Walt and I were chatting over dinner at a fancy restaurant in VT. This was shortly after he’d published his first book, Journeys on the Edge: Living a Life That Matters, so much of our conversation revolved around getting the book placed in local stores. (We’re sexy that way.) Once we’d finished dessert, a young woman tip-toed over to our table all apologetic. She’d overheard Walt mention something about being an author, which prompted a gush of admiration to spew forth from her mouth. She wanted to know all about Walt and his book and what it was like to be the next best thing to a god.

Mind you, she had NO clue whatsoever what sort of book Walt had written. He could have slapped together a compilation of cat pictures with little snarky dialogue bubbles over their heads, or another War and Peace for all she knew, but none of that seemed to matter. She just couldn’t get over the fact that she was in the room with a real live author.

Walt, of course, puffed out his chest and offered to sign his autograph on her dinner napkin.

Being the writer in the family, a Harvard trained writer, the head of a writing workshop, I could barely contain my jealousy exasperation amazement. After spending five years working on a manuscript—one that’s still sitting in the drawer—I suddenly found myself face-to-face with an important, difficult-to-swallow lesson:

Lesson 1: A publication alone, regardless of the quality, will get you just this type of indiscriminate response. Simply having a publication to your name will set you apart.

What happened next is equally as important, or upsetting, depending on your perspective.

When Walt explained what his book was about, the young woman nodded in approval. After asking a few questions, she then revealed that she was an administrator at a private school and asked if Walt would be willing to speak there on the topic. In other words, before the dinner bill was paid, Walt had himself a brand new speaking gig.

Which introduced me to the next lesson I was meant to learn that evening:

Lesson 2: A book will buy you instant credibility, authority, and clout. It can set you apart from the herd, get you clients and speaking opportunities.

You may be wondering if writing a book might help you attract more clients and build your business.

Well, the short answer is yes.

Now, clearly you can get a lot of play SIMPLY by having a publication. But to get the real benefits of having a book out in the world—and I’ll list a few of those in the minute—you need to produce a book of quality.(Let’s be clear here, I’m not saying Walt’s book is shabby by any means. OK? We good?)

Sure, it’s important to know how to craft a good story, how to put all of the pieces together into something tight and cohesive, but you also need to understand what your readers, aka your potential clients, need and want from you; and what, specifically, you want out of the exercise

Lesson #3 To get the biggest bang for the buck, you need to write a book that matters to the audience AND gets you what you want, all at the same time.

First, let’s focus on the YOU part of the equation.

Before you take the time and energy to write a book, you need to consider the outcome you’re after. For coaches, speakers, and other service professionals, that outcome is usually one, or a combination of several things.

• You’re looking to attract ideal clients
• Impact others lives and affect radical change
• Inspire people by offering them your perspective, your hard-won experience so you can save them time and pain
• You want to spell out your unique process for fixing a specific problem once and for all
• Become known as an expert in your field
• Outline your message in a clear, concise way
• And, let’s be practical here, to improve your business status, marketability, and profitability; in other words, to make more money

Now, let’s talk about YOUR AUDIENCE, what they’re after.

Your readers (aka your potential clients) want to feel like they know you, the real you, so they can determine if you’re relevant to them. People trust you when they feel like they know you through your stories, so that’s a big part of your job, crafting intimate stories so they’ll know where you’re coming from. Your readers also want to know that you’re credible, which requires you to get crystal clear on your messaging and the unique process that you offer. That stuff has to be all spelled out on the page.

Get that stuff right and you’ll:

• Have readers coming up to you in the A&P just to tell you that your book changed their life
• Inspire a massive paradigm shift for your readers
• Connect with your readers at heart-level
• Save scores of people grief, time, and pain.

What’s the takeaway? A book will buy you instant credibility, but the right book will change people’s lives—yours and your readers’.