Updated May 2026 to reflect current data.

Richard Lowe, The Writing King, joins Chris Salem on the Business Influencers Show to tackle a problem familiar to anyone with an audience: how to turn reach into something durable. Plenty of influencers can command attention; far fewer can convert it into the kind of credibility and lasting impact that survives the next algorithm change.

Chris Salem, a corporate trainer, prosperity coach, keynote speaker, and author, draws Richard out on exactly how a book does that work.

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In this episode

Reach is the easy part

An influencer’s whole game is attention, and many are very good at getting it. The harder question is what that attention is worth. Followers and views are real, but they don’t automatically make anyone an authority, and they can vanish with a platform change. Richard’s argument is that a book is the asset that converts reach into credibility, the difference between being popular and being trusted, which is a tradition that long predates social media. Thought leaders have used books to establish authority for as long as books have existed.

A book outlasts the feed

Social content is built to disappear. A post peaks in hours and is gone, while a book stays, gets cited, sits on a shelf, and keeps introducing you to new people years later. For an influencer worried about lasting impact, that permanence is the point. And the impact compounds when there’s more than one book, a body of work rather than a single title, which is what turns a moment of popularity into a durable reputation.

Deepening the audience relationship

A feed gives an audience fragments. A book gives them the whole argument, the full version of your thinking, in a form they choose to spend hours with. That depth builds a different kind of trust than a scroll ever can, and it’s why a book so often becomes the thing that turns casual followers into genuine believers, and opens doors a feed can’t, onto speaking stages, into the press, and through the recommendations of other credible people.

Where it starts

For an influencer who’s never written a book, the obstacle is usually getting started, and there are a lot of misconceptions about what the process involves. It begins with a single clear idea, what the book is really about and who it’s for, before a word gets written. Getting that starting point right is what separates a book that builds authority from one that just adds to the pile.

Find Richard Lowe at TheWritingKing.com.

Common questions from this conversation

Why would an influencer with a big following need a book?
Because reach and credibility aren’t the same thing. A large audience makes you popular; a book makes you an authority, and gives you an asset that survives platform changes and keeps working over time.

How does a book create lasting impact?
It persists where social content disappears. A book gets referenced, shared, and discovered for years, and the impact compounds when it’s part of an ongoing body of work rather than a single title.

Will a book actually grow my audience?
It deepens your existing audience by giving them the full version of your thinking, and it extends your reach into places a feed can’t, speaking stages, press coverage, and the recommendations of other credible people.

Isn’t strong social content enough on its own?
Social content delivers reach but rarely depth or permanence. A book adds the credibility and staying power that turn followers into believers, complementing the reach you already have.

How do I start if I’ve never written a book?
With a single clear idea: what the book is really about and who it’s for. Nailing that starting point, often with help or coaching, is what separates a book that builds authority from one that simply exists.