Doing RBWA for Your Booklet

A publishing colleague recently made reference to RBWA. This was a a new one for me as far as the acronym was concerned, though not for what it represents. RBWA = Research By Walking Around. In the days before the Internet, that was exactly what I did to discover companies to approach for large quantity sales of my booklet. I'd walk the aisles of the big box office supply stores, looking at products that made sense to pair with my booklet. There was always company information on the product or its packaging as it sat on the shelf of the store. Then it was a matter of finding the right person at the company who produced the product, usually by phoning the company's office.

Another place to do RBWA is at trade shows. I lived an hour outside New York City for the first five years of my booklet's life. That made it especially easy to go to many major trade shows, walking the aisles to see what companies had what products or services that made them likely contacts to approach -- AFTER the show when they were back in their offices and the dust had settled. Most major cities host trade shows.

Think about where and how you can do RBWA. You can get some initial ideas that way, and have a much easier time today getting contact and background information through the company's website.

Until next time,
Paulette - who still does RBWA because she just can't help herself
www.tipsbooklets.com