After you have mastered the process (and the art – but mainly it’s a process) of regularly posting content online to highlight your business and offers, bring your game to the next level by writing a book related to your business.
Later in this article we’ll highlight some good reasons for doing this, but to start, let’s dive straight into the process, starting from scratch.
There are several angles you could take
If you’re staring at a blank sheet of paper, that’s great. You’ve started. To be fair, you get nothing for starting, but at least you’ve gone that far, compared to the millions of people with a business to advertise, but who have not even taken that step.
So what’s the next step? Are you committed or just dabbling in the idea? For now, it doesn’t matter. Let’s get started.
As the header above says, there are a few angles you can take. Be less concerned at this stage about what you think will sell, and more focused on what it will take for you to see the project to completion. Look inside your mind, what do you have to say to your audience? What do you want them to know? Here are some possible approaches:
A How-to book: Whatever you sell, if it’s a product or service, customers will get the maximum benefit if they know how to use it. Let’s take an example: if you are selling drones, it would be helpful to your customers if you could bring together a manual (and there are plenty of examples already to follow) on drone flying. You may cover topics such as regulatory/licensing for industrial applications, as well as getting started as a first-time hobbyist. What are the steps to get started? What are the expense considerations? How do drones work, and what are the different types of aircraft that can be purchased? These topics are bullseye for a “how-to” manual on drone piloting.
Let’s take another example, something not so inuitively linked to the drone market, such as art. Do you sell art online? What would be the purpose of a how-to manual? There are many different angles to cover. We only need to expand on one thought and narrow another – exand on the idea of what goes into a “how-to” book, and narrow the focus on the type of audience. Here are two examples: 1) how to enter the market of art collecting as a hobbyist, and 2) how to appreciate the world of art as a beginner.
You could write about more advanced topics such as starting a business as an online art trader, but that would put you into the “training” or “coaching” category. The goal here would be to bring in more customers, and to do that by expanding the universe of possibilities to early-stage hobbyists and potentially future collectors. In this way, the content of the book is well-aligned to the goals of online marketing – ie., drive more sales.
Personal account of your experience: Rather than writing on the ways and processes of trading art online, you can give your customers a personal account of your work and experience. You are still aligned to your busines goals of increasing online sales, but with this approach, the aim is to convey passion and fun (or whatever emotions you choose) by using your own story as an example. Similarly with the drone example above, you can provide some background about the industry, how you got involved, and what are the possibilities for the future of the industry and its growth. As a personal account of your journey, you can tell your customers where you plan to take the business in the future, and use that to describe the many ways that drone technology can help different businesses or industries.
Customer stories and how someone can add value: Opposite to writing a personal account, a third-person account of the industry itself and how companies are using drone technology to add value would give you an ideal platform to further sell your products and to establish credibility with prospective customers. From an art trader’s view, describing different categories of art, and which are growing or falling in popularity would establish you as an authority on the topic.
Start with a process
Is your page still blank? At this point, you begin to develop a list of bullet points about the topic you choose, and most importantly, areas of this topic which fascinate you. As mentioned earlier, the key to success is to leverage what interests you. Writing about your own fascination and passion will keep the keys clicking over the long haul.
But you may already have some content in the form of blogs and other social media channels. Start with these:
Take an inventory of your existing content: What blogs have been the most popular so far? What content is open for further disussion? Which content pieces can you expand upon and write further?
Organize it into an outline, and fill in the gaps: Start with a draft outline of what you think a comprehensive book on the topic should cover. There will be time to revise the outline later, but start with your first impression. More ideas will come to mind. Use this outline as the basis of further work (and of future social media content). The key here is to begin identifying the gaps – areas where you do not yet have content, and areas where you may need to research further to supplement your current knowledge base.
Dual-use blogs and book content: As mentioned above, based on the gaps you have identified, you can begin to generate content for a book from the periodic content you publish on social media. As your repertoire of writings/videos/images/postings expands, you also have the dual benefit of getting online engagement over this content, which can direct your future efforts – ie., focus more on what people what, and at the same time, drum up some interest among your followers on the topic. See what your audience reacts to. When your book is complete, these will be your most likely first customers.
Focus on the process
The previous heading was about starting with a process. Any process will be sufficient if it helps to push along the creative development process.
Now you can focus on the process of production until completion.
