Want to boost your professional services business? Write a book!
If you are a professional, an accountant, lawyer, architect, consultant, therapist financial adviser, business coach, marketing expert, you are your business. This presents an interesting challenge when it comes to marketing. How do you promote the product (yourself) without appearing arrogant, pushy and somewhat unprofessional? The answer just about everyone has arrived at is this - share some of your knowledge, expertise and experience on social media. There’s only one problem with this. It’s the right idea but the fact everyone is doing it means your individual voice is drowned out by the noise of all the others. So, take the same content and turn it into a book. In this post we explain why nothing delivers quite such an attractive return on investment for professionals as becoming a published author.
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Credibility, credibility, credibility
Sharing helpful content that showcases your knowledge and capabilities on the likes of LinkedIn, Medium, Reddit or your own blog is absolutely the right thing to do. You will get noticed, you will build your network and create a following. But you’ll just be one of many others in your field just doing the same. Not only will your message only reach a limited number of people but, doing the same as everyone else, you’ll be less of a thought leader and more of a thought follower!
Sharing the same content in a book, however, is a different thing altogether. For starters, very few of your colleagues and competitors will go to the effort required – so you immediately stand out from the crowd. You are not just someone with an opinion, but someone with a book! Secondly, it shows that a publisher thinks enough of your content to invest their money and resources to get you into print (even if you’ve self-published – few people will spot the difference). It’s a big third-party endorsement, an independent person who believes you have something valuable to say. This gives your credibility an enormous boost – and credibility counts for a lot in a world where trust is a rare commodity that is highly valued. Suddenly you go from being just another name in a crowd to a respected expert.
A book is tangible – and that matters
Once you’ve published your book you’ll probably create an ebook version as well. But the crucial thing with the print edition is that it is tangible. In a digital world this gives it greater weight and presence – it just counts for more. You can physically show it to people you meet. Whether it’s at a networking event, a conference or just when you sit down for a discussion with a potential client this immediately gives them extra confidence in you. “Here’s a copy of my book” works much better than “I’ve written a few articles on LinkedIn”! It physically sits on a desk and gets noticed, it gets passed around and discussed, plus people will refer back to it – over time it will get more attention than a social media post and prove far more memorable.
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A book is valuable for PR purposes
Once you have the finished book in your hands you and your publisher can host a book launch. You can invite clients, colleagues, peers, journalists/media people and other influential individuals. Without a book that’s not an event you can put together! It may well lead to invitations from those journalists and media people to contribute articles, to be someone they ask for comment as a respected expert or to be the subject of interviews – all of which is priceless in terms of raising your profile and building your credibility. You can also pitch the publication of your book to other media people who you didn’t invite to the launch – your book is a news story hook that they may well pick up on. Your book may prove the crucial first step in you becoming a media personality yourself, someone journalists and editors regularly turn to when they want an expert view or an informed opinion.
Another way to leverage the PR opportunities created by your book is to send copies to influential and respected authorities in your field. At the very least this means you get noticed by people who matter (and can help you – there are a number of ways they can potentially lend you their support). Even better, they may give your book a very favourable review which will further boost sales and raise your standing in the industry.
A book works as a brilliant lead magnet
How many potential clients visit your website then disappear again? Too many! If you offer your book (or the ebook version, or maybe the first three chapters) as a free download a lot more visitors will leave their details. You can then add them to your database and include them in your future email communications. If just one of those visitors turns into a good client then the effort and expense of creating your book will be amply repaid.
A book can be used in many other ways too
When you post an article on LinkedIn or some other social media platform how do you end it? You want to maintain the contact and foster a relationship. A line that says “If you found this article interesting then you might find my book of value…” is a gentle call to action that may encourage them to find out more about you and how you can help them.
Another tip is to feature a thumbnail image of your book alongside your email signature, with a “To order a copy of my book go to…” line. It lends credibility to your email and they might even buy a copy.
Once you have completed your book you can re-purpose the material in many different ways. Each chapter could potentially become a separate post, article, video, podcast or talk.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
The benefits of writing a book add up
It’s hard to predict how much of a positive impact writing a book will have on your business. But it will certainly raise your profile amongst your industry peers and your target audience. You’ll increase the number of sales enquiries. More importantly, however, your enhanced credibility will open doors that were previously closed to you – you’ll attract a higher calibre of client. This will translate into increased revenue and improved profitability – you can charge more for your services. The investment of time, effort and money it requires is considerable, whether you get a publishing deal or self-publish. But the returns make it more than worthwhile.