10 Reasons a Book is Good for Business

CliffNotes version of this post: book = unparalleled capacity for meaningful and lasting IMPACT. You’re welcome. Now, if you have a moment, read on to learn why.  

If you are a conscious creative, an entrepreneur, a healer, an expert in your field; you have been bravely walking an upward spiraling path of growth and expansion.  Yes, sometimes the direction can feel any way but upward, but your creations are sunflowers ever bending toward the sun.  

With the rapid evolution of business today, our spaces are filled with so much information and so many options for how to cultivate the life and business we desire.  Where to focus?  What to do? How to orient?  

My mentor Barbara Huson, (formerly Barbara Stanny) writes in her book Sacred Success that one of the greatest longings of successful women is to contribute meaningfully and positively to their community.  To have impact.  

How do we create impact?  

We can create impact in myriad ways, from the smile and eye contact we give to our clients (or even our children), to the bigger projects we birth into the world.  Some of us are drawn to work privately in a 1-to-1 capacity, to create courses, to develop workshops and retreats, to speak.  

And some of us, to write.  

Writing—whether it’s an Instagram post, a consistent blog to your tribe, or a full length book— is essential in the world of business these days.  We dwell evermore in virtual spaces and writing is a fundamental part of the communication there.  

And yet there, it is fleeting.  

So much of what we put into virtual space is like a SnapChat—it’s here one moment and gone the next. And people have a hard time digesting the digital on a deeper level.  

Can we cultivate lasting impact in such a container?  Or do we need to combine it with more stable and lasting forms of expression, the ones that have stood the test of time? Such as books?  

I’d wager to say absolutely and I’ve seen the proof in my own life.

1: Writing a book opens up doors to connection and opportunity

Daily I’m astounded by the connections and opportunities that are brought into my life for having written a book and contributed my body of work to the world in this form.  I am regularly asked to speak and give interviews, I’ve formed valuable friendships and connections with really incredible people I never would have otherwise met, I’ve received letters about how my book has forever changed someone’s life.  

This is impact.  

And it means everything.  

2: Experts write books

Experts DO write books—if you want to be seen as a true master in your field, a book is one of the most solid ways to establish that.  It is THE most solid way to establish that, I’d wager to say.  I was going to say “unless you’re Oprah” but then I Googled that sh!t and found out she’s written like TEN books.  (Sorry I didn’t know the full extent of your bad@ssery, Oprah, let’s still be friends someday) 

But, see?  

EXPERTS WRITE BOOKS.  

3: Writing a book develops true mastery

It also works another way.  You become an expert on your topic by writing the book.  

A book was truly the most potent vehicle for all that I had to share when it came to my body of work.  And the cool thing is, the process of writing the book is what developed the body of work so substantially.  It never would have become this deeply and fully realized had I taken it to another form (just workshops or just an online course, for example).  I’ve developed a profound depth of understanding that I truly owe to the creative container of book writing.  

In other words, writing a book can develop your mastery in your field.  It can fortify and build it.  It can clarify and articulate what you’ve been working with for so long.  It can bring insight and knowing you’ve never had before.  

4: A book is an unparalleled marketing tool.  

Books are valuable. They are stable and lasting.  A book is a big deal.  They build ethos, credibility, and value like nothing else.  

One of my colleagues, book launch coach Tim Grahl, defines marketing as “being relentlessly helpful to the people we serve.” (which I love, because: marketing + spammy = sucks).  

A book is an incredible way to serve with depth and power.  It allows us to profoundly add value to people’s lives. Again, impact.  

A book makes a business card look like toilet paper.  Okay, I don’t know where the crude came from, but stay with me.  Consider the difference in impact between handing someone a piece of paper with your name and phone number on it, versus handing them a rich and valuable resource you created that is going to positively impact their lives in some way. 

You can offer value and meaning (i.e. marketing) on the front end in a non-sales-y way, and hook people into your offerings and your work immediately.  You become an instant resource, not just another person who wants something.  

5: A book helps you attract the right clientele and customers to your business.

A book helps you attract the right clientele and customers to your business, because they can get to know you and your work in advance of hiring you.

A book is a great client filtration device.  You can let people know exactly what you do, what you’re about, your philosophy, and how you serve right away.  You can save the time of having to filter out people for which your work is not a great fit.  If they resonate with you, they will be drawn to connect with you. If they don’t, you don’t even have to waste time and energy finding this out.  

And the people you can help the most will naturally gravitate to you and come to your door already loving you. So many authors I know find that their prospective clients are more serious and committed to working with them after having read their books.  

6: A book can help you make more money.

Okay, I am going to give it to you straight.  A book is NOT a no-brainer money maker, when it comes to book sales.  Ask most published authors and, unless they are crazy-pants famous (think Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love, Julia Roberts-plays-you-in-freaking-movies kind of famous), they are not making buckets of cash from their books.  

But if you’re a creative professional you are VERY likely to make MORE money because you’ve written a book.  You make the money from the opportunities that come your way because of the book, from the clients you attract, from your expanded reach.  

7:  A book extends your reach + bolsters your status beyond your current realm of influence.

How many people can we reach doing in-person work? One person at a time, or a small group bound by locality?  And even if we bring our offerings online, we are still only reaching a set number of people with any given project.  A book’s potential reach is profoundly deep and international.  

8: A book can be a tool you use to better support your clients during your work with them. 

For those of us that work a process together with our clients or who share a philosophy, system or skill set with our clients, our book can be an incredible resource that serves both you and your client as you work together.  

You can point them to this tool you’ve already carefully curated and cultivated and it can shortcut and enhance your work together.  

It’s awesome.  

Even though my book is specifically about writing one’s birth story, I have developed so much support around the writing process that is universal. Thus, I can often point my writing clients to my book for useful and relevant tools they can use, whether they are writing an important life story, or a book related to their professional life. 

9: A book can bolster your confidence + capacity to be visible in your work + share your gifts with the world.  

A book can be a huge confidence builder.  Now, I will say that this confidence can be hard earned through what is often a humbling writing process, but it really does strengthen and build you up.  The sense of agency and accomplishment that comes from writing and finishing a book is incredible.  Unparalleled.  

A book also puts your gifts out into the world in a really big way.  It allows you to share your unique spark of creative genius with others.  It can be scary as he!! but is there really anything better?  

10: Writing a book sets you apart

How many amazing people are doing incredible work in your field?  I am a firm believer that there is truly room enough for all of us in our zones of creation, but it's a crowded summer beach day out there sometimes.  One way to raise your hot pink umbrella and stand out from the masses is to write a book.  

Think about how many people in your field have written books and how they have become pillars of knowledge.  Think about how attracted you are to working with people with this level of credibility and authority.  Are you more likely to hire the business coach who has written a book or the one without?  Are you more likely to know the personal development coach or spiritual teacher who’s book you’ve read or seen… or the one you’ve never heard of?  Writing a book is a hot pink umbrella in a sea of blue ones.  It makes you stand out.
 

Curious: Which of these reasons are most exciting for you?  What comes up when you read this list?  Resistance?  Excitement?  

I’d love to hear from you.  

When you are ready to get started on that book, let me know. 

Jaime