Ever thought about writing a book? I’ve written three and now I know that writing a book isn’t really about writing a book. It’s about all of the benefits after.

Don’t misunderstand me. Publishing your book is a big deal. You get to check off “become an author” on your bucket list. And you immediately receive royalty checks for your hard work, month after month.

But I’m here to tell you that’s just the beginning of the fun.

The real benefits come long after your book is published. That’s when things take a turn for the better.

I’m convinced any entrepreneur, business owner, realtor, speaker, pastor, celebrity, blogger, journalist, or online personality should seriously consider drawing up some book ideas considering how powerful a book is for their professional career.

If you’re against this idea now, I won’t be surprised if you change your mind and write a book later after learning about these long-term advantages. They can be highly persuading.

Major Benefits Of Being An Author

Publishing a book creates serious opportunities for you to capitalize on later.

Why? Because writing a book gives you instant authority about a subject.

That authority leads to you building a following.

And when you have authority and a following, you now have leverage to deploy into other ventures.

Here’s what this leverage allows you to do:

1. Win media coverage

Every business owner and personality wants more attention because that means more money. And earlier this year I appeared on live television thanks to Fox News.

How did I get this amazing exposure? Simple: Because of my three books—mainly How To College.

My self-help college book is the sole feature of this entire segment:

 It’s not a surprise that I sold more books because of this media coverage. And ironically this coverage stemmed more press down the road as more podcasts than ever before asked me to come on their shows.

Speaking of that, I now get a request to go on a podcast about once every two weeks and the main topic is almost aways one of my books.

For example, you’ll find multiple Google pages listing these episodes if you Google search “brian robben podcast.”

The main takeaway for you is that books are a surefire way to win media coverage, which translates to more press and back end sales.

2. Sign coaching clients

By the simple fact you wrote a how-to book, you’re qualified to coach and prospects will be interested in signing up to learn from you.

Why? Because having a book adds trust and authority to their perception of you and they will quickly acknowledge that you know your stuff—which is often enough to close the deal.

For example, a medical student saw I wrote The Golden Resume and paid me a lucrative amount to help him construct his resume. My book was 100% the salesman for this coaching contract.

And don’t be scared if you’re not sure you can coach. In a way, you already coached people through the text in your book.

You’re only challenge will be pulling out those main ideas by speaking to clients and helping them get the most out of their individual situation.

If you’re really good, you can use your book as a stepping stone to coach clients, then move up the ladder to coach groups and businesses (those two are extremely profitable).

Be encouraged by the fact that your hourly rate can be anywhere from $100 to $1,000 per hour or more. It pays to be a coach that gets their clients results.

3. Increase your speaking fee

Every speaker or want-to-be speaker needs to pay attention here. Because not only will writing a book land more speaking opportunities, you can also demand a higher speaking fee as an author.

Like most things in life, your speaking fee will go up as you gain experience and become more noteworthy. Eventually these speaking gigs will make you four- to five-figures, maybe six-figures if you become a recognized expert in your field.

I guarantee your speaking income will dwarf your book sales if you seriously commit to delivering your message on stage across the country.

That’s why I firmly believe every speaker should write a book to both charge a higher rate and sell books at the back of their event. That’s simply math to increase their income.

If you’re even somewhat interested in public speaking, this article will be helpful.

4. Grow your business

This benefit is for the entrepreneurs, business owners, and freelancers.

Writing a book is good for business in a multitude of ways because it can help your business:

• Improve brand awareness and word-of-mouth marketing
• Generate more leads
• Pitch and close more deals
• Discover other business opportunities
• Increase margins and charge higher rates

Mike Shults, principal of the Wellesley Hills Group, said this after doing a study on the business of writing a book,

The vast majority of the authors we surveyed — 96% — said they did realize a significant positive impact on their businesses from writing a book and would recommend the practice.

Goes to show that writing a book does a lot more for you than generating book sales. The halo effect from this event grows your business!

And I can testify to this truth based on my own business at Take Your Success. My three books paved the way for a bigger audience and more sales.

5. Sell an online course

It’s not a coincidence that my book The Golden Resume focuses on the same topic as my online course Master The Resume.

My plan is for the readers, who check out my book, to come back to my site and buy the course.

