When I meet new people and tell them that I’m a writer, the response I hear the most is, “I was going to write a book!” This inevitably leads to a conversation that includes all the reasons why they decided NOT to write the book, or why they wrote two chapters and quit, or (every once in a while), how they’ve completed an actual book and now don’t know what to do with it.
The truth of the matter is, everyone CAN write a book. Not only that, but if you’re in the business realm, not only CAN you write a book, but you SHOULD write a book. Why? Here are a few reasons:
Books are GREAT for making you stand out.
Almost every person has a website. And as we all get more tech-savvy, there are a great number of businesspeople who have social media followings and blogs. But how often do you run into a businessperson who has an honest-to-goodness printed book they can hand you? The answer is VERY FEW. And when you DO meet one of these people and you get their book in your hands or are even just aware that it exists, what does that do to your opinion of them? More than likely, it makes you think they are more accomplished, knowledgeable and well-known than their competitors who have nothing to show but a bunch of words on a computer screen.
Books make the perfect leave-behind.
If you’re in any type of sales (and let’s face it, if you’re in business you’re in SOME type of sales), you know the importance of getting your prospects to remember you after you’ve walked out the door. What do you usually leave behind? A business card? A pen with your contact information printed on it? How many other people do the same thing to that same prospect every week? Every month? Now imagine having a meeting with a prospect, starting a relationship, shaking their hand at the end of your time together…and handing them a book authored by YOU. What do you think the impact would be? Even if they never read the thing, the fact that you gave them a book you’d written instantly makes you memorable.
Books can say everything you weren’t able to say in person.
REASONS WHY NOT
- –I don’t have anything to write about
- –I’m not a good writer
- –I don’t have time/money
- –I don’t know what to do with it once it’s done
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