Do you ever wonder why all the speakers at every big event that you attend have at least one book in their arsenal? They are sitting at the back of the room with a line of people excited to meet with them and chat about their impactful talk, and many of them are walking away with the book in their hands, eagerly announcing that they can’t wait to read it.

But that book is more than just a souvenir from the convention or conference. That book is important to the reader as a way to learn more about what they were just working on, and it’s important to the speaker as a bigger connection tool. This is a great way to make sure that the attendee doesn’t just leave the conference and forget about you. A book on the shelf or desk is hard to ignore, especially after a face-to-face meeting.

Here are some great ways to use your book if you’re a speaker, and some of the biggest reasons why books are such a popular tool for client connection.

Something to land the gig—The biggest reason to have a book at all is to have street cred. Being able to say that you are an author or a bestselling author makes a real difference when you’re trying to get the attention of the person booking speakers. Plus, a book can help you get your foot in the door in print, online, and on podcasts, which is just another way to get more speaking gigs. It’s cyclic.

Something to sell—If you’re going to spend 90 minutes, 45 minutes, even 20 minutes talking in front of a room full of people and NOT have something to sell afterward, then you aren’t using your time wisely. Sure, it’s great to have a program or event, but a tangible product is fantastic because someone who buys it has something to hold in their hand after the sale. It feels more like they actually got something. And the biggest reason to have something to sell that’s low-cost is to get people to your table to talk to you, which helps you build relationships . . . and build your client pool.

Something to give away—“You get a book! And you get a book! And you get a book!” Maybe not quite like that, but giving away a low-cost product could be a gateway to getting clients into your programs. If you’re targeted about your approach to giving books away, then you will be making an impact on those who would be ideal to work with you. Is there an event with 10 VIP spots where you could offer a book for your swag bags? If the people buying the VIP tickets would be ideal clients, then do it. At $3-5/book, you would only spend $30-50 on advertising that looks like you really put effort into giving.

A book is something that you can invest in once and use over and over. And it’s cheap for you to buy more. You don’t have to keep your basement stocked with tons of materials for conferences when everything that people need is right there in your book, either.

So if you’ve been thinking about a book, maybe this is the time for you to commit!