Authenticity Beats Artificial Any Time! From bestselling author, Dee Blick FCIM – Birds on the Blog

I have spent the last 16 weeks hunched up in front of my laptop, copious coffee to hand, admittedly not enough water, writing my latest book. The title? You’re the Best, how to build an authentic and magnetic personal brand. Please believe me when I say that writing another book so shortly after The Boutique, was not on my radar.

Until I had a dream about it, that is!

It sounds far-fetched, I concede but I woke up four months ago with a sense of urgency to write this book. I had dreamt the title and the subtitle. Lord knows what else was swirling around my head, but there it was. I blame this unexpected literary output on the heatwave…when dreams can be vivid, and they can also reflect your subconscious thoughts.

And so, I began writing the book that I could have written many years ago, except it would not include the valuable experience I’ve gained in the last ten years.

Dreams aside, why have I decided to put myself ‘out there,’ once again and write my first non-fiction book in ten years?

I believe that with the accelerating pace of Artificial Intelligence, and the prolific use of social media, it is more important than ever that business owners connect with their authenticity and channel this to build a magnetic personal brand. I was chatting to a social media guru, Michelle Betts recently. She had posted on LinkedIn that her timeline was filled with posts from people she knew, at some level, and they had clearly been created, using AI. The tone and content were in some cases eerily like others and they bore no connection to the personality of the people posting.

This might be an exercise in efficiency but it sure as heck is not an exercise in authenticity. Yet authenticity is what we connect with isn’t it? Especially when networking, either face to face or online. We want to get to know the real person, so if they’re showing up as themselves and not hiding behind AI, we can choose whether to engage further and build a relationship, safe in the knowledge that the building blocks are in place.

I was also chatting to a publisher a few days ago about the impact of AI in writing and producing books. They had seen a manuscript that bore the hallmark of AI, with swathes of text that were incongruous, that impeded what could be an interesting book.

This mirrored a conversation I had with a businessperson who was considering writing a book, telling me excitedly that he could train AI to understand his voice and write the book for him. He had attended a masterclass on how to write a book without writing a word of it. My comment was that his book cover should have a prominent sticker, alerting readers to the fact his book was a testimony to the power of AI. My suggestion unsurprisingly did not appeal to him.

So, what advice can I offer if you’re considering writing a book as a platform to showcase your expertise and experience. And you’re tight for time?

• Make your targeted readers the dominant reason for writing. If you can write your book with the aim of satisfying, training, empowering, inspiring… readers, you’re off to a brilliant start. On the back of happy readers, bestsellers are born.

• Perform a detailed search of all the assets you already have for potential inclusion in your book. I always enjoy this stage of the proceedings when I go back over the articles, blogs, interviews, essays, and conversations of note over my career. I realise that I am not starting my book with a blank page, far from it!

• Consider introducing guest writers if they can tell parts of the planned narrative, better than you. It could be they are subject matter experts and that sharing their wisdom in as little as 500 words will add real credibility to your book.

Good luck! My book launches in November so in the next three blogs, I will serialise excerpts together with my book writing tips. If you have any questions or comments please connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, or email [email protected]

About Dee

The Boutique is available on Amazon in e-book and paperback. You can also buy a copy direct from Dee, UK orders only. Email  [email protected] for more details. You can connect with Dee on Facebook, LinkedIn and Tik Tok.