Why Self-publishing eBooks is Key to Growth for Entrepreneurs & Business Owners
Have you thought about writing and self-publishing an eBook about your business?
Let me guess, after you did your immediate next thought was, “Yuck, I don’t have that much time!” After all, you have clients, networking events, family responsibilities, and those workouts and errands aren’t going to do themselves, right? And yet, self-publishing a book about your business has a boatload of benefits for you.
In this post, I’ll talk about why and how self-publishing an eBook (and print book), helps grow your business. I’ll share self-publishing experiences of business owners, and tips you can apply to save time while creating your book as a business development asset.
For purposes of this post, I’m going to use “book” to refer to both types of self-published books, eBooks and print books.
Self-publishing an ebook is a valuable use of your time
When it comes to growing your business, let’s face it, your efforts can become time sucks. The truth is, you don’t know how well a growth strategy’s going to work until you’re pretty far down the road with it.
Add to that, you’re a team of one (or few) so whatever new game plan you try out cuts into your already jammed schedule. That means, you only want to implement strategies that help you attract ideal clients. You have zero time for another shiny object that goes nowhere, I get it.
And yet, every day you’re working to bring in more dream clients because new clients help grow your business, don’t they?
You want new business growth ideas that don’t involve more hours of networking and meetings with tire-kicker prospects who want to pick your brain, right? I’m right there with you. That’s why I want to share with you both the challenges of creating a book, and the possibilities for using it to bolster, re-establish your relationships with past, current and future clients.
You’ve heard that traditional publishing is a nightmare
You’ve likely heard over and over that a book is a super-impressive business card. That’s true, but it’s so much more. A book enhances your credibility, authority, and builds trust. After all, you become a published author. And while you might say,” Yeah, I know all this Cynthia, but I still don’t have time, and I don’t know anything about self-publishing ebooks.” Once again, I hear you.
Also, you’ve heard nightmares from peers about creating business books, including spending months or years looking for a publisher, an agent, or writing a book proposal. The good news is, when you self-publish, you bypass those old-school publishing pitfalls.
When self-publishing an ebook, what do you put in it?
Next you might ask, “If I were to take on writing and self-publishing an ebook about my business, what would I put in it?” Great question. I’m over the moon that you asked.
What you may not have considered is, you don’t have to start from scratch. Remember, you’re a seasoned expert! You train your clients about how to do things all the time, right? You create content to help clients reach goals and solve problems every week, don’t you?
Of course you do! So that means you have a rich library of original content you can tap into and repurpose for your book.
This is all your expertise that you’ve already documented. Now, you can refine your work, reformat your knowledge-rich content, and develop a valuable marketing asset to help attract clients—a book.
Self-publishing an ebook isn’t a weekend project
Let’s be clear, self-publishing a book about your business isn’t going to happen overnight.
You’ll need to set aside time to create your vision for your book, choose your ideal readers (you know I’m big on knowing your ideal clients inside out), and prepare a table of contents.
This is to say, we’re in agreement that you want to dedicate time to creating and self-publishing a book. Along with balancing running your business. And stay with me here, because I’ll talk about how you can save time when creating your book.
My partner, Jim Butz, helps business owners like you
How can I say this about the benefits of self-publishing a book about your business? Because, as a first-time author since 2018, I’ve learned first-hand how well-received you are in terms of being viewed as an expert. I’ve gotten podcast interviews, speaking slots and more as a result of self-publishing my book: She Markets, A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs.
In one of his programs, my partner, Jim Butz, mentors clients who want to accelerate their business growth by up to 10X. Jim requires that his mastermind clients write and self-publish a book about their business approach, processes, systems, and client successes. As soon as it’s published, he instructs them to gift copies of their book to 10 past and current clients.
One of his B2B clients (let’s call him Blue Co. CEO) was happy he followed Jim’s advice to create a book about his business and share it with 10 clients. As soon as Jim’s CEO client sent copies of his book, a former client called to set up a meeting to discuss new projects.
- That meeting resulted in a long-term contract that added over 30% to Blue Co.’s bottom line that year.
- This CEO was definitely glad he set aside the time to create a book about his business.
How do you build credibility with potential clients?
However, back to your persistent business growth challenge: how do you get the word out about your unique methods for solving clients’ pain points? As we’ve said, you’re already crazy busy.
How do you efficiently employ new ways to position yourself as a thought leader—not simply promote your products and services? You want powerful and effective methods to package your expertise, message, brand, and get your knowledge out there where clients can easily find you.
Imagine how gratifying and confident you’ll feel when you present a potential, or past, client with a book about your business approach to problem solving?
4 Objections + answers to creating a book to grow your business
Let’s tackle these ‘creating a book’ objections one by one, shall we?
Objection #1) “Is it really worth my time to create and self-publish an ebook about my business?”
As we’ve said, you’ll need to set aside time to create your book. And yet, the payoff for your time investment is huge.
Here are three quick advantages; you increase your credibility, you elevate yourself as even more of an expert, and you’re able to more quickly increase trust with prospects as you meet them.
Imagine this, after you’ve created your book, you’ll have a powerful marketing and sales tool. You can ‘gift’ your book to prospective clients using Amazon’s gift program. That way, you help prospects understand your expert approach to solving problems and boost your credibility—all at once.
Looking to get more speaking gigs? Often, when you’re pursuing a speaking engagement, meeting organizers will ask if you have a book—now you can say, “Yes, I do!”
Objection #2) How would I use a book about my expertise to grow my business?
Here are some juicy possibilities:
Making strong first impressions. You can make an impactful first impression by sending your book to potential clients you’ve met at networking events, or to prospective clients, like Chris did.
