Use these strategies to write a book

Writing a book can be an incredible way to connect with your audience on a deeper level, and also showcase you as the expert that you truly are.

You are capable of writing a book and it’s not hard to formulate your story and share it.

The benefits of writing a book

The first benefit is getting to tell your story and reach more people.

Second is building an emotional connection with others, especially your soulmate clients.

Third, being asked to speak and being paid to speak.

Fourth, being seen as an expert.

The benefits of being an entrepreneur

Being in business for yourself feels good. It creates so much more meaning and connection in life. Danielle shared that our businesses go beyond just this idea of making money. Being an entrepreneur is also about being who we are in the world and living as ourselves fully and impacting the lives of other people.

God often calls us to something bigger, to have a deeper impact on more people. In addition, life experiences sometimes propel us to crave fulfillment and have an impact. Danielle shared her experience with cancer. Life can be short, we never know how much time we have, so it’s important to act now.

Danielle mentioned that she wanted her legacy to be a story of who she is and how she’s touched other people’s lives. Robyn seconds that. That is what having an impact, following your purpose, calling, and changing lives is all about.

6-figure income doesn’t define success

If you listen to the idea that you have to get to six figures long enough, you’ll start to feel like you’re not successful unless you get to the six-figure mark and think that that is the bottom level of success. That simply is not true. It’s a valid goal to have but we can be happy and feel successful without reaching that goal.

You can build a business model that fits your life instead of fitting your life into a very busy business model hustling to achieve 6-figures.

Finding balance

We hear a lot about the inability of finding a balance between family life and business. However, it is what you make it. If you desire fulfillment and want to have an impact, you can have a business and work around your family commitments. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, all business and no family or all family and no business. That’s the beauty of entrepreneurship. You can work around your family’s schedule and needs while creating a successful business and making an impact.

Both you and your family will grow through each season you walk through, with different needs, ages, activities, and different levels of focus in your business.

What you need to begin writing a book – you don’t have to be a writer or be creative to write a book

Writing a book can be intimidating. You may experience fear and imposter syndrome so having a support system and network of people to hold you up and hold you accountable is key. It may also be hard to be disciplined to write.

In addition, having a strategy in place will allow you to write with simplicity, ease, and grace. It is possible to write a book in a few months, it doesn’t have to take years.

Take advantage of creative time, like in the shower, while driving, or while walking the dog. Use the notes app on your phone and record your creative thoughts and add them to your manuscript later.

So I wrote a good chunk of my book. In the bathtub, in the shower, in my car, while I was driving by just opening up my notes app and doing voice-to-text, and then I would copy and paste those thoughts and those ideas into my document later when I was sitting at the computer and kind of clean it up and fit it all in.

Note, that when you have a strategic framework for writing your book, it happens faster and easier.

Likewise, when we allow ourselves time to be creative, thoughts flow to us.

Your expertise is all that matters when you want to begin writing a book

However, you don’t have to consider yourself creative to be able to write, especially if you are telling your story, especially if you’re writing something that is related to your business.

Danielle emphasized that you also do not need to consider yourself a writer. The women she works with are experts and geniuses at what they do in their businesses, but not expert writers. They don’t need to be.

Neil Gaiman, a famous author, has a great saying. He says first drafts are trash. And it’s true. He’s released three chapters of the first draft from one of his best-known books, and they’re terrible. When you try reading them you think, oh, if this was the book, I would not want to read it. But yet he’s created an incredible life as a professional author.

Use Neil as inspiration to say, I don’t need to be a brilliant writer to be able to share my story. That’s why we have editors and we have people who look through our book, beta readers.

What you need to know to begin writing a book

When you begin writing a book, think about who you are talking to, the ultimate reader. Ask yourself who is the person that I’m talking to in my book? Because as we start to write, we tend to think we’re talking to everyone. And as we all know, in business, if you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one.

Very clearly define who you are talking to. When it comes to being an entrepreneur and writing a book to build your legacy and scale your business, you’re talking to your best potential client. In addition, you’re usually talking to the person who is early on the client journey towards getting to know you, like you, and trust you.

Before you define an idea, a title, or what your book is going to be about, you need to define who your reader is. From a personal branding perspective, we talk a lot about that, how to identify your soulmate client and understand exactly what they are thinking. What it is that they need from you.

Be aware of the problem that is keeping them up at night. What is the challenge that they’re thinking of when doing dishes? When you start thinking in terms of what they’re thinking, the solution to their problem becomes forefront for you.

