Writing a book is on the bucket list for business owners the world over, and with good reason; the commercial results can catapult them to six or seven-figure success.
When you’re an expert on your subject and want to share your knowledge and wisdom with the world it’s incredibly painful when you don’t know how best to translate that into a highly desirable and readable book that builds rapport and trust with your intended audience.
Perhaps you’ve written a few notes about stories you really want to share, written a first chapter or thought of a couple of chapter titles but then hit a brick wall. It’s so disheartening.
In this blog we’re going to explain why investing time to develop the right framework will help you deliver a well-structured, clear, concise book that compels your readers to take immediate action and prepare for the next step on their journey (ideally with your support).
You can hear my full conversation with Kat on the WBR podcast Interviews With Experts.
The structure
Just as a physical book has a spine, a planned structure supports you to write with clarity and focus which will engage and deliver value to your readers (see this blog to help you get specific on your target audience).
A business book is hinged on three main components: the why, the what, and the how.
- The why identifies the reasons your readers will want to read your book by exploring the top-level problems they are facing (these pain points might also include what they’ve tried before to solve the problem with little or no success)
- The what explores the potential solutions to these problems
- The how shows the reader how to move forward using these solutions
If you are hitting on all three of those points you will have maximum engagement from your ideal reader group. All of the content we co-create at Write Business Results (WBR) is designed to grab the reader’s attention and keep them in hot pursuit of specific solutions to their problems.
WBR editor Kat shared a great example of how a solid framework enhances the reader experience.
Clarity
Kat: “Think of a financial book specifically targeted towards helping people pay off debt. The first part might highlight the struggle to save money each month and how the debt keeps rising. It will also share a glimpse of where they can expect to be if they implement the solutions you will share with them.
The sections that follow will offer support to address their financial struggles and how best to do that; this enables the author to show empathy to their ideal audience, to show that they understand them and can identify with them. No-one is going to read a book by someone they don’t like or who they think doesn’t understand them.”
By pinpointing where the reader is now and identifying where they want to go you already have an amazing structure that supports the reader, and helps you prioritise the best content to include.
Ideally your reader wants to learn two to three simple ways they can positively impact their problem now, and the ongoing support options available to them (which is why having a clear call to action in your book is so important).
Call to action
From an altruistic point of view you are helping your readers improve their lives and businesses by providing initial solutions to their problems, and you want to make it clear that you can also take them to the next level. This is the time to leverage your book to create the commercial results you want. You will increase revenue through increased business inquiries rather than book sales alone.
In a book any call to action needs to strike the right balance. Kat shared her advice.
Kat: “It’s essential to include a call to action at the end of your book because you want to make sure people know where to go next for extra support from you. You might also want to include an earlier call to action where you offer a downloadable workbook (or similar) that will help them further explore the section they are reading at that point, but whatever you do it’s important not to direct the reader away from you or your content too often. If you do, it becomes salesy or distracting and they won’t enjoy the experience.”
Your ideal clients will respond to the right call to action (in part because your well thought out structure made them feel they were in safe hands).
I hope this blog has helped you gain clarity on the first few steps of the book writing process including the importance of a solid structure.
If you would welcome high level support to bring a compelling book into the world, schedule a clarity call with WBR Founder Georgia Kirke. We can help you develop your book from scratch, or support you to polish and market pre-written content to ensure it targets the right people in the right way (bringing you the right results).
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