Much of my income comes from ghostwriting nonfiction books. My typical client is a business owner, independent consultant, or speaker. Why? Because business professionals are now recognizing that authoring a book gives them instant credibility with potential clients and customers that a brochure never will. This credibility attracts more business.

What does that have to do with you?

Everything.

You, too, can increase your credibility—and attract more writing gigs—by replacing your business cards and brochures with a book you’ve authored. I’m not talking about your unpublished novel or memoir. And I’m not talking about an ebook. I’m talking about a real, honest-to-goodness professionally printed book that promotes you as a writer.

Technology for book printing has come a long way. The digital press allows anyone to write and produce small book quantities (25-50 copies) of 60-100 pages for just a few dollars per book. That includes a 4-color cover design, and do-it-yourself templates for the inside page layout.

So how does this “brochure-to-book” swap work for writers?

1. Choose an attention-getting title. You will be promoting yourself so determine what will draw potential clients to you. For example, you may simply title your book, “How To Choose a Freelance Writer,” or, if you have specific expertise, “10 Steps to Choosing a Freelance Technical Writer.” Chapters can step the reader through a detailed and logical checklist for choosing and hiring freelance writing talent.

2. Relate the information to your own expertise. The purpose of your book is to show-and-tell readers about your talents, skills and expertise. While you must ensure the content is informative and of value to the reader, include your bio, client list, areas of specialty and contact information at the end of the book. Make sure readers know that you are asking for a chance to win their business and make it easy for them to contact you.

3. Proofread your work! The book you send out will not only be a promotion for your services, but a sample of your talent. Make sure it is professional and perfectly proofed.

4. Identify potential clients. Are you particularly adept with medical or law terminology? Do you have expertise in employee manuals or historical works? Identify potential clients based on a good fit of your expertise to their industries.

5. Get names. Once you’ve identified potential client companies or organizations, call each company to get a contact name. Some companies have internal creative departments with directors who hire freelance talent. Others may have no specific department and the owner makes those decisions. Still others may not use freelance writers at all. It is important that you take the time to get this information and address your book mailing to the right person.

6. Order books. Many companies can produce a digital book for you. Request several bids based on page count and quantity. One online company that I have personally used and has an instant quote calculator on its home page is: www.48hrbooks.com. They offer free MS Word page layout templates for you to use and an inexpensive option for cover design.

7. Send out books. Some people use introductory cover letters; others just send the books expecting that the title will be intriguing enough to attract attention. You might want to do a “split test” by sending half the books with a cover letter and the other half without one. Then track responses to determine which mailing worked better.

If you want to grow your freelance business, you need to be memorable and credible. This brochure-to-book swap ensures you will be both and dramatically increases opportunities to attract new assignments worth $1,000s.

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