We’ve helped a fair few other businesses to write and publish their business books with fantastic results, and now it’s our turn! As some of you will know, Sharon Tanton and I are delighted to be writing the Valuable Content Marketing book, published by Kogan Page in the autumn. We want to show as many businesses as we can how to market their businesses and get their message across in the right way today, so buyers come to them.

What’s it all about?

The secret to effective of marketing is simple: make yourself useful and share information that your buyers genuinely value, even look forward to. We want you to rethink your marketing:

Help, don’t sell; show, don’t tell; talk, don’t yell!

Our book tells you all you need to know to focus you marketing efforts on creating really valuable content – on and off the web – for fantastic business results. The book is on what is commonly called ‘content marketing’ – that’s the buzz phrase du jour. It’s about sharing information, or content over the Internet to engage potential buyers and delight your customers. But any old content won’t do – today only high quality content that people genuinely appreciate cuts through the noise.

If ‘content marketing’ is a bit jargony for you try this for size. Think of it as – helpful marketing, or VALUABLE marketing if you like. Our book is a clarion call for high quality, meaningful content that first and foremost helps your type of buyer, and will undoubtedly benefit you. Marketing with valuable content really works, as our clients will tell you. We can’t wait to give you the low down on how to do it well.

We’d love your help

Any good book is a collaboration and we’d love to collaborate with you. We’re looking for stories from all types of businesses about the results they’ve got from their content. If you’ve got a good content story you are willing to share – please get in touch.

Anyone who gets their story published in our book will get a mention in the acknowledgements….and a signed free copy of our book! We’ll also enter you into our Valuable Content Award nominations and you never know you might get a coveted Valuable Award badge for your site too.

>> Good content story? Contact Sonja: sonja@valuablecontent.co.uk

The trials and tribulations of writing a book

We have an inkling that there are others of you out there who might want to write a book one day, so in the spirit of being helpful we’re going to start writing a blog a month on what we’ve learned – so when you write your book you can do it better!

In next month’s newsletter we will address the ‘publish or self-publish?’ dilemma. This was a hard decision for us as there are pros and cons each way. We’ve opted to publish the traditional route with Kogan Page and in February’s post we’ll tell you why.

Related articles:

• Writing a book is a smart marketing move
• Does your business book idea have legs?
• Valuable advice on writing a business book from best selling author Charles H Green

“Networking is the fastest and most effective way to build a business or career. Done correctly, it will increase your pool of contacts, build awareness of what you do, and motivate those valuable referrals and career-enhancing opportunities. If you network effectively, the relationships you create will generate a stream of opportunities from which you can choose.”

So says business coach Heather Townsend in her new book, The FT Guide to Business Networking. It’s a subject as old as commerce itself but Heather puts a new twist on it. Today if you want to get the best out of your networking efforts you should invest in a mix of face-to-face and online activity. It’s this joined up approach that sets Heather’s book apart.

Heather’s is an important and very timely book that every business person could benefit from reading. Online networking gives us the tools to build and manage a far larger networking than ever before. Used together with face-to-face, this means a massive opportunity to grow our businesses faster and more efficiently than we could in the past.

I helped Heather to get this book off the ground, working as her book coach in the early stages and helping her to get the book deal with FT Prentice Hall. As always when working with a business author, I’ve learned a massive amount from her along the way. I’m hugely proud of Heather and the book she’s produced. Here’s what I particularly like about The FT Guide to Business Networking:

• It’s so comprehensive. It covers everything you need to know to get better at face-to-face and get started in the online world. I can’t think of anything else you’d need to know!
• The advice in the book is eminently actionable. All the way through the book you get tips, guides, plans and action points to take away and implement. It’s evident that Heather really wants people to get their networking right.
• It’s packed full of quotes and mini case studies from real businesses, large and small who have used this powerful combination of online and face-to-face networking to make their ventures fly. This brings trust and credibility to the content.

Valuable content it is indeed and I recommend it most highly. Have a look on Amazon – The FT Guide to Business Networking has 43 reviews to date! I’ll leave you with a snap of the pair of us from Heather’s book launch a couple of weeks ago. The girl has done good!

One of my Twitter contacts asked this question yesterday and a very good question it is too. Many people have an idea for a book, but very few go through with it and actually get their ideas written and published.

