《You must write a book》

WRITING A BOOK IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR BUSINESS 

Someone doesn’t want your business card, they want your book.  —Jeffrey Gitomer 

I believe with my whole heart and soul that you must write a book. A successful professional you might just be (and probably are), but without a book, you are likely perceived as someone who does what many other people do. How would a prospective client know the difference between you and the 37 other people they’ve met in the past week with the same elevator pitch? What is the one thing you do differently? How are you better than your closest competition or the person who says they are, in fact, a better choice than you? Well, probably nothing. Your testimonials say you’re great. Your business card is wonderful, but with all due respect, it is a piece of trash waiting to happen. Your LinkedIn profile is terrific, except LinkedIn highlights the other people with your exact qualifications in the sidebar. You must add a tool to your toolbox most others don’t know to have or aren’t willing to create. What is this one thing that can separate you from the crowd and convince a prospect to sign on the dotted line to engage you instead of someone else? Of course we both know: a book. Not just any book, either. Your book. The book in which you pour your knowledge, education, and expertise combined with your unique perspective and engaging sense of humor. How do I know all this is true, and why should you listen to me? While this isn’t about me, I won’t be able to convince you that writing a book is one of the most important and life-changing business moves you can make without sharing some of my story.  I have been a business and executive coach for more than 17 years. My clients are high-profile entrepreneurs, senior-level professionals and executives, attorneys, financial professionals, and CEOs of the Fortune 500. The highest of the highest paid. And yet, that wasn’t always the case. I was a garden variety business coach, at least according to perception, charging a common business coach fee until I had been coaching for a half-dozen years.  Then I wrote a book. It wasn’t until I wrote Tall Order! Organize Your Life and Double Your Success in Half the Time and added author to my list of credentials that my coaching practice, and my fees, shifted into high gear.  Writing a book wasn’t in my business plan. In fact, I had never taken a writing class, nor had I studied creative writing or even journalism in college (a practical impossibility, as I never attended college). I certainly didn’t consider myself a writer! I met Mark Victor Hansen, coauthor of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, at a conference in 2004. When he asked me what I did, I proudly said, “I am a business coach and a speaker.”  To which he responded, “That’s nice, honey. Everyone is a coach and a speaker. You must write a book!” I wryly thought, Well, how hard could that be?  I gave him the blank look I see when I suggest to someone that they, too, must write a book. I’m lucky he took my silence as a license to continue. He said, “Do you have a speech you’ve given that’s popular?”  I answered, “Yes, I have a speech titled Master Strategies for Explosive Business Growth.” He said, “Take that speech and write it down, word for word. Let that be the basis of your book.” At the time my daughter was four years old. I was a single mom with a high school education and building my coaching and speaking business. I worked from 4:00–6:30 a.m. (before she woke up in the morning), from 8:30 a.m.–2:35 p.m. (while she was in preschool), and most nights from 7:30–11:00 p.m. (after she went to bed and until I couldn’t keep my eyes open). Of course, in my mind, I had several viable reasons why I could not write a book. I chose to focus on the gift that was Mark’s advice: you must write a book. As it turns out, writing a book wasn’t actually that hard. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying it was, or is, easy … but it is doable! Most importantly, writing my first book is the single best thing I ever did for my career. I think it probably will be the most important action you will ever take for your career, and that’s why I wrote this book. Let’s get back to the story of my first book: I had a wonderful friend who volunteered to have my daughter stay at her house for the weekend so I could write. From Friday morning until Sunday afternoon, I turned my speech into words on paper. I got up from my chair only to make more green tea and eat. It was grueling. It was challenging. It was worth it. By the end of the weekend, I had a rough draft. I also had a book project I never wanted to look at again. You know what they say, too much of something is just too much! I let the manuscript marinate for a few weeks, and then I hired a coach, Jeff Sloan, cofounder of Startup Nation. He was someone I admired, and it was of particular interest to me that he had recently published his first book. The mission of our work together was simple: help me figure out if I had a “good book” on my hands, and, if so, get it published. With no education