Summary
Many business leaders find that writing a book is an invaluable way to amplify their brand and share the benefits of their experiences with a wider audience than they could otherwise reach.
It is surely no easy task to take on the challenge of being an author, especially when you are maintaining other business ventures at the same time. You will need a steely commitment to doing the work and a brutal eye for discerning what it is you have to add to an already crowded marketplace.
Read on for tips on how you can take your idea to the written word and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field of expertise.
Transcript
It is said that everyone has a story – but does everyone have a book?
It can be tempting to pursue writing a book as a path to becoming a thought leader. When perusing the aisles at Barnes and Noble, you might easily think to yourself that you could do just as good a job after flipping through a few pages of the latest business tome.
Take it from me – writing is an enormously valuable exercise in helping you to tease out what you really think about your business and what you are passionate about. Studies consistently show strong writing and verbal skills as some of the most desired skill sets. Just enter into any major writing project with an awareness of the limitations on your time and the low threshold that what you write will be seen by many people. In a world of content, it has become harder and harder to stick out from the crowd, especially in the crowded jostling for physical and electronic book sales.
It’s An Open Field
The beauty of the technology landscape today is that the traditional gate keepers have fallen away. There is absolutely nobody but yourself holding you back from writing, self-publishing, and distributing a book on your own. The accompanying challenge, of course, is that everyone else is happy to do it as well. With so many names and voices on the scene, it is indeed harder than it ever was to strike it big or rich as an author. (Though there are, of course, success stories like Andy Weir, who self-published a series of blog posts that ultimately became the publishing and movie phenomenon, The Martian.) If you have a big enough network of followers who consider your thoughts to be a must-know, you may be able to move thousands of units on your own – otherwise the established formal publishing houses will likely be closed to you and you will need to explore other outlets for your creativity.
Build Your Reputation
That said, the value of a book is not found merely in the number of units sold. The (perhaps sad) truth is that the mere act of having written a book can be enough to provide you with some greater gravitas and credentials to be considered an expert, even if the book is not read. You’ll find that being able to tout your credentials as a writer is a gateway to gaining access to panel invitations, television appearances, or other opportunities to present yourself as a branded expert in your field of knowledge. All of these are avenues to help you build greater online presence and revenue.
Don’t kid yourself though – churning out a book can be a grueling experience for even world-class writers. If the likes of Hemingway are driven mad by the blank page, the mortals among us are surely in for some challenges as well – deadlines, writer’s block, and the business of making sure that what you write is actually good. Writing is fundamentally a “butt in the chair” exercise – there’s no other way through the experience but to put the work in.
Honing Your Writing Skills
You’re well advised to start off with some more manageable projects to get your feet wet if you aren’t yet in the habit of regularly writing. Some blog posts or opinion editorials can be excellent ways to test out the waters for your voice and even begin to generate content that you can later repurpose into a longer form to be used as a book.
A good habit to get into is to regularly be clipping, bookmarking, and saving material that speaks to you. This research will help give you direction into the kind of content and stories that you are most interested in. What perspectives or viewpoints do you see not being represented in the conversation? This will help illustrate what the most unique and promising entry point is for you. After all, you are better primed to reach an audience if you are offering a perspective or view that is not already out there on the market, so don’t be afraid to embrace some of your contrarian tendencies. Unique voices are always welcome.
The benefit of keeping research is augmented by jotting down notes on a regular basis on your reactions to what you are reading, the latest developments in your field, and your advice to others. When it comes time to actually write, you can synthesize and clean up this material into a polished work, taking out much of the agony and grunt work that some of us associate with the book writing process.
An essential part of the book writing process is mapping out your vision for your entire argument. You can choose to discover the thrust of your story as you go along, but it can be a much more painful and lengthy process than if you simply spend some time upfront to outline the basic structure. For example, if you are writing a book on launching an online business, you would devise the structure before sitting down to generate content. You would brainstorm a list of good topic areas that could be turned into chapters – such as learning about negotiations, revenue streams, marketing – and then devise a logical, coherent order to place these subjects. Then you will be much farther along at mapping out how your content fits into the narrative drive of the book.
Your Life Experience Becomes Your Voice
The beauty of writing is that you can fold all of your life experiences into your work. In a sense you are always “on”, gathering experiences and insights that can be repurposed and used in your writing. Keep your eyes open to the world around you – there is inspiration just about everything if you are open to letting it in.
Make sure to keep your voice present in your piece. Don’t try to be something you are not. Readers value authenticity and unique perspectives. If you have a qualm or disagreement with what is perceived as the conventional wisdom, don’t be shy about sharing your views, even if you may turn some readers off.
Build A Routine
You will need to approach your writing project with the same type of discipline and commitment that you bring to any of your revenue generating activities. Carve out some time each morning or evening or during lunch – whenever you find that are most likely to be able to write productively and free of distraction. By making ongoing incremental progress each day, you will arrive at your goal of a finished piece far quicker than you may have even anticipated. Establish some rituals and a set area to always be writing in. Having some cues – whether it is coffee or a particular Pandora station to listen to, if you prefer writing music – will send that important signal to your brain that it is now time to write. This will help keep you on track when there are so many potential distractions lurking out there to take you away from the work that needs to be done.
What would you write about? Would you write fiction or non-fiction? Would it be something that you would use to leverage some other success in business? What types of voices do you think are currently missing in the dialogue of an interest of yours?
Writing a book can be one of the best ways to break into the “expert” field of your choosing. You can do it!
You can also learn more by visiting my website: tonyneumeyer.com and registering to receive free trainings articles and more. Also subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Facebook. You can get your copy of The 7 Minute Millionaire and check out my other books here: https://tonyneumeyer.com/books/.
