Every day I get emails from self-proclaimed experts about how to write a best-selling book as a coach or consultant.
Having written and published 16 books (including a deal to write 3 Guerrilla Marketing books with Jay Conrad Levinson), and made lots of money in the process, I can tell you that most of these so-called experts are full of it. They are trying to hook into your vanity, and if you listen to them, you will be disappointed — and many dollars poorer.
First, you don’t need a best-selling book to make lots of money as an author — not when you are a coach, consultant, or other type of professional and expert.
That’s good news, because every year 850,000 new books come onto the market, and there are 3 million books available online at any one time.
Dirty secret: Those who become best selling authors in the business world typically do so by paying professionals at least $25,000 while giving away as many as tens of thousands of books at their expense. Even then, most fail to make the best-seller lists.
Do you have the risk tolerance to spend that kind of money?
Meanwhile, social media and speaking are great strategies to publicize your book, but you join a club of 850,000 other authors doing the same thing. It is very hard to stand out from the crowd and sell tens of thousands of books via social media.
Very few have done it, and the odds that you can replicate their results are low. It’s a bit of a dice game when you play it that way.
But that’s okay, because you can still use a book to make lots of money and attract clients. Here are my suggestions:
1. Don’t worry about becoming a best selling author. Put vanity aside. Vanity causes you to pay money to hucksters who gladly take it in exchange for false promises about making you famous. You can’t eat fame.
2. Instead, use your book as part of a portfolio of products that help you build leverage in your practice and earn a great income as a coach, consultant, and expert. Be a coach, consultant, and expert first — and an author second.
3. You still have to execute correctly, from the way you write your book, design it, print it, distribute it, and use it as a platform to earn top revenues as a coach, consultant, and expert.
4. When you follow steps 1 through 3, you can make a great income — without ever appearing on a best-seller list.
Want to learn more about how to do this?
Join The Center for Executive Coaching. The program includes phenomenal marketing support about how you can attract clients and build leverage through programs and products like books, certifications, licensing, leadership circles, seminars, and more.
Every professional should have a book. The benefits are enormous. However, it’s important that you go into this with the right mindsets and strategies, and don’t get suckered by people who are trying to hook into your vanity about being a famous, best-selling author. Be a coach or consultant first, and get the facts about what it really takes to write a book that attracts clients and leads to terrific additional revenues for you.
