This is because a book lets you put your story into people’s mouths, so when they talk about you, they’re literally just saying what you want them to say. If you have a good book, people repeat your terms, phrases, and ideas to other people. If you can write a book that is valuable to a group of people, they will want to talk about your book at a cocktail party to someone else who shares that problem. Why? Because it makes them look better. That’s how word of mouth works. There are so many great examples of this. Melissa Gonzalez’s book created a topline sales gain of 33 percent, year over year, and Melissa estimates that 75 percent of her clients know about her book before they hire her, and over 30 percent have read it. Because of this, Melissa has reversed her sales process. Now clients come in wanting to pitch Melissa on working with them. Author Douglas Brackmann has had a similar experience: Since publishing, my world has become a lot bigger really quickly. I’m reaching people who I didn’t think I could reach, and that’s allowed me to be much more selective about who I work with. Lately, I’ve actually slowed down on the speaking and media because I can’t handle all the business—I don’t know what to do with all the phone calls. Same with financial planner Mark Baird, who explains the book- to-word-of-mouth referral chain very well: You speak, you talk about the book, you sell a few copies, and they refer you to more people. It’s a referral chain, and it’s been very gratifying. I don’t think it would have happened without the book. hOW WriTiNg A BOOk CAN BUilD yOUr BrAND · 379