Business owners out there. Here is the Number One secret weapon you have and don’t know it.

Your secret weapon is YOUR CLIENT. Even if you are just starting out and can count your clients on the fingers of one hand they are still your most precious resource. Why? Because you can learn from them and pass that learning on.

Ask yourself, what is the most important thing you offer your clients? Once you have an answer check it out with them, you may be surprised that what they value from your offering is not exactly what you had in mind.

Go with your clients’ views, after all they are paying you! Write down exactly what you offer and what your clients value about it, how it improves their lives and why they are prepared to part with their hard earned cash to get it.

Congratulations, you have written the first part of Your Book for Business.

Want help on the next bit?  Call me for a half an hour coaching session on how to use influencers in your niche to showcase YOUR expertise.

A book is NOT A BUSINESS CARD

There is a myth going around that writing a book is some sort of supercharged business card. You will often find companies selling write book quick pushing this idea. Well, let me tell you IT IS NOT TRUE.

The argument goes like this. Don’t worry if you don’t know very much, come to use and we will produce a book for you and you will look good and grow your business.

It doesn’t work like this. To write a book which gives you business traction you need to be good at what you do. You need knowledge, expertise, an up to date understanding of your field and MOST IMPORTANTLY a real feel for your clients or customers and their concerns.

If you are successful. If you are giving your clients a valued service THEN you are ready to write a book.

And it will be invaluable for your clients, your business and your reputation.

I am seeing this so clearly with some of the authors I am publishing. I want to give a special mention to Sally Coombs and her new book The Infertlility Experience and Dr Sue Peacock and her book Sleeping with Pain. Both books display that quiet confidence which comes from really knowing your stuff. Anyone reading them could have complete confidence in the advice given. It’s wonderful to see these two great new authors now moving onto a bigger stage. 

#book publishing 

Here’s a simple tip. If your clients want something give it to them. Write about it, make an eBook or a handout or a pdf and send it to all your clients.

When put like that it sounds so obvious. But how many of you do that?

So start by making a list of what your clients or customers are asking for. Over a period of months, even weeks you will begin to see a pattern.

So next identify what the most demands are for. Then make a list of these.

Next decide how best to answer these demands. What type of product would be best? It might be a whole book or it could be a regular newsletter or a new blog. Or perhaps it is a one- off guide which needs good colourful pictures so then a downloadable pdf might do the job.

When you have decided this GET WRITING. Do a draft and then show it to a selection of your clients who have asked for it? Does it do the job. Listen to their feedback. Clients often don’t know exactly what they want until they see it, so don’t get disheartened if they seem unenthused. Use all your questioning skills to find what you have missed.

When you have done this re-write, change, polish until you and more importantly your clients are happy.

Then launch your new product and tell everyone.

is �|\1>L�G

As I often say writing a book is a big undertaking. And as I often say it is worth it. It is worth it because it will raise your profile and enable you to get more clients and charge more for your services.

BUT BUT BUT this will only happen if you make the effort to sell your book.

I am always disappointed when I see people who have put in so much effort into writing their book and then just sit back and do nothing. They don’t get the benefit of all their hard work.

So what goes wrong here?

One reason why authors fail to sell is that they aren’t clear at the beginning about why they are writing a book. Perhaps they day dream about making millions and hitting the best seller list. Well this might happen and good luck to you if it does, but for most of us it is unlikely. So don’t get disappointed if your Amazon sales are not rocketing (although there are some things you can do to increase them which I will tell you about another time). It is not the most important measure of success for your book. 

Not all book buyers are equal

Instead think about the quality of the sales. Let take an example. Say you have written a book on dealing with anxiety, or weightloss, or giving up smoking. Good you want to sell it. The bad news is there are literally thousands of books on these subjects and it is going to be hard to make your book stand out. The good news is that a just few dozen sales can transform your business. Here are some golden sales you can think about making.

