When you’re worried ‘nobody’ will read it, let’s get specific.

Yes, statistically, many self-published authors will only sell a couple of hundred books. But there’s a reason for this – they have no idea how to promote the book and incorrectly believe that simply uploading it onto Amazon is all they need to do.

Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams has a lot to answer for – “If you build it, they will come” somehow got ingrained into our collective psychology at some point and certainly in this day of social media and heavily saturated markets, it’s as far from reality as you can get.

In essence – you must be strategic with your book and have a plan to get it seen, and then people will see your book.

It’s simply a matter of following a process, and that is certainly something you can achieve, whether on your own or with help.

So as long as you don’t dump the book online and expect it to sell itself, then you’ll be all right.

Let’s define success.

If you are a coach, consultant, speaker or entrepreneur, success isn’t going to be measured by book sales.

You don’t NEED to be a bestseller in order for the book to work for you by raising your profile to expert level and build your business.

These things are totally achievable without selling thousands of copies… as long as you have a strategy.

So, what’s in it for you if you write a book? What could you potentially achieve?

There are many potential benefits to publishing a quality book and strategically using it as a tool in your business.

• Gaining a competitive advantage over your competitors (you have put the time into writing a book and they have not, so, in the eyes of a potential client, you are clearly an expert and ahead of the game)
• Getting speaking gigs
• Getting paid more for speaking gigs (many keynote speakers have books, and a book allows you to raise your speaking fee)
• Charging more for coaching or consulting because you are seen as an expert in your field
• Being invited to appear on panels or other similar opportunities because you are now a published author
• Opening the door to media because you are an author and therefore an expert. The media won’t publicize your book launch but you can use the book in a media pitch where you talk about the issue your book covers or somebody you’ve helped with your work (the book is how you position yourself as the expert, and the media will mention it in the segment)
• Exposing a different audience to your brand and business – although you’ll target a specific audience, others along the promotion journey will see your book and potentially become interested in you and your service
• And many more…

To achieve any of these, you will need to be strategic. But the good news is that none of them require you selling many thousands of copies and shaking up the world with your top ten ranking.

Let’s look at a couple of the most popular strategies you could implement.

If you write and self-publish a high-quality book, you can leverage it to achieve a whole range of business goals by employing any one of multiple strategies. The most common two are:

• Authority Strategy, where you undertake activities which position you as an authority or expert in your industry – like speaking at events, appearing in panels, appearing in media, being quoted in articles, writing articles for other blogs or media.
• Content Strategy – this is the development, planning, creation, delivery and management of content, for the purpose of attracting your ideal client. Your aim is to create meaningful, cohesive, engaging, and sustainable content – and all of it valuable to that ideal client.

Within these strategies, here are some things you could do:

• Use the book to position yourself as an expert speaker (most keynote speakers have books, and speakers with books are generally known to be paid more)
• Give away the book for free strategically to help grow your list – then nurturing that list to become clients
• Use the book to warm up cold or warm leads
• Use the book as a basis for your content strategy – one chapter could easily provide content for a month. 12 chapters = 12 months of content
• Use the book as the basis for a workshop or seminar
• Repurpose the book’s content into videos, quizzes, downloadable tools and worksheets, lead magnets and more

Hopefully, this blog has inspired you to seriously consider writing a book this year.

There are so many opportunities for you, and if you run your own race, big sales numbers and what other people are doing has no impact on you.

You can achieve your dreams of writing a book, becoming a speaker, and being known as an expert in your industry. That’s when the magic happens.

You can do it!

If you’re keen to learn more, you will find my 45 Step Book Writing and Publishing Checklist very handy. Just click to access and tell me where to send it!

ACCESS CHECKLIST HERE

If you want to write a book and need some support, please contact me at any time. I have different options available to help you, depending on your goals, your budget, and where you are in the process.

If you’d like to book a free, 10-minute Book Clarity Call with me, we’ll have a quick chat about your book idea and if you could leverage it to raise your profile and make more money in your service business.

If there is good potential, we’ll talk again for longer. If I believe a book isn’t the right option for you right now, or if we’re not the right fit for each other, I’ll let you know. It’s pressure and obligation free, I promise. Use this link to book directly into my diary.

BOOK CLARITY CALL HERE

I can’t wait to work with you and help you finally write that book this year!

Cat