How a book can grow your business.
Using books to raise platforms and grow businesses is not a new idea. From Jim Rohn to Suze Orman, speakers and entrepreneurs have been using books to grow their empires for decades!
What is new is that today, books are being seen more like the sales and marketing tools they are and less like the impossible dream they once were.
The process is simple:
- Write a book that honestly helps your ideal client or customer. IMPORTANT NOTE: A book specifically designed to grow a business is not an extended sales letter. If the reader never contacts you to engage in your premium offer or services, your book must still be one of the most helpful books on their shelf.
- Optional but highly recommended: Build a collection of support material (documents, short courses, templates) that continue to help people implement what’s in that book themselves.
- Put all that delicious goodness into a sales funnel and run ads to it (currently, Facebook still gets the best results on ad spend, and because book sales cover your ad costs, you can keep them going!)
- Because your ads target your ideal clients, a percentage of your readers will love the book but not want to implement the solution themselves. That’s when they contact you.
Make sense?
You will have experienced this before. Think of a book you read that offered a template, mini-course, or additional material. Because the book was useful and the additional information was valuable, you jumped at the chance. You connected with the author. You got onto their mailing list. You read and engage with their material. You most likely purchased one or more of their other products.
All because you read their book.
How a small book grew my first business.
In 2000, I published my first two books (both still in print) with the specific purpose of using them to grow my business.
Their purpose was to attract my ideal clients, help them immediately, show them I had the skills, experience, and solution they needed to solve their problem, and give those ideal clients a way to work with me.
The process was simple:
Step 1: I wrote and published the book (back then, self-publishing wasn’t really a thing, so Hodder Education did the honours)
Step 2: Because I ran this business before internet marketing was possible, we (hubby and I) phoned my ideal customers and told them we had a book to send to the head of training. They were, without exception, delighted. Who wouldn’t be happy to get a free book that could help them? (THESE DAYS: You won’t have to pick up the phone! Today, you’ll run ads to a sales page and reach a huge number of potential clients – I work with an incredible team at Peaceful Profits who can help you with that).
Step 3: We sent the book with a letter saying we’d call them in a week to answer any questions they had (THESE DAYS: You would send a digital product and email sequence – The Peaceful Profits Team can help you with that, too).
Step 4: We called everyone we sent a book to, answered their questions… and took bookings for courses!
Here’s the thing…Even people who hadn’t read the book booked a course! Why? Because the book told them I knew what I was talking about. It gave me authority. We didn’t tell them I could teach their team to increase their reading rates and manage information overload; the book showed them.
And that’s what your book will do for you.
That’s not the whole story, though…
A book is a wonderful tool. However, if you simply put it on Amazon, it most likely won’t get you anywhere.
The book you write for your business (or have written for you by a ghostwriter) has a particular purpose: it is designed to lead readers to engage in your core offers.
For example, if you’re a therapist, coach, specialist, speaker, or trainer… the purpose of your book would be to lead people to purchase your programs, buy your digital courses, get on the phone with you, book time in your calendar…
Make sense?
If you have any questions and would like to talk about how a book can help you grow your business, get in touch, and I’ll connect you with the incredible team I work with at Peaceful Profits.
That team can write your book for you, or, if you prefer, we’ll coach you through writing the book yourself. With all that done, we can also help you get your whole sales machine up and running.
To learn more about this particular type of book, pick up your copy of Mike Shreeve’s book (The One Book Millions Method). Mike heads up Peaceful Profits, and his book is the definitive example of a book designed to grow a business.
“The book that will most change your life is the book you write.”
~ Seth Godin
The book you write for your business is a tool that brings qualified leads to your door.
Whether you’re looking for a few select clients to work with one-on-one, have a whole team delivering your core services, have an unlimited number of digital products to sell, or want to fill your appointment book…
…the principle is the same.
Step 1: Bundle your book with quality bonuses, order bumps and upsells (so the advertising cost is more than covered) and run ads to your offer.