81% of adults express a desire to write a book some day. Most never start it and of those that do, very few get to the end. (John Eggen)

I think a lot of this has to do with fear, as well as lack of information on how to make it happen. I guess the fear is that it’s just going to be another ‘vanity publishing’ project – only really of interest to your close friends and family. (I recognise that fear well as I’m writing my own book).

These days you don’t have to rely on a publisher to decide whether or not your book is worth getting into print. There are plenty of valid self publishing options. It’s up to you. But you’ve got to be sure in your head that you really want to make your book happen. You need to be 100% committed to the project to see it through to the end.

Here are a few hard questions which I hope will help as you think this through:

1. Does your book have an audience?

Will it deliver real benefits to real people? Does it answer a question that enough people want to know the answer to?

2. Does it say something distinctive?

A compelling new angle to an old topic or a new avenue altogether. Do you have something interesting to say?

3. Are you the right person to write this book?

Can you build a case for you, the author of this book? This is not to say that you have to have years of experience, just that your story stacks up.

4. Will it help you build your business?

A book is a superb marketing and business development tool but, if you want business results it’s important to write the right book, on a subject that’s central to what the business is all about.

5. Do you have the energy and commitment?

Are you passionately interested in the subject? Writing a book can feel like a hard old slog at times. The only thing that will get you through is a genuine love for your subject and deep desire to get your message across – a good support team around you really helps.

Whether you are looking to publish or self-publish, I hope these questions help you decide whether to commit to taking your book idea forward. Good luck with the thinking and let me know if you want to bounce your ideas off me at any time.

Sonja

Further reading:

Some careful planning will help you decide how to proceed.

• Read: Start here – 12 questions to help you plan your book with clarity.

What type of marketing collateral have you created for your business?

If you are like most business owners you will have a website, some case studies, a brochure and perhaps some thought leadership content such as articles, newsletters or a blog. All of these elements are hugely important but, if you want your business to really stand apart from the crowd, there is another option for you to consider.

There is no better way to prove your expert status than to write and publish a business book. It is the jewel in the crown of credibility builders: the ultimate symbol of expertise. As an author you will be perceived as an authority and that gives you a huge advantage when it comes to sales. It’s the type of thought leadership that can turn your business around.

Here are seven ways that writing a book will bring you business advantage:

1. A book will establish you as a credible expert in your field, proving your knowledge as a thought leader in what you do.
2. This will make it easier for you to open doors, sell your services, motivate referrals and charge higher fees too.
3. It ensures you are remembered – “your business card on steroids”, as one of my clients, now a published author, so aptly put is.
4. A book will drive more inbound leads and enquiries: a good book has a life of its own, getting your name out there and spreading your message while you sleep.
5. PR and speaking engagements will be easier to get: the ticket to higher profile opportunities.
6. A book can bring you passive income: just how much depends on how much effort you put into marketing the book. It’s an opportunity to change your business model, to productise your business and create additional income streams too.
7. You’ll get respect, as Charles H Green, co-author of best-selling ‘The Trusted Advisor’ explains:

“It’s mechanically very simple to assemble a book but somehow your fame, your respect goes up considerably if you have a book to your name. If you give someone a book it’s five dollars of paper and cardboard marked up triple yet somehow it has this patina of ‘Oh my gosh, that’s wonderful! You gave me a book! Thank you!’ People respect it.”

Writing a book will bring you many business advantages. It is in no way the simple option as any author will tell you, but it’s an investment that will bring huge benefit – to you and your business.

Isn’t it time you wrote it all down?

If you sell your expertise as a consultant, adviser, trainer or coach, a business book is probably the most valuable type of content you will ever create. 

Writing a book will bring you many business advantages, but, as client and author Jane Northcote recently reminded me, it’s not just about the business. The main driver for writing a book for many of us is very personal – something we’ve always wanted to do at some time in our career, because we’ve got something to say.

Here are ten good reasons - both business and personal – why writing a business book is such a good thing to do:

Business advantages

1. A book will establish you as a credible expert in your field, proving your knowledge as a thought leader in what you do.

