Author Thought Leadership

Blogging is important, but what happens if you haven’t blogged in a while. You lose your following. Bummer. Well here I am typing in a small blog to show that it’s easy put content together that’s relevant, but short. It would be great if you could blog a couple times a week. So, mark it down as something that’s important to do. I’m marking my calender now!

The easiest way to get started writing a book to build your personal brand during 2011 is answer the following 5 simple questions.

Your answers, and the lists you create based on your answers, will provide a road map to help you get started writing a book to drive your success and build your personal brand.

1. Who? Rather than starting with the content of your book, start by identifying the readers you want to read your book. Who are your ideal readers? In most cases, your ideal readers should be identical to your ideal clients, customers, or supporters! Be as specific as possible. Describe your ideal readers in terms of age, sex, attitudes, education, health, income, occupation, position, or profession. Make a list of your ideal clients and identify the characteristics they share in common with each other.
2. What? Once you identified your ideal readers, ask yourself, What are most pressing goals and problems? Make a list of the problems that keep them awake at night, or the goals they’ve been trying to achieve. Again, be as specific as you can about their problems and goals. The better your answers, the easier it will be for you to identify the right title for your book and create a table of contents for your book.
3. When? Addressing when questions, like When do you want your book to be available for purchase? and When are readers most likely to be ready to buy my book? are equally important to the success of your brand-building book. How you answer the ready for sale question will help determine the length of your book, (i.e., number of pages) as well as the publishing option that’s best for you. Your answer to the likely to buy question will help you choose a title that will resonate with readers at their point of maximum urgency.
4. Where? Next, think about where you want your ideal readers to locate your book. Your answer to this question, too, will influence your choice of publishing alternative. Trade publishing, for example, makes the most sense if you’re convinced your book has enough mass market appeal to attract sales to casual bookstore browsers. If you’re looking to establish your expertise in niche markets, however, self-publishing and search engine marketing may be a better, faster solution.
5. Why? Your answer to the final–or Why?–question will provide additional information to help you choose a title, promote your book, and identify the contents you need to include in your book. The question is relatively simple, i.e., Why should readers want to buy your book?, but answering the question may take a bit more time. To adequately answer the question, you’ll have to research existing books in your field, which will help you deliver fresh, new information and perspectives, so readers will choose your book over the competition.

Writing a book gives you control over your destiny

Writing a book remains the fastest, easiest, and surest way for you to market your expertise to the prospects you want to convert to clients, customers, and supporters.

Writing a book takes less time than getting an advanced degree. More important, the process is under your control.

• Getting published. You control how quickly you plan and write your book.
• Size and format. You determine how much of a book (in terms of size) you need to write, and you much you want to delegate to others.
• Marketing and profiting decisions. You determine how and where you promote your book. More important, you decide how many copies you give away (or sell at a discount) as marketing incentives or promotions to drive new prospects to your website.

How much do you need to know?

Writing a book doesn’t involve “magic.” You don’t have to be a trained or experienced writer to publish a book. The only things you really need are:

• Burning desire. You must have a burning desire to write a book to drive your success and build your personal brand.
• Willing to learn. You must be willing to learn new skills, profiting from the experiences of others while mastering the best practices that have contributed to the success of others.
• Commitment. Finally, you must have the commitment and self-discipline to keep moving forward, regardless of the occasional setbacks that might show up along the way.

Once you commit to writing and publishing a book during 2011, the resources you need to succeed will make themselves available. Help is available from a variety of sources. The decision is yours.

Roger C. Parker invites you to visit his Published & Profitable Blog and his latest book, #Book Title Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Article, Book, and Event Titles.

Many coaches, consultants, and professional service providers agree that writing and publishing a book can attract more prospective clients. But, there’s more to this “attraction factor” than just attracting more new prospects. The big benefit is the ability you can be more selective in choosing the clients you agree to work with.

The power that published books give authors to be more selective was driven home to me recently, when I interviewed author Carmine Gallo for Published & Profitable.

Carmine Gallo is the author of 2 of the most important–and bestselling–recent business books; The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and the Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs.

Carmine Gallo is a communications coach to the world’s most admired brands, and Carmine Gallo is a writer and columnist with many A-list business publications. His Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs was an immediate Amazon.com Top 100 book, and it continues to be a Top 10 bestseller in several important Amazon.com business categories.

So, why did Carmine Gallo want to write another book?

Towards the end of our interview, I asked Carmine Gallo–whose Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs was already earning healthy royalties–why he decided to immediately write another book.

I asked Carmine, “How much of a difference will the income from the book make the new book worthwhile?” He paused, then replied:

“It’s not the money; the big benefit is the ability to be even more selective in choosing the clients I agree to work with.”

Takeaway

Think about Carmine’s response when you’re reviewing the clients you work with. How many of your current clients really match your style and work as hard as you do? How many are slow payers? How many fight you nickel-and-dime on every project?

Consider how great if you wrote a book and attracted so many qualified prospects that you could be more selective about choosing the clients you want to work with? Commit to writing a book so you, too, can enjoy the power to select only the best clients.