Taking Action

Last year I re-posted a colleague's observation about how few people follow through after investing in a costly home study package the colleague sells, how few take action. The thought recently came to the surface again, only from a different perspective.

This time I found myself wondering about what defines "action." Like so many things in life, it's not uncommon to be percolating on an idea for awhile, invisible to others and even to ourselves. It's going on at a subconscious level, and then it moves to a different place, a more visible place. A couple ideas make it onto a piece of paper or into the beginning of a computer file. There it may sit for awhile longer. Then, it may seem like all of a sudden, it blossoms. A flow of energy takes over, and you are on a roll. The ideas come forward, you organize and refine them, you complete the booklet. All of this could have taken minutes, hours, days, months, or years. You've got the product. Yaaaaay.

And then the same thing happens all over again in getting the product out into the world. You think about ways to do it. You ponder it for awhile, gathering a bit at a time, contacting one place at a time, and then a rush of energy shows up. And yes, again, it could have taken minutes, hours, days, months, or years. You're on your way, regardless of how long.

Your definition of taking action belongs to you and only you. I've known (and even lived with!) people who you couldn't push and you couldn't stand in their way. (all in the same person). They have their definition of taking action. You have yours. Whenever you're ready, let me know.

Until next time,
Paulette - who is ready when you are
www.tipsbooklets.com

Selling Each Other's Booklet

I had an email exchange this morning worth sharing with you. Here goes:

From a booklet author:
Have you thought about perhaps having some program where people who had previously worked withsomeone who bought a quantity sale could get a commission if they successfully placed someone elsewishing to make a quantity sale into a connection with that buyer? I am thinking sometimes people maybe asked by a previous purchaser if they've written a booklet on a specific subject and if they hadn't theymay be open to a commission idea. Thanks again.

My reply:
I have encouraged people (booklet authors) to do this forever. The easiest thing is to look at booklets being sold on my ebooklet catalog to find other titles, since I consider those booklet authors to be the most engaged and serious about making sales. And then approach those authors directly to make individual commission arrangements. You may want to consider putting your own booklet up there for sale, especially since the month is ending and I'll be putting featured booklets of the month of February onto the home page of the site tomorrow night, and announcing new uploads in my monthly ezine next week. The details for selling your booklet on my site are at:
http://www.tipsbooklets.com/index.php?page=prodlist.php&p=165&c=32

What about you?

Until next time,
Paulette - reminded that we absorb things when we are ready
www.tipsbooklets.com

Why You Do What You Do

Why do you write or think about writing your booklet? When I wrote mine, I was very clear about the reason. In fact, there were two main reasons. I needed to create a new source of income at the time, and I wanted another way to market the business I had then. Those are far from the only reasons people write booklets.

Why do YOU write or think about writing your booklet?

Until next time,
Paulette - ever curious
www.tipsbooklets.com

Life's Little Microcosm

Doing public speaking brings many bonuses beyond the anticipated ones. Last week I had the honor of speaking at a conference. Two different experiences with two different attendees particularly jumped out at me worth sharing with you here today.

1. "I'm 89 years old [he easily looked at least 20 years younger.] I want to know about how to pass the ownership of my book on to someone after my demise." [which sure didn't look or sound like it was going to be anytime soon.]

DIFFERENT PERSON:

2."Do you have a discount on your materials for those of us who can't afford it?"[This from a person who got on a plane to attend the conference, paid the conference fee, stayed overnight someplace, and came from a non-profit which apparently expects concsssions 'just because.' I told him I didn't have a discount.]

I am guessing that Person #2 is going to have a very different publishing experience than Person #1 has had. It's probably going to be pretty much a self-fulfilling prophecy, too, I'm guessing.
What's YOUR attitude? Yes, it matters.