“A well crafted book is clearly the crown jewel of credibility.” Lee Frederiksen, author of Spiraling Up

2. This will make it easier for you to open doors, sell your services, motivate referrals and charge higher fees too.

“A book is a great way of reaching and talking to hard to access senior decision makers (no one tends to turn down the chance to be interviewed to feature in a book).” Heather Townsend, author of The FT Guide to Business Networking

3. A book will drive more inbound leads and enquiries: a good book has a life of its own, getting your name out there and spreading your message while you sleep.

4. PR and speaking engagements will be easier to get: the ticket to higher profile opportunities

5. A book will bring you passive income: just how much depends on how much effort you put into marketing the book. It’s an opportunity to change your business model, to productise your business and create additional income streams too.

Personal benefits

6. You’ll finally get your unique message out there. What a relief! All those thoughts and ideas that have been swimming around in your head for years, finally given wings.

7. You will produce something tangible and long lasting. Author Jane Northcote explains this well:

“I wanted to create something tangible. As a consultant I have created many important but intangible things. I’ve set up new divisions, established leadership teams, cut costs and transformed businesses. These are great things to do – but invisible. Especially as a consultant, my part is invisible – that’s the nature of consulting. My book is visible. I can, and do, point to it. My clients have it on their shelves. It’s even in the British Library, where it will outlive me.” Jane Northcote, author of Making Change Happen

8. You’ll get respect.

“It’s mechanically very simple to assemble a book but somehow your fame, your respect goes up considerably if you have a book to your name. If you give someone a book it’s five dollars of paper and cardboard marked up triple yet somehow it has this patina of ‘Oh my gosh, that’s wonderful! You gave me a book! Thank you!’ People respect it.” Charles H Green, co-author of The Trusted Advisor

9. It will make you even better at what you do - firming up your knowledge and unique process.

10. You will get the personal satisfaction of achieving something you’ve always wanted to do in your life. Tick it off the list.

Writing a book is not an easy thing to do, as any of the authors quoted above will tell you. But it will bring both you and your business huge benefit as I hope you will see.

[Many thanks to all the authors mentioned above for their input - Charlie, Jane, Heather and Lee. I highly recommend each of their books.]

Sonja

sonja@valuablecontent.co.uk, tel: 00 44 (0) 7974 398906

Congratulations on your decision to write a business book. Once you have made the momentous decision to get on and write your book, the temptation is to do just that – jump straight in and start writing the content. This can no doubt be pretty cathartic – I am sure that after all this time there is a burning desire to get those ideas out of your head and down on paper, fast. But starting to write without some careful planning can lead to a lot of rework and frustration further down the line.

Start by stepping back. Here are 12 questions to help plan your book before you start to write:

1. Why are you writing the book – what do you want it to do for you and your business?

2. What is the book about?

3. Who is it written for? Why do they need to read it?

4. What important questions does it answer for the reader? What problems does it solve?

5. What does it teach them? What will the reader learn?

6. What are the main messages in your book?

7. What makes this book distinctive is…

8. Your credibility pitch – why are you particularly qualified to write it?

9. What is the marketplace for your book? Where will it sit on the shelves of a bookstore? Who will buy it?

10. How can you reach those buyers? How will you promote the book?

11. What material will the book include and how will it be organised? Come up with a sensible organisation for your content.

12. Any interesting features that will help the reader apply your ideas e.g. case studies, plans, techniques?

Answer these questions first, before you pen your first chapter. You will find the book far easier to write, publish and promote if you work to a carefully thought-through plan.

If you want your book to be published by a commercial publisher, the critical thing you need to do is make it easy for them to say ‘yes’. But what is the publisher really looking for from a business author? What can you do to make your book proposal stand out from all the hundreds of others in their overcrowded inbox?

We thought you might like to hear some answers from the publisher’s perspective. In this article super-helpful business book publisher Liz Gooster gives you the inside scoop – 10 invaluable tips to make sure that your book proposal stands out from the crowd.

10 insider tips to get a publisher’s attention

Liz: “I’m a publisher of professional business books, so I sift through hundreds of proposals from hopeful authors. Over the years I’ve given a lot of thought to what makes a successful pitch. These are my tips for making it into print with a traditional publishing house.

1)      Do your research. Look at a publisher’s list before you approach them, to check they publish the kind of book you want to write. Getting the genre right is a basic requirement: you might have written the next Harry Potter, but if I’m a business publisher, I can’t publish it. More subtly, try to get a sense of whether your book’s style, approach and market are in tune with the other titles on a publisher’s list. Scour their website, amazon and bookshop shelves. 

