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You don't write because you want to say something, you write becasue you have something to say. — F. Scott Fitzgerald
Advisors, experts—professionals of all stripes—debate (sometimes for years) whether to devote the time and emotional energy to write their first book.
So let’s just cut to the chase.
If you can answer yes to BOTH these questions, you’ve got something worth investing in:
Do you have a core message worth sharing with an audience that matters to you?
Can you position your book to deliver you revenue in some form—book sales, new clients, speaking fees, programs or maybe the right media attention—that will make it worth your while?
Truth: you don’t have to sell a million—or even 10,000—copies to make your book a wildly successful business move.
The key—unless you’re in a position to indulge in an expensive hobby—is to approach it strategically.
What’s your revenue model? Are you selling fee-for-service advice, training programs or perhaps accepting a piece of the pie, such as a percentage of your clients’ sales or assets?
Map out how this book will fit in your current and future revenue streams. Tip: Don’t count on mega book sales if you don’t already have an audience primed to buy you. Look instead at what happens if you only sell 1,000 copies. Or 500. Will the book bring you 1, 10, 100 new clients or customers? What is each one worth to you?
Take Jennifer, a financial advisor. A little digging showed us her average new client is worth $30,000 a year to her bottom line. She’d have to sell 3,000 books at $10 apiece EVERY year to make what just one new client brings her. Looking strictly at book revenue, it’s hard to argue that her time is best spent writing.
But. If she writes in a way that deeply resonates with her ideal clients and then markets and distributes her book strategically, all she needs is one new client to pay for her book-writing time. Ironically, that client may not even read the book, but be seduced by the theme, title or an interview with the author.
Then there was Harry, an expert who sold a few thousand books. But he didn’t care about that revenue so much, because a few hundred readers bought his $1,500 training program. He parlayed a $10 book into a tidy half million bucks—and an audience panting for his next content.
I’m not saying you SHOULD write that first book ( more about that here ), but isn’t it worth some strategic thinking—and a little math—before you decide?
TWEETABLE: You don’t have to sell a million—or even 10,000—copies to make your book a wildly successful business move.
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