You started your business with an intense desire to help others. A passion to use what you’ve learned and your life experiences to help create change and forward motion in the lives of others. (And paychecks are always nice, too.)

But if you aren’t careful, you can spend all of your time marketing your business and none of your time living out your passion. Writing a book can boost your life coaching business and help give you more time to focus on doing what you love — helping others.

Here are 3 ways a book can boost your life coaching business:

1. Lead Generation: You’ve heard this phrase one million times already, I’m sure. That’s because generating leads and getting clients equals getting paid. A lot of life coaches are going about this a myriad of ways. Free classes, social media, paid advertising — and all of these ideas are legitimate ones. But when you write a book, you get to put your knowledge and expertise on the subject on paper. You will create leads and get people interested in what you have to say. Consider adding a book to you marketing strategy to help you generate more leads.

2. Create Authority: When people are looking for someone to help them with something, they do their research before they open their wallets. This generation of consumers likes to know, as much as possible, what they are going to get before they get it. And you will have created a hard copy of research. All your potential clients will have to do is open up your book and see that you know what you’re doing.

3. Ultimate Business Card: A book sets you apart as an expert in the field. As business owners, we hope people will remember us through our business cards. A book not only allows them to remember you, it helps your potential clients know why they should.

Realtors send out calendars and holiday cards in December. Newsletters and other direct mail advertisements are sent year-round. Every realtor wants to grow his or her client base and be top-of-mind when a client is looking for a new home. A book can be a great tool to help you do just that.

There are so many great things to write about - home décor, gardening, curb appeal, hosting, etc. The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you could write about. But how will it actually help you?

Here are 5 ways a book can help you sell more houses:

1. Lead Generation: If you’re in the business of selling houses, you’re constantly making connections, networking, and looking for people that need you. Writing a book can inform your target audience and drive them directly to you.

2. Create Authority: Show your potential clients that you are an expert. Buying and selling a home can be a very emotional and anxious time for people, and buyers want to feel like the person working alongside them is an expert and can be trusted. A book will help establish that trust.

3. Generate Free Publicity: Local media outlets are always looking for positive and exciting things to say about their community. Send out a press release about your new book, and you will have free write-ups in the local papers.

4. Get More Referrals - As a free gift, give your book to clients and employees. Suggest they pass it along to their friends and contacts.

5. Ultimate Business Card - Written proof that you are a trusted source in the field of real estate will go much farther than a run-of-the-mill business card.

Today’s consumers are wary of making new decisions without doing the proper research. If you are like any of the 70,000 chiropractors practicing in the United States, you already know that. Writing a book around your chiropractic practice can help you educate potential clients as well as lengthen your patient list.

Here are 7 ways a book can boost your chiropractic practice:

1. Lead Generation: Everyone knows these days - content is king. And a book about your practice is a piece of long-form content that will allow you to add value to those that read it. In business, we always want to try to add more value than we get, and a book that educates potential clients is valuable.

2. Client Retention: As you educate your reader and add value, you could also be explaining the importance of following a specific program. Identifying common pain points (literally) of your clients, you can include several types of programs that could alleviate pain and certain issues. This will educate your customer and keep them coming back

3. Boosting Your Advertising: Including a picture of the cover of your book in your marketing materials will add credibility and give you more to talk about. It will allow you to keep the conversation going until you can convert a potential client into an actual client.

4. Generate Free Publicity: With a book, you have new and free marketing resources at your disposal. You could write a press release and send it to local newspapers. It’s free and interesting. It’s also local exposure, which is exactly what you want.

5. Speaking Engagements: Send a copy of your book to local groups that need speakers. This will put you face-to-face with people in the community. If they are interested enough to listen to what you have to say, you have generated more leads and are moving clients through your marketing funnel.

6. It’s An Ultimate Business Card: You can give potential clients a flat rectangle, or a book that will remind them of you and ultimately bring them to your practice. Have it sitting out in your waiting room and in the waiting rooms of other physicians’ offices.

7. Avoid Sticker Shock: You’ll be setting yourself up as an expert in the field, so your clients will be walking in the door knowing how much you are worth.