A well-written book is the ultimate lead generation marketing tool, helping you to establish your credibility, attract potential clients and increase marketing sign-ups. Learn how to write a book for your business in just five days.

Why Should I Write a Book for My Business?

A book is the best business card you could ever give out. It provides you with a platform from which to speak with confidence about the results that you can help your clients to achieve. As someone with a completed book (published or self-published) you will immediately have Author Status — signalling your position as an industry leader to potential clients, investors and partners alike.

When Should I Write My Book — at Which Career Stage?

Politicians write their “book” after they’ve retired from politics and wish to jump on the worldwide speaking tour bandwagon. Sports people write their book while they’re at the top of their game and have the maximum fan base for sales of it. You and I have to write our books and information products at an early stage of our success journey to establish credibility in our marketplaces.

What Should I Write My Book About?

If you’re a coach, consultant or small business owner specialising in a particular industry, your lead-generation book should be packed with free business advice that can help your clients to:

• Solve their problems

• Capitalise on their opportunities

• Maximise their results in your specialised area

• Gain clarity

• Be inspired to take the next step

How Do I Make Sure My Book Is an Effective Lead-Generation Tool?

Answer these questions before writing your book outline and you can ensure that your content will be targeted, effective and engaging for readers:

Who Are You?

Are you someone who’s experienced good results and can share those with your readers? Maybe you’ve undertaken valuable research in your field and can report your findings, or you’ve interviewed industry leaders and gained useful insights to share. Identifying what makes you a great source of information for your reader is the best way to make sure that your book is an engaging and effective lead generation tool when completed.

Who Is Your Reader?

The clearer you are about who your reader is, the easier it is to write for them. If you have client personas for your different target audiences, try mapping your book against these to gain deep insight into the readership you are trying to target. If you haven’t already identified client personas for your business, I highly recommend completing this exercise as it will dramatically improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

How Would Your Readers Want You to Speak to Them?

When you’re certain about your relationship with your reader, you can convey a consistent and believable message to them. Think about how your reader views you and how they would want you to speak with them; as a trusted advisor, a best friend or maybe even as their favourite uncle or aunt! Be warm, direct or use brutal honesty — whichever approach you feel will work best for your reader.

Write Your Book Outline in 3 Simple Steps

Now that you’ve completed the groundwork and are feeling confident about who your reader is, how to speak with them and why you are writing your book, follow these simple steps to complete an effective book outline quickly:

Decide on a “Topic Area” for Your Book

First, decide on the “topic area” of your whole book. For example, I wrote a book
on communication skills called “The Secrets of Communication – Be Heard and Get Results.” So my “topic” would be communication. What’s yours?

Write a List of Chapter Titles

Before you start filling in detail for your book, write a list of chapter titles by answering this question: “What are the ten or more possible chapters I’d like to include in my book?” You can use potential content as chapter titles. For example, my book on communications has chapters entitled “Body Language”, “Questioning Skills”, “Getting People to Say Yes” and “Dealing with Objections”. You get the idea!

Write a Book Chapter Summary

Take each chapter and on a separate sheet of paper or computer page — write and answer this question: “What do I possibly want to include in this chapter?” Then list, in bullet form, all of your ideas for inclusion in that chapter.

When you’ve completed that exercise for every chapter, you have completed the outline of your book!

Finish Writing Your Book in Less Than 5 Days

To complete your book and start using it as a lead generation marketing tool, simply take each bullet point under every book chapter summary and write a “tip” for it. A tip begins with a verb (and action word). For example, “Watch people’s body language to ensure it matches their spoken words” would be an excellent tip for a chapter about improving face-to-face communication skills.

Now let’s assume you have ten chapters with ten tips in each. You already have a 100 tips booklet. To make that into a longer book, just write a paragraph or two — or a whole page or more — for each tip. Let’s assume you’ll have an average of a page for each tip. Now you have a 100-page book — congratulations!

Wishing you every Success.

Peter Thomson

“The UK’s Most Prolific Information Product Creator”