When I was growing up I had two ambitions. One was to start my own business and be financially independent. The second was to write a book about my journey as an entrepreneur.
Just over two years ago my dream of starting a business came true when I launched Imperium Authority, a digital marketing agency which delivers leading-edge public relations services.
Earlier this year my goal of writing a book suddenly became reality. It happened so quickly and unexpectedly that no one was more surprised than myself. Here’s how it came about and why you should give serious thought to becoming a published author.
In January of this year, my mentor Jason Miller, founder and CEO of the Strategic Advisor Board (SAB), approached me about a book idea he’d been nurturing for months.
He then asked me if I’d contribute two chapters to a book he was planning. “I think your perspective as a public awareness expert is what this book needs” said Jason. “But writing long and formal content isn’t my strong suit,” I exclaimed.
“It will be easy,” he assured me. “I’m going to connect you with Chris O’Byrne. He heads up JETLAUNCH Publishing and is the greatest innovator in the book publishing industry. He’s helped thousands of entrepreneurs tell their story.”
The next day I was on a screen sharing session with Chris being coached on how I was about to be a contributor to a book which would be available on Amazon within weeks. Sure enough, within a couple of days I had handed in the draft of my two chapters and it was in the editing process.
A month later I received an energetic text message from Jason. “The book is in. I’ll be shipping you a book for your promotional use today.”
Just two weeks later I began shipping copies of Be Good, Be Brief, Be Gone: Business Strategies From the War Room: The Trinity of Success to clients and prospects. By the time I got the physical copies it shot up to the top of the Amazon business book category. And there it was, on every copy, my name right next to Jason Miller and the SAB team with a foreword by Forbes.
I wrote this article to tell you that you can do it too. I’m serious. It’s easier that you can imagine and the rewards are beyond belief.
Here’s how Chris O’Byrne describes the JETLAUNCH Publishing process:
Director & VP Acquisition and Publishing – Strategic Advisor Board
Principal / Co-Founder – Rogue Publishing Partners
You can be the author of a business bestseller: Here’s how
The right book can be jet fuel for your business. It can make your business grow like you’ve never seen it grow before, and it can work where nothing else seems to work. It’s also a heck of a lot cheaper and easier and more effective than paid ads.
There are two main types of books:
One is the authority or legacy book. And that’s the bigger book that you often see people doing and they can take a long time and a lot of money to make happen, especially if you’re going to have someone help you write it.
The other main type of book is a Voice of Authority promotional book. You should always start with this form of publishing. Typically this is a modest book, both in size and scope. We recommend a paperback volume roughly 5″ by 8″ and 50 pages long. It’s perfect for gifting to clients and prospects and is designed to generate leads, either in hardcopy form or as an eBook. It instantly creates authority and establishes you as an author. It does the same work that the bigger authority book does, but with a lot less effort.
Your promotional book consists of just three main pieces. The first element is a story about you and why you started your business. You want to talk about your “why” – the motivation behind why you became an entrepreneur. You’ll want to describe this in terms of the value you bring to your clients so it motivates people to want to work with you.
The second part of your book outlines your business framework or model. This component illustrates the unique way you accomplish what you do every day for your business and clients. If you have a service business, there’s likely a certain way you do things. You want to describe the processes you follow and any systems you use. If you have a product business, you can talk about your product and what’s unique and special about it. Describe what makes it different and a better solution than what they may have seen otherwise.
The third part of your lead-gen block provides case studies. These are success stories from your customers. These are stories of happy customers and what they’ve accomplished, either from your service or your product.
The best part: your book will become a lead-gen machine
Part of our own formula for success as a book publisher is our process which can make anyone – even non-writers – into best selling authors.
First, you don’t have to be a writer or do any writing. Our process begins with seven questions that are part of a simple form. The answers you provide, whether by video, audio, or text form the basis for your upcoming book. The whole process takes less than an hour.
What’s the value of being a published author? First, make it a bestseller on Amazon. This gives you a lot more authority, which means more leads. It also makes your book very high profile because we know how to leverage Amazon’s algorithm which places a lot of value on how many people download your eBook or buy a printed copy. The more activity around your book registered by Amazon the more they display your book title and cover art to book buyers conducting searches related to what your book is about.
A bestseller launch can result in thousands of copies of your book in the hands of warm leads. Think about it – these are people motivated enough to read your book and who have been exposed to how you deliver value to your clients and why they too should do business with you.
We even make it easy for people who have purchased your book to contact you by including a special offer on the front of the book and again on the back cover. Amazon doesn’t provide authors with emails of people who have bought their book so this technique solves that problem.
Second, after your book is a bestseller, give it away. Use the Dream 100 strategy of identifying 100 (or any number you choose) of your dream customers and send your physical book with the bestseller badge on the front cover along with a personal note. If you give a talk, give away your book. If you go to an event, give away your book. When you identify a potential lead online, send them your book. The more you give your book away, the more leads and business you will generate.
Your book now functions as a full-time salesperson. Your book, with your name on it, will sit on their desk or bookshelf, reminding them of you every time they glance at it. Plus, it’s easy and fun to read because it’s short and is filled with relatable stories. People buy your book because of the promise it gives, but they read your book because of the stories.
Best of all, they can finish your lead-gen book in a half hour or less, so it doesn’t seem daunting like a bigger book would. It also saves you time by filtering out the people who aren’t a good fit. If they read your book, and it’s not right for them now, then they won’t respond to your call-to-action.
In summary, becoming a published author of an Amazon bestseller puts the most powerful marketing tool at your disposal. We’ve proven the ability of promotional books over and over with clients from every major industry and all walks of life.
