Business is about competition, and competition is about standing out from the pack in a positive way. So when everybody is trying to do the same thing you're doing, how do you differentiate yourself? You write a book. Writing a book tells people who you are and what you and your business is about. Still not convinced? Here are 10 ways writing a book can be good for you and your business:

#1: Credibility

Arguably the biggest way a book can help your business is by giving you an instant credibility boost for you and your business. It supplies you with positioning and authority. There’s an old saying: I wrote the book on ____. It means that you are experienced and knowledgeable about the subject you are promoting. How else could you have written a whole book about it? In your book, you can demonstrate your genius, knowledge, wisdom, and experience which in turn raises your credibility compared to your competition.

#2: Exposure to New Clients

A book is the ultimate foot-in-the-door strategy. When a person sees your book and something about it resonates with them, they’ve already decided to invest some time into you, all without you actually being there. In effect, it’s extra advertising. When someone is searching for something related to your business on Amazon or Google, your book might get suggested. If someone that read your book absolutely loves what you have to say, they’ll recommend it and you to all their clients.

#3: Lead-Generating

You can use your book to get traffic, leads and build your contact database. A book is a library full of social proof, examples, stories and ways to show you care, that you know what you’re talking about, and that you can help the reader to solve just about any challenge.

#4: Showcasing You

Books can be used to sell your services and products faster and easier. Why? Because when you’re not there, your book is. Whenever they’re reading your book, they’re engaging with you. You can talk about your message even when you’re not there to talk about it. Your true fans will already know what you’re about long before you ever meet them.

#5: Creating New Roles

Books can be used to create new positions for yourself or your client as a consultant. When people read about your message and they like what you have to say, it’s much easier to sell your services to them because they already know what you’re about. In effect, you sold them on you well before you even entered the conversation.

#6: Speaking Opportunities

Writing books is a great way to get or increase your speaking opportunities. Anybody can just say they have a message for people, but not everybody can show them their book about it. Having a book is tangible evidence that you do have something important to say. Why else did you go to all the trouble to publish a book about it?

#7: Media Opportunities and Marketing

Having a book to promote brings value to the table for media outlets. Just look at late night talk shows. Most people tune in to them to be entertained, but at their core, they are promotional outlets. Each person has something they have recently completed that they want to promote. It could be a movie, a TV show, a concert, a CD, or yes, even a book. You don’t have to get on late night TV to get noticed though. There are plenty of speaking engagements you can do locally. If you’re an expert in your field, look to find out when and where other like-minded individuals are meeting near you. If you can’t find any, then that would be a great opportunity for you to make your own event!

#8: Building Local Business

A book can be used to build your business locally. When you hit it off with a local business owner, offer them a free copy of your book. Now they have a part of you that they can read and invest time into. They can share what you have to say and even recommend you to others.

#9: Great for Regulated Industries

Regulated industries include fields like financial planning, investing, medical, healthcare, etc. Even though they are regulated, this is not normally a barrier to having a book, and can be a great way of marketing in heavily-regulated industries.

#10: Wealth and Wellbeing Accelerant

Published authors make money and help more people. For example, if you’re a doctor, you can get your message out there about preventive measures to take to improve your health. If you want to help others with their finances, you can write a book to teach people about how to invest, save, and manage their money. If you survived cancer, you can inspire others with your message.