“Writing a book is just the first step. If you don’t actually use the book effectively, all the time, energy, and money you put into it is wasted!”
~ Debra Hilton
One of the first questions I ask prospective ghostwriting clients is, “Why are you writing a book anyway?”
The answers I receive give me a great deal of insight into my prospect’s thought process and the likely success of their investment. Here are a few typical responses:
- I’m doing a course and they told me I needed to write a book if I wanted to grow my business;
- My coaching program / financial service / exercise program / personal development gizmo / … is the best kept secret that people need to hear and it will take a book to get the message out;
- I want to attract highly qualified prospects who share my values and a book is a great way to find the right people;
- Everyone else in my industry has a book, so I need one too (even if it’s terrible!);
- I’ve wanted to write a book every since my English teacher gave me an A+ on an assignment and thought I should make writing my career;
Truths and Myths About Growing Your Business Through a Book
TRUTH: A book that adds value is the best way to attract your ideal prospects and pre-qualify them.
MYTH: It doesn’t matter whether the book is well-written or delivers value, most people won’t read it anyway.
TRUTH: Writing a book demands a certain level of expertise and strategic thought that goes way beyond filling in the blanks on an outline. It will take time, energy, and money even if you write it yourself.
MYTH: You can write a great book in 48 hours by following and outline, dictating your manuscript, then having it transcribed.
TRUTH: A unique business book that conveys your method and personality and is used effectively will transform your business into a powerhouse of satisfaction-, opportunity-, and income-generation.
MYTH: If you share too much IP in your book, people will be able to follow the process themselves and won’t want to work with you.
TRUTH: No matter how carefully your book is conceived, written, revised, and edited there will always be more to say and other ways of saying it. This is why authors rarely write just one book and it’s the reason many books are ‘Revised and Expanded’.
MYTH: When you see your ideas in manuscript you will be confident and feel that you have said everything there is to be said.
TRUTH: Once your book is written, you need to use it… wisely and well to establish your authority and market your business. A book without an effective front end to market it, and back-end to support it has a much impact as a gym membership you never use.
MYTH: The mere existence of a book will solve all my business and client attraction problems forever.
4 Strategies that Ensure Your Book Will Working For You
- Write your book with your primary purpose in mind. Decide whether your primary goal is industry authority, lead generation, prospect or client education, etc. There may be a certain amount of overlap, but your book should be written with one of these primary intentions which will shape it’s structure and content. You may end up writing different iterations of your book for each of these purposes but (especially if you want to create authority positioning and stand out in the marketplace) single-purpose tools are better than a multi-function one that doesn’t do any of its functions really well.
- Create a well-designed back-end that flows from your book and leads readers and purchasers to where you really want them to be so that they get what they are looking for. Remember that book-sales are the front-end of your business, not the end-goal because very few authors make money on their book sales.
- Make your book available on Amazon in both electronic and print versions rather than just selling via your own website and speaking engagements. Amazon is the place where buyers go to search, so being highly visible on Amazon is very good for lead generation. There are some techniques you can use to improve visibility here, so ask someone who knows what they are doing, not just someone who is ‘figuring it out via Amazon help’. An audio book is also an excellent adjunct, but make sure you have a great narrator.
- Invest as much time and effort into planning your book launch and building your funnel as you do into writing the book. Garages and warehouses are full of boxes of valuable books that are poorly marketed – either through misplaced confidence in a promised PR campaign or through ignorance.
Have you written a book but are struggling to put it to work for you? I designed the marketing campaigns (and wrote the manuscript) of 2 New York Times bestsellers and I’m happy to spend 30 minutes talking about how we could work together. http://www.scheduleyou.in/aPy7Kmkuez
