Three things a business book won’t do for you

Writing a book for your business is one of the most effective things you can do to raise your profile.

It proves that you know your stuff, it brings you to a wider audience, and it helps you to develop your thinking about your subject.

All hail the book!

But is it really the magic solution to every business problem? You wouldn’t want to plunge into the task of writing a book, only to discover that it doesn’t deliver the one thing that you wanted it to.

Your business book is a tool, and like any tool it will only work for the job it was designed for. If you’re trying to fix something that a book won’t help with, you’ll only end up in frustration.

In my years of ghostwriting business books, and coaching business owners to write their own, I’ve seen some authors come to a book with unrealistic expectations.

To avoid this, here are the three main things that a book won’t deliver for you.

A business book won’t make you more experienced

Experience comes from . . . well . . . experience. Doing your thing, getting better at it, then doing more.

It might seem obvious, but writing a book doesn’t give you that.

It might make you more knowledgeable, because of the way it makes you think about your area of expertise. And it might broaden your knowledge, because of the research you’ve done to create it. That’s all great.

But it won’t give you the hands-on experience that’s so valuable for a book.

If you’re new to what you do, you need to practise it for a while before you’re qualified to write a book about it. This will show through the stories you’ll be able to tell, the examples you’ll relate, and the confidence that will ooze through the pages.

I can tell when I read a book that’s written with the benefit of experience, and it impresses me. I believe in the author. So if you’re new to your field, I suggest that you park your book idea for now and focus on marketing your business in other ways.

A book that’s had time to mature is always the better for it.

A business book won’t bring you clients on its own

‘Write it and they will come’ – if only that were true. Sadly, it’s rarely the case. Your book needs to be promoted and marketed if it’s to bring you the recognition you want.

You might have the odd lucky break, when someone stumbles across your book online and contacts you as a result. I’ve had that happen to me with my book a few times.

But if you want to reach as many people as possible, you need to go all out with your marketing.

That can include social media, your website, your email list, being interviewed on podcasts, speaking on stage – and more. There are many ways to market your book.

The ones that work best are the ones you most enjoy. Think about what you already do to raise your profile with potential clients and customers. Is LinkedIn your thing? Do you love to speak and present? Or do you host your own networking group or podcast?

Use what you’ve already got to market your book and you won’t go far wrong.

A business book won’t explain everything you know

How could it?

You’re developing your knowledge all the time, so it’s inevitable that a book – which represents a snap shot of your thinking at the moment it’s written – won’t capture all that’s in your head.

Also, you wouldn’t want your book to contain everything you know. It would be overwhelming for your readers, who want a straightforward answer to their big question. While it can be tempting for you to throw in the kitchen sink in an attempt to help people, it’s often not the best solution for them.

The best business books and self-help guides are choosy about what they share, picking only the most salient points and explaining them in depth. Their readers find them easy to learn from and understand, because the hard work of ‘curating’ what’s important has been done for them.

So don’t worry if you find yourself cutting chunks out of your manuscript to prioritise your points. You’re writing a better book as a result.

And you never know, some of what ends up on the cutting room floor could form the basis of your next book . . .

Now you know what your business book won’t do for you, you’ll be able to avoid the frustration that comes from choosing the wrong tool for the job. You may decide that a book isn’t for you right now, and if so, that’s fine.

Or you may realise that you need to pay more attention to your marketing, or be more selective about what you include.

Either way, you’re free to write a book that will deliver what you want. That’s liberating.