Why Books Remain The Gold Standard Thought Leadership Asset
Whether published in print or digital, books remain central assets for many thought leadership campaigns
If you’re looking to establish yourself as a recognized thought leader in your space — somebody whose expertise on a particular subject is widely recognized and appreciated — then you may have come across a reference to books being the “gold standard.”
While it’s true that there are more ways for content producers to reach audiences than at any previous point in history, there’s a still a case to be made in favor of this commonly held belief.
Here’s why — for prospective thought leaders — books are still valuable assets worth investing time in producing.
Books Have A Higher Barrier To Entry
While a blog post can be authored in perhaps a few hours, full length books are complex pieces of “content” that take time and care to research and author.
This means that the barriers to entry to become a book author are arguably higher than, say, starting a podcast. This, in turn, means that fewer thought leaders have written books than have written shorter, more digestible forms of authorship.
Books Give You Space To Really Delve Into Your Ideas
Most paperbacks run up to 300 to 400 pages in print. Around 90,000 words is typical.
90,000 words is enough verbiage to contain 90 x 1,000 word blog posts. This might be a year’s worth of authorship — or more depending upon how frequently you update your blog.
With books, you have space to fully flesh out and develop your ideas.
Because thought leadership is concerned with showcasing your expertise, this in turn provides you with a greater opportunity to really show off the length and breadth of your knowledge on a topic.
Books Are Perfect Springboards For Promotion
When was the last time you heard about somebody giving a speaking tour about a blog post they had written? Or signing autographed copies of a case study?
Marketing has always remained an important component of the book-writing process — whether authors publish directly (self-publishing) or via an established publishing house.
Books are still perceived as substantial, weighty pieces of authorship. Book authors, in turn, are expected to put in the hard graft to promote them via speaking and media engagements.
When it comes to thought leadership, every little bit helps. So long as you are sharing original insights that your audience will likely find valuable, you can continue to build your industry reputation.
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