What is your soulmate client thinking – address their thoughts when writing a book

Sometimes it’s hard for us to see what our clients are thinking because we are the expert. We’ve usually solved the problem for ourselves and many other people.

To discover what your soulmate clients are thinking so that you know what to write, ask them. Ask them what they’re thinking and have some strategic questions to draw that out of them.

Then you’ll have their words, the voice of your customer, along with their understanding and perspective of the problem and you will be able to write directly to them.

AI and Chat GPT

In addition to being able to ask your audience and soulmate clients questions to obtain the voice of customers, you can use artificial intelligence (AI) like Chat GPT.

Once you have the voice of the customer, you can begin thinking about breaking out the chapters, titling the book, and writing the actual content.

Keep in mind that you your book to be profitable, but you also want it to be interesting to the reader. Keep them turning the page, moving through it. Non-fiction books are often hard to read. Reading a non-fiction book can feel like there is a lot of information coming at you off the page, and it can feel overwhelming.

No one wants to read an encyclopedia. People want stories. We want things that connect us to takeaways and these. Therefore, it’s important to build a structure for your book that has storytelling included.

Sharing stories to keep the reader’s attention when writing a book

Writing a book is not only about what you want the reader to know. It is also about how you want them to discover it while reading your book. Ask yourself, how do I want to demonstrate this? In the process, share stories about yourself, things that you’ve gone through, and how you have solved problems. Bring your experiences in to build an emotional connection with your readers. Doing so will help the readers get to know you on a very human level.

There is, however, a right way and a wrong way to tell a story. Sometimes we tell stories from the information standpoint. This happened, then this happened, then this happened. That is a great place to begin to build a foundation. Get that onto the page to get it out of your head and capture it.

But then, go back and create true storytelling, which is different than giving the information of point A, point B, and point C. Draw the reader into the experience you are sharing. The best way we can do that is to use the five senses.

An example of incorporating the five senses

If I tell you I walked into a room and it was dark and I was really afraid, you can put yourself there and think okay, the room is dark. Got it. Fear. I kind of know what that feels like. But if I tell you I walked into a room and the black was as thick as fog and I felt the metallic taste of fear rise up in my mouth and my chest felt squeezed in. That brings you into the experience.

Now you are standing in my body. Understanding what it was like to walk into that dark room. And there’s a very big difference there for the reader. The details will keep them reading.

Storytelling connects us as human beings. Because human experiences are universal. But we often forget that because we get lost in the details of our own stories.

However, while the details of someone else’s story might be different, that overall feeling connects the reader on a deeper level, which is why storytelling has survived for thousands of years.

Storytelling has been at the core of every culture for so long because it is something that allows humans to stand together. Even in the difference of the details.

Understanding the reader’s mindset when you want to write a book

As we are writing a book, we need to understand how to get the reader’s best yes. When you’re writing an expert book as an expert in what you do, it’s a non-fiction experience. It’s to share something with the reader, not only so they can see themselves in the experience of it, but also to help them get some wins. For them to work through a miniature version or the first steps of your process.

This helps them trust you. They will understand that you can get them the big win. Show them, the reader, that you can get them from having a problem to the result(s) they want.

We accomplish that by understanding their mindset. Think of it as every customer who comes to us has a starting mindset from where their journey brought them into your world. Once they get to know you and trust you, they’ll experience a shift that puts them into the mindset of the yes client, the one who doesn’t care how much it costs, they just want the results.

What does your soulmate client need to know from you?

Ask yourself what your soulmate client needs to know, understand, and believe to go from that early journey audience member to a yes customer. Danielle’s profitable page-turner framework is so profitable because it helps her clients connect with the yes customer. When people get wins along the way while reading a book, they will believe that even greater shifts are possible when hiring you.

Therefore, at the end of the book, they have a yes mindset, and they are ready to take the next step to get in touch with you and to jump in as a client. This is how books generate revenue.

When you decide to write a book, get really clear on who the book is for and the conversation that you want to have with the readers, and why that conversation is important. Then tell the world you are writing the book, and grab their attention.

Marketing your book for success

Danielle’s book is called Manifest Success and is about building the business you’ve been dreaming of. When Danielle shared that she was writing a book about manifesting success, she immediately got two clients, before the book was written. When you want to begin writing a book, talk about it. People will be interested, and you can generate revenue.

When you do something with the intention of impact, it has the potential to lead to money because it leads more people to your business. Impact translates to money, not money to impact.

When you begin writing a book, first approach the idea of building your legacy, and touching the lives of others, and then those who are ready are naturally going to step into what you have to offer.

