Investment vs. Expense and the Cost of Hiring a Ghostwriter

Writing a book is one of the most powerful marketing tools available to coaches, consultants, speakers, and professionals. It can establish or enhance your brand and unique positioning.  It can attract a steady stream of those ideal high-paying clients we all love. And it can elevate everything you're already doing to a higher level of success. Maybe you've heard all this before.

But not all books work as well as they could. Why? Because although everyone has a book, most people aren't capable of writing that book in a compelling way. Or they rush to get something out there, just so they can add the author credential to their professional bio. If you really want your book to grow your business, then it has to be better, more engaging, and more authentic than the other titles. It has to be an extension of you and your business that represents your expertise in the marketplace and pulls ideal clients right to you. And it must be well written. Otherwise it's just another book.

One of the most frequently asked questions I hear about ghostwriting is: How much is it going to cost? This is an important question, even if you write the book yourself. Here's the thing, though: your book should actually an investment, rather than an expense. You should be writing your book because it's an intricate piece of a larger vision for your career and life. Then every minute and every dollar you spend on it will continue to work for you over the years.

How can you ensure your book works? And how can you ensure your investment is recovered? Consider the following tips.

1. Write Your Book Well or Hire Someone Who Can
You know me—I'm a writer and I don't like poorly written books. Although having the word "author" in your bio always adds a certain amount of expertise, mediocre books don't work as well as great ones do. They don't attract ideal prospects; they don't communicate the author's expertise; they don’t get passed around and talked about; and they don't get much media attention.

If you really want your book to work for your business, then it has to be good. And I don't mean the sentences have to be grammatically correct—they do, but that's a given. Anyone can do that. Your book has to be written in a way that appeals to your audience, keeps them engaged, and makes them want more from you. Books have more longevity than a blog post or an e-zine article. In those mediums you can get away with the "good is good enough" approach. But your book is a big investment in time and money that should work for you for years. You can't afford regrets! If you can't write an awesome book yourself, then hire a ghostwriter who can.

2. Design Your Content to Attract Ideal Clients, Prospects, and Opportunities
A book is a powerful way to attract clients and opportunities to your business. It can establish you as THE expert on a particular topic, introduce you and the solutions you provide to readers who may have never found you any other way, and allow you to reach audiences in numbers limited only by the number of books you can print.

But simply writing any book won't necessarily bring the right people and opportunities to you. You have to know who and what you want to attract, and then design your book—from the title, to the content, to the back cover copy—to appeal directly to those people. And your authentic voice has to shine through, because that's the only way to attract the ideal, high-paying clients and opportunities to your business.

3. Leverage Your Book
Once your BEST book is written and published, it's time to make it work. You have to get it out there and into as many ideal readers' hands as possible with launch events, speaking engagements, virtual book tours, media releases, interviews, and anything else you can do to spread the word. The great thing about a book is that, when it's new, it can be inherently newsworthy, which means a lot of attention for you and your business as well.

Mention your book at every opportunity, work the concepts into your introductory level talks, design your marketing messages around it, and share your book with prospects and leads. If you've designed your book to fit strategically within your business, you can start to see results almost immediately, with new people signing up for your coaching programs and buying your higher-priced products and packages.

Your Business-Building Book
Nothing says "expert" like a book, and these days, anyone can pull together enough content to fill a hundred pages. But a well-written book designed to strategically attract ideal clients and opportunities allows more than just the ability to add the word "author" to your bio. If you want to recover the cost of hiring a ghostwriter and publishing a book, then you have to view it as an investment in a bigger vision. Then it doesn't matter how much it costs to get it done because you'll be able to send a great book into the world confidently knowing it will represent you, position you, brand you, and grow your business.

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