Why do you want to write?

Most of us are aware of Simon Sinek’s book WHY where he explored the importance of discovering and living by your core purpose, whether its as an individual, company or not for profit organisation.

As a business book adviser, exploring why you want to write a book is a fundamental question that any business owner, consultant, entrepreneur, founder or executive needs to ask.

As a business book writer myself I am very clear about why I write. I am passionate about preserving the histories and stories of business whether they be ASX-listed companies, private and family businesses or industry sectors. I love the process of researching and interviewing and bringing all the threads together through the actual act of writing. I also have to pay the bills and want to be able to enjoy my other two passions, hiking and scuba diving. I don’t write for fame, to be an Amazon best-seller, to increase my profile, get on the speaking circuit, make a million dollars, although a number of my clients have one or more of these as their why.

Working out your why is an important part of your early business book writing journey and through discussions with hundreds of executives and business people I’ve identified the 5 top reasons.

1. Sharing knowledge

Most business people genuinely want to increase their ability to share their knowledge. A book provides the means to move from 1-to-1 to one to thousands or 10s of thousands. 

Add to this leveraging the content from the book across targeted social media, industry and business groups and the exposure of your knowledge.

2. Increase or maintain relevance in the business sector you operate

With the pace of change increasing all the time, no-one can afford to keep doing the same thing and expect to maintain or grow their relevance. Writing and publishing a book (printed or eBook) and leveraging it is a terrific way to stand out from your competitors, been seen, heard and read and position yourself as a thought leader/expert in your field.

3. Build your brand as a thought leader

Most of us in business operate in a highly competitive environment and that competition is only growing through those who are mastering the online world of content marketing, influencing and engagement. A business book is an ideal took to propel recognition of you as a thought leader and influencer. Not only does it provide you with a platform to build from, the content can be pre-purposed and leverage across all forms of media increasing your exposure and recognition.

4. Legacy

Depending on where you’re at in life and business there comes a time when you think about what you have contributed to the world outside your own health and happiness and that of your close family and friends.

Have you made a difference, can you still make a difference, and to how many?

If you have a family business, a book is a great way for you pass on the values and knowledge you’ve accumulated over your career and the stories that were part of previous generations.

I often recall the story about my father. Several years before he died I decided that I needed to capture his story as I had never really asked him about his life and we hadn’t been close for several years. Over the course of a year once every three months I’d fly to NZ and spend a long weekend with my parents with the express goal of interviewing Dad.

I learned so much about him, why he was the way he was, from understanding more about his upbringing, his passions, challenges and choices. I wish I’d had these conversations earlier as I would have been less judgemental of him.

He died suddenly only a couple of years after this and I gave the eulogy at his funeral. My brothers came up to me afterward and asked me how I knew so much about Dad’s life. ‘Because I asked’ was my response.

Don’t wait to be asked because you might not be. Start yourself. If you don’t tell your story/share your knowledge who will?

5. Develop other revenue streams

Most people I work with want their business book to make some money, or at least break even as they are more driven by one or two of the first four reasons. That said, provided you’ve developed your content with your target audience clearly in mind and are prepared to do what it takes to market and promote your book consistently over a period of time (1-2 or even 3 years), self publishing your business book can be an on-going passive and active revenue stream.

If this your primary focus, developing a clear marketing strategy early on and committing to it has to be the primary focus of your efforts, AFTER you’ve completed writing the book that is.

If you want to find out more about how to start writing your business book we’ve put together a Digital book, How to write, publish and sell your business book.  To get your FREE copy CLICK here to download it and once you’ve gone through it we’d love to talk to you further about how we can work with you to write and publish your book.