Students Of Success

9 out of 10 professionals and small business owners have at
least one book or information product inside their head, but
lack the time and organizational skills to get it out into
digital or print form. You may cringe when you read this list of
ten things keeping you from writing your book, because it rings
too close to home for you. You may have already written a book
or an e-book, or have come close to starting it. It’s hard, we
know it, and we’ve been there too. But go ahead and read this
list, see if you can identify, and let’s discuss a possible
solution to the book writing problem. 1. I can’t seem to find
the time. 2. Every time I sit down to write I go blank. 3. I
need an uninterrupted time period to immerse myself. 4. I need
clarity on my message, but there’s no one to consult with. 5. I
don’t know where to start or how to organize all the chapters.
6. I’m afraid of losing clients and having my business suffer if
I take time away from it to write my book. 7. I agonize over the
writing, the grammar, the sentence structure and punctuation. 8.
I know what I have to say, just can’t put it into written form
without losing clarity and impact. 9. I keep thinking about all
the time involved in writing the book, and wonder if it will
ever bring me the results I want. 10. Once I get it written, I
have no idea how to get it formatted, let alone marketed. Ok,
you know why you haven’t started writing your book. Do you know
why you need to write a book? Why You Need to Publish a
Book Here are a few reasons why writing and publishing a
book is important to you as an independent professional, small
business owner, or solo-preneur: 1. Having a book, whether in
digital, soft-cover, or hard-cover establishes you as an expert
in your field. 2. People buy from people they know and trust;
reading your book is one step in creating client confidence and
relationship. 3. Once people buy and read your book, they will
want more of what you have to offer in the way of services and
knowledge. Your book can attract readers into your sphere of
potential clients; once they have bought your book, they are
ready to buy other services from you. 4. Having a published book
is a great marketing tool, and people will actually pay for your
expertise. 5. Books are one of the major sources of passive
income for professionals; once it is published it can continue
to generate sales for you, over the years and while you sleep.
6. If you don’t get a book out soon, your competitors will have
the edge, because many of them already have one and even two
books out. 7. If you are a speaker, they make great bonus gifts
and back-of-the-room sales. 8. They provide a platform for you
to expose your readers to your mind and your heart, showing not
only what you know, but how much you care. You can reveal your
deepest philosophies through your writing, as well as your
personal stories. Three Solutions to the Book-Writing
Problem Of course, there is no problem if you’ve got a lot
of money. You just hire a book writer. There are many of them
listed at Elance.com. Some professionals do this, especially
when they need to get something published fast and there are not
a lot of complex issues to put forth. But is this really what
you want to do as a professional who has an important message to
convey? Here is a list of solutions: 1. Hire someone to write
your book for you (you can always rewrite it in your own voice
and add your own stories). When finished, hire a publisher and
then a publicist to market it. 2. Hire a writing coach who will
walk you through the steps, chapter by chapter (again, for a
substantial fee). Then when finished, hire a publisher and a
publicist. 3. Bite the bullet, put your business on hold for a
few months, and devote your time to just getting it written. You
will have to turn it over to a book designer and get it
formatted; search for the right publisher such as
self-publishing or print-on-demand services, and then market it
yourself. Expensive? Yes, all three solutions are expensive.
They each have their advantages and disadvantages. The Fourth
Solution There is another solution! What if there was a way to
help you get your book down in print and ready for formatting in
90 days? What if you could do this by following a system that
organized you chapter by chapter, included testimonials, input
from peers, professional editing resources, design and
formatting resources at low costs, and only took a half-hour of
time per day? Could you afford to invest that much time and
energy out of your busy day? Would it be worth it to you even if
it meant an hour a day for 90 days? If you already have a blog
that you use to communicate with readers online, you can use
your blog to write your book. The blog format is perfect for
organizing your ideas, chapters and getting feedback from
readers. If you don’t have a blog yet, you may wish to create
one. They are simple to set up and use (we recommend
Typepad.com). It can be used to stay in touch with clients and
to write your thoughts in an informal way. A blog is like having
a conversation with people interested in your subject or
expertise. Once your book is finished and formatted, you can
then use your blog to market it. You already have a built in
audience, hungry for your content. To read more about how this
system works and how you can benefit, go to this site:
http://www.blogtobook.com - the way you think about writing your
book will shift and you’ll see it in a whole new light!

Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership, and Patsi Krakoff of
Customized Newsletter Services, have teamed up to create
blogging and marketing services for independent professionals.
Their latest program is the Blog to Book Project: How to Use a
Blog to Create a Book in 90 Days or Less at http://www.blogtobook.com.
You can read and subscribe to their blogs at http://www.buildabetterblo
g.com