or other interesting credentials, I never entertained trying to secure a book deal. As it turns out, this was a blessing in disguise! (More on that later.) Jeff read my manuscript in preparation for our session, and I’ll never forget the surprise I heard in his voice when we spoke. “Your book is actually really good! Now let’s get it published!” That first book, Tall Order!, provided the credibility a business card, brochure, or website could not. Prospective clients and business connections could get a taste of my approach, humor, and style without having to invest more than the cost of a few cups of coffee. Those who liked what I had to say and how I said it, chose to hire me. And, I suppose, the opposite is also true. Since I wrote Tall Order!, the 10th anniversary edition of which was released last year, my calendar has been filled with clients’ appointments. Why? Because while other coaches, speakers, and trainers all said pretty much the same thing, I had a book. And I was the one who was hired. Even though I doubled my fee shortly after the book was published, pricing me far above what other coaches were charging, I had a waiting list of clients. Bonus: I attracted higher quality clients, who were willing and able to pay more. So yes, having a book is going to increase the likelihood you’ll engage more business with higher quality clients at a higher fee. But wait, there’s more … I presold 11,000 copies of the book before I ever had the first copy in my hot little hands (you can read more about this at Honoree Corder.com/11000) and have since sold tens of thousands of copies of Tall Order! alone, adding an additional income stream to my bottom line.  Speaking of additional streams of income, having a book led to paid keynote presentations and corporate training within the first year after the book was released. In the last decade, I have expanded my offerings to include online courses, consulting, coach certification, and so much more. Eventually, I was inspired to write more books. When I expanded my catalog to include what is now the Successful Single Mom book series, I was led to and made even more incredible connections and opportunities.  But making more money isn’t the best aspect of having a book. I’ve saved the best for last: having books has allowed me to positively impact the lives of so many people, almost all of them I never would have been able to touch without a book. You, like me, might be as business-minded as the next person and can already see how having a book will massively increase your bottom line. But I promise you the impact you have on the lives of others will be the most rewarding thing about having a book. Have I piqued your interest? Aroused your curiosity and gotten your imagination going? Perhaps about how your book could impact your business, your life, and the lives of others? Good!  In fact, I am just the first of many professionals who will share why writing a book has changed their professional and, more often than not, personal lives. I’ll share their stories and thoughts because if I were the only one who claimed writing a book was well worth the time, money, and energy, you might retain your not-yet-an-author status. But I’m not going to leave you hanging; in fact, I’m going to convince you (I’m sure of it!) that You Must Write a Book. And the sooner the better. Yes, it is my intention to not only wipe out any remaining skepticism you have, but to inspire you to take immediate action and show you the way. There is a way to write a rock-solid book and have it professionally produced. That means even someone with the keenest eye wouldn’t know a fancy traditional New York publisher didn’t give you a big, fat advance and produce it for you. And, you can earn multiple (multiple people, multiple!) streams of income from it. Yes, even if you don’t fancy yourself a writer—I sure didn’t fancy myself to be one! A tall order? Yes. Can I deliver? You bet. This book is the 21st book I’ve personally written, and I have more than a dozen on my “to write” list. In addition, I am Hal Elrod’s business partner in the Miracle Morning book series. As of this writing, we have published six books in the series, with another half-dozen in the queue. Also, I personally write and self-publish between three and six books each year. Suffice it to say, I know a bit about successfully self-publishing business books. And I’ve written this particular book because I think you must write a book. If I hadn’t written my first book, my business, heck my life, wouldn’t be nearly as amazing as it is now … and I want to give you the same, or even better, access to the opportunities that lie only on the other side of writing a book. But you don’t have to believe me. I’m not the only successful self-published business author. In fact, I know many people who have become household names, or at least very well known in their particular niches, because they first wrote and self-published their book.  