Have you ever considered writing a business book? Or been told you should write one?
Many business executives and entrepreneurs feel compelled to write. Perhaps they have a passion for sharing what they’ve learned and accomplished over the course of their career. Perhaps it’s part of a business strategy. The most successful business authors do it for both reasons.
Books are far more than a product to potentially bring in revenue. It’s your ideas wrapped neatly into an organized document. A book is a greeting card, a sales weapon, a content marketing plan, a recruitment tool, and well—you get the idea.
Traits of a Business Author
Here are some initial traits to look for in yourself to decide if you have the passion and strategical reasons for writing a professional book.
1. You’re the face of the company. If you built a company from the ground up, bought a company, or are in leadership of a company, then writing a book could be a great marketing ploy for the business. As a leader, you’re a representation of the brand. People want to know you and what you stand for before they buy from you. While people can get to know you via other mediums, books typically have a much longer shelf-life than social media updates or blog posts.
2. You have ideas. It doesn’t matter how many how-to-guides you’ve read or the number of years you’ve worked using other systems, you have your own ideas on how to do things. Experience, knowledge, and intuition are at the heart of everything you do. You’re not shy when it comes improvising. You draw your own conclusions on how things work.
3. Credibility is crucial to success. One of the best ways to establish credibility within a group is to have a documented history of your experience and ideas. The ability to complete a book on any subject matter is a sign that you’re not only knowledgeable in an area, but are dedicated, patient, and have the perseverance to get things finished.
4. You blog. If you’re already taking the time to share ideas and experiences through a personal blog, you should direct some of that effort toward developing a book. Are you contributing articles to other publications as part of a public relations strategy? That’s awesome. You may have even gone so far as to hire a ghostwriter. Perfect! This writer already understands your style and could possibly be a fantastic partner for authoring a book.
5. You are cultivating a following. Sharing blog content and social media posts carry a conversation only so far. There is a barrier to how close your audience can get to you. Deepen relationships with those who follow you by sharing ideas and experiences in more depth.
6. Your company’s content marketing strategy is based on your ideas. I see a lot of companies integrate the ideas of its leaders into a content marketing strategy. This is a powerful plan I recommend for many brands. The best way to follow-through with such a mission is to have the leader document her expertise. If a content marketing writer has interviewed you and extracted this knowledge from you, go ahead and organize those thoughts into a book. This will work as a guide for the content marketing strategist.
Start Your Journey as an Author
Tomorrow never comes. Today is all we have. If the traits listed about describe you, start thinking of what you could offer in book form. Authors have many options, and don’t necessarily have to pay large sums of cash or wait years for a traditional publishing house to make it available to the market.
I grew up in the publishing industry, so I may know a thing or two about the space. Contact me if you’re looking to take that next step in writing your book and developing a strong, lucrative brand.
