Want to become an instant expert?
Write a book.
Want to increase your credibility?
Write a book.
Want to leapfrog the competition, strengthen your leadership position, and bolster your brand?
That’s right. Write a book.
It sounds so simple. And it can be, as we can walk you through the process, from beginning to end.
Books are the ultimate calling card. Why hand out a business card, when you can hand out a book?
There’s really no better marketing tool than having a book with your name on the cover. Custom book publishing is one of today’s most effective business strategies in reaching targeted groups of people with information relevant to their needs, interests, and lifestyles. By introducing yourself to those who already shares your field of interest, you are reaching the most valuable audience.
Whatever your area of expertise, being seen as an authority gains you an audience that will see you as an expert. And that expertise translates into increased income. According to the Publishing Institute, writing a book boosts revenue 380% for consultants, 219% for public speakers and 194% for real estate agents.
Rather than trying a scattershot approach with broad-based advertising, such as on television or newspapers, a book will find you a market that is already focused on your field. Using the power of your own book will also gain you another advantage: People are looking for someone to trust, and you become that someone.
A book has staying power that far outlasts any advertisement. The strength of a book’s inherent permanence can maximize your marketing dollars with a message that endures. You will always be seen as the expert, rather than someone just trying to find business. And a trade quality, commercially viable publication conveys your message with style.
In 1981, marketing gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote the best-seller Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind. In it, they posited that the best way to increase your visibility and your presence is to be first in the mind of the consumers. Getting in front of consumers with a book gives you that advantage.
Whatever your field of expertise—law, politics, music, science—writing a book solidifies your expertise. Sarah Susanka was just another architect until she codified her design experience in a book extolling the virtues of smaller, better homes in direct opposition to so called “McMansions.” The Not So Big House became a best-seller, spawning a series of sequels, including Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live; The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live; and Creating the Not So Big House: Insights and Ideas for the New American Home.
Now Susanka is a major player in architecture. She’s been featured in numerous articles in newspapers, magazines, and online publications, on dozens of TV shows, from HGTV to This Old House, and is much in demand as a speaker. Her architecture business has exploded, and she’s seen as an expert in a field she basically created. All because she wrote a book.
Despite the fact that we are living in the digital age, books continue to serve as a powerful platform for projecting an author’s (or brand’s) leadership, vision and expertise in a particular market. Books also provide value as a conversation starter and as a source of credibility with influential people, including media, prospects and clients.