Until next time,
Paulette - always happy to be reminded of the choices available in life
www.tipsbooklets.com

Of a Single Mind

Thinking about what to write in these frequent blog posts and in the monthly newsletter, it's been interersting in the past two days to see colleagues of mine addressing many of the same topics I've been adding to my own list of topics to address. Marcia Yudkin's, the publicity experts, writes in her weekly Marketing Minute about Magnum Opus, that phenom of writing the great work that creates the reputation for all time. Her suggestion is one I discuss in all my speaking engagements -- write shorter pieces rather than waiting to write an entire book that may or may not ever happen. Marcia is also a great fan of booklets.

Judy Cullins, the book coach, had an article in Dan Poynter's newsletter this week about the importance of authors and writers marketing and selling their own publications. That was already scheduled for the main topic of my February newsletter.

And Jill Konrath, the expert on selling to big companies, takes it one step further to define the different kinds of selling environments and decision makers.

I've always been fond of confirmation being a valuable contribution to the lives of our readers. That's what I got reading the articles of these three respected colleagues. Talk about a collective consciousness! I sure got a taste of that this week.

Until next time,
Paulette - loving the synergy of it all
www.tipsbooklets.com

Benefits, Benefits, Benefits

What's the benefit of your booklet? The answer to that question really depends, doesn't it? It depends on who you're talking about. The benefit to the end-user/reader of your booklet has personal life improvement benefits available from reading it. The large-quantity buyer has a different set of benefits in increasing the sale of their product or service by using your booklet as a promotional tool, or getting their message out to a larger audience.

Of course the benefits to you are that you get your own message out there and you make money in the process. When you have clarity about the benefits, it's usually a much easier conversation to have with the potential buyer. Take some time to ask yourself and your prospects how your booklet can benefit them, and then watch the difference in your own sales results.

Until next time,
Paulette - remembering it's always about what's in it for them
www.tipsbooklets.com

Promotional Opportunity

Here's a quick and easy promotional opportunity for you. Yesterday's email brought the following from a long-time booklet fan. How about taking a moment to get your name out there, one more time! This applies to whatever genre you write. Booklets were mentioned here because of the obvious.

====

One of the things that I have noticed about writers and would-be writers is that they are curious to know how other writers got started. So...I thought that it would be a good idea to put something online where writers could explain how they got started as writers. The site is at www.howwebecamewriters.com. The first two featured writers are George Edward Stanley (author of 101 books) and Mordecai Siegel (author of 34 books).

I think that many would-be writers would be VERY interested in the booklet niche. If you are interested in adding your name, please send me a brief (two to three paragraphs would be fine) explanation of how you got started as a writer (i.e. how you got published for the first time). Include a brief bio (two to three sentences) and use links back to your own sites, of course. If the idea seems interesting, please feel free to forward this email to your author/writer buddies. Thanks for your help.

Joel Heffner
joelheffner @ howwebecamewriters.com (remove spaces)

www.howwebecamewriters.com
P.S. There will be no ads on the site.

====

Until next time,
Paulette - always happy to pass along things like this, for the greater good
www.tipsbooklets.com

Your Booklet Says It All -- About You

I just finished editing a booklet for someone who has a service business. The full-page business profile for this booklet author takes up a prominent spot at the beginning of the booklet, in addition to a full-page About the Author, which I got permission to move to the back of the booklet. Oh, and the booklet also includes full contact info and an introduction, and the cover is currently designed with a long (and cumbersome) title and subtitle, and no space for a bulk buyer company's logo or contact info.

What's the big deal? Well, the author feels strongly that the booklet is solely a marketing tool within a local region. Period, end of conversation. The fact is that even within that region, there are definitely relevant companies and associations who could be contacted to buy this booklet in bulk to use for their own promotional purposes. The author has tunnel vision about this, and is highly committed to the full profile and About the Author to remain exactly where they are, and the cover be designed as described.

The content is information that is in great demand. I know the author, like many, is so close to the information that the focus is solely on using the booklet to prompt individual service clients and that's it. Yes, booklets are intended as marketing tools, revenue streams, or both. It just seems like such major missed opportunities from very small changes. And the booklet does serve as a marketing tool merely from the strength of its content.

