Anatomy of a business book

A book can do a lot for your business. It can market your talents. It can communicate your brand. And it can showcase your very best work. When making a business book, you want to focus on content and quality, while positioning your company in the best possible light. For some advice and guidance, we spoke to Greg Walker from Houser Walker Architecture about his business, his book, and how both are thriving.

Why did Houser Walker decide to put together a business book?

A year or so ago, we set out to create project-specific records—large format publications that would document the whole history of a given project. Our intent was to present these to our clients at the conclusion of the projects, but also keep a couple of copies to share with potential clients on a selective basis. We wanted these to feel as close to a traditional book as possible—high-quality reproduction and paper, cloth cover, hardback, etc. Quite literally, Blurb was the best platform we could find short of a full publishing house to accomplish our goals. We’ve been happy to recommend them to anyone (except our competition!).

In what ways do the books act as marketing material for your business?

We use our books to help reinforce a great, positive experience for our clients but also to help give potential clients a look at how we work, how we created value for someone else. Our clients have been really happy with them. They’re a record of a shared experience that helps explain it to someone who’s not involved.

How long did it take to create the books, and do you feel the time was in direct proportion to the result?

We worked on the initial book intermittently for a couple of months—experimenting with size, layout, order of information, etc. There’s absolutely no question the time was very well spent. It’s made us better at organizing our thoughts and how we communicate them to clients. We’d like to continue making these as individual project books. It’s been a great investment overall.

What’s your company’s mission?

To create extraordinary value, supporting our clients’ missions through impactful design.

What advice would you have for another business looking to make a book?

If you don’t feel like you have the graphic capabilities in-house, work with someone who does. And even if you do think you’re good enough, work with someone better. You’ll thank me for it after it’s all over.

Make your mark with a professional book about your business. Get started with one of our free book-making tools today.