2)      Be polite. It’s just common sense: if you want an editor to champion your book and opt into a working relationship with you, the best strategy is to present yourself as someone who’s good to work with. If you can, find out the editor’s name before you approach them. But if you can’t, don’t use ‘Dear Sir’ – your target editor might be a woman! Do be professional, courteous and interesting. Don’t be pushy, rude and domineering. If you haven’t had a response to your proposal, a gentle reminder is fine (editors are busy, so leave 4-6 weeks after your initial approach), but don’t chase too much because you risk making a nuisance of yourself. No one wants to work with a nuisance. 

3)      Define your market. Who is your target reader? Saying ‘Everyone needs this book’ is unhelpful. An editor has to categorise your book to pitch it, the sales team have to tell the bookstores which section to shelve it in, the marketing team need to know who their customers are. Think carefully about the characteristics of your readers. Who are they? What do they do? What are their problems? Write a profile of your typical reader. 

4)      Think about your reader. After defining your reader, think about what they really want. Publishers are commercial beasts. We want to sell books, so we need to know why people would buy yours. Bluntly, we care about what people want to read, not what you want to write. Writing a book is a big, important project for you and a good publisher will ask you why you want to write and what you want to achieve. However, their main concern is to publish a book that sells, so it has to offer something readers want to buy. Your book shouldn’t be the answer to a question nobody will ever ask. 

As you write your proposal, put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Ask: 

• Why should they read your book?
• What can you offer to justify them spending their time, money and attention on your content?
•  What new tools, techniques or thinking will they get from your book?
•  What will they be able to do better, more easily or differently, having read it?
•  What specific problems does it solve or challenges does it address?

This is a long tip! I make no apologies for that, because it’s the most important one. 

5)      Be original. Easier said than done, but try to make the publisher curious about you and your book. Most people will email in their idea and while a subject heading of ‘book proposal’ is accurate, it’s not very unique or inspiring. Aim to do something a little different, something that gets you noticed and makes the editor want to open your email. A clever title can grab their attention. If you make your proposal sound like a compelling business opportunity, a publisher will want to know more. Don’t be afraid to show a little personality: editors are real people and they like working with other real people! 

6)      Submit a proposal, not a manuscript. By all means send a sample chapter to demonstrate your writing ability. A full manuscript is too much. It takes too long to read and it’s largely too late for the editor to help you shape it into something that fits their market. A killer proposal outlining your book’s promise and selling points will whet the editor’s appetite and is more effective. 

7)      Give the publisher what they need. Most publishers have proposal guidelines, which you should follow. If not, make sure you include: 

• The target market
• A persuasive elevator pitch
• A summary of the benefits to the reader
• A Table of Contents, with a summary of each chapter
• A review of the competition. Editors need benchmark books in the same market space to get a sense of your book’s positioning, so don’t say ‘there’s no competition’.
• A brief biography demonstrating your credibility as the author
• A statement of your objectives and expectations

8)      Be an expert with a marketing platform. Offer to market to your contacts. Authors never think publishers market their books enough, but the most commercially successful titles are those which combine a strong sales effort by the publisher with a more targeted, authentic campaign to the author’s own network and community. Show willing.

9)      Be lucky. Your proposal might land on the editor’s desk at exactly the right time: they’re looking for a book in just your area. They’ll still want a well-written proposal and an author with credibility, so all the tips above apply. But never overlook serendipity, because publishing is an art, not a science.

10)   Think about your reader. Remember: it’s all about the reader. I can’t stress this enough, so tip 10 is the same as tip 4.

Good luck!”

Do follow Liz Gooster on Twitter www.twitter.com/publishingcynic and read her blogs at  http://goosterontheloose.wordpress.com and www.businessclasscoach.com.

Further reading:

• The author perspective – How to Get a Publishing Deal – 10 lessons learned by newly signed author Heather Townsend

If you want objective help to craft your business book proposal (I know how hard this is to do by yourself) do get in touch for a chat. Contact Sonja at sonja@sonjajefferson.co.uk. You can find helpful articles and advice on our new Twitter feed too www.twitter.com/valuablebooks.

