Written by Katie Taylor
PR. What is it? Well, it’s a way for clients to engage with their target audiences through various media. Often it takes the form of articles, interviews and op-eds in newspapers, magazines or content that is shared on social media. But one form of communication is often overlooked – books!
Yes, you heard. That dusty, old-fashioned, long-form way of writing has a place in today’s blog posting, tweeting, Facebook-ing, social media-ing world.
A book can be just the ticket for business leaders to lay out their views in full and communicate them to their target audience. Get it right and your company could get a bigger following than you could have ever imagined.
So, CEOs, here are the top three reasons for you to write a book:
1. Thought leadership
Whether it be your life mantra, management style or knowledge on a sector that has always stood you in good stead – share your idea with the world. A book is a great way to explore these thoughts in full, paint a picture of the future and communicate its benefit on the lives of others.
Case study:
Richard Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It
Here Branson shows thought leadership at its best – he reveals the lessons that have helped him in business and his personal life, and aims to inspire others to make a difference.
2. Respect
Even in the digital world, paper books are still held in high regard. After all, the great classics – such as Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, George Orwell’s 1984 and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – were not written as articles or blogs. Laying out your manifesto in book format can give your ideas more gravitas and credibility, and encourage others to read it.
Case study:
David Packard, The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company
The insights into how David Packard and Bill Hewlett transformed Hewlett Packard from their one-car-garage company in to a multibillion-dollar industry will garner respect from most audiences. And 17 years after its publication, the FT still includes the book in their top 10 favourites written by ‘tycoons’.
3. Direct engagement
Write all those brilliant thoughts down on paper and communicate it straight to those who could benefit – and also those that might want to buy into you or your product. A book can be a direct route to your target audience, without having any filters put on the content by editors or other parties.
Case study:
Warren Buffet, The Essays of Warren Buffet
Written in Buffet’s own words, the book allows the reader to be absorbed by his thinking. It is a direct form of communication from Buffet to anyone that is interested in the way he worked – it’s candid, transparent and even admits to some errors along the way.
A good book by a CEO has the ability to drive business engagement, inspire and benefit others. And at Aspectus, we have the expertise to not only create your unique message and package it so that it has the ability to punch weight in an online driven world, but create a thought leader from your knowledge and experience. As the Huffington Post described when discussing inspirational figures: “I don’t worship them; I don’t even know them. But they inspire me, because they’ve done some of the things I wish to do.”
