How a published book can help promote a consultancy

10 July 2013 by Infinite Ideas in Book publishing

by Peter Brook, author of Turn your sales force into profit heroes.

They say everyone has at least one book in them and until recent years I had a long-held ambition to become a published author. After years in the FMCG industry, I’d gained a huge amount of insight into why some product launches worked, but why many failed. I’d worked with top brands and what I learnt was this – invariably, exceptional performance comes from having sales people who execute the basics brilliantly and, more importantly, are passionate about what they’re doing.

Determined to get my insights into print, I met with the Infinite Ideas team and was impressed by what they told me and their plans to market the book and my consulting business. All I had to do was write the damn thing. So I set aside some time, locking myself away in rural Norfolk to concentrate on my magnum opus. I quickly realised that I needed some support and I received that in the shape of a very supportive co-writer. He helped me structure the book properly (it was far harder than I thought to get my knowledge down on the page) and the net result was a powerful manuscript that I delightedly handed over to my publishers after some six months of writing.

It was an exciting period, seeing the book become real. Infinite Ideas gave a full input into the book’s overall design and in March 09 my book was launched.

Now, it’s a tough market out there as every publisher will tell you. Bookshops are not as supportive of new authors as they used to be, but it was a fantastic buzz to walk into bigger stores and see my book on the shelf. But having a book published is not just about book stores these days. It’s about media coverage and Infinite Ideas secured me interviews and articles in the trade press. A professionally published book gets you noticed and gives you a degree of authority – in effect it can turn you very quickly into an industry expert.

But guess what? As a result of someone buying my book at Heathrow airport I picked up a substantial piece of consulting business within a month of publication. The book has been successful around the world; some big FMCG companies have bought multiple copies for their sales teams, all of which helps to get my consulting services known globally.

Sure, it’s available as an e-book too on consumer and B2B platforms and that’s given me valuable exposure, but I am convinced that a physical printed book (even in this digitally thirsty world) is vitally important. Books are valued, they rarely get thrown away and my book sitting in my clients’ offices means my profile remains high.

Publishing Turn your sales force into profit heroes really helped launch my consulting business and promote me as an industry expert, an authority. I’d heartily recommend that if you are passionate about what you do, you consider the value of becoming a published author.