Heather Townsend is going to be a published author. She has recently been signed by FT Prentice Hall to write ‘The FT Guide to Business Networking’. This is a major coup: FT Prentice Hall is a real heavyweight in the world of business publishing. Part of international publishing group Pearson they publish many of the best-selling books on business and management each year. Their backing gives Heather the support of an experienced production and distribution team and immediate credibility as an author. They cover all costs and take the risk. She even has a paid advance. 

I worked as Heather’s book coach and editor through the process. In this article we share what worked and what didn’t on the journey to getting that publishing deal.  I hope this will be useful insider information for you if you are thinking of writing a book some time in your career.

Lesson 1:  Don’t contact a publisher until you are good and ready 

Publishers receive thousands of enquiries from hopeful authors every year. If you are going to stand a chance of getting their attention you’ve really got to put some effort in. It’s no good sending them a brief email and a few hastily prepared pages of your manuscript. One publisher I spoke to has on average 100 requests in her inbox at any one time (and lives with a permanent feeling of guilt for not being able to pay close attention to them all). If you want to stand out from the crowd like Heather did spend time and effort getting your proposal just right before you get it in front of a publisher. 

Heather: “Being prepared with a strong proposal, before you approach a publisher, is just one of the ways you can lessen the likelihood of rejection.”  

Lesson 2: Don’t start writing straight away – plan first 

You are an expert on your subject and you’re probably desperate to get your ideas out of your head and into book format. It is tempting to pick up your pen and dive right in to the writing in the rush to getting your expertise down on paper. But if you are going to write a carefully constructed book that reads well you’ll need to plan your argument carefully first. 

Heather: “Writing a 500 word blog post is relatively easy. Pretty much anyone can do this with practice. Scaling this up to an 80,000 word document, with a consistent flow and structure is a completely different ball game. It is impossible to write ‘in the moment’ every time you sit down to write your book – you’ll never get it written this way. You need a clear plan and structure  to help you keep the momentum going.”  

Create a ‘writing frame’ for your content to keep you on track. Set out the sections and chapters and show the publisher how your argument flows.   

Lesson 3: Get your pitch right 

Heather: “Whether you want to get published or self-publish and sell the books yourself you need to approach your book as a commercial proposition. Yes, of course your book is your baby, but any publisher is going to be more concerned about whether it will sell rather than how beautifully written it is. For a book to sell, it is going to need an audience with a compelling reason to buy it.” 

One of the most common reasons why publishers turn down a book proposal is that it answers a question that no one has asked - it suffers the all-too-prevalent ‘content in search of an audience’ syndrome. Avoid this by showing how your book delivers real benefit to real people. Know who your readers are and what particular business problem or issue your book solves for them. Pay careful attention to how you communicate this in your pitch.   

Lesson 4. Do your research 

Make sure you carefully research the market for your book. Where will it sit on the shelf of a bookshop? What area or discipline does it fall into? Pitch your book against existing books in this category. State what makes this book different and better. 

Heather: “Your reader, and publisher, will want to know why your book is different. Copycat books don’t sell. As boring as it may sound, being knowledgeable about the ten best selling competitor books in your field is one of the best ways to endear yourself to a publisher. Why? They will need to take your proposal and pitch it to their internal publishing board. If you do this for them it saves them a job…” 

Lesson 5: Write the book  you are passionate about 

Writing a book takes time, thought and an awful lot of effort. It’s not a task for the faint-hearted however much support you get along the way. Make sure that the book you are writing is the right one for you.  

Heather: “Your book is going to distract you from all the things you love and need to do – family, friends, business. This takes time, dedication and focus. The whole process of writing a book just gets tougher each step of the way. The tenth re-write of your proposal is going to take fortitude, but this is nothing compared to the effort required to actually write and sell your book. This focus and effort is only going to happen if  you are intrinsically interested and passionate about the subject matter.” 

Lesson 6: Start marketing immediately 

You can build immediate credibility for yourself and your business by communicating that you are writing a book. Don’t miss out on this opportunity – start marketing yourself as an author straight away. If you want to sell your book at volume, you’ve got to go some in terms of marketing activity.  Even with a reputable publisher behind you, it is down to you to do the majority of the promotion and marketing that drives book sales. 

Heather: “Celebrities and prominent people sell books. Snagging Tony Blair’s memoires was a major coup for Cornerstone and they paid millions of pounds for the privilege. But let’s be honest, you and I are not Katie Price or Tony Blair. The sort of profile which sells books takes time to generate – so the sooner you start the better.” 

