April 29, 2010

8 Reasons Motivational Speakers Should Ghostwrite Their Books


All successful public speakers know that when it comes to creating a unique brand for themselves, it’s not just about what they say—it’s also about what they sell.


A professionally ghostwritten book is an excellent promotional vehicle for for motivational speakers, public speakers, business coaches and life coaches because it's fast, easy and allows you to spend your time attending to promotions and other commitments. It also brings in revenues and adds to the credibility of the speaker when doing interviews and other public appearances.


Making every speaking opportunity into a sales opportunity is essential for a speaker or coach’s success. Offering products such as books for clients to buy after hearing a talk can increase revenues and ensure that people leave with tangible reminders of the event. It creates a permanence to the likeness and teachings of the speaker in addition to doing the following 8 things:


A ghostwritten book can:1. Give a speaker or coach real professional polish. In these fields, image can be everything. A published book can go a long way toward showing your clients that you’re more than just a flash in the pan—that your ideas and methods are important enough to put into print.


2. Act as a calling card. Meeting new potential clients? Give them books to get to know you. Chances are, they’ll pass them on to interested friends, creating a chain of referrals that no simple business card could ever match.


3. Upsell, upsell, upsell. Once customers are hooked with your book, they’re more likely to pay for other products or services that you offer.


4. Open doors to mass media. Once you’re published you can shop your book around to TV and radio producers, Web sites and print publications to secure interviews, profiles and attention for your platform.


5. Build your brand. Does the method you’re teaching have a catchy name? Make that the title of your book and it’ll become a household word in no time.


6. Create credibility. “Published author” is still a prestigious title, even in this electronic age. Give yourself immediate authority in your field by putting your name and face on a professionally written and published book.


7. Increase BOR. "Back of room" sales are essential for all public and motivational speakers or business and life coaches who want their audiences to remember their names and want to make some money in the process.


8. Jump start cash flow. Once a book is ghostwritten and published, it becomes a practically self-perpetuating income stream. It’s a bonus that no speaker should let slip by.

Ghostwriting might be the only alternative for some speakers and coaches. While many have great insights and ideas to share, they also have hectic schedules--and most just don’t have the time to write a book. So, they hire ghostwriting firms such as Arbor Books to help them.


At Arbor Books, ghostwriting a book is simple. Payments are divided into installments. After the client makes the first payment, Arbor Books matches him or her with a ghostwriter who will produce the manuscript based on regular interviews with the client via phone calls or e-mails or in person. Some clients also opt to provide their ideas via Word documents, audio tapes or videos. As the ghostwriter progresses, work is sent to the client for approval.


Once a ghostwritten manuscript is completed, the client can either look for a mainstream publisher or self-publish the work, which offers immediate gratification and 100-percent control over content and profits.


Ghostwriting a book is an excellent way not only to increase visibility of your program as a public or motivational speaker or business of life coach but to open yourself up to new experiences and opportunities.

5 Reasons to Ghostwrite Your Business Book

Adding the word “author” to a resume has become a new trend in business, and vocational experts are recommending that job seekers looking to stand out invest in self-publishing a work which showcases their expertise.

There are 5 key reasons why a professionally ghostwritten business book (the route most business personalities use to write their books) can push your career to the next level and establish you as:

1. A celebrity. Trump, Buffett, Branson—books have brought these names out of the business world and into the global cultural vocabulary. A good business memoir or advice book builds upon your renown in the corporate realm and turns you into a household name.

2. An expert. Why just be good at what you do when you can be widely known as the number-one leader in your field? A book proliferates your ideas and creates lasting impressions on the minds of millions of readers.

3. A valuable asset. Imagine going into an interview for a job or promotion and being able to say, “As I wrote in my book…” Bringing a published work to the table shows a company just how much you have to offer—and how much more business you will be able to bring them in the future.

4. Media-friendly. Send your ghostwritten business book to TV and radio producers, Web sites, newspaper and magazine editors or any major media outlet to let them know that you’re available for interviews and consultations—and give them a taste of the important information you have to share.

5. A public speaker. The first step to booking engagements is ghostwriting your book. With your ideas in print, you can begin to build your own motivational/business advice empire.

Remember it's important to find a company that has worked with prominent PR and advertising including Ogilvy & Mather, Stern Advertising, Weber Shandwick and Paine PR.

Whether the project is B2B or for the general public, the goal should be to create a unique image and brand that makes you distinctive and memorable. Ghostwriting a business book involves more than just putting words on paper. It’s about creating a look and feel and establishing the author’s identity and intent.

Ghostwriting a business book generally costs between $10,000 and $60,000, depending upon the length of the manuscript, its complexity and the writer chosen for the project. It shouldn't take longer than 120 days to write most books (though there are exceptions) and they should be completed with absolute confidentiality. Only the your name should appear on the finished product, and you should own 100 percent of the rights to the book and keep 100 percent of the profits.