5 Reasons Every Speaker Should Write a Book (and a FREE Guide to Write Yours in 90 Days)
[NOTE: This post contains affiliate links to free resources, which means I may be paid a commission if you choose to purchase any products for sale on the external sites. Thank you for reading.]
If you’re a speaker, or if you want to speak, you should write a book.
(You’ve probably heard that before.)
But if, having heard that, you still don’t have a book, it’s probably because:
- You aren’t really that serious about this speaking thing, or
- You don’t believe you really need a book, or
- You hate writing, suck at writing, or just don’t have time for writing.
Since you’re reading this, I’m betting that it’s not reason #1.
It’s probably not #2. (But if it happens to be, you’ll soon have five good reasons to get published, pronto.)
I’m betting the reason you haven’t published a book yet is because of something in #3.
Believe me, I get it. I’ve been working on a book for the past two years. It’s a struggle.
Thankfully, I just discovered an awesome book, Book Launch: How to Write, Market & Publish Your First Bestseller in Three Months or Less AND Use it to Start and Grow a Six Figure Business, which is both motivational and practical… so now I know what I need to do!
If you need that kind of help, too, then… DON’T go buy this book!
No, sign up for the author’s FREE Self Publishing School video series and you’ll get a copy of the Book Launch ebook, too! (The videos are only up for a limited time, though, so you’ll want to jump right on it.)
Chandler Bolt is the guy behind it all, and he’s written five bestsellers and built a business that’s closing in on seven figures this year… so he’s clearly got a few things figured out!
Now, back to speaking…
You’ve heard that you need a book. But why?
Here are five reasons a book will be a tremendous help to your speaking business:
- Credibility. Let’s face it, if the words, “Speaker and Author of…” follow your name, you’re automatically taken more seriously than another candidate who is just described as a “Speaker.”
- Lead Generation. One of the hardest things for any speaker starting out is marketing — getting the word out about who you are and what you do. Guess what? A book does that for you! Chandler, the author of Book Launch and creator of the Self-Publishing School videos, said, “Prior to writing my first book, I had very little experience speaking or coaching, but within months of publishing my first book, I was getting paid to do both.”
- Income. Who couldn’t use some extra money? In the “old days” (as recently as just a few years ago), you wouldn’t hear much about a book becoming a substantial revenue stream for an author. Now, though, you can sell a short book (30-60 pages) on Amazon for $2.99/ea. and potentially make thousands of dollars a month. In Book Launch, Chandler tells the story of one author who consistently makes $30-60k in passive income each month from his books. Chandler himself said, “Within a year of writing my first book, I built a 6-figure business off of one measly, little 54-page book.” In any case, you don’t want to set up your business where speaking is your ONLY revenue stream. Whether publishing a book generates enough income to make a car payment, a mortgage payment, or fund the kid’s college fund… it’s good.
- Event-Driven Marketing Tool. A book has always been a great anchor for a speaker’s marketing campaign — it’s timely, it’s helpful (sharing your advice), and it affirms your credibility. In the past, though, you would probably only put out one book a year, or maybe one every 2-3 years. In the new world of publishing on Amazon, consider this: Since you can create a bestseller in 90 days or less, what if… you put out a new, short book a few times a year (for instance, maybe what would have been four sections of a “regular” book is now four installments in a series)? Now you have multiple reasons to reach out to prospective clients… offering them more value each time, and further demonstrating your expertise on your topic, and more importantly, your ability to solve their problems. (Sure beats sending postcards!)
- Free Publicity. This is a classic reason for publishing a book — you can get coverage on TV and in magazines and newspapers that you would never get otherwise. And now, add in blogs and social media — there are all sorts of ways to leverage your book (and the content within) to get attention… which can drive speaking engagements and help your business in all the ways listed above.
So, what do you say? Is it time to get that book out there?!
Oh, by the way… did you notice that throughout this blog post I referred to publishing a book rather than publishing your book? That was intentional.
If I say your book, your mind might go to the idea of creating your great manifesto, or “the one” book you will become known for, throughout all the ages to come.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t create that book… but don’t feel like you can’t publish any book until you’re ready to publish that book. (Truth be told, you probably need to publish a few other books before that book is ready to come out, anyway!)
Chandler talks about this in his book and video series, and I’ve fallen into this trap myself. I think it happens to all of us who feel like we’ve got something really important to share.
You do… but do you want to start getting your message out there in a bigger way right now? Or do you want to wait in silence, for potentially a lifetime, to finally birth that masterpiece?
I say, get started today. If you need help, sign up for the Self-Publishing School videos and follow Chandler’s system. But one way or another, a book will be a tremendous help to your speaking business!
Any questions? Suggestions of other ways speakers can benefit from having books? Leave a comment below!