Step 2: Your target audience buys your book and applies what’s in it to make their lives better.
Step 3: Because your book has helped them, they’re more likely to come to you if they want to take it further.
Why? Because the more time people spend with you, the more they trust you. And if they’ve just read your book, then they’ve already spent 4-7 hours in your company.
And that is a key part of the process that turns a sales call into a great conversation and a one-off buyer into a long-term client.
If you have any questions and would like to talk about how a book can help you grow your business, get in touch, and I’ll connect you with the incredible team I work with at Peaceful Profits.
FAQs
Q: What types of books do you ghostwrite? And what else do you write for businesses?
A: At Peaceful Profits, we specialise in One Book Million Method books. These are books that grow businesses.
The people we work with typically fall into three categories: 1) Business owners who want to use a book to grow their business but don’t have the time or inclination to write it themselves. We write their entire book for them, from start to finish. 2) People with a lot of content, but no idea how to structure it into a book. We coach them through the process and help them write and publish their books. 3) People who have written their business book, and need it polished and ready to go.
Wherever you are when we meet, the end result is a book that can be published on Amazon or as a PDF at the top of a sales funnel.
Q: Can you help with memoirs, autobiographies and family stories?
A: At Peaceful Profts, we don’t work on memoirs or family stories, but I’m building a Big Post on writing personal and family stories. If it’s not in the menu yet, it’ll be there soon.
Q: How does ghostwriting actually work?
A: The ghostwriting process is a thing of beauty. You bring your ideas, your expertise, and your commitment to the project. We’ll bring the writing and the finished product. The most common process goes like this:
STEP 1 – Initial Conversation: We’ll have an initial conversation where we talk through what you want to include, the core areas to cover, your reasons for writing the book, what you want to do with it (publish it and/or put it at the top of a sales funnel that ultimately leads to your premium offer).
STEP 2 – Information Gathering: Following that conversation, we’ll ask you to send in any courses, blogs, podcasts, articles and other content that will inform the book.
STEP 3 – Outline: Using all the information you send and notes from our initial conversation, we’ll write up a first draft table of contents/outline and will send it to you to review. Once you’re happy with the outline, we move to Step 4.
STEP 4 – Interviews: Depending on how much content we gather from the material you send us, we will need a series of conversations. The ideas in your book are all yours. We’ve found the best way to capture them is through a number of calls where we ask you questions and you talk about the topic you’re passionate about.
STEP 5 – Writing Begins: In between our interview sessions, we’ll go away and write. Each week (or to an agreed schedule), we’ll send you chapters for review. That allows you to give us feedback early in the project to be sure we’re capturing your tone, voice, and style.
STEP 6 – First Draft Review: When the interviews are done and you’re happy that your voice has been captured, we will finish the book and send you the first draft to review. However, because we’ve been touching base throughout the project, there won’t be any surprises here! It’ll be 90% done.
STEP 7 – Final Changes: Once you’ve reviewed the book, we can discuss any changes you want to make. Once those are done, your book will be ready for the next steps: publication, sales funnel, or whatever we agreed at the start of the project.
Q: Who has the rights to my book?
A: The copyright for your book is yours completely. It’s your book, your name will be on the cover, if you choose to self-publish it, it’ll be in your Amazon (or other) account. All royalties and sales revenue will go to you.
Q: Who has the rights to my book?
A: The copyright for your book is yours completely. It’s your book, your name will be on the cover, if you choose to self-publish it, it’ll be in your Amazon (or other) account. All royalties and sales revenue will go to you.
Q: Who gets credit for writing my book?
A: You. You own the full rights to your book and can claim sole authorship. Some clients credit ghostwriters as the editor. And although that’s welcome, there’s no obligation.
Q: How much does it cost?
A: The most important thing to remember is that you’re not just writing a book; you’re creating a sales and marketing asset that you can use to grow your business.
