If you are running your own consulting business or are a consultant working for a firm, a book will help your business grow and attract new clients to you. Working in the field, there are a number of experts, each providing their own perspective and plan to help a company resolve issues. Having a book will separate you from the rest. It gives potential clients a look at your style and what expertise you have, and it will help elevate your name in the field.
Separating Yourself From the Rest
Depending on the expertise that you are providing to businesses, the field may already be saturated with other consultants and thought leaders, each providing their own perspectives on how to tackle workplace issues. You need something to stand out above the rest. Having a book lends you more credibility in your field and the phrase “published author” elevates your name.
Much like having years of relevant experience elevates job applicants compared with those with limited experience, you want to show that you are the best person to hire and help a business. You want to show that not only do you have the experience to provide solutions and answers, but you also have the credentials to back up your statements. When you have a published book, you are not only a consultant in your field but also a thought leader, someone who is leading the field with your experience, ideas, and unique perspective. Readers are able to use your experience and solutions and are able to take those lessons with them.
A book also allows clients to get a sense of how you operate. Reviews from past clients are great, but sometimes they don’t include important details about your process. Like a review on any product or service, a five-star review is always desired, but there are people that want to know more before buying. Publish Your Purpose (PYP) founder and CEO, Jenn T. Grace, can attest to this. Before she published her first book, she worked as a consultant and had a number of people ask if she has a book to sell. Potential clients asked if she had a book to get a better understanding of her approach before they went forward. For her, it was a wake-up call to get her first book published and when she did, it began to attract new clients and her business grew.
Attracting New Clients/Engaging The Ones You Have
Shortly after self-publishing her first book, Jenn T. Grace realized her missteps and got to work on her second book. Once the second book was published, her name spread further and she rose to become an industry thought leader. She had a number of new clients asking for her help, and booked new speaking engagements. Everyone wanted to hear her perspective and her ideas. For her, this led her down the path of publishing and starting her own publishing house, teaching people how to self publish, and helping other thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and speakers publish their books.
This isn’t to say that publishing a book will lead you to creating your own publishing house, but for Jenn and many of the authors that PYP has helped publish, they have seen an increase in their business and client base. As published authors, they were able to attract new clients and to keep the conversation about their business and book going by engaging the client that they already had. Being a published author becomes a part of your personal brand and a selling point to attract potential clients.
Potential clients will want to buy a book from a new thought leader in the field to get their insight and perspective. Having a published book also engages past or current clients that you have. When you have a book coming or already published at events, it keeps your name in clients minds for when they need your services again.
That isn’t to say that you don’t have to work at getting your name out there. You still need to put in some of the legwork of promoting yourself as a published author. Networking is an important part of the business and is crucial to getting your name recognized in your field. You want to make sure that your book becomes a central part of your brand and that you are letting people know that your book is coming out or is out now. For all of our PYP authors with their own businesses, their businesses grew because of their book and because they marketed themselves with it.
If you are a consultant and have been sitting on the fence wondering if you should publish a book or aren’t sure how to publish a book contact us today!
If you would like to learn more about self-publishing click here or if you’d like to learn about the publishing process click here.
