Business owners have long embraced by-the-book marketing tactics to attract new customers, from brochures and advertisements to direct mail and public relations. Karen Leland has found success with a less traditional strategy: publishing a book. So far, it’s worked like a charm for the co-founder of Sterling Consulting Group in Sausalito, Calif.

Over the past 10 years, Leland and partner Keith Bailey have coauthored two books, both aimed at establishing their company as the go-to source for customer service training. She credits the books with bringing in more than $1 million in new business. Now, hoping to increase her consulting work in employee communications, Leland is publishing a third opus, Water Cooler Wisdom, which explores the extensive research she and Bailey have done on workplace stress and related issues.

“Writing a book gives you enormous credibility that translates to a bigger, better business,” Leland says. “But it’s also a little bit like giving birth to a baby.”

Therein lies the rub. While a book can be exactly the silver bullet that helps with sales lead generation, experts warn that writing a book involves a lot more heavy lifting than, say, producing a promotional brochure. That includes not only the actual writing, but also deciding on the most effective subject matter and conducting a successful promotional campaign.

Credibility Boost
Generally speaking, business owners–turned–authors aren’t in it for the publishing windfall. What they can expect from a quality book, publishers say, is almost instant credibility in their field or industry. Moreover, a book provides better material to give to clients and best prospects than a brochure, and can lead to more speaking engagements.

Barry Nadell is president of InfoLink Screening Services, a Chatsworth, Calif.–based company that conducts background checks. After he wrote Sleuthing 101: Background Checks and the Law, he saw his speech requests increase 40 percent. The book also helped him reposition his business.

The book-writing process, however, is not easy. Even the first step — pinpointing the most efficacious topic — involves a number of considerations. The subject should not only establish the author as an expert, but also be of particular interest to best prospects. There’s also the matter of book type, such as a narrative or how-to, that most appropriately fits the target audience. Nadell, for example, opted to write a 165-page primer on performing background checks, instead of the encyclopedic tome he first considered, because he wanted to reach a broader audience.

Finding a Publisher
Attracting the interest of a traditional publisher is another significant challenge, which is why an increasing number of business owners are self-publishing. But even that approach is not a slam dunk. The cost to self-publish a book ranges from $5,000 to $7,000, according to Dan Smith, who heads Smith Publicity in Marlton, N.J. Would-be authors also need to hire top-notch designers and editors or risk an underwhelming response to their book, Smith notes.

Ronald Finklestein, a small business coach in Akron, Ohio, and author of Celebrating Success! Fourteen Ways to a Successful Company, originally self-published his book two years ago. He says it only started selling after he signed on with Morgan James Publishing, which provided a more finished design and the new, catchier title.

Many prominent publishing companies do not provide much promotional help, experts warn. Authors should consider publicizing a book on a company Web site, or launching a site, complete with a blog, connected specifically with the book. It’s also a good idea to mail copies of the book to potential clients, and hawk it at conferences, workshops and seminars, says Maryglenn McCombs, a book publicist in Nashville, Tenn. Authors should be prepared to give away a large number of complimentary copies, McCombs adds, perhaps 5 percent of each print run.

Ultimately, the most essential ingredient for success is the quality of the work. A poorly done book can actually cause an author’s efforts to backfire, McCombs says. “I’ve seen cases where sloppy books damaged the credibility of the business,” she notes.

For Leland, writing books has turned into a bonanza. She recently added a new service to her business — coaching small business owners on the ins and outs of book publishing. “The books have opened so many doors for me,” she says.

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