Recently I asked a good friend of mine, bestselling author, Paul G Walmsley, a question: Should you write a business book and how could it affect your business?
His answer was so good, I had to share it.
First, a quick bit about Paul: He wrote the book “From Hello To Yes In 3 Minutes Or Less.” It’s a MUST HAVE for anyone in network marketing, sales, or any entrepreneur who has to pick up the phone and speak to prospects and customers. You can order Paul’s book here.
Now, here’s his answer:
Let’s get real here. Publishing your own book and getting it on the “Bestseller” list used to be a big deal.
Now it’s pretty much “ehh.”
That’s because technology and marketing have moved on so quickly, even I was able to knock out a book and for an hour see it ranked as #2 on the Amazon Bestseller list in the category I had chosen.
If there’s any interest, I can show you how to do that too.
But for now, I’ve been asked to share how writing and publishing your own book can impact your business.
And the answer really depends on you, your book, and your business.
In my situation, I wrote the book and self-published it as an attempt to check off one more item on my bucket list. I was looking after my dad in his last few weeks fighting cancer, so I had a lot of time on my hands sat by his bed in the hospital.
Once I had published the book then it was up to me to promote it and get the most out of it.
The publishing of a book can provide you with anything from a simple piece of evidence of your credibility, right through to an entire multi-million business empire. There are some very simple books out there that have burgeoned into household names and millions in the bank for their authors.
So, Do You Want to Write a Business Book?
Here’s my advice. BEFORE you spend the time and money on writing, self-publishing, and promoting your book, take a step back and decide why you want to write the book and what you want to do with it.
In my case, once the book was published, selling and getting good reviews, I took the foot off the gas and let it idle. That was a mistake of mine in hindsight. But the problem with my situation, I had never convinced myself that I wanted to build a business/career/empire around the book.
Typically, if you really want to go for it, you promote the heck out of yourself and your book. You then pick up any speaking gigs you can handle and get yourself out there. Once on the speaking circuit, you need to have an additional product that you can sell “from the back of the room.” (You typically split the revenue 50/50 with the host of the event.)
Next, you’ll want to use the book to capture leads and send them into your sales funnel where you can offer them upsells such as online courses, membership sites, mastermind groups, one on one coaching, etc.
Then once you have your book, your speech, your back of the room product and your sales funnel, all you have to do is promote you know what out of your book and you and drive as much traffic into your funnel as possible.
I’ve studied all levels of people who do this, from the super big household names right down to people who are just starting out but still are going for it.
And the reason I never went whole-heartedly into this, was in my particular situation, I never found my book, its topic, or its niche “sexy” enough to actually be one of those people constantly yelling “look at me, me, me, and buy my book.”In fact, when I was offered a book deal from a New York publisher, it took me months to sign it. Eventually, it was all systems go for Sept 2016 publish, but I have subsequently canceled the deal.
So, in my situation, the book is out there, people buy it, they tell me it’s helpful and I’m happy with that for now.
Again, if you decide to write a business book, set your expectations from the beginning. Map it all out before you start to write it.
Then, if you want to go for it, I can help you if you want.
Good luck!