So, although there’ll be a fee for writing your book, the book we write for you is designed to make that money back over and over again. Get in touch and I’ll connect you with the team who will work you through everything the Peaceful Profits Authorship Program has to offer.
Q: Can you write for an international audience?
A: Yes. The tone, voice, and style will be yours. Part of the process is deciding on whether to use UK or USA spelling and grammar. Most OBMM books are designed for an international audience. And why not? It’s easy to sell worldwide.
Q: How do I ensure privacy? I don’t want anyone to know my book was ghostwritten.
A: We take your privacy seriously. Most of our ghostwriting contracts include a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). We will never disclose who we ghostwrite for. It defeats the purpose!
Q: Is ghostwriting ethical?
A: Approximately 60% of all non-fiction books are ghostwritten. This is because celebrities, speakers, business owners and entrepreneurs know their business, but they don’t necessarily have the time or the inclination to sit and write their books.
Ghostwriting is how busy people, or people who don’t enjoy writing, get books written.
As ghostwriters, we listen to your voice, ideas and words, and turn them all into a clear, engaging book that attracts your ideal clients. The ideas are 100% yours. All we do is help you get them onto the page.
Q: My business/subject matter is technical. Can you work with that?
A: Absolutely. A huge part of the process is research and deeply understanding the topic of each book. Besides that, all conversations are recorded, so if we come across a concept we don’t understand, we just jump on a quick call with you to clarify. And because ghostwriting is a collaborative effort, you’ll have the opportunity to review and fact-check every page we write.
However, if after our initial conversation we feel that we will not be able to do your book justice, then we will let you know. We never take on a project we don’t feel we can excel at. Producing your best book is our only priority.
Q: Can you publish my book?
A: We can certainly help you publish your book through your KDP account. KDP is an Amazon subsidiary that allows you to publish Kindle and Paperback books. If you don’t have an account, we can talk you through setting it up. It’s an intuitive platform to use, and once you put your bank details in, the money you make from every book you sell (forever) will go directly into your bank.
Q: What if I don’t like your edits or writing?
A: Ghostwriting is a back-and-forth process. Every week we’ll be sending you chapters for review. The more feedback we get, the better. We see ghostwriting as a craft, not an art. The aim is to get your words, your ideas, and your voice on the page, so when people who know you read it, they’ll know it’s you who “wrote” it.
Q: Can you do the formatting, covers, and interior design of the book so it’s ready to publish?
A: If you join the Peaceful Profits Authorship Program, then yes, formatting, covers, proofing, audiobooks, a box of books… are all included. If you join the Book Sprint+, then yes, formatting, covers and proofing are included. For any other program, you can always add that service on.
Q: Can you guarantee that my book will get published?
A: If you want to self-publish your book, then yes, publication is guaranteed; there are no barriers to entry.
If you want to publish your book traditionally (via a publisher), there are no guarantees.
Publishers accept and reject books for any number of reasons. Even if your book is excellent, they might reject it because they already have a similar title on their list. If you do want to publish traditionally, we’ll work together to produce a high-quality book that has the best chance.
Q: I already have a manuscript, but I need it rewritten. Can you help?
A: Absolutely. We love rewriting manuscripts and shaping them into books. Because all the content is already there, the interview process will be much shorter. We might only need one or two conversations for clarification.
Q: How do I market and sell my book? Can you help with that?
Yes.
How you publish and sell your book depends on your objectives. We’ll talk about your plans at the start of the project.
You might want to publish your book on Amazon (or other platforms), in which case you might need launch emails, Amazon ads, profiles created on Goodreads (an often forgotten source of avid readers), Facebook ads…
You might want to put your book at the top of a sales funnel, in which case you might need a sales letter, Facebook ads, and a launch email sequence.
Whatever your plans, we’ll build a book launch plan that suits your personality, the book, and the target market.
Use A Book To Grow Your Business.
It’s the best and fastest way to bring your ideal clients into your world.