Do you have a brilliant idea to share with the world? Are you an expert with a unique take on your industry?  An innovator with a breakthrough concept?

If you want to impact the widest possible audience with your ideas or expertise, there’s no better way to do it than writing a book. In fact, for anyone who wants to build a following, it’s virtually impossible to do so without writing a book. 

But there’s much more to writing a book than the writing.  Your book has a much larger role to play. It’s your biggest and most important tool for building your personal brand. And your personal brand is the foundation of your success.

What is a Personal Brand?

In the simplest terms, your brand is what you stand for. Your brand represents what you do and why. Your brand is your core message, your mission, and the audience you serve.

Your brand is an indicator of your value to your profession or your constituents. It showcases the expertise or innovation that sets you apart in your field.

It’s also your promise to your readers—the ideas, solutions, experiences, or transformations you want them to have because of their engagement with you.

Simon Sinek, Brene Brown, and Gretchen Rubin are notable exemplars whose books launched their highly successful brands.

Sinek’s “Start with Why” inspired professionals to define their purpose in order to lead and inspire others. Brene Brown’s research, and her groundbreaking book, “The Gifts of Imperfection,” focused on the connection between vulnerability and courage. Gretchen Rubin’s book “The Happiness Project” drew on science, philosophy, and her own personal quest to understand what truly makes us happier.

Each of these authors is indelibly associated with the brands they created with their books. Your brand represents who you are and why your ideas should matter to your audience.  Essentially, your brand is your reputation: what you want to be known for.

Your brand is also part of your legacy—to your profession, your audience, and your family.

Why Do You Need a Brand?

If you want to be recognized for your expertise, promote a breakthrough idea, stand out from your competitors, and attract followers, you need a clearly defined personal brand. Your brand defines what you’re about, the audience you’re serving, and why they should care. 

You accomplish this with a personal branding campaign: a strategy and action plan designed to improve your reputation and visibility and build an audience. Your book is the centerpiece of that campaign.

Your Book: The Foundation of Your Brand

Writing a book is universally acknowledged as one of the best ways to build your brand.

Marketing experts typically cite writing a book and speaking engagements as the two most impactful tools for personal branding.

Your book is a critical tool for showcasing your unique expertise and building a compelling narrative around your central idea or value proposition.

In a media-saturated world of sound bites and information overload, a book offers readers a deep dive into the breakthrough idea that sets you apart—and delivers value for them.

A well-written book:

• Establishes thought leadership, authority, and credibility.
• Differentiates you from competitors.
• Raises your profile and visibility.
• Builds your audience.
• Attracts new opportunities and clients.
• Generates increased media attention and coverage.
• Helps you command higher speaking or consulting fees.

So, now that you know writing a book is a requirement for building a successful personal brand, how do you get started? Here are some guidelines.

4 Steps for Building Your Personal Brand Through Your Book

Before You Begin: Setting the Stage for Success

Writing a book to build your brand starts well before the actual writing. For your book to be successful, you need to launch and develop your author platform ahead of time.  Many experts recommend beginning your brand campaign a full year ahead of publication. The goal is to build and engage your audience with a well-planned strategy to create anticipation for your book. 

If you don’t yet have an author website, now is the time to create one and begin producing content to introduce your ideas.  Writing regular blog posts, articles, and thought leadership pieces is one of the best ways to establish awareness.  You can also write articles for your company website, business magazines, or other publications appropriate for your field or topic. 

Bestselling author Dorie Clark’s first three book proposals were rejected by publishers because her audience wasn’t large enough. She began blogging regularly and signed her first book deal two years later. Clark, whose signature Recognized Expert program helps entrepreneurs promote their expertise, is now a sought-after speaker and consultant with a seven-figure business.

Develop a presence on social media to amplify the message you’re establishing with your content on other platforms.  Strategic use of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are crucial components of building an audience.  For inspiration, look at the social media accounts of comparable authors to see how they utilize the various platforms and engage their audiences.

Consider working with an experienced book publicist who can help you devise an effective pre-publication strategy and market your book. Among many other advantages, working with a publicist gives you access to a large network of media contacts—an invaluable asset for increasing your visibility.

Writing Your Book to Build Your Brand

As you prepare to begin writing, keep in mind that your book is the centerpiece of your brand platform.

It should amplify the narrative you’ve been building during the pre-publication period with the related content you’ve produced and a robust social media presence.

You can think of the book as the flagship product at the center of a suite of supporting products, all of which must deliver value to the reader.

Freelance editor Stephanie Hashagen, who has worked with authors on dozens of nonfiction books, offers the following guidelines for the writing process:

Clarify your message and your objective. Hashagen advises authors to be clear about what they want their book to accomplish. “Know what you want to say and what you want the book to do,” she says.

Organize your ideas. Hashagen stresses the importance of organizing your ideas before you begin the work of writing. “This is often the biggest challenge for authors,” she says. “Take the time to prepare a detailed outline, or a list of the topics or main points you want to include.” 

This is important for any writing project, but especially so for a book based on a specific premise and intended as a branding vehicle. “If you don’t distinguish your ideas and present them clearly, your book can end up sounding like a generic marketing piece,” she says. “You want to avoid rehashing what’s already out there.”

Establish the tone of your book. “Know how you want your book to sound,” says Hashagen.  Is it conversational? Authoritative? She recommends reading books by other authors in your topic area to learn how they engage with their subject and their readers.

Utilize your resources. What unique resources can you bring to your project? For example, you may have a network of colleagues or other professional contacts who could be interviewed to contribute insights that readers won’t find elsewhere.

Be authentic. Above all, says Hashagen, write in your natural voice. By trying too hard to convey authority or expertise, for example, authors can end up sounding rote and artificial. Your unique point of view is what makes your book stand out. “Don’t be afraid to sound like yourself.”

Many authors rely on an experienced ghostwriter or editor for help with the writing process.  A skilled professional can help you organize and present your ideas—your brand—in a compelling way.

Using Your Book As Your Brand Platform

Your book is the most important tool for building your brand, but it’s just the beginning.  As you go through the writing and editing process, you’ll also want to support your book with a continued presence on your pre-publication platforms. You’ll want to continue to engage your readers with book-related content on your own, on other websites, on social media, and through email newsletters, for example. 

Once published, your book will serve as the basis of your ongoing branding effort.  Importantly, it will also serve as a source of evergreen content that you can repurpose in the form of blog posts, articles, and tweets.

You can also continue to reinforce your message with speaking engagements, interviews, and podcasts. Speaking engagements, in particular, are a powerful tool for visibility. Brene Brown, for example, had written two books before she gained national recognition with her widely viewed 2010 Ted Talk.

It’s helpful to stay current with the websites of other authors in your space to see what their media presence is and how they continue to engage with readers and new prospects.

The goal is to establish a consistent presence across multiple media platforms that reinforces your value before, during, and after publication. Here again, an experienced book publicist can be a powerful ally in maintaining a strategic media presence that supports your book’s message and your brand.

Putting It All Together

Writing a book to share your ideas is a powerful statement, and it’s an essential requirement for building a recognizable brand. With a strategic pre-publication presence, a clear set of objectives to guide your writing process, and a strong post-publication campaign, your book can serve as the foundation of an enduring brand.