<p>What an age of opportunity!<br /><br />Production tools that were the exclusive domain of GYNORMOUS, INC. are now in the hands of the everyperson. Slowly but surely, we're all becoming content producers. The revolution came quietly - no pitchforks or mass arson were necessary. Just a steady stream of innovation that caused the tools, one by one, to be handed over in a power-to-the-people shift. The hands now holding the tools may not be manicured, but they're attached to a massive network of brain power. And the result? We're witnessing a creative Big Bang with every passing day - a collective Bang of Invention that has almost become (yawn)... commonplace?<br /><br />If you're old enough to have placed phonograph needles on vinyl discs, or to have appreciated "advancements" like White-Out, you've surely got a sense of wonderment about our times and the ease with which stuff can be made. Personally, I'm struck by what's happened to the Book. Desktop publishing is old news, of course. The revolution that put word-power into the hands of the little guy began what?, twenty years ago? Yet it's arguably the most profound of the tech revolutions.<br /><br />Think of it! Books: those Vessels of Knowledge, once the exalted property of The Inveterate Publisher and The Big Name Author can be produced by little-ol'-you-and-me, affordably! And no longer with the embarrassing stigma of the "vanity press," either. (Thank goodness.)<br /><br />But it's not merely the Book that's been busted loose, the Written Word has been wrested free. "Publishing" has taken on new meaning. We blog, we email, we e-zine, we podcast, we tweet (all forms of publishing), often in very "authoritative" ways (root-word, "author"). Some of us have experienced a bit of what it means to be a "trusted advisor" or "expert" within our niche-community owing to the warm reception of our post-readers, followers, podcast-listeners, etc.<br /><br />From a historical perspective, what's happening now is as profound as Wycliffe's Bible in the 14th Century. I'll dispense this history-nugget quickly and painlessly: John Wycliffe had the temerity to translate the sacred word, previously available only in Latin for the wealthy elite, into English, the common tongue. The implication was that everyone was qualified to interpret the Bible for themselves - a complete shock to the established order. Peasants could lay their manure-stained mitts on the sacred pages and be their own teachers. What a power shift! It puts one in mind of the Joe Nobodys who are in greater command of a company's brand (because they blogged about a bad experience) than the company's CEO. A total flip of the power pyramid.<br /><br />And we've seen incredible advancements to book production in recent years: forces such as print-on-demand, e-readers like The Kindle, downloadable audiobooks, etc., have conspired to make book publishing and distribution easier, faster, cheaper. And when written and designed well, all without cheapening the form. Yes, we still love and revere books. We esteem them, no matter the form or platform. Books are among the most efficient means of storing and transferring knowledge, and so they've retained their status as Object of Authority.<br /><br />For all these reasons, a growing number of independent professionals are turning to various forms of self-publishing to promote themselves and communicate their creds. But how better to lend "gravitas" to their thoughts than by putting them in the form of the book? Where a standard business card once did the trick, smart professionals are, in effect, authoring their 200-page business cards. The strategy makes sense. If you can write a book that scratches your market's itch, that immerses your audience in your thoughts for a time, causing people to know, like and trust you as an expert in your field, then you can win them over to your pricier services.<br /><br />So, what are you waiting for?<br /><br />"But I can't write a book!"...<br />Although the nuts and bolts of writing are beyond the scope of this article, I'd still encourage you by saying, "don't sell yourself short!" If you can outline your ideas, if you can bullet-ize your message into a coherent set of thoughts, you just might be able to write a book. It doesn't have to be a big one, it doesn't even have to be a printed one. Start small by writing a short eBook to post on your website as a PDF or to email to your clients. Or start even smaller by beginning that blog you've been putting off. Post by post the content can really add up over time. And time is what you'll need to hone your message. You may even find after a few months that you've got a perfectly natural outline for a book.</p> <p>Like any skill, writing is something that you get better at with practice. If you work out consistently enough, you're going to build muscles.&nbsp;So think in terms of the baby steps described, building your confidence by degrees, and in a month or three or twelve, the proud author of a shiny new book just might be born.</p> 2009-06-25T15:03:03Z -5.43934 338 5189 true 14 35443 the-200-page-business-card-why-its-a-great-time-to-publish-your-expertise 3 2009-06-26T10:43:10Z 2009-06-26T16:43:36Z

Words of encouragement, offered in the hope of prying loose that book inside of you.

1 2009-06-26T16:43:36Z