5 Business Benefits of Writing a Book

If you’re a seasoned pro of the business world, or even if you’re just starting out, you probably have a packed schedule.

Your time is limited and perhaps dominated by the ceaseless demands your enterprise places on you. In light of that situation, it may seem unappealing to take the time to write a book. However, it might just be the best thing you ever do for your business.

So how exactly can releasing a book take your business life to the next level?

Let’s check out five different benefits of writing a book. Hopefully, you’ll see it’s a worthwhile investment of your time that will directly help your business.

Boost Your Authority

Perhaps the most appealing benefit of releasing a book is the massive boost in your authority that naturally occurs. Becoming a published author helps you stand out and cements you as an expert in your field.

Boosting your authority isn’t just a vanity objective, either. While you will benefit, you won’t be the only person benefiting. Your greater levels of authority mean you can reach and impact more people.

It’s a lot easier to get booked for speaking events when you have a book to your name. Many of your competitors probably have similar degrees, backgrounds, and professional experiences as you. But a well-written book will always make you stand out from the crowd.

Of all the ways to increase your authority while sharing beneficial information with the world, books are top of the list. 

Book as a Business Card 

Did you know that it’s more affordable than you might think to have a copy of your book printed?

You can effectively give them out like business cards. Give two copies – one for your client and one for them to give to a friend.

By doing this, you spread your influence by leveraging your wider network. A book given by a trusted friend is a powerful endorsement for you.

Also, people love to read. By giving away something of genuine value, you’re making a positive difference in people’s lives.

Take a moment to think of someone you admire. If you had the choice of receiving their business card, or a book sharing their wisdom that also made it easy to get in touch with them, which would you choose?

When you start to envision the power of the book as a business card, writing one almost becomes a no-brainer. 

Create a Companion Course

Your book opens up many more revenue opportunities for you. One such opportunity is providing a companion course.

For any book out that is released, there are different levels of involvement from the people who read it. From people who purchase a book but never take the time to delve into it, through to people who reread the same tome, taking notes each time, there is a wide spectrum of participation.

The people who love your book the most might want to be more involved than simply reading it. For such people, you should consider releasing a companion course.

A companion course might sound ambitious, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as you keep in mind the core idea of providing extra value to your most dedicated readers, as well as a sense of community around your book, you’ll be on the right track.

By creating a course around the core ideas in your book, you give people the option to learn them in more depth, while also creating a revenue stream for yourself.

Direct Business Referrals

When people finish your book, make it easy for them to contact you. It’s the perfect time as they are already warmed up to your expertise and style.

If you have existing channels of communication for new clients, use these, but ensure they are ready for a possible new stream of inquiries. This could mean extra responsiveness to email around the time of your book launch, for example.

As well as your existing means for customers to contact you, consider creating new ones. If you don’t have a digital mailing list, this is the perfect time to create one. People who sign up through your book have already shown an investment and interest in you that goes beyond something such as reading a blog post.

When you give your book out in great enough numbers, you’ll be able to figure out a mode for its referrals, along the lines of X copies given out leading to a certain number of referrals.

While getting more direct referrals for your business probably isn’t your core reason for writing a book, you’ll wish you’d written one sooner when they start flowing in!

Generate Passive Income

While it’s true that a small number of books make blockbuster levels of revenue, most don’t.

The good news is that you don’t need your book to become an all-time bestseller. You’re in business first and foremost. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore the income potential of your book.

If you release a book that generates even a small level of consistent passive income, you’ve opened up a viable new revenue stream. This gives you a lot of options for the future.

You could write and release more books yourself. You could work with ghostwriters to leverage your knowledge while preserving your time.

There’s something satisfying about seeing an envisioned income stream come to fruition. Even if the monetary impact is relatively small, knowing you have released a book people are willing to pay for is incredibly rewarding.

Why Not Take Action Today?

If any or all of the benefits discussed here resonate with you on some level, I’d urge you to take action.

Writing a book can feel like one of those herculean projects that are almost impossible to start. But you can small chunk it like anything else.

Why not start by setting aside ten minutes to brainstorm either the audience your book will serve or some of the key ideas it will contain?

You might just find you plant a seed that bears incredible fruit for you and your business.