When you’re writing a book for your business, it can be very easy to lose your individuality.

After you’ve built your business, especially in a niche that is overflowing with experts, you might feel like you provide unique value and can attract the clients you want. And that’s perfect!

But when you are ready to write a book in your niche, how can you differentiate yourself? You might want to follow certain formulas and structures to be successful, but on the outside, it might seem like you are about to write the same story as everyone else.

Here’s an example: you can’t throw a salad fork at a networking luncheon without hitting either a realtor or a fitness/health guru. Seriously, there are tons of them. But among those that I have met, they are able to differentiate themselves by specializing with first time home-buyers or with women recovering from pregnancy. They have an ideal client that they look for, and when they work with them, they truly thrive.

Just like with your business, when you write a book, you have a unique story to tell. You have a unique journey, a unique spin on things, a unique perspective. Plus, you have a unique client base, especially if you have been in business a couple years. You know who your ideal client is, as well as their needs.

Maybe you have looked to others for inspiration, and that’s ok! But you have to include some of what makes you YOU so you can write that book without making it sound like you plagiarized. Nobody wants to do that.

Ask yourself a few questions at the beginning of the writing process so you can figure out exactly what differentiates your ideas or your programs or your methods. Do a deep dive before you sit down at the computer and start pounding away at the keyboard. I know they show writers magically coming up with an idea and writing a whole novel in one sitting in the movies, but NOBODY actually does that.

Here’s how you can start:

• What can you offer that nobody else does?
• What info can you share that nobody else seems to be talking about?
• Where do you see holes in the common methodology?
• What is different about your perspective?
• What concepts do you turn on their head?
• Do you look at something that others in your industry typically neglect, but you consider essential for developing a plan that truly works?
• What is a question that everyone asks you when they are learning about your offerings?
• How does your x-step process vary and get results better/faster/etc. than most others in your niche?

You are an individual. You are unique. Your business is unique. Make sure that your book is unique as well!

Stand out by taking the time to write about why you actually stand out and what makes you shine.