By Stacy Zemon, Publisher & Chief Scribe
Since I started ProMobileDJ.com, I’ve been encouraging DJ business owners to organize and manage their companies as if it were a book.
Granted, I’ve never put it this way before but I think it’s an interesting metaphor for what I’ve been trying to say.
So pretend your business is a book. Where is the central theme for your content? What are your chapters based on? Who are the characters? What are the plots? What is your value filled title, hook, narrative, back story and structure?
The Process Involved.
I’ve written three books and I can tell you that the process involved in proposing, outlining and writing a book has powerful applications for building and marketing a mobile entertainment company.
A publisher considering your book would need to know who the book was for, why this book was different, what the reader would get from the book and ultimately the topics contained within the chapters.
An author writing a book would start with this framework and then evolve, adapt and learn as the book unfolds in ideas, drafts and edits.
Ultimately the book would have to produce value for the reader. It would not have to be a prize winning piece of literature, but it would have to be organized, properly researched and worth reading.
The parallels between what it takes to write a book and what it takes to communicate the essence of a business to an ideal client market are stunning.
So, I guess it’s time to start your book.
Okay, well even if you don’t have any plans to actually write a book your business will benefit from a book-like mindset.
Look at your DJ company and pretend that you are writing a book proposal. Your proposal should reflect the core elements of your business, process or methodology that are central to what makes you unique and central to what your ideal client is searching for.
Include:
Title – how can you position this book to stand out?
Author – what expertise, knowledge or experience do you have that makes you qualified to tell this story?
Audience – who specifically must read this book and can they afford to pay for your services?
The Hook – what tantalizing knowledge will the reader get from this book?
Competition – what other books are out there right now that might compete for this reader?
Chapters – what are the key concepts and structural elements that make this a body of work?
Do you see how this framework might also apply to your company? In the end, we’re all publishers of information of one sort or another.
Why not truly embrace this thinking by approaching your content creation, marketing and entire business as though it were a book? And maybe, just maybe, yours can become a fairy tale that ends with a “Happily Ever After.”