A new perspective on manifesting success

Danielle state that manifestation is done wrong because it’s done from this idea of formulating the big dream and then sitting and visualizing that dream. And that’s where it ends in terms of what the world at large teaches. Danielle emphasized that there is a difference between dreaming and visualizing. Dreaming is actually a dopamine-fueled experience that keeps us stuck in the dream we are enjoying.

We’re stuck kind of in this Lala-land versus visualizing something, making it tangible and real. So, manifestation is the outward, tangible expression of something that we’ve thought. Danielle used the example of when she thinks she wants a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting, she can see that very clearly in my mind. She can go to the store and get chocolate cake batter.

She can mix it up and then make pink frosting. The next thing she knows there’s a cupcake in her hand and she can eat it. When visualizing the cupcake, she can actually start to salivate, like her body is preparing itself for eating the chocolate cupcake. She gets excited about it. And she’s more motivated to go make it.

A cupcake is an easy example because everyone believes in cupcakes, but it gives you a basic understanding. When it comes to business dreams and visualizing business success, it can be a little bit harder because you don’t always have the buy-in of everyone around you.

Philippians 4:6 as a reference for manifesting what God has in mind for you

And so that’s why I say the foundation of manifestation is getting in touch with your higher power – God. A lot of Christians struggle with the idea of manifestation because it is kind of in that new-age woo-woo world. But Danielle referenced Philippians 4:6 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Manifesting is about first and foremost, getting in touch with God, and saying, what do you have for me? What are you calling me for? Then developing that intuitive trust of, yes, this is what is for me, and I’m going to take the action to move into that. And we start by visualizing that.

Manifesting success is not about the endpoint

But not the total endpoint. Sometimes visualizing all the way to the endpoint puts us in a fog. Danielle used the example of being on a beach where you can hear the water and you can hear the waves, but you can’t see it because there’s so much fog. When you take 10 steps forward, you can see 10 more steps ahead. As you continue to move forward, you eventually see the water, you can see the waves crashing, and that’s what it can be like with business success.

You may see five steps in front of you, but you won’t see 20 steps in front of you. And that’s okay. Take the five steps and then see what you see from there. But it’s really important to make sure that everything in your visualization is very tangible, that it’s in full color, it’s close up, it feels right there with you and real. And then from there, it’s taking action. The need for action is often missed.

Put your energy into the action

Danielle emphasized that 75% of your energy needs to be on taking consistent action. The last step involved with manifesting is to be open to receiving. We often self-sabotage because we’re not open to receiving something.

Women who are starting new businesses often feel scared of their success. They feel scared of what it’s going to look and feel like, and they close themselves off and self-sabotage. Many times, they question themselves. They get stuck in doubt, overwhelm, fear, worry, and even self-pity.

Danielle outlined this five-part framework in her book, Manifest Success. She walks readers through how we learn manifestation in a linear way, but it isn’t always linear.

Be open to receiving what God has for you

We must be open to receiving, therefore we must feel gratitude. When we feel gratitude, we take more action. We have to first visualize the next step, and then must always go back to God and ask if this is right. Is this what you have for me? Is this my next step forward and validate it with God?

Danielle sees manifestation as something that is much more concrete than the rest of the world explains it. It really is founded on the idea of connecting with God first and foremost. Not just creating the life that you think you would love, or you think you should create, or what’s big and fancy on TV, or what everyone else is saying success is.

Robyn emphasized that she always gets really nervous talking about manifestation because the new age woo-woo perspective is more of the thought that if you want $10,000, you can make it appear in your bank account. That does not happen. It’s not possible.

Every single gift we have comes from God.

The intuitive power is the Holy Spirit. He’s working with us. He helps us. He helps us think, guides us with our thoughts, and gives us wisdom and knowledge – the fruits of the spirit. Robyn shared that she likes Danielle’s perspective because she has been so opposed to even the phrase manifesting because of everything that is seen online.

But this is so important to understand that maybe we can visualize our future five steps at a time. But we can’t visualize what’s going to happen 10, 15, or 20 years from now. We can’t visualize what our bank account is going to look like in five years or even a year. What we can visualize is that God is holding us up.

He’s supporting us and he wants things for us. He’s calling us to things. If we’re aligned with our values, visions, and passions, and listen to His purpose, His calling for us. He’s going to guide us. But we must be open to it and be willing to receive His gifts. And gratitude is a very important piece of this process.

