Whether you’ve ever written a book or not, on some level you know you should write (another) one. Books allow you to be more expansive than other information products and will therefore foster a deeper connection with your reader than you can achieve elsewhere. Below, I list 5 reasons you need to write a book; in the comments, I’d love to hear what other reasons you can think of.
Writing a book:
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Allows you to position yourself as an expert
This reason for writing a book is at the top of the list for one simple reason: it works. In your book, you’ll show that you really know your stuff. While your book won’t solve all of your readers’ problems, by the time they finish it, they’ll trust you to help them (so long as you take the time to write your book yourself, that is).
This way of gaining your readers’ trust, letting them get to know you, and (hopefully) making them like you works alongside all of your other content marketing materials. But unlike the other formats you use (webinars, Facebook Lives, blog posts, ….), this one gives you the space to develop your topic without the pressure of making a sale or gaining a subscriber. If you’re thinking, but ‘I want to write a book that tells my story, not one that solves a problem’, keep reading. In telling your story, you’ll help your readers relate to you and your experiences. Along the way you’ll show them that if you can do it (whatever ‘it’ is for your book), they can too. That’s a powerful lesson. -
Advertises your services without being salesy
Your book’s primary job is to provide information to the reader. In this sense, it is like a webinar, but crucially, without the extensive sales pitch that takes up the second half of most webinars.
Your readers will know that the book contains what they need to know to solve the problem you help with, but that they’ll get there faster and easier if they work with you. You can provide them guidance on next steps and then leave it in their hands.
You will have proven that you can improve their lives in some small way, so those who are ready to work with you will follow those steps and do so. All without flooding their inbox with sales emails or holding a single sales call.
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Allows space for you to teach something that’s too complicated for a blog post
Of course, you could do a series of posts, but books are better for complicated content. When people read blog posts, they want the information to be presented in a condensed, easy to consume format. When they read books, they want all the details that the same readers would find boring in a blog post.
A book also makes it easier for readers to go back to previous chapters if they have questions and to take notes. Furthermore, having the information all in one place helps your reader see your topic as a whole. No one will accidentally stumble upon chapter three and not realise the other chapters are there, too. Whereas with a post in a series on your blog, that might happen (or, more likely, they’ll get distracted and not remember to go looking for the other posts).In short, a book makes it easy for your audience to engage with complex material. -
Gives you a way to repurpose material from a course
If you’ve created a course, you’ve already done a lot of the work that goes into writing a book. You will have researched your topic, validated the topic, and arranged the lessons in a logical order. To turn this into a book, you simply need to write down what you taught and expand it a little with examples. Alternatively, you could write your book first, and then turn that into a course. You’d have a ready audience for your course! -
Brings in income
While you’re not likely to get rich on book sales alone, your book will help your audience to know, trust, and like you. This will help your sales overall, which will bring in income.