Why would they go on to buy the course after reading the book? Because they want more actionable information in audio or video lessons.

Courses are able to provide more value and resources (like workbooks or action steps) than books. And by providing more value you can charge 10x more money.

You too can treat your $10+ book as the minimum viable product and your $100+ course as the premium product, but only after you write your book. Actually having both of them available to purchase will add credibility and send more sales to the other.

Books are the perfect platform for upselling a course since your readers are qualified leads who already trust you.

6. Establish your legacy

The least tangible but most important element on this list: legacy. Writing a book ensures your legacy lives on after you die.

Your kids, grandkids, and their kids will capture a piece of you and your story through your book. They’ll find a piece of their story and self because you wrote down your thoughts.

That’s powerful. I can’t wait to share my books with my kids when they’re at the right age.

And I know for a fact I will reread my books when I’m old and gray to remember how it felt at that moment as an ambitious climber. 

Plus, if you’re fortunate, some time and somewhere, a complete stranger born a generation after you will be inspired by your words. How cool is that?

Publishing a book with your name on it means you’ll have a legacy item that will last long after you pass away.

There are other ways to leave a legacy, but it’s hard to beat the written word. Just ask the Bible.

How To Write A Book When You’re Busy

Assuming you’re convinced you want to write a book, you’re wondering how much time does this take?

This question matters because you’re not a professional writer. You have other daily responsibilities tugging at your time.

I have good news: You’ll be surprised to learn that you can become a published author after 3 straight months of dedicating 1 hour per day to your book. That’s all it takes!

This is perfect for the time-stretched person who doesn’t have all day to write.

Just wake up early, write during lunch, or late at night to get those 60 minutes of writing completed. If you don’t have a 60-minute window, write in little chunks of 15 or 10 minutes throughout the day.

The reason this works is if you write 500 words a day for 30 days straight, your first draft is at a solid 20,000 words. Then you add or polish up your book for the second month. And the last month is working with an editor to make the final touches, marketing, and publishing the book.

Stick with it and you’ll make book writing a habit you start doing without even thinking about it.

Those three months will fly by as you dive deep into the process of writing a book.

This probably seems easier said than done at this point. And you may be still overwhelmed to take on a project this large.

Let me help you out and tell you some tips that helped me write three books from scratch:

• Decide on a topic you’re either really experienced about or super interested in to learn more about
• Set a goal for when you want to publish your book and work backward with smaller steps leading up to that date (reverse engineer it)
• Your outline will make writing insanely easier, put in the time to do this before you write each chapter
• Don’t edit while writing rough drafts, because this ruins momentum and wastes your 1 hour per day

Bottom line, I think it’s pretty cool that if you give your book 1 hour a day of your time, you can guarantee your book will be published three months.

A lot of other projects have unknown complete dates with too many moving parts to take ownership, but that’s not the case with a book. It’s all up to your efficiency.

If you work hard and deliver, you’re going to come out on the other side with a finished book that makes you proud.

Make This Book A Priority

If you believe you’re too busy to write this book, then I got news for you: You’re not too busy, you’re just not prioritizing writing a book.

And I’m seriously questioning what can be better in the long game than all of the benefits I listed above? Certainly not watching TV, playing video games, or going to happy hours at the bar, for example.

Those are short-term pleasures with long-term negative consequences. Go to the bar after to celebrate becoming an author!

So I encourage you to write a book to both take control of your career and create a positive future for yourself.

It’s interesting that knowing what to do isn’t most people’s problem. Their issue is, for whatever reason, they don’t commit and put themselves in position to achieve their goal.

Is that also your problem? If so and you struggle with motivation to start and finish your book, I also have solutions for you:

• Put a sticky note reminder to write 1 hour a day on your bedroom door, car, and fridge
• Create a wallpaper for your phone and laptop that reads “Write 1 hour today”
• Ask a trusted friend to be your accountability partner and check in with your progress
• Give yourself small rewards only after your writing is finished
• Bet a convincing sum of money with your friend that you’re going to finish your book

And my best words of advice are “writing inspires writing.” Just start pushing the ball of positive momentum and watch how your book comes together.

Becoming an author is truly one of the most satisfying moments of my young life. I wish you the same feeling I felt when I saw my name on a book cover for the first time.