Could your business benefit from publishing a book? After all, at the heart of every business lies a rich seam of stories, expertise and knowledge just waiting to be revealed and turned into profits.

Sue Richardson of SRA Books has worked with many business authors and in her experience the most successful have been those who have been very clear from the start about their objectives for publishing.

Richardson sums up these objectives as ‘the five pearls of publishing’:

• Purpose (passion)
• Profit
• Presence
• Profile
• PR

Purpose (passion)

Most business owners are pretty passionate about what they do and passion is like the petrol in their tanks.

A business owner’s mission or purpose can be very inspirational for other people – which is why so many of us love to read books by other business leaders.

Writing down and sharing your philosophy or knowledge will also significantly improve your own focus as a business leader.

Profit

Okay, so you’re not likely to make a fortune out of publishing a book. However, although books themselves may not always make lots of money in terms of actual product sales, as a marketing tool they are second to none.

For example, Andy Osborne, an expert in business continuity, published a couple of small books a few years ago. Within weeks he told me that while he wasn’t selling vast quantities of the books he had received a phone call from someone who had read his book and who wanted to meet him. This meeting resulted in a £25,000 contract. The same thing happened again a couple of weeks later. Within weeks he had made ten times the cost of producing and publishing his book.

Presence

The writing and publishing of a book means that, as if by magic, you can be in more than one place at a time!

Imagine having an army of books marching out to spread that message to a much wider audience. Books create hugely searchable content. Amazon is one of the most frequently searched websites today and because books are content rich, Google loves them.

Profile

A book gives you huge credibility, and impresses people. Becoming a published author can make you the ‘go to’ person in your field, and as an expert you are likely to command higher fees because the demand for your services will rise. There are many speakers and advisers I have worked with who have said that they found it easier to charge more after they had published books.

PR

A book gives you visibility – it’s the most impressive calling card a business owner is likely to have.

Take Vicki Wusche, a property investor and mentor. She has published three books and this generated considerable PR, resulting in her being placed in the list of ‘the top 20 most influential people in property’ by the Daily Telegraph. She has had numerous mentions in that paper as well as hundreds of other online and print publications. Her business has grown exponentially as a result.

There is no doubt about it, publishing a book can help build your business. It may bring you speaking engagements if that’s your thing, or it may bring you press attention. Whatever it is that you want in the way of attention and remarkability, a book will help you to get it and quickly turn that visibility into business building profits.