• Sales to the leaders of local groups and clubs working with people suffering from the problem your book solves
  
• Sales to other healthy living profesisonals in your area
  
• Sales to your local GPs (perhaps a special deal if they keep it is the waiting room)
  
• Sales to health food shops
  
• Sales to gyms and sports clubs
• Sales to local grooming and personal care professionals
  
• Sales to local media figures (local journalists and radio presenters for example)
• AND MOST IMPORTANTLY SALES TO YOUR CLIENTS - if you have written a book expect EVERY CLIENT WHO COMES TO SEE YOU WITH THAT ISSUE SHOULD BUY YOUR BOOK. IF THEY DO NOT THEN IMPROVE YOUR SALES TECHNIQUE

The 3 reasons why these booksales matter the most

Why are these sales worth so much more than selling to someone you’ve never met on Amazon? Three reasons

• Firstly, it will raise your profile and identify you as a local expert. It will make you stand out from the crowd Your reputation will grow and you will be able to charge more. 
  
• Secondly, your message will get across to potential clients. Those book buyers become your ambassadors for your skills. You will get more clients.
  
• Thirdly, new clients will get extra resources and that means they are more likely to succeed. And successful clients bring more clients.

Golden sales

So before you even start writing your book make a list of your golden customers. (You can even go and talk to them at this stage and find out what they would like from your book).

If you have already written a book then dust off those copies under the bed and GET SELLING THEM. You are not going to make a fortune from the cover price but you could easily double you income from clients if you do it properly and get those golden sales coming in.

So don’t just Get Writing Get Selling as well

�`�X�Hw����

writingwithann:

Don’t ignore your networks

The great thing about writing to build your business, whether that is a blog, a book or an article is that you can make contact with your most important contacts at every stage of the process.

You might find it works best to make a list and then look at how each contact can help you.

Here is an example. When you start out with an idea for your next piece of work think about the people you know who know more about this than you, or know about it from a different angle. Contact them, get their take on your subject, pick their brains. Then write up what they say and credit them. When you publish send them a copy of your work and thank them.

Good news all around. You have given them the endorsement of being an expert in the field. You have given them publicity in their chosen field. And you have been able to pass on expert information to your clients. So don’t be shy. Most people who are serious about building their business and strengthening their professional field will love to talk to you.

Keep on doing this and you can build a reputation for being at the centre of knowledge in your field. And that can only be good.

�]�1�

Don’t ignore your networks

The great thing about writing to build your business, whether that is a blog, a book or an article is that you can make contact with your most important contacts at every stage of the process.

You might find it works best to make a list and then look at how each contact can help you.

Here is an example. When you start out with an idea for your next piece of work think about the people you know who know more about this than you, or know about it from a different angle. Contact them, get their take on your subject, pick their brains. Then write up what they say and credit them. When you publish send them a copy of your work and thank them.

Good news all around. You have given them the endorsement of being an expert in the field. You have given them publicity in their chosen field. And you have been able to pass on expert information to your clients. So don’t be shy. Most people who are serious about building their business and strengthening their professional field will love to talk to you.

Keep on doing this and you can build a reputation for being at the centre of knowledge in your field. And that can only be good.

�]�1�

Planning

I come from a background in journalism. For 30 years I spent time in offices where there was a workflow system for words. From an idea to raw copy through editing to sub-editing to proofreading, everything went through the same system. And it worked. Coy got more polished and mistakes were weeded out at every stage.

I can remember as a bolshie 24 year old being told off by an elderly proof-reader for trying to make a big change at her stage. And she was right. Break the system and mistakes creep in. I learned this the hard way and now the system is second nature to me. It is the system I use with authors who work with me and, although it can be restrictive it works, we get books out on time and they are of a high quality.

Feedback

The key is to TAKE FEEDBACK AT THE RIGHT TIMES.

The first important time is when you start.

Is your basic idea sound? Is it something people want to read?

When you have written your first chapter or sections take more feedback. Does what you are writing make sense? Is it is the style and form that your readers would want?

Once you have taken the feedback carry on and don’t go back. Otherwise you will be changing things when you should be polishing the copy and mistakes will creep in.

And remember you are more than welcome to use the Get Writing group to ask for feedback and ideas.

