Five Reasons You Should Write and Publish Books Frequently
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Writing and publishing a book for your business comes with a plethora of advantages. It provides plenty of ROI (return on investment), creates new leads, provides content in a new format for your clients, and more. Imagine what publishing multiple books could do for your business?
Now, I won’t ask you to write a book every year. That’s for full time writers, not full time CEOs. However, a book every three to five years is a solid goal. But you might still be wondering why? Why should I publish more books, I already have one, isn’t that good enough? Well, it depends. How long ago was your book published? A year, two years, ten? How relevant is it to your current clients? Remember we’re in a post-pandemic world now and a lot has changed, including how we run our businesses. It’s important that we remain life-long learners, that we are always adapting and changing and growing. This also helps us bring new insights to our content and our clients.
Here are the five reasons you should write and publish books every few years:
Keep up to date on the times and trends.
Stay relevant in the eyes of your clients.
Grow new leads through new content.
Become an authority in your field.
Build and solidify your branding.
Keep Up To Date on the Times and Trends
The first point we’re going to examine is how publishing frequently will keep your business up to date and on trend.
As mentioned previously, we’re in a post-pandemic world. Almost every industry has changed or shifted in some way, big or small. This includes your industry or field. Writing a new book for your business will help you and your clients stay on top of what’s going on in your particular world of business.
It means you’re paying attention to trends. This doesn't mean you’re going to take on and use every trend, but acknowledging it and highlighting why they matter builds knowledge and understanding across the board. This also goes for going against any trends. It’s an opportunity to make predictions and then make adjustments to your business plan moving forward.
You’re actively listening to clients. After one or two books, people are sure to have more questions or want more information on a certain topic. So, listen to the feedback, keep your case studies up to date, and the testimonials you’re getting, the questions, etc. and turn it into another book.
You’re cultivating community and individuality. Our readers have specific interests and goals. They want to know more about relevant topics and how to move forward. Maybe you’re a business coach and your clients want to know everything they can - not just about how to run a business - but more precisely how to run their business. A book allows you to offer exercises that will help your clients both on a community level and on an individual one.
Stay Relevant in the Eyes of Your Clients
Similar to the previous point, a book published a year or two ago will hold more meaning for readers than a book published ten years ago. Why? Because readers want to see themselves reflected in the content they consume. This can’t happen if the book was published in 2012, and now it’s 2022. The cost of living has increased, technology has improved, cultural values have shifted. Our ideal clients may have even changed.
When we want our readers to become clients and make the choice to work with us now, we have to meet them where they are, not where they might have been ten years ago.
Grow New Leads Through New Content
“Content is King,” as many marketers say. The more content you have to share, the better.
This means if you have more than one book, then not only will previous clients want to read the new one, but new clients will want to discover and likely read all of the books you’ve published. These new clients might then recommend the book to their friends or colleagues, and create even more leads.
Think about any form of media, whether that’s books, or music, or movies. When a new song is released and someone likes it, they often want to listen to other music by the same artist or band. When a new movie hits the theaters, especially if it’s a sequel or part of a series (or it’s something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe) then viewers will have to see the first movie to understand the second, and the second to understand the third. Books work the same way, even in nonfiction, because your books are going to naturally overlap and connect.
Become an Authority in Your Field
Publishing one book might make you one of the industry experts. It automatically builds your credibility. But publishing multiple books? That makes you an authority in your field.
Think of Seth Godin, who is the go-to authority in marketing. Or Brene Brown, Simon Sinek, even Stephen King is considered an expert within his field and genre. With each new book published, you gain more credibility and authority because people associate more - more of anything: money, books, cars - with success. This author has published three books on growing your business, they must really know what they’re talking about.
Build and Solidify Your Branding
The last reason to publish every few years is that it helps build and solidify your branding.
The reason Apple only has to use its logo, without connecting it with the wordmark, is because it’s become a recognizable and well-known brand. It’s the same reason why the posters for the last Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie didn’t need a title, only a date. It’s all about branding - knowing it, understanding is, and using it to your advantage.
Just like a fiction series, nonfiction and business books written by the same author should have similar branding. This includes typography, graphic elements, the colour palette, etc.
When it comes to books and their covers, people typically register the colour of the book before the title or author. Certain colours are associated with different things. For example, the colours red and pink are often found on the covers of romance books, self-help books are typically white, or shades of lighter colours like blue or green. This is colour psychology 101.
The good thing is you likely already have a strong brand. This needs to transfer into the books you write. Consider for a moment a bookstore employee lining up your books on the shelf. Do these books look like they go together, that they’re by the same author, that they might be part of a series? Even when buying ebooks recommendations are usually provided and these lists often feature other books by the same author. Books are a strong, reliable way to build your brand and increase your recognizability.
Final Thoughts and Next Steps
Now that you've considered these five benefits of publishing regularly, is it time for you to write your next book? A new book will ensure you're staying up to date, remaining relevant, growing new leads, building your authority, and solidifying your brand.
Are you ready to start exploring your next book project? Connect with Katherine and book a 30 minute Zoom call today.
Remember, you’re a full time CEO, not a full time writer. Katherine and the KBC team are here to help you write your novel so you can grow your business in new and exciting ways.