Why write a book? You’re a busy entrepreneur – what difference would it make to you? You’re a pro at the self-talk about being too busy – or it’s just a ‘vanity project’… But your heart is secretly dreaming of writing your non-fiction book. You know your ‘system’ works – your clients tell you how much you help them – and you’d love to reach a wider audience.
But it’s hard to know where to get started, how to write a non fiction book or how to get a book published – let alone selling. So it goes on the back burner; another mañana-day dream.
Then one day, your 90th birthday sneaks up on you, and you realise you never wrote that book. And now it feels like it’s too late.
I don’t want that to happen to you. So here’s a loving butt-kick, to help you sneak that book up your priority list.
5 Ways A Book Can GROW Your Business – Even While You’re Sleeping
1. It’s A Truly Impressive Business Card – It Marks You Out As Being Different
How often do business cards stand out, at networking meetings? And how often do we rediscover them, lost in the bottom of a bag, months later – but struggle to remember who they belonged to?
Now imagine a different scenario: one of my books costs me little more to print than my high-end business cards. The book contains my full contact details. And it offers the reader a chance to really get to know me. So sometimes I give people the book, instead of the business card.
The book carries with it an authority that a card never could, no matter how many letters I have after my name.
And if it sparks curiosity in the recipient, and they read bits of it, they’re getting to know me, trust me and I get to make a difference in their life.
I also put my books on my business cards. It always sparks a surprised response and a desire to find out more. Remember: being an author is something that most potential clients might dream of, but doing it seems magically impossible, so if you manage it, you get instant respect.
2. You Get Their 100% Attention – And It Turns Them Into Superfans
Most of us browse the internet with at least a dozen open tabs. We grasshopper our way around the information we’re consuming, often multi-screening, and listening to music at the same time.
To attract a potential customer’s attention long enough for them to get to know, like and trust you takes some pretty show-stopping content. Or months on a mailing list.
But when they read your book, you get all of their focus. Ok, they might have music in the background or kids screaming, but it’s as close as you’re going to get to a one-to-one conversation.
We get lost in books. They bypass our usual filters and – if that book takes us on a life-changing journey – then we connect a little with the Author’s Soul. Your website, business card, latest podcast or super-quick video are unlikely to create such a profound connection.
Think about it: remember back to a book that made a positive impression on your life – how do you feel about that Author? What would you say to them, if you could meet them?
The level of trust your book builds with your reader (aka potential dream customer) is huge. And they’ll show up at your website, looking to work with you, already a superfan.
How do I know this? Because most of my higher-ticket clients now find me directly from my books, not my marketing efforts, and rarely need a sales conversation, to be ready to commit to working together.
3. A Book Positions You As An Expert In Your Field
Journalists tell me that interviewing an Author is second only to someone having a PhD, for positioning them as an expert on their topic – and often the book outranks the Doctorate.
You get credibility for knowing enough about your subject to be able to write a book, you get kudos for sticking with it and achieving that seemingly-impossible feat of being published (and we’re talking paperback, not eBook), and it builds your platform more solidly than any latest-flavour-social-media-strategy could manage, because those who show up to connect with you REALLY want to get to know you better.
Being the go-to-pro in your niche is gold dust to your business. You’ll magnetise clients who are hungry to work with you and understand that there needs to be a fair energy exchange.
And your book will bring you PR opportunities, whether it’s magazine interviews or speaking engagements or online summits or podcast interviews or even TV and radio interviews, your book is often how the hosts will find you.
4. People Will Tell Their Friends About You, Without Even Being Asked
For one of my books, I estimate that over half the copies I sell are bought by people as presents for their friends, because they already loved the book.
You can’t pay for that kind of endorsement. Sure, you can pay for recommendations, but imagine reading a book by an expert that a loved-one has recommended to you – you’re much more likely to read the book with an air of curiosity and open-minded trust, than if it’s rammed down your throat by a sales pitch.
Fact: people are much more likely to tell their friends and colleagues about a book that inspired them, rather than a blog post.
In the social media world where the ‘half life’ of a ‘share’ can be as little as 90 minutes, the impression made by someone telling a friend about how a book made a difference for them cuts through the noise.
That kind of endorsement brings people to your website, your workshops, your speaking engagements and your business funnel, already hungry and curious to find out more about working with you.
5. You Get To Make A Difference In Someone’s Life
It’s what we all want, deep down, isn’t it? To make a difference?
And when you write your non-fiction book, and someone reads it, cover to cover, and actually applies what you’re sharing, then you get to make a difference in their life.
And if you know how to subtly weave in the ‘deep dive’ opportunities for working together, right when the book gets them hungry, those people are much more likely to pick up the phone to do business with you.
When you know how to write your book to pre-empt these points, without being sleazy, then you’ll find yourself quickly oversubscribed, with a waiting list, instead of having to chase clients and worry about putting food in the fridge.
When you touch someone’s life, you change the world.
When you write the book your ideal clients have been dreaming of, they’ll beat a path to your door.
Bonus Tip: It’s A Trip-Wire Investment
Most books cost under a tenner.
And people feel more comfortable buying a book than an online course.
If someone’s interested in working with you, then upselling them to a £10 book is much easier than a course or other service, and gives you (and them) all the benefits from steps 1 to 5.
BUT… There Are 4 Hidden Blocks That Mean Most Entrepreneurs Will Never Write A Book
I have seen these so often, since I started mentoring Passionate World-Changers, back in 2002.
They sneak up and catch you unawares (the blocks, and yes, perhaps the world-changers, too), meaning you never get your book started – or you stall part way through writing – or you never quite get it finished enough to publish.
We tell ourselves we’re too busy, or we don’t know where to start, or we’re not knowledgeable enough about our topic, to write that book. But your heart’s little voice keeps on quietly sending you that dream, praying that you won’t leave it too late.
I work with entrepreneurs as part of my Author Intensive and Author Mastermind programmes, to guide you step by step through how to write the book your ideal clients are WISHING you would write – and how to use it to grow your audience and your business.
But for now, I want to make sure those four blocks don’t get in the way of your dream of becoming a non-fiction Author.
So I’ve got a gift for you. It’s a five part mini-course on the 4 hidden blocks that mean most people will never write their book – and what to do about them.
I’m not charging for this, even though I should, because I’m sharing gems, shortcuts and insider secrets from over a decade of working with thousands of people, just like you, on clearing these blocks. But I want to give you a loving butt-kick, to help you get your book published – and make a bigger difference in the world.
So get your name and email in the form below and the first instalment will be winging its way to you in the next couple of minutes.
And, if you already know you’re ready to dive in and get your dream-customer-magnetising, world-changing book published, let’s connect! The Author Intensive (3 day programme in Turkey plus 10 weeks of support) or the Author Mastermind (live, interactive online version of the Intensive, running as a one-off starting in June 2016) might be just what you’re looking for.
I’d love to share the journey with you and help make it fun and easy for you to write a book that grows your business and empowers you to make a bigger difference in the world.
With love, Namaste,