A publisher will expect to see that you have a plan for marketing your book. Having a website and interested community of followers for your book from an early stage really helps.  As Charlie Green advises: promote, promote, promote!

Lesson 7: Social media and blogging helps spread the word 

The Internet has given first time authors a fantastic opportunity to spread the word more widely and much more quickly than was ever possible before. Grasp this opportunity – set up a blog and post articles on issues around your subject. Use social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn to engage a community of people interested in your ideas. 

Heather: “Social media has given ordinary people like you and I the chance to grab our place in the limelight – without the need to strip off or run the country. BEFORE you even think about writing a proposal, set up a blog and build your credibility as an expert in your field. These blog posts can even help to form the basis of your book. This is also one of the best ways to get ‘found as an author’ (it worked for me!) and create a buzz even before you start selling your book.” 

Lesson 8: Ensure you have a strong personal brand 

If a publisher or potential buyer of your book Googles your name what will they find? Can they see why you are credible as an author of the book? If you are going to pick up a publisher or sell lots of books it is really important to pay attention to your personal brand – your public profile and how this is reflected across the web. Make sure you are positioned as a credible authority in your field.

Heather: “Publishers will always ask you ‘why are you qualified to write this book?’ You’ll need to back this up and ensure that you are positioned accordingly.”

Lesson 9: Make the publisher’s job easier 

Heather: “A publisher may have 25-50 books and authors on their list at any one time. That’s a lot of projects, books and people. You may think that your publisher is misguided and ignorant when they reject your proposal. But ultimately, if they don’t get the commercial (yes, commercial) promise of the book, then how are they going to convince the publishing board, retailers and general public that this is the most amazing book that just has to be commissioned, distributed and bought?”

Make it easy for your publisher to see the commercial value in taking your book on. Follow their submission process, do your homework, research the competition – give them the information they’ll need to sell your idea up to their publishing board, their sales team, retail book buyers and ultimately to your readers. Show them that you’ll be good to work with along the way. Getting a publishing deal is a sales challenge. Make the publishers job easy and you’ll smooth the way to the sale.

Lesson 10: Don’t give up! 

It’s hard this book writing game. Your confidence will ebb and flow along the way. Stand firm. Remember why you are doing this – the fantastic benefits it will bring for you for you and your business. Muster support around you to help you complete the task.

Heather: “Getting a book written and published is a series of marathons rather than a sprint relay race.  At times it will feel as if you have multiple blisters on your feet and can’t face another race but this isn’t the time to give in. Make sure you have a good support team around you to pick you up and dust off the dirt and get you back up and writing again.”

Writing a business book is a fantastic way to boost your credibility and be seen as an authority in your specialist field. If you’ve got a book in you (and I know a lot of you have) I hope Heather’s experience and the lessons she learned along the way will help to set you on that path.

Further reading and advice: 

• If you are looking for support when writing your business book check out our newly launched Mastermind Group for New Business Authors - we’d love to help you make your book happen.
• You can follow Heather on her journey to authorship here – The Book’s Story
• If you are struggling to find the focus you need to write have a look at Jane Northcote’s fantastic article on this blog on Getting Writing Done

Getting down to doing writing is difficult if you’re running your own business. Most of us don’t have the luxury of dropping everything and getting away from it all to focus on writing alone (wish we could!). Here’s an article to help you find the focus you need to get your writing done despite everything else.

This is a guest post from my client Jane Northcote, author of the fantastic Making Change Happen book. We worked together to produce her book whilst Jane continued to run her busy consulting practice. She describes the process and discipline that worked for her to ensure she made time for her writing:

How to stop thinking about it and get your writing done

If you’ve researched your story, you understand your audience and you know what you want to say, then moving to action and starting to write should be utterly straightforward and require no particular effort. Right?

Not so. All writers, whether scribing for books, blogs or whitepapers, know only too well that sometimes this just isn’t the case. Getting down to the physical act of writing can take a herculean force of will.

Distractions crowd in. Secondary objectives suddenly become appealing. Shall I place that grocery order? Read my email? Clear out my desk drawer? All of these suddenly seem more attractive than just logging on and starting to write.

How can we get ourselves to stop procrastinating and move straight to action?

