.
Next, imagine you’re interviewing with a CEO and self-published author. Their day-to-day is a little different in that not only are they a company leader, but they’re also a well-known educator in their field, thanks to the quality content they’ve researched and published.
Who would you rather partner with?
Writing a Book Helps You Reach Out in New Ways
Once you’ve established trust with readers, the floodgates are open: You’ve unlocked the potential to stay in contact with them through all your various marketing channels, not just when you put out another book.
Speaking opportunities
- When entrepreneurs trust that you know what you’re talking about, more companies and organizations will see you as an educational asset.
- Some will contact you for speaking gigs for anywhere from a room of 10 interested people to a crowd of 500 people, all with interest in your niche.
Email lists
- Just like any relationship, staying in the lives of your readers and customers requires some maintenance.
- Getting people on your email list is a great way to share your ever-growing knowledge while creating a conversation where they get the chance to give you feedback.
Media opportunities
- A book gives you the perfect opportunity to create a press release and let the media know you’re an established industry educator.
- This can lead to more articles being written about you, more interviews, more shares of your digital content, and more.
Book signings
- Book signings are a fantastic way not only for you to make face-to-face connections with readers, but it also creates a space for said readers to find community and connection with one another. A tight-knit community is a loyal one!
Writing a Book Helps You Gain New Skills
Any entrepreneur knows the learning never ends. The difference between an average entrepreneur and a great one is embracing this fact.
Writing a book is a great way to do so, as you gain new skills that go far beyond improving your writing ability.
Planning tools
- Writing a book requires a plan of action that encompasses everything from editorial deadlines and marketing strategies to making sure the structure of a book is congruent to the message you want to share.
Time management skills
- In order to write consistently and self-publish your book as planned, it takes sharpening up your time management skills to fit a bit of writing in every day.
- It also requires you to be completely absorbed in the task, which means learning to shut off notifications and other distractions.
Building a team
- Don’t let the “self” in self-publishing fool you.
- To do your best work and get your book the proper exposure, you’ll need to build a team to help.
- In this case, the team consists of an editor, a literary agent, a proofreader and, if you’re looking to save some time, a marketing professional.
New Revenue Streams
Selling your self-published book creates new streams of revenue for your business.
Whether you’re selling your book online as an eBook, on consignment at a book store, or both, you book creates various new opportunities for people to make a purchase related to your business.
The revenue streams don’t stop at your book sales, either. Once you gain loyal readers, you’re likely to find other ways to make money, including:
Coaching and consulting gigs
- These are fast ways to make money and continues to build your reputation as an influencer.
Courses
- You can break down the content of your book (and other educational materials you may have gathered in the process) into paid courses and workshops.
Quality employees
- You’ll attract well-trained employees for your company that will assist you in driving revenue for the company as a whole.
When you picture writing a business book, the process can feel inspiring, yet daunting. But once you realize the vast potential it has to frame you as an educator and boost your business sales, the effort can be worth it.
A key component of the launch of a successful business book is embracing the process and celebrating your growth along the way.
