The Best Kept Secret in Marketing

I have worked with a number of coaches.

And most of them are so busy working with clients that they forget about building their own personal brand.

I get it?can?t say I have mastered that one yet either.

But holding workshops and booking speaking engagements isn?t exactly part of my job description. For coaches and thought leaders though, it is an important part of how you get clients and sometimes ? more often than not hopefully ? get paid.

This is where the secret marketing weapon comes in.

Lets say, for example, you recently did such a fantastic turnaround with a client that you coached yourself out of a job. This sweet moment of completing what you had promised by helping them achieve their goals is hit with a bitter slap in the face that now, alas, you must find another client to replace them.

For some, the referrals you are getting will keep you working literally until you die. For others, your project-to-project, client-to-client scramble is driving you crazy and barely keeping the lights on.

Either way, what I am about to tell you will change your life forever, should you choose to accept it (queue Mission: Impossible theme song).

Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun (Unless They?re Yours to Tell!)

Here it is:

Self-publishing!

Simple, yes. Common, no.

The number of coaches that I?ve met who tell me writing a book has never crossed their mind STILL confuses me. Every. Single. Time.

This should be the next goal on every coach?s list. It should be the thing you wake up thinking about and what you go to bed dreaming about, because very few cost effective tools left in this world have the power to set you apart like being an author does.

Thought Leader, Expert, Pioneer

What marvelous titles these are. And ones that I know are the aspiration and heart?s desire for so many coaches and entrepreneurs.

To be deemed different, decidedly special, and uniquely set apart in their industry is a quest that many attempt but most just end up in the middle of the pack.

By writing a book, your value proposition to clients goes well beyond that of just any other coach. You have instantly been set apart from a solid majority of the world, as well as from those in your industry.

A published author carries a particular gravitas rivaled only by those who spent too many years and too many thousands acquiring the Ph.D, MD, or JD that follows their name.

Because just like each of those titles, ?author? stays with you forever.

Think About It

I would say, most people would agree that authors write books because they have something unique to say. There is some method that they have enough confidence and experience in to know that it is better than the current way of doing things, and they simply need an outlet to be able to tell the world.

This more or less common agreement about the authority and credibility of anyone considered an ?author? automatically gets assigned to you the moment you publish your book.

You become a a part of an exclusive group of people who know more on a topic than others, so much so that you had to write a book to help catch everyone else up.

For you as a coach, writing a book is like an introduction to what it could be like to work with you. Maybe it includes your case studies, your insights, your process.

Whatever it is, however you frame it, it is a product that adds to your perceived value regardless of how many pages it is or even how well written it is (though I am not suggesting you disregard the quality of writing, but I?d be lying if I said it was of utmost importance to still make an impact on your marketing efforts).

3 Well-Worth-the-Investment Benefits

The multitude of benefits for your brand, your marketing efforts, and your bank account are likely beyond what I? have observed at this point, but here are a few to get your mouth watering:

1.? Authors with books out have something for others to ?write home about?.

A book gives people something they can share and discuss, all revolving around your name and ideas. It gives you something interesting to write a press release out about, opening you up to exposure by reporters who will have a reason to quote you for their stories and keep you as their ?expert on call?. A book qualifies you as a potential qualified guest for TV and radio shows. Did we mention bloggers and book review sites? Big time press, small time price.

2.? Authors have something they can offer a new client or a potential client as a valuable take away.

Yeah, it may cost you a few bucks to give it away from time to time when you really want to impress a potential client?but so does every other method of client acquisition. So why not have a method that not only makes an impression, but actually adds perceived value to who you are and what you offer?

3.? Authors may not be best sellers, but can still make a heck of a living off their book.

Yeah, so maybe no New York Times Best-sellers have crossed my client list (not yet anyway). But that doesn?t mean they didn?t make money off their book. Maybe the cash-flow from book sales didn?t afford them a 2nd home, but the higher profile speaking engagements, higher priced workshops they held, and the higher premiums they could charge sure did.

The Skinny

So even if your the coach who has a steady flow of clients, writing a book will give you that extra boost you needed on your ?resume? to? charge more for the same work.

As for the coach often scrambling to find a client, it is my personal observation that writing a book can help you land more clients, more speaking opportunities, and give you more credibility to those potential clients? trying to decide between hiring you and someone else.

So while the formal publishing industry is falling apart, self publishing is on the verge of being the next hottest marketing trend. Few are talking about it, and even fewer are doing it.

But it is coming.

So I?d suggest getting ahead of the curve before falling behind it. And you don?t have to go at it alone. We?ve walked a number of clients through the process and can certainly help you too.

We know the best companies to work with and the small details along the way that make for a quick turnaround and quality final product.

All you have to decide is what you will do with all that fame and fortune headed your way

Photo courtesy of Micrositesbyu.com

Source: http://www.polusdigital.com/2012/08/the-best-kept-secret-in-marketing/

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