I’ve just started a blog and recently finished writing my first book. Here are a few ideas. They work for me!

1. Remember why you are doing this; write this down first.

Remind yourself what this chapter/article/paper will do for you and your business when completed. This action is taking you in a direction you want to go.  Remember this objective and write it down at the top of your To Do list.

2. Stop using energy thinking about it. Redirect energy into doing it.

Just do it. Walk into your office; open your computer and start.

3. Remember that actions are finite.

Anticipate the end. Once you’ve done it, it’s done, and it won’t have to be done again. So get on with it!

4. Ask someone to manage you.

Tell a peer, a friend or your boss that it will be done by 3 pm. If they are a real friend, they’ll drop by a while before the deadline to check that you have started.

5. Tell a large number of people you’ll do it.

Trap yourself. If you’ve made a commitment to a lot of people then the shame of saying you didn’t try will outweigh the effort of doing it.

6. Find something in the action you enjoy; give yourself a treat.

Write in a pleasant place – a favourite coffee shop or library or a room overlooking the sea (as I’m writing from now). What ever it takes: wear favourite clothes or special socks – like athletes do!

7. Do nothing else.

Allow yourself to do nothing else until you’ve completed your chapter/paper/article. To finish, here is Raymond Chandler, creator of Philip Marlowe and author of novels and screenplays, writing about how he gets himself to do things.

‘The important thing is that there should be a space of time, say four hours a day at least, when a professional writer doesn’t do anything else but write. He doesn’t have to write, and if he doesn’t feel like it he shouldn’t try. He can look out of the window or stand on his head or writhe on the floor, but he is not to do any other positive thing, not read, not write letters, glance at magazines, or write checks. Either write or nothing.’

What works for you? How do you get your writing done? I’d be fascinated to know.

You will find Jane’s book Making Change Happen on Amazon: Making Change Happen – a practical guide to implementing business change. (Stunning illustration and design by Lizzie Everard www.lizzieeverard.com). This article was originally posted on www.copyblogger.com – www.copyblogger.com/getting-writing-done.

The ultimate symbol of expertise

Hiring the services of a consultant or professional advisor requires a high degree of trust. Clients need to be confident that you are an expert in your field before they will consider engaging your services.

There is no better way to prove your expert status than to write a business book. In terms of valuable content, a business book is right there at the top of the pile: the ultimate symbol of expertise. As a respected author you will be perceived as an authority and that gives you a huge advantage when it comes to sales. This kind of thought leadership can turn your business around.

Many business professionals think about writing a book (along with 81% of the population apparently!). I asked well-known author Charles H. Green for his pearls of wisdom on the subject. The generous advice he gives below is invaluable to any would-be author.

Charles is a consultant, speaker and educator focusing on the nature of trust in business relationships. He is the author of Trust-based Selling and co-authored the best-selling The Trusted Advisor with David Maister and Robert Galford. Charles runs a consulting firm, Trusted Advisor Associates and blogs regularly on Trust Matters (well worth reading).

Charles H. Green on the benefits of writing a book:

SJ: What inspired you to write your first book? Did you always want to be an author?

CHG: “I had thought about writing a book but it wasn’t something I’d dreamed of forever. It was absolutely in the rear view mirror. I was running a programme with Robert Galford for Deloitte with the Kellogg and Columbia Business School on the notion of a trusted advisor. Robert and I ran the programme for six to eight months and started to think: ‘You know, there’s a book here’. We ran across David Maister, who I’d known a decade before at Harvard. He said: ‘I’m basically writing the same book so why don’t we partner up – as long as I’m lead author.’ We thought for a nanosecond and, being as he had three books to his name and we had none, we said: ‘Welcome lead author!’ It was a good decision.”

SJ: What has being an author done for you and your business?

CHG: “It has been transformative for me - that’s amazing isn’t it, in this day and age of instant publishing? It’s mechanically very simple to assemble a book but somehow your fame, your respect goes up considerably if you have a book to your name. If you give someone a book it’s five dollars of paper and cardboard marked up triple yet somehow it has this patina of ‘Oh my gosh, that’s wonderful! You gave me a book! Thank you!’

“People respect it and it really helps your name become recognised.”

