Smart Business Magazine, August 2013

August 2013 Smart Business Dallas 7 DUSTIN S KLEIN CONTENT STRATEGY HAVE AN IDEA TO SHARE Engage with us on Twitter @ SmartBiz_ DAL A few years ago one of my friends embarked on what he deemed an ambitious yet simple plan Write a New York Times Best Seller Ed had reason to be optimistic His first two books had sold well and he had successfully leveraged them to launch a burgeoning consulting practice Ed also had a nationally known book publisher to handle distribution for this book and he had developed a comprehensive marketing and promotions plan for the launch Ed felt all the pieces were in place and was sure he would succeed His goals were two fold break out from the pack and grow his business and hit the New York Times Best Sellers list While his head told him the first goal was more realistic his heart was set on the second publicly claiming it was his only true benchmark of success Needless to say Eds book didnt make the list Few books do That doesnt mean Eds book was a failure Quite the contrary it was a huge success As a result of Eds book he landed numerous speaking engagements with organizations and companies around the world He began to command four and five figure speaking fees from those engagements and his book was purchased and distributed to every attendee Further Eds speaking engagements lead to dozens of private companies hiring him to provide one and two day seminars where he taught executive teams how Make it count There are more than a few good reasons to write and publish your own bookto implement the ideas he espoused in the book Ed was also presented with numerous business opportunities for new and existing clients to tackle initiatives beyond the books subject matter that he had not previously considered but were related to his expertise Finally Ed did sell thousands upon thousands of copies of his book in bookstores nationwide and online through booksellers like Amazon com and BarnesAndNoble com His book was in the hands of the right people and lots of them and he had established a national profile Viewed through this lens there is little doubt that Eds book was wildly successful even if it wasnt a New York Times Best Seller and even if it didnt stack up to his primary benchmark This is the reality of book publishing Each month I speak with dozens of entrepreneurs and CEOs about their nascent book ideas and the possibility of having Smart Business Books handle development and publication of their stories and manuscripts I begin every conversation the exact same way If your goal is to have a New York Times Best Seller were not the right option for you Thats because you should write books for the right reasons If your only goal is getting on a best sellers list then your ambitions are off the mark Writing and publishing a book is not like a professional sports teams season there isnt one winner who takes the championship and a bunch of losers who fall short Publishing a book is not an all or nothing proposition This isnt to say you shouldnt aim high with your goals and having your book become a best seller is certainly one way to measure success Setting reasonable expectations however is essential So why write a book One of the most important questions you should be able to answer when thinking about writing a book is Who is going to read it and why As Eds story demonstrates a book is a very useful business development tool It is an immediate conversation starter an excellent credibility builder and one heck of a leave behind If youre engaged in marketing why not capture your expertise through a book Another reason is to celebrate a milestone or establish a legacy piece It could be for a 50th or 100th anniversary or to recognize the history of an organization upon the founders retirement or death And if you are interested in helping others succeed a book is a great way to share your expertise or what makes you and your organization special For example if youve built an amazing corporate culture where productivity blossoms and innovation flourishes the how and why are good subjects for a book And if youve been involved with several mergers and acquisitions consider sharing what worked and what didnt and the lessons learned along the way Whatever your story the key is having a reason to share it with others The bottom line Its your story Make it count Dustin S Klein is publisher and vice president of operations of Smart Business Network publishers of Smart Business magazine Reach him at dsklein@ sbnonline com or 440 250 7026