Allow me to introduce you to Kevin Kruse. I first heard about Kevin, an Inc. 500 serial entrepreneur and the New York Times best-selling author of 15 Secrets Successful People Know about Time Management, when I saw a Facebook post about an “author’s journey to $100K.” In fact, the year Kevin published 15 Secrets, his goal was to earn $100,000 as a full-time writer. He ended up earning a total of $242,042: $72,000 in royalties and just over $170,000 in speaking fees. Without his book, he wouldn’t have gotten nearly as many speaking gigs, in fact, he probably wouldn’t have gotten any at all because most of his speaking engagements arose from someone discovering his book. Kevin shares his thoughts about writing a book:  Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me for advice on how to start a business or how to get their stalled business growing faster. I tell everyone the same thing: there is nothing more important than writing and publishing a book. I've started or cofounded several multimillion dollar companies, and I always start by writing a book for our target audience, which addresses their number one need. There's a reason why the root of “authority” is AUTHOR. The book will both generate leads for your business AND increase your close rate for the leads you already have. A book will be the best business card you'll ever have.  Find out more about Kevin at KevinKruse.com. Kevin Tumlinson, author of The 30-Day Author, also weighed in:  Every professional would benefit from writing a book because having a book increases your credibility and authority on a topic. Beyond that, however, the process of writing a book allows you to develop a keener insight into yourself, your business, your industry, and your topic. Nothing helps you focus better than crystalizing your thoughts on the page in as concise a way as possible. Books can actually help you define the indefinable in your business and your life.  This Kevin can be found at KevinTumlinson.com.  My friends Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz are the authors of several business parables including the best seller, Go for No! Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There. Here’s what they said when I asked them why writing a book is a great idea for all business people: It’s our belief that everyone has a book inside them. However, most people think that they have to be the “definitive expert” of their topic or field. When you write a book, it’s almost the exact opposite; you are sharing your current expertise with the reader and, in doing so, solidifying your credibility and expertise. This is not to say you don’t need to have your facts down. But you don’t have to be Julia Child to write a cookbook. You have your own style and way of doing things—to quote an American Idol phrase, “you make it your own.”  Connect with Rich and Andrea at GoforNo.com. Hal Elrod, my good friend, business partner, and author of a worldwide bestseller, says this:  Though I had many dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up, “author” was never one of them. That is, until a close friend passionately said to me, “You have a responsibility to the world to share your process in a way that helps other people. The Miracle Morning transformed your life, so to keep it to yourself would be selfish.” Huh, I had never thought of it that way. So, I began writing. Slowly but surely (three years later), The Miracle Morning was finished, self-published, and on its way to becoming an international best seller and one of the highest rated books on all of Amazon.  Writing and self-publishing The Miracle Morning is hands down, without question, the best decision I have ever made, for me and for my family. I believe that, for any author, the two most compelling reasons to write a book are to increase your income and elevate your impact. In terms of income, becoming an author enabled me to double my speaking fees, triple my coaching fees, start putting on live events, launch a mastermind, and has created a seven-figure income stream from book royalties alone, all of which gives me the opportunity to provide financial security for my family. There is nothing else that gives me more peace of mind than knowing that I have the means to take care of them. In terms of impact, The Miracle Morning has had an impact in the lives over 200,000 individuals around the world, and is increasing every day. By giving people a simple process that enables them to continuously grow and improve, it accelerates how quickly they are able to fulfill their potential and reach their goals. Nothing provides more fulfillment than knowing that the book is making a profound impact for nearly every person who reads it and that it will continue to do so long after I’m gone. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other professionals who have taken on the challenge of self-publishing their first book and reaped the benefits of that decision. You can be next! If you’re wondering, and you probably are, whether you can, and should, write a book, you already know my answer. Turn the page, and I’ll tell you why the who is you! 

 Corder, Honoree (2016-09-28T22:58:59). You Must Write a Book: Boost Your Brand, Get More Business, and Become the Go-To Expert (Kindle Locations 285-286). Honorée Enterprises Publishing, LLC. Kindle Edition.