I’m going to do a series of blogs inspired by recent books on communications. The first is Levinson and McLaughlin’s book, Guerilla Marketing for Consultants. What’s great about this book, especially for mid-sized and small consulting firms, is that the authors put the focus squarely on practical, straightforward communications that will be readily achievable by their target audience. This is news you can use, if you’re trying to build up a business that isn’t already Fortune 1000 size.

Three insights in particular inspired by the book seem worthwhile in the communications realm. The interesting thing about each of them is that they are timeless truths that have stayed true in the 24/7, always-on era.

First of all, keep your attention where it belongs: the clients. That means that your main job is to communicate with them before everything else. The best advertising is word-of-mouth, and that has only gotten more important in the Internet age. Referrals are your best source of new clients.

Second, public speaking is still a great way to reach potential clients and create buzz about you and your ideas. The competition is tough and it’s harder to get to the right audiences, but if you can, you’ll find it worth all the aggravation.

To speak in public, you need a great message and some practice in delivery. Don’t try to get away with something less than strong in either area – you won’t be advancing your brand if you do. Even if you think the venue and the crowd are small beer, do your best. Someone in that audience will be related to someone else who really, really matters to your business.

Third, think about writing a book. It will help enormously with number two on the list, as well as with your brand. Just don’t expect the process to be like it is in the movies. Publishers are in the wholesale business; they don’t do retail. They want to move 1000 or more books at a time. A marketing budget? Author’s tours? Appearances on the Today Show? Forget it. It’s a do-it-yourself era for authors, and you might as well know that going in. If you don’t expect anything at all from your publisher, you won’t be disappointed. Everyone else is.

I work with a number of second-time authors, helping them with agents, publishers, PR, and the rest of it, precisely because they’ve been badly burned the first time around and watched their baby disappear without a trace into the 100,000 book pile published every year.

Why do they do it that way? God knows. Publishers have no idea what will sell, so they throw a lot of product at the marketplace, in the hopes that every now and then one will sell more than 5 or 10 thousand copies, which is the average. It’s a crazy business, but the mantle of authority that it confers upon a published author is still worth fighting for, since it turns you from a person with an opinion into an expert.