Why all creative leaders need to write a book
How a passion project turned into a secret sales tool.
Serendipity is when actions that happen by chance, have a positive effect or benefit. For my business (and for me!) writing a book has opened more opportunities and doors than I ever expected.
Ideate
I have talked about 100 Stories of Cancer here before, for those not in the know, 100 Stories is a book I wrote to document 100 stories of those with cancer, inspired by my father’s own journey with two cancerous brain tumours.
It was a passion project, something while useful, I felt more compelled to do by hearing so many different stories of lives impacted by cancer.
However, while it healed something within me, and gave a space and platform for others to share their own stories, since 2019 it’s surprising how writing one book has impacted my journey.
Iterate
100 Stories has been a way for me to share what I value, what is important to me and a case study of my writing and design all in one.
Both new and prospective clients have commented over the years on the book and today, if you’re debating if you should write that book or not, I wanted to share with you all of the positive impacts that writing my book has had on me -even when it had nothing to do with my business at the time of writing!
Experience: Writing the book gave me experience in writing (obviously!) but also in interviewing, storyboarding, more design experience, and publishing! These skills have benefited me in so many different areas of my business, but also enabled me to advise and project manage book releases for future clients!
Authority and Confidence: Publishing a book showed clients, but more importantly, showed myself that I am capable of creating beautiful things that matter! It showed my commitment to my work, the quality of the work I created, and gave me confidence to walk into those all intimidating networking meetings!
Storytelling: I speak all the time here about storytelling, and I think a lot of it started through the various iterations of my book! I wrote and re-wrote the book multiple times to ensure I really told the stories of those with cancer, this skill is something that my whole business is based on today.
Speaking Opportunities: The book has been a brilliant introduction to speaking opportunities, from cancer charities to business related speakers, my experience in writing the book has given me the clarity to share my ideas in a public setting.
Introduction: Especially when first setting my business up, it was easier to say I was a published author rather than a trainee designer for a while! Either way, it was an excellent introduction and got people asking questions, opening conversations and supporting me in building relationships and contacts.
All in all, the book has become my “go-to” sales tool -even when it has nothing to do with the work I do now (at least at first glance!). I use it to show what is important to me, the lessons I learned when writing have had shockwaves in my business life long since publishing, and most importantly, it got people talking about cancer – I think we call that a win, win, win!
Implement
🧠 If you were going to write a book, what would you write about?
🧠 How can you turn your passion into a sales funnel?