Writing a book a book can put your agency on the map. It benefits new business.
When I started my blog I tried to be strategic and think further down the road. Surely there were ways to reuse the content. One of the ways that I identified was a book. I actually outlined a book prior to starting my blog and 290+ blog posts later I’m almost there.
I’ve identified 8 benefits to writing a book feel free to ad some of your own:
- It positions you as an expert
- It allows you to reach more people
- It provides you with the “ultimate” business card
- It makes you more money
- It benefits business
- It ranks you as a credible source
- It gives you a personal sense of accomplishment
- It enables you to leave a legacy
Here are a few of examples of agency principals that have written a book.
Linda Kaplan Thayer, the ceo of Kaplan Thayler Group, wrote a book, The Power of Nice, that put her agency, on the map. Linda has been featured on The Martha Stewart Show, Nightline, The Today Show, Inside Edition and Fox News to name just a few. There is also the Power of Nice website and Nice Blog.
Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland agency recently had his first book published, When Growth Stalls. Steve also has a column for BusinessWeek.com and other articles published in the New York Times, USA Today, Advertising Age, Business Daily, just to name a few.
Bob Hoffman, ceo of Hoffman/Lewis ad agency, is the author of the book, The Ad Contrarian and the blog of the same name. Bob offers his book as a free download on his blog. Click here to download your free copy.
I’m exploring options for publishing my book and as I find good resources I’ll be sure and pass those on to you.
One such resource that I found couple of weeks ago is “6 Ways to Publish Your Own Book,” written by Shevonne Polastre. She writes,
“Online self-publishing services have given users the tools they need to create, publish and promote their work. These sites allow authors to bypass the process of finding an agent and pitching to publishing houses, a venture that can take months, if not years.”
Shevonne identifies six great online sites that will help you publish your work, guaranteeing you a published book that can be sold via different outlets, such as Amazon.
Read her post: 6 Ways to Publish Your Own Book
Additional articles that may be of interest:
- How to Write a Book and Generate New Business for Your Agency
- 10 Tips to Help Ad Agency CEOs Develop a Blog
- Ad Agency CEO’s Blog – The Ad Contrarian
- When Growth Stalls For Ad Agencies
Sorry. I am not buying it. The thinking, the effort, the time, the competition with all of the free information, cost… Nope, not every agency ownner is the Nest Jeff Jarvis. Just does not pay out. Is this really the best strategy? What did it do for the agencies you mentioned? can you provide the ROI?
Why not just pick your top 20 prospects and spend $1,000 against each of them?
Peter,
Thank you for sharing your point of view but I don’t think that I said this was the best strategy for every agency principal. But most agency principals that I know are articulate, highly creative, are excellent writers, or associated with very fine writers. Plus they have a wealth of experience to share. For them it does have benefits that far outweigh the time and the low cost of writing a book.
I would suggest contacting Steve McKee, Bob Hoffman or Linda Kaplan Thayer, the agency principals I mentioned in this post, to see whether writing a book was worth it. I’m confident they each will affirm that it was. They’ve each done a great job of promoting their books and have received media exposure that has built awareness for them and their agencies far beyond the initial monetary and time investments.
My personal writing project will cost under $1000 and I’m able to repurpose a good majority of what I’ve already written for my blog so any additional time investment is minimal. I have no doubt that it will benefit business.
Update from Bob Hoffman’s blog, The Ad Contrarian regarding his book:
Here’s an example of its (internets) power. About three years ago I wrote a book called — you guessed it — The Ad Contrarian. In those three years I literally couldn’t give the freaking thing away. I offered it for free and about 800 people took me up on it.
Last week I offered it as an ebook on this site. In five working days over 20,000 people downloaded it.
I’ve been learning more and more about writing books as I have been thinking for a while I have a lot of great ideas and I should be putting the pencil to the paper on these, but I just didn’t know where to begin or end.
I bought a book by Sophfronia Scott, called “Doing Business By The Book,” which has really helped me. She has a concise and clear guide on how to get your ideas to the world. I had to spread the word as I’m just about finished and it’s all thanks to her.
I hope this can help someone else out as much as it’s helped me.
Thanks for sharing Chrissy.
No problem, happy writing!
Good job bro Mp3 dinle
I agree writing a book is a great business development strategy!
I’ve been contacted by a company that ‘helps’ in the process, but I’m not comfortable with their ‘ghost writing’ approach.
I’ve only written a thesis…many moons ago 🙂 but look forward to writing a book at some point. I appreciate the suggestions and resources! Always enjoy FuelLines!
Thanks Mike!
Michael, I have a special deal to offer you as a fellow consultant through a publishing arm I own (http://www.rockbench.com). Shoot me an email and let’s set up a quick phone call and I’ll explain.
Keep up the good little bits of advice.