The importance of gratitude

We must be grateful for everything that the Holy Spirit gives us and guides us towards. In addition, Danielle emphasized being grateful for everything that’s coming that we can’t see. She emphasized that if we do try to visualize an endpoint and ask for something like a million dollars in our bank account, we might be closing off the magnitude of what God has for us.

It says in the Bible that God’s gifts are greater than we can imagine. Therefore, if we focus only on achieving what we can imagine, we are limiting God. We are limiting what He can do in our lives. When we focus on those next best steps and we move forward in that way, we will end up in a whole different place than we ever thought we would, and it will just be beyond our wildest dreams because that’s what God has for us.

Humility amidst many blessings

God wants His gifts to make us better, to make us point to Him, to make us display His glory and not our own. We are instructed by God to be humble. And humble doesn’t mean, being self-deprecating, humble means knowing that all the greatness that is you comes from within you, from God.

When you step into the magnitude of what God has for you, and you say, wow, God, I can’t believe you could use me in this way to do this. That’s humility, it’s submitting, it’s being under God with everyone else.

It is humbling to have the Holy Spirit move us and guide us to help others in incredible ways.

The impact you can create

When Danielle began writing, she was part of a co-authored book with 22 other women. She wrote that she wanted to impact 10 million people. She shared how the Holy Spirit guided her to that goal and she couldn’t imagine how that would happen.

But as she stayed open to that and listened to God, she began to see how it could happen.

Every time she helps a woman write her book, she’s helping to impact the lives of thousands of people through that book., She may not be forward facing in that impact, but God is using her to create impact and reach millions. The key is that Danielle trusted what God wants for her.

The domino effect of good

Robyn is a believer in the domino effect of good that little holy moments can create. Holy moments can simply be trusting in the Holy Spirit. It could be us putting a smile on someone’s face. It could be anything. A holy moment can happen when coaching someone and giving them the opportunity to succeed.

Every single time we do something, we have an opportunity to create that domino effect of good. That is how God works through us.

Accepting how God works through you

Sometimes as Christian women, we feel like we are prideful if we feel good about the work we do, and that’s not a good thing. But we can be joyful and grateful for the opportunity to serve others and create an impact.

Pride is really when we’re feeling good about doing things in our own power. But it’s okay to feel amazing about who you are in Christ. It’s not about who you are standing alone in the world, but it’s about who God made you to be.

There is nothing wrong with accepting and marveling at the power of what God is using you for. The power that you have as a woman is fed by the Holy Spirit. Celebrating is honoring God’s glory because that is taking a look at the core of it and the truth of it and saying, “Wow, Lord, I cannot believe what you’ve been able to do with me.”

That’s what resting in God’s arms is about. It’s not just about the hard times when we ask Him to lift us up and take us out of our burdens and bring us peace. But it’s about in those good times too, honoring and accepting and being open to receiving the truth of who you are in Christ.

In addition, praising Him for the gifts He’s given us.

Who can you bless by writing a book or being who God created you to be

Every day, ask God who you can bless using the gifts he’s so graciously given you. You will see how working for God through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, you are helping to change the trajectory of other lives and probably their children’s lives too.

When we work with a client and we see that transformation and we’re able to guide them through a process, that’s harvesting. Harvesting something that was probably planted by someone else years ago. If you’ve ever thought you should write a book, this could be the opportunity God is creating for you to be able to step into action to make it happen.

It’s true of all the women that Danielle works with. They were told that they should begin writing a book. Danielle didn’t convince them to write a book. Someone else planted that seed and now she gets to work on watering and harvesting that seed.

Your journey is part of God’s plan for you

We don’t always get to see the fruits of our laborers, but it’s there and we can trust that. And that’s part of having faith in the process.

Every single step of your journey has been part of God’s plan for you. It doesn’t matter if it was good or if it was bad because if it was bad, you learned from it. If we embrace our journeys and we share what we’ve experienced, we do nothing but create that ripple effect of good in the world.

If you’ve ever thought you might want to begin writing a book, get started today. If you haven’t thought about writing a book, but you have a journey and you have a story to tell that may help someone else, it’s time.

This may be God saying to you, “Begin writing a book.”

More on how to write a book and become a published author.

How to become an author and self-publish a book.

And if you are curious, learn what a book coach is.

About Danielle Mendoza

Danielle helps women become published, bestselling authors. In addition, she helps them grow in their confidence, elevate their thought leadership, and learn to leverage their expertise for greater visibility, which leads to business growth. Danielle’s clients also establish an intentional legacy by sharing stories and wisdom that will leave behind more of who they really are.