Why Publish a Book with ‘Thud Value’ for Business Success?
Get noticed among your networks by publishing a full print book
Writing eBooks is a good first step in personal promotion… but writing, editing and producing a high-quality printed book often gets more notice. It has ‘thud’ value: that’s the sound a book makes when it hits the floor. (Credit to Andrew Griffith for this term).
A book is not the ultimate solution either. It is a drawcard to a niche crowd — one that is going to end up liking you and all you create.
Why does a book matter more to people when offered? Well, while brochures and fancy PDFs have that air of marketing push, a book is FOR THE PEOPLE. And the more genuinely you care about your audience, the more they will start to care about you and your causes.
In addition, writing a book makes you thoroughly research problems and hone your knowledge of distinct audiences. You’ll likely find out stuff you wished you knew years ago. I found, through reflection, that I had used positive psychology principles without even knowing it.
It Gives your Brand a Distinction
Writing a book is all part of becoming a thought leader in your market. When done with solid research and creating a model or theory, it gives your business or personal brand a distinction. This distinction is especially important when you have a business that needs a fair amount of explaining, e.g. augmented reality, drone services, 3D modelling, etc.
There are also more altruistic reasons to write. Some authors like to write self-help or psychology books, which is helpful to those facing life’s challenges. When people believe it’s all too hard, you can break it down for them and resolve some fears in the process.
Although many will want to implement these ideas straightaway, usually the reader realises that they need to take more courses on the subject or just get help directly from the expert. You are that expert.
A podcasting leader, Ronsley Vaz, wrote a book called Amplify, outlining the six steps to getting a podcast on air. The Amplify team supports solopreneurs to publish a podcast. Reading this, it proved that although I now appreciated the apparent ease and benefits of launching a podcast, I’d still rather have a specialist company set it up for me, so I don’t go wrong. They are the leaders.
A behavioural psychologist and his brother, Jurie G. Rossouw, wrote Executive Resilience, which was based on his work. It had thud value, being 60,000 words, proficient editing and an attractive cover design. I was the editor and almost unbelievably, the author made a fantastic cover.
How to Re-use Paperback Content in a Digital World
Obviously, it’s not all about launching a book when you promote your business. But it ties in well with a blend of social media marketing and giveaway content, as a full book can give you 52 elements of concrete advice to draw from. Instead of thinking, “I have to use social media to promote my book,” you think, “I can use my book’s content to attract eyes on social media and then highlight what I know to build trust.”
Why 52? It’s no coincidence. You can easily get one short snippet from your book (made into an image) and post it on your socials every week for a year. Or 26 over six months. I used Canva for my snippet-making.
I know you’re worried that this tactic will reduce book sales, but there is that much content in a full-size book that you won’t be ‘giving away the farm’. Rather, you’ll be giving away unique, bite-sized insights that many of your followers will resonate with — and some will buy.
A self-publishing leader in Australia, Jennifer Lancaster coaches non-fiction writers on how to write and then promote their books.
Jennifer has edited many notable books, ranging from self-help to sales to history. An author of five books herself, she put her self-publishing knowledge into the training course, Book Creation Success, at Business Author Academy.
