How books generate business

There are lots of reasons that people write books. One is to get business — speeches, workshops, consulting, or leads.

Once you understand how that works, you’ll know how much effort to put into your book, and what kind of book it should be.

Five ways books generate business

Consider the marketing funnel — and I mean both the parts before the sale and afterwards.

• At the awareness stage, your book tells people who you are and what you do. If you wrote a book about HR and it’s any good, people in HR will hear about it. They may take note of you and your book at a conference or hear a webinar about it. It gets people talking about you and your ideas, which boosts your visibility.
• At the consideration stage, your book sets you apart from others in your field. When the prospect is narrowing down their choices, they can evaluate you based on the ideas in your book — without your needing to do a hard sell. It gives you an edge.
• At the purchase stage, your book reassures prospects that you’re the one they can count on. This recently happened to me with large consulting project that generated half my income for the year: the client was confident about working with me on this sort of project because, as he said, “You wrote the book on it.” If you’re a public speaker, the book tells the client what you’re likely to talk about — they know what they’re buying.
• At the customer/client stage, your book becomes a guide to what you’re doing. “Here’s how I do marketing: you can read about it in chapter 18,” for example. I’ve even had clients come to me and say “Hey, I read chapter 6, and I’m ready to build the plan you talk about in that chapter.” It reassures people to know that you’ve anticipated the elements of the work you’ll be doing together.
• At the referral stage, your book makes it easy for clients to tell others about you. “You should talk to her; her book has everything you need to know.” There’s nothing that compares for making it easy for fans to send your ideas to others in a neat little package.

What this means about your book

If you’re seeking speaking gigs, the book should be about a big idea, and full of fascinating user stories. If you’re selling workshops or consulting, your book should be full of useful frameworks and methods.

The way books generate business should also tell you a little about the effort you put into the book. The book has to represent you and your ideas as potential clients evaluate you. That means it has to be sparkling clear, insightful, and free of errors. That takes effort, but it will pay off in helping prospects make confident decisions about you. (And conversely, if the book is sloppy, poorly produced, or derivative of the ideas of others, that tells the prospect something about you, too.)

Some people worry that their book won’t appeal to everybody. Or that people who object to the ideas in the book will reject you as a potential partner. But think a moment: do you really want to work with somebody who isn’t in your target market, or disagrees with your ideas? Those are leads you don’t want and prospects you’d regret working with. If the book helps them decide not to work with you, that saves you from a futile waste of time evaluating and rejecting them.

Your book is out there representing you in places you can’t get to. So make it reflect the best of who you are, what you know, and what you can do.