80. Write the book

80

WRITE THE BOOK

Even when you put a company history section on your website, there’s never going to be room for the whole story. You’ll also fi nd that the information published about you online is never entirely accurate from your own point of view. And if you’re not suffi ciently well-known you can’t even get yourself a Wikipedia entry. Tell your story yourself.

The idea If you feel that your brand’s story is interesting enough, you got tales to tell, secrets to share and wisdom to impart, write the book on paper or as a fi le customers can download. Chefs and restaurants produce recipe books that introduce their brand identity to kitchens worldwide. Entrepreneurs write their autobiographies and even failed companies write up their tales of while, which we can read with a sense of schadenfreude, while hoping to learn from their mistakes.

In practice • Can you write? Do you have the time? Lots of business books ghostwritten by professional authors or journalists, appointed by publishers or engaged by PR departments to do the job. • Print or e-book? If you want this as a gift to present to your customers, or if your market is older than you probably want to

be on paper. But e-books are growing market and the electronic version will position your brand differently from print. • The options for people wanting to be published these days are many and varied. If you have a publisher, you get a smaller share of the revenue but they take care of production, marketing and distribution. Self publishing, in print or electronically, gives you the control of the revenue but it’s a lot of work, and you might not get access to the distribution channels you need.