More Reasons You Should Write Your Book!

Beyond adding your unique perspective to the world of publishing, there are countless other reasons why you should write a book:

• It forces you to think in a much deeper context. If a book is nothing more than a bunch of articles or Blog posts, it's not really a book... it's a compilation. The true act of sitting down, structuring and framing a complete book is a much deeper thought process.
• It will give your business more clarity. That deep context from the last point leads into clarity. All of the research, writing and mind exploring usually gives you a perspective on your industry that your peers have never spent the time trying to explore and define.
• It establishes you as a credible authority. Clients and potential clients still feel that the act of writing a book and getting it formally published is an act of credibility. I, too, believe that people who have published works have more credibility in the marketplace.
• It's a great business card. It's a great thank you card.
• It doesn't have to be physical. Even self-publishing an ebook can be enough, just be sure to get a good editor or someone to help you find the right flow and structure.
• It gets you exposure in places you may have never had access to. I can't tell you how many times a week I get an email from someone who picked up my book and read it because they discovered it in an airport bookstore or at a shop in the mall. These are places where my Blog and the marketing materials of Twist Image can never reach.
• Strategic by-products happen all of the time. Someone sees the book and thinks to call me about something else and this turns into a business opportunity that would have never happened had it not been for the book being present in people's lives.
• Crap is crap. None of this matters if you publish something poorly. I'm assuming it's not just your perspective, but a well-written and well-thought-out personal perspective.

          ---From Mitch Joel

It's In You. Let It Out. Write Your Book!

Have you always wanted to write a book? Have you always considered yourself an expert in a specific area of your profession? These are two ingredients you need to stand out and become THE expert people trust.

Write your book to establish yourself as the expert.

Teach freely to gain the trust and respect of people.

In a recent Seth Godin blog post, he asked “How do they know you're not a flake?” In his post he pointed out what goes through the mind of people before they open your letter, click your link, return your call…

 

Here they are:

• Do I know this person?
• Did someone I trust send them over?
• Where does she work? (Ideo? the FDA? The New York Times?)
• Has she won an award? Is she famous?
• Are there typos and is the design sloppy?
• Are they pestering me?
• Do I already follow this person online?
• Does music play when I visit the website?
• Will my boss be pleased when I bring this project up?
• Who else is pointing to/referencing/working with this person?
• Is it too good to be true?

 

What if this person knows you wrote a book about the topic you are contacting them about?

 

Get it done. Narrow your focus and write your book.

 

The next time you speak to a group, you can be the person selling books at the back of the room.

 

If you don’t have time, click HERE. We help people like you. If you have questions about how we get your book from your mind onto paper, click HERE.

“10 Things to Avoid When Writing Ads”

This post is a complement to another called "Ad Speak is Invisible".

I have always been a believe that “Facts Tell and Stories Sell”. I believe people make almost decisions emotionally. You can make a pretty good argument about two doctors making a life or death decision over the “facts” presented to them in a diagnosis. At the end of the day, they/you are forced to trust “facts”. You have to have faith in the facts, making it an emotional decision.

My job is to sell stuff for people using media. To do it well, I have to tell stories. I decided to become a better story teller, by studying the best in the country. I bought the book STORY, by Robert McKee. He is the number one go to guy regarding movie screenplays in the country. I found a YouTube video of Mr. McKee called 10 Problems To Avoid With Dialogue In Screenplays. Wow, these are pretty much the same things I try to avoid when writing commercials that don’t sound like commercials!

I am calling this “10 Things to Avoid When Writing Ads”

1. Repetitiousness

a. Make sure you don’t say the same thing over and over and over using the same words.

2. Trightness

a. Dialog filled with clichés

3. Character Neutral Language

a. Using “all-purpose” lines that anyone could say in the same situation. Almost a cliché, but more of a “Duhhh, that is obvious!”

4. Ostentation

a. The writer using “flowery” with very artistic words to show their artsyness.

5. Arid Speech

a. Dry, “Ivy-League” and Pretentious wording, trying to sound like an intellectual.

6. Over-Statement

a. “Brawny” words with puny motivation. Often profanity is used when there is no substance.

7. Talking Wallpaper

a. The humdrum chit-chat of “Hi, how are you? I am fine. The weather is fine.” Writers add this stuff to sound natural, but no one really speaks this way.

8. Forced Exposition

a. One character telling another character what they both already know, in order for the reader or audience to learn important facts of the story.

9. Malformation

a. Scenes that are badly shaped. The audience or reader becomes distracted when their brain is screaming: “This is not a plausible situation.”

10. Writing Dialog “On the Nose”

a. Writing or saying exactly what the character is thinking and feeling without any sub-text. This is treating the audience or reader like they are stupid and insulting their intelligence with too many words.

If you fancy yourself a story-teller, a preacher, teacher or public speaker, you might consider avoiding these as well.