If you need help stimulating your small business, it may be worth writing an info book on the product(s) you provide. There are many reasons an independent professional ought to write a non-fiction book that purports to tell the client how to do the very service or product that your company provides.

If you need help stimulating your small business, it may be worth writing an info book on the product(s) you provide. There are many reasons an independent professional ought to write a non-fiction book that purports to tell the client how to do the very service or product that your company provides.

How an Info Book Can Help You Grow Your Business

1. It can be a source of continuing passive income. As the book sells over the years, you earn cash no matter how well or poorly the rest of the company does.

2. If published independently so that you have control of its contents, it can be a steady client outreach vehicle. In the book, you can plant many suggestions that point to your company.

3. It can set you up as an authority, which in itself may lead to more clients. Nothing says expert like authorship of a published book.

4. If your schedule is not as full as you’d wish right now, writing a book in your downtime can be a significant investment in your future prosperity. Writing is a way of using business time that can be otherwise unprofitably used. Before you go out to write your book, however, here are some questions which you would do well to ponder. Better yet, you ought to write your thoughts down–and best, discuss them with someone who has the knowledge to assess your project. (This is important work which should be done before you start writing.)

• What is the topic of your info book? What will it be about?
• Why will your book be unique among all the books available on this topic? What will set it apart: thoroughness, tone, in-depth focus on a small part of the topic, format, marketing, etc.? (This question supposes that you are familiar with what is already being marketed. “I don’t want to prejudice my writing by what others have done” does not cut it here!)
• Who is your projected audience–i.e., who will buy the book and why? Your book must be pitched to that part of your market niche that buys books. Marketing is facilitated when your product clearly answers for the reader: “What’s in this for me?”
• Why should you write this book? Why are you the best person to do so? Why will the reader agree you have credibility? (The answers are essential to your marketing campaign–and the feasibility of the project.)
• What sort of packaging do you anticipate for this book-length format (width and height, marginal notes? photos? exercises, etc.)?
• When do you anticipate finishing this book-include a projected writing schedule.
• What are the problems you face (personal or inherent in the topic) and how will you resolve them in order to be successful?
• Expect such a book project to require a significant commitment on your part. What resources are available to you to maximize the chances of your success?

You will find that your book, if it is well conceived and executed, will serve your business well.