Chris Kopf, an award-winning luxury real estate broker client of Jim’s sent a copy of his self-published book, The Complete Guide to Selling Your Mountain Dream Home to a prospective client along with his proposal. The prospect was seeking a listing agent for their 7-figure mountain home property located in a resort area.
The client hired Chris, they said, because he was the only luxury real estate broker pitching to them who had a published book.
And that’s not all, Chris was given a monthly column in a prestigious national real estate publication because he became a #1 best selling author. You see, you really can enhance your credibility with your book.
Engaging former clients. Remember, my partner’s client re-engaged his former client and won a contract that added significantly to his annual revenue.
Setting appointments with prospects. Clients want to work with experts and publishing a book positions you even further as an expert. Another consulting firm client of Jim’s gifted their book to several prospective clients and ended up booking nine appointments within a couple of weeks.
Reminding referral partners of your expertise. By publishing your book and sharing it both online and in the real world, you’ll remind your audience and referral partners about the specific ways you teach and help clients.
Increasing your online visibility. Did you know Amazon Author pages come up in search engine results? It’s true, so after you’ve self-published your ebook (and book) on Amazon, and set up your Amazon Author page, you’ll have another point of credibility when potential clients search your name online. Doesn’t that sound good?!
Gaining an edge when pursuing speaking gigs. As we mentioned, meeting organizers often ask if you have a book when you apply to speak.
Objection #3) Is anyone even interested in a book about my business?
Are you thinking, “I’m not sure anyone would be interested in what I’d write about even if I did write a book”?
Look at it this way, you’re not writing a book for everyone in your target market.
The reality is, most of us aren’t fit for every single client in a large target market. On the other hand, as a coach and expert, you know who your dream clients are.
You likely have between two and three ideal client types (segments) who are your most profitable, get the best results from your services, and are a dream to work with.
You want more just like them, don’t you?
So, just as you create marketing content for one of your ideal client types at a time, you’ll write a book specifically for them. Remember, you’re not writing an academic resource, or a beach read.
Your book is designed the same way you create any content: exactly for one of your dream client types. It’s also the approach you’d take to write a blog post or create a video—as though your perfect client was sitting next to you. When creating a book or any content, picture your client asking for hope and help, that’s how you’d write a book.
Objection #4) Okay, again, what would I put in a self-published ebook?
Great question (objection)! Glad you asked.
You’d talk about the issues and concerns that are most pressing for your ideal clients.
You talk about the painful, challenging problems your specific clients struggle with, success stories of past clients, and you teach baby steps toward the solutions your clients seek.
The best news? You have much of the content already created. To name 10 examples, in the past you’ve developed:
- client trainings
- webinars
- checklists
- tutorials
- guides
- videos
- cheat sheets
- talks
- lead magnets (freebies)
- blog posts
What’s more, you’ve likely written industry articles, reports, white papers, and more for your website or for sites in your field. Take an inventory of your marketing and client content. Think about it, you’ve provided to other publications, podcasts you’ve been interviewed on, or guest blogs you’ve written, right?!
Can you see how you can adapt your existing work into your self-published ebook?
In closing
Like everything you do to bring in clients, your book is a conversation. Yes, a bit longer than normal, but a conversation nonetheless between you and your ideal client. In your book, you provide guidance for your client, give them hope, share tips and tricks for problem-solving, and help them see the way through the problems they’re looking to resolve, once and for all. Or the dreams they’re hoping to achieve.
What if I get stuck?
Now you may be thinking, “But what if I sit down to create a book from my current content and I get stuck on putting it all together?”
I totally understand how you feel and lots of newbie authors have felt the same way. I faced the same issue when I wrote and self-published my book, She Markets.
But, you’re better prepared to create your book than you might think. Jim and I have seen this many times with clients we’ve worked with.
Besides, you have deep expertise to share. As a coach, consultant, speaker, or trainer you’re positioned as an expert. What you’re doing with a book, is compiling and assembling your knowledge and expertise into one bigger package.
Always imagine creating your book as an opportunity to re-create the conversations, or trainings, you have with your dream clients.
Jim Butz has helped many business owners…
My partner has helped many business owners, experts, and speakers create a book–without bringing their businesses to a standstill. It’s key for you to consider creating a book because…
Since your book is about your business, it shares all your qualifications, experience, ideas, and expertise. Using this approach, you’ve started a conversation with a potential client. You’re not trying to connect with your elevator pitch and cramming as much as possible into those few moments.
People looking to solve problems want to work with someone considered an expert. It just so happens that most people consider someone who’s written a book to be an expert in their subject area; otherwise how could they have possibly created or written a book?
If you’d like to talk with Jim about how you’d go about doing this in your business, you can contact him here.
You can self-publish an ebook (and book) about your business, and attract more clients
You’re a passionate expert who started a business because you had a better way to solve problems. With each client, you gain unique insights and refine your ability to get results.
By sharing your strategies and frameworks with potential clients and readers, you’re genuinely making a positive dent in the world.
Yes, it can seem overwhelming to start writing a book, but so was launching your business, wasn’t it?
And just like you did then, you’ll create a valuable book you’ll be proud of and your dream clients will love.
Another post you’ll like…
How Amazon Book Publishing Helps Grow Your Business
What if you could finally create content consistently?
If creating your marketing content has felt like a chore, a time-suck, or a massive mystery, you may have given up on content entirely.
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Content is key to attracting ideal clients and filling your programs. So don’t give up!
If your content ideas are buried in your beautiful brain, you want a process to help your words flow.
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