“Business leaders are often attracted to the idea of having a book about their work. Unfortunately, they rarely get help developing the strategy behind the book.”— Nicole Gebhardt

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, UNITED STATES , December 30, 2022/ EINPresswire.com / -- At the 2004 Olympic Games, U.S. elite marksman Matt Emmons had only one shot left to earn the 7.2 points he needed to take home the gold medal. He took careful aim, fired, and successfully hit the bull’s eye.

Onlookers gasped. Emmons had inadvertently fired at the target in the next lane. His resulting score of zero lost him the gold medal. He later explained that he’d been so focused on taking the shot that he forgot to check his lane marker.

There’s a critical truth in this story. Accuracy is meaningless if you’re aiming at the wrong target.

This year, thousands of business leaders will have “write a book” on their goal list. The key is making sure the effort they’ll invest will yield the reward they want.

There are several reasons publishing is so powerful. First, of course, are the obvious reasons most business leaders want to become an author: sharing their story, helping more people, authority status, having something to give prospects, and retail sales profits. All those can happen with a good book, but it’s entirely possible even a great book could be incapable of producing any real results for the business.

“Business leaders are often attracted to the idea of having a book about their work,” says Nicole Gebhardt, Founder of Niche Pressworks - a publishing services company for business owners. “Unfortunately, they rarely get help developing the strategy behind the book. After all, it’s not only a book they want… it’s what the right book can make possible for the business.”

Gebhardt explains that most authors start with a book idea—even a partial draft—that is off-target, out-of-date, or limiting for its real potential. “With the wrong strategy or not enough strategy, it’s easy to waste a lot of time, money, and emotional energy,” she adds. “But with a great publishing strategy, a business can expedite 3-5 years of slow growth into what will appear as overnight success.”

That strategy begins with understanding the different types of books that support business growth. There are multiple options and each one achieves different business and audience objectives.

To explain, Gebhardt associates publishing with public speaking. There are several types of speaking engagements. A speaker might be invited to give an opening keynote, host a workshop, contribute on a panel, or to promote paid services—a.k.a, “selling from stage”.

Each of these different talks incorporates different content strategies and delivery styles.

For example, a keynote speaker’s role is to build excitement for the rest of the event, while a TED Talk must share “ideas worth spreading.” A speaker wouldn’t train an audience during an opening keynote, and they’d get kicked off stage if they pitched their product in a TED Talk. The format and purpose determine the content.

Similarly, the best performing books merge the business objectives and audience needs in a format that serves both well. The key is understanding that, as an asset, it needs a clear purpose. Does the book need to spread an idea, teach a skill, encourage a community, supplement a course, sell, entertain, etc.? Those factors determine the content approach and organization, the length, the design, and more—even the distribution channels.

The lesson is: not all books are created equal. How the information is packaged can make or break the audience’s interest.

Gebhardt suggests there are ten different publishing strategies well suited for business.

Four of the ten strategies, Gebhardt says, tend to be the most effective at helping business leaders attract, engage, and monetize an audience: Signature Books, Inspirational Gift Books, Niche Business Books, and Special Edition Magazines.

The remaining six strategies are often great products to sell or to complement other initiatives. They include: Anthologies, Textbooks, Workbooks, Journals, Manuals or Guides, and Activity Books. Ultimately, a publishing strategy may encompass several types of books.

For businesses with publishing on their agenda for 2023, the right book could be a game-changing opportunity. The first question is, what type of book should it be?

“How a business owner answers that question.” Gebhardt said, “can be the gamechanger that grows their impact and bottom line.”

Nadia Bechler
Niche Pressworks
+1 765-427-2130
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