How to Design Your Book to Grow Your Business (and Your Income)

Many savvy business owners know that a book can be the
ultimate marketing tool. Writing a book on a topic related to
your business establishes expertise, expands your marketing
influence, and generates new leads—all while bringing in income
from book sales.

However, you can’t just write ANY book. You need to
strategically design your book to attract the right kind of leads
and clients to your business. Where should you start? Consider
the following three steps.

1. Fill a Need in Your Market

If you want to write a business book, then the first step is to
figure out what need you will fill. Like all products that are
invented to satisfy some useful purpose, your book should offer rna new process or solve a problem in your readers’ lives. So think
about it: what does your market need and want? What
solutions can you offer them? What can you show them that will
make their lives easier? Figure this out, and you’ve got the
foundation for a successful business book.

2. Develop Your Process

Once you know what solution you will offer your book’s readers,
you need to distill that down into steps or a process that they
can apply on their own. Although you may not realize it, you
probably use the same process, or explain the same concepts,
with all your clients. To get this process down on paper so
readers can use it, start by listing all the steps. What do your
readers need to know (or do) first? What step comes next?
What actions will take them from the place they are now to the
place where they need to be? Each of these main steps should
have sub-steps, which can then be grouped together into
chapters. By putting all these pieces together, your book’s
structure should start to develop.

3. Sell the Benefits

With your steps in place, you need to look for the big-picture
benefits this process helps your target market achieve. What
goal will your readers reach if they implement the strategies
provided in your book? How will their lives ultimately improve?
What deep human need does your book help fill? The answers
to these questions are the benefits. These are the things
people want that you can provide. And these benefits are what
will sell your book. Keep this in mind as you’re writing your book,
and your readers will find it irresistible.

Business by the Book

Writing a book is an excellent way to expand your influence,
create new leads, and generate new income in your business.
And writing the perfect book for your market starts with
identifying a need, developing your process, and then
communicating the benefits of your solutions. When you use
these three steps for designing your book as the ultimate
marketing tool, your market will hear your message loud and
clear—and they’ll only want to buy from you!