How much content can you write? A “book” can be whatever you want it to be, but make it minimally credible. Few books are shorter than 50 pages (and in this range, we see short stories, novelettes, white papers, reference books and feature articles). A good minimal target is 60,000 words or 100 pages. That’s around 40 good quality blogs on the topics of your outline. How long does it take you to write a blog of 1,500 words? Do you write fast, maybe two hours’ worth? How much research will you have to undertake? How quickly would you be able to finish the first draft of the project? How much time each week can you set aside for writing?
With these numbers at hand, you can extrapolate a reasonable expectation of the time it will take you to complete the journey (at least the first draft).
Will the book generate income for you, or serve as an advertisement? This question is less about the writing process and more about the marketing efforts. If you are confident of your timeline projection and the ability to finish the work according to schedule, tease your audience. Let them know that a book is on the way, and offer a discount for pre-sales.
Difference between blogging and book writing
While you can overlap the efforts of book writing and blogging, there are some difference to keep in mind, which will impact the style of writing, and the modifications needed to turn blogs into books.
Format and Length: Blogs are typically 10-minute reads, and should stand on their own. Blogs converted to book format will need editing, to fit into the context of the book. Capturing the reader’s attention is key to maintaining their interest. Foreshadowing of future topics as they relate to the current chapter of the book is a style that will require some adjustment to the individual blogs.
Purpose and Audience: Ensure consistency in your audience profile. Blogs are often written for a general online audience, but your book will need to be consistent in the type of readers (and their assumed level of knowledge on the topic).
Monetization: Bloggers can monetize content through advertising, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and direct sales. Book monetization can come directly from book sales, but can also be written as an advertising piece for more sophisticated customers. A book can also be a springboard for more intensive engagements with an extended audience, e.g., speaking engagements, interviews as a subject matter expert, or further advancement of your resume as an industry authority.
Writing Style and Structure: While blogs are typically more conversational in style, they can both take on whatever tone in which you feel more comfortable writing. For a blog, you can keep the content engaging, with short paragraphs and more frequent use of images, links, and subheadings for easy scanning. Books require a more formal and structured writing style, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Blogging and book may have typical differences in terms of format, purpose, audience, publishing, frequency, monetization, and writing style, but the core content – the part that takes the most time to write – can and should be used for both channels.
Why undertake this effort?
As noted above, the value-added benefit to this effort is leveraging your existing content. A book can also increase your credibility among customers and establish you as a leader in your line of work.
Along with that benefit, a book can help you to reach a wider audience, giving you more leverage in your existing social media marketing strategy. You can reach readers who prefer printed or e-book formats and who may not have discovered your blog otherwise, and who are seeking to increase their knowledge of the topic or industry at a deeper level. Knowing who these people are improves your lead generation.
When it comes to sales, in all honesty, there are few people who make a living writing books. This market is highly competitive. That is why this article does not focus on book writing as a money-making opportunity. Of course it is possible to make a living writing books, but that is a topic for another day. The key to this effort is to leverage your existing content, toward a product (a book) that can generate some income, but which mainly supplements your existing marketing efforts and provides your customers with additional value. Which leads us to another key benefit…
Personal Branding: A book can be a powerful tool for personal branding. It positions you as an expert and can open up opportunities for speaking engagements, interviews, and collaborations. If the content is well-received in a niche community, pursue awards and recognition from related organizations, to further enhancing your reputation and visibility. A well-written book leaves signals a legacy of achievement. Furthermore, from a personal standpoint, it can be a source of pride and accomplishment.
Finally the fun part
For how much are you going to sell the book?
This is where the rubber hits the road in terms of your objectives for writing the book. If you want to maximize the audience via sales, a token amount can do the trick. What if your book was priced at zero? Who would “buy” it?
Alternatively – and more-so if your product or service has a niche audience – you can place it on the premium shelf, at $50 vs. $5 per copy. First, you may get some buyers. Second, you have a high-value offer you can tag onto other promotions, giving your loyal customers a greater sense of value with their purchases.
In Conclusion
The guide above aims to help you get started. Writing a book is a long and laborious journey, but one which can be made manageable over time with the application of a steady, consistent process. This process can be made to leverage and complement existing marketing efforts, thus improving the overall return on your social media marketing time and efforts.