As a business owner, at more than one point, I’m sure you’ve thought of writing a book. Most likely, others have even suggested it.
However, you have probably asked yourself, “Why? What is the point of writing a book? What do I have to say that’s important enough to write an actual book?”
Trust me, every one of us who has written a book has struggled with those questions and more. The difference is that those of us who have taken the plunge have realized the rewards outweigh the risks.
So what are the benefits of writing a book for your business? These are the top 7 benefits I’ve personally experienced after writing my book (coming out in August!).
There was an overarching reason why you started your business. Whatever it was, it was important enough to you that you took a risk, put yourself out there, and continue to do that on a daily basis.
Every day, you take risks: who to hire, what products to develop, and how to resolve the unique issues you face. Writing a book is just another one of those risks. It’s a risk you take in order to grow, both personally and professionally.
As entrepreneurs, we should continually be working on growing and improving. Writing a book about your profession facilitates that growth. There comes a realignment to why you do what you do when you take the time and brain power to write a book.
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In fact, reviewing all this re-energizes and reaffirms your reasons for being in business. To write your book, you have to think through all the aspects of your why.
Getting organized and thinking about the unique and valuable insights that you’ve gained through your experience allows you to see what you have to offer—lessons you’ve learned, especially those things you didn’t expect to learn.
Dots that you’ve connected over the process of becoming an entrepreneur that you didn’t expect. That gives you a unique perspective you can offer to your customers, your employees, and your peers. As you gather your thoughts around that value, you work through and clarify things, and the simple exercise of writing brings those things into focus.
In any organization, there are a lot of people working together who would each describe their experience in a unique way. When the business owner begins to write, the definition of the company’s unique value becomes clarified, succinct, written down, concrete.
That means everyone starts speaking the same language. Your company and employees begin to solidify their common identity based on that common, standardized language. People begin referencing the book you’ve written to clarify situations. They begin using same definitions, examples, and language, which causes everyone to become more unified.
In the book Primal Branding, Patrick Hanlon talks about the commonalities between great brands, religions, organizations, and cultures. These share seven components, called primal code, in which they naturally develop a creation story, creed, icons, rituals, lexicon, nonbelievers, and leaders. These components paint a clear picture of who they are and where they want to be. College teams have colors, a mascot, a song, unique phrases, an origin story, opponents, and a coach.
All those pieces exist organically. Apple, Disney, Zappos, they all have that. Curating a brand and displaying the tenets of the brand to make them obvious is the foundation to any great business or organization.
When you write your book, it not only facilitates that creation but also the definition, all the while communicating it to the public. This helps your tribe know who you are and relate to you. A book translates your private culture to the public so they have a deep understanding of who you are.
Every one of your competitors all struggle with the same issues you do—defining what they’re good at and why they have a unique perspective. They also, just like you, may have a hard time defining the culture in a way that attracts good employees or good customers. They all struggle with this because it’s a very legitimate challenge for every business.
The book creation process gives you a huge competitive advantage, because, all of a sudden you have this very clear platform. You can clearly define what you believe, what you stand for, and why you do what you do. You’re defining the narrative of your brand, and as the saying goes, “Control the narrative, control the world.”
The opportunities that arise from writing a book are endless. It creates a doorway into so many places you would never have gone otherwise. To all the people you can connect with, who you’ll never speak to personally, this is how you clearly communicate your value. Amazing, like-minded customers are drawn to you; perfect employees are attracted to your organization.
Think of the risk you took initially when you started your business. Look at the opportunities that have arisen through that; possibly things you never would have dreamed of. Writing a book is much the same. Starting your business gave you great reward, and so will writing your book. You’ll never know until you do it!
No explanation necessary.
Creating a book is half the battle. After you’ve created it, you need to promote it to get the word out and boost sales.
To do that, you need a team of marketing and sales experts skilled at creating engaging narratives and generating leads. And that’s exactly what ROI Online offers.
If you want to promote your book, your brand, or your business, schedule a free strategy session. We’ll talk through your business goals and provide a clear strategy to help you make those goals a reality.