DON’T BUY THEM, WRITE THEM
Saturday, November 24, 2012 @ 12:14 AM
Why don’t you write a book? No, I am not in the wrong blog. I am talking to you, Mr. Businessman. If you visit Waterstones, W. H. Smiths; any good book stores, you will find the Business Books section to be of impressive size. Likely you will find a hundred or more titles. Many of these will be advisory and a fair proportion will be based on sales and marketing.
Are they good value for money? In my opinion most of them aren’t unless you are the author. This is the reason why many business books, and those on other topics, are not written by people with experience in the field. Many are authored by charlatans who couldn’t sell sweets to a starving kid. They have the theory and they sell it. Yes, this is fine until you try putting it into practice. They do have the savvy to make money from writing books. Now that is a lesson they could teach you.
There are gems to be found on bookcases. When I had a use for them, before I retired, I had a very good business library. Without a shadow of doubt several of these books introduced me to tricks of the selling trade that worked wonderfully well. They were written by professionals who knew how to communicate and how to make money.I would fork out as little as £5.95 and as a consequence I learnt tricks that over the years brought that small investment back a thousand times over. That is what I call good business practice.
If you have experience then what you have between your ears could be making someone a shed full of money. If you put that expertise and advice between the covers of your book it could be you making a shed full of money for you too. It doesn’t have to be a blockbuster. It can be a ‘paperback size ‘How To’ booklet by which you provide a condensed introduction and tips manual for the newcomer, amateurs or these merely interested in what you used to do for a living.
The world is your oyster; you will have picked up skills in the University of Life you attended. What might they be; security alarms and surveillance, private detective work, sales and marketing, retailing, nursing, leisure pursuits, collecting antiques, teaching; the list is endless as it is fascinating.
Take a look at my Writer’s World blog and scroll down to When Size Does Matter. There you will find a splendid introduction to the mechanics and costs incurred – and profits to be expected, from writing the kind of business book we have in mind. It isn’t difficult. I penned The Business Booster in a week or so fifteen years ago. It is still relevant and marketable. If you hit the marketing G-Spot you could even make more money out of selling your experience than you did in acquiring it. If you need it ghost-written then run it or the idea past me.