In my case, The Trusted Advisor has done pretty well. It still ranks in the top three to four thousand on Amazon, which for a ten year old book competing against the likes of Harry Potter is not that bad. You know, we don’t make a lot of money on it though. We’ve spent more on promoting it. But if you’re a speaker or consultant or trainer it is more than worth its expense in terms of what it brings in for your business. I would join you in recommending it to your consultant clients as a very good thing to do.”

SJ: “So do the books bring in business for you?”

CHG: “They do. I would say that maybe half the people that come to me come because of the books. Particularly in the case of the Trusted Advisor – it’s a book that is relevant to anyone in the professions of law, consulting or accounting. When you get to the mid level someone will say: ‘You need to go read The Trusted Advisor’. So that’s worked out very nicely. Trust Based Selling has sold much less but it is a rifle shot for people who get it. I do get calls from people saying: ‘Oh my gosh, that was a total eye opener. Why has no-one written that before?’ A couple of my consulting clients have revamped their whole programmes around it. So there is a smaller audience but passionate, and that’s wonderful too.”

SJ: Did becoming an author change your business model?

CHG: Very much. If I didn’t have a book I’d have a hard time getting represented by a speaker bureau of the quality of The Leigh Bureau. They also represent Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point) and Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize Winner for Economics) so if I’m up with those guys, I’m doing great and I wouldn’t be there without the books. A book gives you something to hand out at events. There are a lot of cases where I will just give out books because people value them, as I said, far in excess of their intrinsic cost and it’s a very good marketing vehicle. A book is the best brochure or website you could ever hope for.”

Charles’ advice for first-time business authors

SJ: “Do you have any other advice for consultants and advisors to motivate them to write a book?”

CHG: “I do have some advice for them:

1. Plan on losing money; don’t worry about it. Do not plan to make a lot of money out of your book. In fact, plan to lose money on the book. The economic model of a book publisher is essentially marking up paper and ink and hope you sell enough in volume to cover all the fixed costs. For them, there is no compensating revenue. For me, or one of your clients Sonja, most likely there is some compensating revenue  in terms of speeches or seminars or consulting that comes in because of the book. We have a much fuller business model from which to subsidise the cost of a book. A publisher doesn’t have that, so what that means is that they are not going to spend any money promoting you – they’re just not! My last publisher McGraw Hill is quite honest about that. You have to promote the book yourself, because it’s sustainable in your business model, not in theirs. Plan on losing money and don’t worry about it.”
2. Start by writing articles and blog posts. Some other wisdom I’ve learned is how to write one. I still find it very difficult to write a book. I’m good at writing blog pieces. I can do article-length writing but it is very hard to do book length stuff. The best advice I got was from David Maister and it’s what I used in Trust-based Selling: start by writing articles and blog posts. In David’s case, he got a contract to write a year’s worth of articles for American Lawyer, which meant that he had to write them – one a month for 12 months – and having done that he realised: ‘I have the makings of a book here’. Just throw the articles up in the air, let them land on the ground and arrange them until you have a book. That was pretty good advice.
3. Don’t start at the beginning. Collect material that you’ve done before, come up with a sensible organisation e.g. parts one, two and three. Don’t be trite and come up with oblique references as chapter headings. It’s a business book so tell people what the chapter is about through the name. People have short attention spans these days. you can’t expect them to waste time tyring to interpret what you mean.
4. Promote, promote, promote. There are book publicists out there but few of them are savvy in terms of social media promotion and I’m convinced you need to do that.”

SJ: And for you Charlie? Any more books to come?

CHG: “Maybe one or two more to go. The next one is most certainly going to be The Trusted Advisor Field Guide – a much more practical focus than The Trusted Advisor. I’ve almost settled on a publisher so I’ll be conservative and say that should be coming out within a year. It’s still in my head – it’s 80% there but it isn’t written yet: the painful process is still to come!”

SJ: A lot of people these days seem to publish chapters as they go along and test their ideas via their blog. What do you think of this kind of public publishing for authors?

CHG: “I do that in some way, not so formal but I’m always working out the material that goes in my books in my blog. I don’t think this keeps people from buying the finished product. If anything it probably publicises it. This way, you have a chance to be influenced by people. They write in and tell you what they think and it’s tremendously valuable feedback. I think it’s good stuff.”

SJ: I’ll watch your blog with interest Charlie to see what’s going to come up in the next book.

CHG: You’ll see it, for sure!

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