Hey there, and welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m Your Book Coach, Candice L Davis.

I hope your week and your writing are both going well.

When I’m interviewed on other people’s podcasts or for a summit or some other event, the host often assumes I think everyone should write a book.

That’s a logical assumption, but it’s far from the truth.

I do not believe everyone should write a book.

I do, however, believe everyone who wants to write a book should have the opportunity to do so and should put in the work to write it well.

And I believe coaches and consultants, in particular, can really uplevel their business by writing a book under the right circumstances.

3 Ways Coaches and Consultants Know They’re Ready to Write a Book

#1. You’re ready to be seen as an expert in your niche.

The keyword here is “seen.” If you’re doing the coaching and consulting work, you’re undoubtedly already an expert.

But there’s a good chance people outside of your immediate network don’t have a clue about your expertise.

Writing a great book that captures your experience and knowledge and wisdom on the page is the very best way to position yourself as an expert.

However, you have to be willing to be seen. You have to be ready—or be ready to get ready—to talk about your book on public platforms.

When you write a great book, a book you’re confident in promoting, it feels a lot easier to be seen because you know you have tangible proof of your expertise.

You might still feel nervous about getting visible in certain spaces. In fact, you probably will.

That’s perfectly normal and perfectly natural.

But if you’re willing to work through the nerves to get your message out there and position yourself as an expert, you’re probably ready to write a book.

#2. You’re ready to grow your business in a big way.

Who does Oprah sit under the trees and talk with on Super Soul Sunday and her specials? Authors.

Who do we see on the “Today” show being interviewed as experts (including my client Rachel Luna who was on last month)? Authors.

Who do we see on the biggest stages? Authors, and authors, and authors.

These are the kinds of appearances that can grow your business in a big way.

The assumption is that you must be an expert if you’ve made those appearances.

And producers and booking agents and event managers see you as an expert when you write a substantial book.

Coaches and consultants are in the unique position of helping people accomplish goals every day.

When you capture that in a book you have tangible proof of what you know, and that tangible proof opens more doors than you can even imagine right now.

Even if you’re not speaking now or you’re not interested in media appearances, your book can help you grow your coaching or consulting business so much faster by going ahead of you and introducing you as an expert before you even enter a room.

It can introduce you to new potential clients and seal the deal for clients who are on the fence about hiring you.

#3. You have unique frameworks or processes and/or something new to say.

The frameworks and processes you use every day, and may even take for granted, can separate your book from the other books in the marketplace and separate you from the masses of coaches and consultants out there.

But you would be shocked to know how many people I talk to who don’t have anything original to say yet and still want to write a book.

They literally want to write a book about their mentor’s processes, their coach’s framework, or the great information they learned from another book.

We don’t want to do that.

The good news is that even if you don’t yet have your own unique frameworks or processes yet, you can develop them as you write your book.

Whatever you write about in your book should be tested and proven effective, but that can be a part of your writing process.

When I co-wrote a cookbook for “Top Chef” top-3 contestant Antonia Lofaso, I tested many of the recipes in my own kitchen.

When I coached Rachel Luna as she wrote her new book, “Permission to Offend,” I did all of the exercises even though she’s been teaching this stuff for years. Part of my job as a coach is to test and even challenge my client’s content so they can make it better.

Don’t get me wrong. Almost no book will present 100% new information.

But at the very least, the way you present it should be new and should be filtered through the lens of your unique experiences and education, formal or informal.

I expect my coaching clients to become better at what they do by the time they finish writing their books, and in almost every case, they do.

If you’re a coach or consultant and you have even a slight desire to write a book, I encourage you to listen to that desire.

Becoming the author of a transformative book can transform your business, transform your reputation, transform you as a coach or consultant, and of course, transform your readers.

That’s all for this week’s episode, my friends.

Thanks for listening to “Nothing but the Words.” I’m Your Book Coach, Candice L. Davis. And I’ll see you next time.