Building expertise through authorship has been around long before the internet lowered the barriers to entry. It’s still around because it works. Not only does having a book to give to or sell to people make you look knowledgeable, but it will also make you knowledgeable.

The sheer act of writing the book is a bit like a Master’s Degree education. After all, that’s what you do in advanced education. You read and consume other people’s information, then you write about it, and add your own studies and opinion into the mix.

* Learn a Lot – While writing the book (even if you outsource the writing), you’ll learn so much about yourself and about your niche. You will indeed become a real expert just due to the process of learning that takes place when you want to publish a book with your name on it.

* Increase Awareness – When you publish a book about your niche or topic, you will increase awareness about not only the topic but also about yourself. The book gives you a good opportunity to share more information about yourself, your education, and why you wrote the book you wrote.

* Gain Trust – Putting “author” beside your name in all your online bios, and linking to your book whenever you can, will automatically make people trust you more. They figure you must know a lot of stuff if you put it together into a book.

* Help People – People like reading books to learn things. Yes, people can read blog posts and watch YouTube videos, but they still enjoy reading books. This is especially true today with the ease of which they can obtain books to read on their mobile devices and Kindles.

* Prove What You Know – A book is a great way to prove all the things that you know into one manuscript. Putting it together into book form, where a person can read it in the comfort of their home or while waiting on the doctor, is a great way to prove what you know.

* Increase Your Value – Being an author automatically increases your value. Even with the ease with which anyone can become published today, most people simply don’t do it. You’ll still be one of the few, especially if you also know how to market your book and make the most of it to become the expert you want to become.

* Become an Insider – When you are part of a niche, there are people who are perceived as insiders and people who are just not known. If you write a compelling book that teaches something or shares something important about that niche, you will become one of the insiders (with the right marketing, of course).

* Gives You a Platform to Begin With – Believe it or not, some people have started with nothing, and the book was the launching platform to give them their start. If you want to come out in a big way with your products, services, or ideas, a book is the way to go. The book, along with proper marketing, can launch an entire new career.

If you want a fast way to become an insider within your niche, push yourself to new heights, and become the expert you know you are, becoming an author will do that for you. But, you must get started and learn all you can about marketing once the book is finished.