This weekend a couple friends suggested I join them in NaNoWriMo-ing. Once I translated the verbalization into the wonky caps I realized they were talking about National Novel Writing Month . I said I’d be happy to play along and write non-fiction rather than a novel per se. On NaNoWriMo.com they claim "if you believe you’re writing a novel, we believe you’re writing a novel too." I started justifying a belief that non-fiction can be a novel ("a lengthy work of fiction") and then realized that several business books, including the one I am currently reading , have used a fictional track in parallel with the factual lessons.

After more pondering there turns out to be a number of reasons for writing a novel even if the topic of interest is non-fiction.

A powerful technique for focusing your service, whether teaching or marketing, is to create a persona of that ideal client . The more realistic you make that persona in your own mind the more you appeal to your ideal client. Oh, by the way, you’ll also serve them better because you know how they would like to be served.

Dimensionalization is a quick way to make your ideal client persona more realistic. Imagine how well you will understand your ideal client after writing a novel with them as the main character! You can also have them solve problems in their life by using products and services — like yours and ones you can recommend.

While you are busy solving your ideal client’s most painful problems you will also be dimensionalizing your product (or service). You’ll notice all the benefits that occur in the persona’s life because of your product. You’ll see dozens of ways the persona uses your product that you hadn’t thought of yet. You’ll get to hear the persona telling their friends what is important to them about your product. You’ll get to feel the joy, the relief, the satisfaction of that persona around your product. You’ll even get to hear that persona’s inner dialog as they decide to invest in your product to solve their problems.

Which of the dozens of benefits of writing a novel around your product are you most excited about?