Businesses in virtually every sector face increased competition, and marketing them to potential customers is becoming more challenging and expensive. It's one reason so many business leaders have become authors – because their book publicity campaigns have a spill-over effect on their businesses. The media coverage and online visibility connected to a book launch provide a lift that can lead to new client inquiries and other advantages. If you're writing a book or considering writing one for publicity value, make sure it's of the highest quality. When it is, you'll see a better response and long-term gain.

The essential thing business books give their authors is increased credibility. Authors are regarded as thought leaders and people with proven success in their fields. Take the new relationships you make during your book PR campaign seriously, and you'll likely be called upon again to comment on news stories affecting your industry. Having such stature keeps you in the news, and when someone needs your product or services, you'll often receive a call. Those calls can be enough in hyper-competitive industries to keep you ahead of your peers. The benefits of writing a book continue for many years.

The kinds of inquiries you'd like to receive should figure into the topic selection for your book. They don't need to be an exact match but do need to be in the same area. Business books on trending topics have a clear advantage when launched, so it's important to focus on leading-edge ideas or changes in thinking that will get people's attention. Just as you do with your business, promote your book by explaining how it is different and better than other books in the same genre. Merely explaining what your book is about is less compelling than when you talk about its unique attributes.

In some fields, it's nearly a requirement to publish a book to get ahead. Business consultants and self-help experts are among those who frequently become authors. It also works well for financial planners and other high-end service professionals. You can write about your business philosophy and other ideas in the book to interest prospective clients and followers. It's much more tactful to communicate many of these things in the context of an informative book than it would be to make them in a sales pitch. People who pick up the book or read it online are interested in the topic and more open to your ideas.