Top 2 Reasons to Consider an E-book for your Business (And Tips for Writing It)

E-books are an effective and increasingly popular way to attract prospects to your business. They can be self-published at little to no cost and distributed in a number of ways, some of which allow you direct contact with potential clients. Still, writing a book is no simple task, and not one undertaken lightly. What makes the time invested in writing worth it for your business?

The first is, of course, lead generation. Perhaps one of the hardest things in marketing is getting potential clients to reveal themselves to you. Most will interact with your content, but never actually make a connection that allows you to cater to them. Books are an excellent way to counteract this when they’re distributed for free in exchange for an e-mail. Asking a reader for their email not only reveals them as a prospect but allows you to maintain regular contact with them as well through your mailing list.

The second-best reason to pen a book for your business is that it easily establishes you as a trusted source to readers. One great thing about books is that the simple act of writing one is, to most people, quite the impressive feat no matter how long or short it is. Most would simply say that they wouldn’t know what to write. When you write a book on your topic of interest, it communicates to people that you’re knowledgeable enough to have written pages upon pages of content specifically on that topic. In their mind, this establishes you as an authority on the matter and creates an immediate association between you and the topic. The next time they need something you’ve written about, you’ll be their first thought.

Many find writing a book to be too daunting of a task and struggle with the idea of producing enough content for one. You probably do too, but you’ll be happy to hear that it isn’t as difficult as it seems. Writing for business is wildly different than writing the average novel. It’s perfectly fine for your book to be shorter, even as few as 60 pages— in fact, it may be received better if it is. In all likelihood, a decent number of those that receive your book will never actually finish it. That number increases exponentially if the book is 200 pages. Ideally, your book would be read in a single sitting. Another common source of writer’s block is doubting your own writing abilities. Thankfully, your writing itself doesn’t need to be perfect. It should absolutely be clear, concise, and readable, but your readers are unlikely to judge beyond that. They’re far more interested in the content, and that’s where you excel. Outlining the structure of your book (e.g. the chapters) can help you get started putting words on the page; after that, it’s simply a matter of writing what you know.

 Arguably, the single key ingredient that will attract the most prospects to your book and allow it to stand out from others is its title. The title of your book is a reader’s first impression and more or less what will sell it to them. It should be one that clearly communicates the content of your book and does so in a way that grabs the attention of your desired audience. The latter in especially important— if your title misrepresents your content, the readers that reveal themselves to you will be misrepresentative of your actual prospect pool.

Choosing a book as one of your lead generation tools requires a significantly larger time investment than most. Still, it can be a lucrative technique when done well, especially if your business is highly specialized or requires a large amount of trust from your customers. More importantly, it isn’t necessarily the painful, arduous task that it seems at first glance. You might find it easier than you think.