It wouldn't surprise me if the author comes back, sometime down the road, and talks about how much more effective a tool this booklet can be by whittling down some of the Profile and About the Author.

Until next time,
Paulette - whose booklet brought (and still brings) lots and lots of business with minimal info in it about moi
www.tipsbooklets.com

Update on Your Opinion About Booklets

Yesterday brought the opportunity to chat with the client who was convinced that high level executives wouldn't give a moment's notice to a tips booklet. The conversation we had caused my client to make a 180 degree turn on that opinion. What happened?

Well, the original thinking was that the client's company would be sending the booklet directly to that high level executive. As our conversation unfolded, it became clear to the client that was not what I was suggesting in the least. I was suggesting the booklet be sold to other vendors seeking to sell their own products or services to that high level executive, to use the booklet as a promotional tool. Ohhhhhh, well now that's a different story.

The booklet distinguishes the vendor from among the crowd because the executive is receiving something very different from the typical marketing brochure that contains features and benefits of the products or services in question. The booklet has bite-sized how-to's to help the executive become better educated about the topic at hand.

My client hired me to write a booklet after that conversation yesterday. 'Looks like education wins, which was my entire point.

Until next time,
Paulette - who is rarely lacking in persistance
www.tipsbooklets.com

Giving It Away

Free teleclasses, free articles, free booklets, free consulting. All of them make a lot of money.

I'm doing a lot of free teleclasses and speaking engagements this month. That's not unusual for January in my business. People are coming back into their minds again after the holiday season has passed, ready to move forward. I want to make it easy for them (you!) to do business with my company.

Yesterday I did two teleclasses. In each were people who bought product from me. Several of those people have known of my work for years and years. Yesterday was when they were ready to buy. Had I not done those two free teleclasses, their intention to have this year be when they wrote their booklet could have been postponed.

I give out free booklets in certain situations, typically guided by what I know about the decision making process for buying booklets in bulk, and who the recipients are for those free booklets. The samples often pave the way for sales.

It's always a surprise to me when someone wants to pay me for an article. Yes, there are writers who make their living selling articles. That's not my intent. I'd rather have lots of short articles pepper the Universe so people can easily connect with my company and see that I'm always out there and have been for many years.

Some consulting time is frequently added to a product purchase as an incentive to make an immediate purchase. That's an easy way to build rapport with the client, so it's well worth it for them and me.

I do not advocate randomly giving stuff away for free. Not by a long shot. However, there are many times when it's the very best thing you can do. Take another look at what and where you can do that with your booklet and your business. It may happily surprise you when you see the results.

Until next time,
Paulette - continuously balancing free and fee
www.tipsbooklets.com

Your Opinions About Booklets - You Get to Be Right

The past few days have brought a flow of self-limiting opinions from people curious about doing one or more booklets. On one hand, it's fascinating to hear. On the other hand, it's frustrating to hear!



"My clients wouldn't give a booklet a moment's notice. They are high level executives and just wouldn't be interested."



That was what one prospective booklet author said after that person had phoned me and we had spent over an hour discussing what my company could do for that person's company. I assured the caller that we had a difference of opinion (and experience!), and that I'm not in the business of convincing anyone of anything.



In fact, a booklet is ideal for that busy high level executive. There's good solid information provided in quickly digestable format. It's been delivered to that executive, ideally, from a trusted outside resource who is using the booklet as a tool to market their own products or services, rather than solely using a marketing brochure that has features and benefits.



What self-limiting beliefs are you holding about booklets and other products that can be created from booklets? Holding onto those opinions will keep you stuck there instead of enjoying and experiencing some different results than the ones you're expecting.



Until next time,

Paulette - who has seen booklets successfully used in hundreds of ways

http://www.tipsbooklets.com/

Moving Fast

Last week I had a round of emails and a phone and a phone call with someone I was originally referred to last summer, and who recently (re-)discovered me last month. The person seems very well connected in some areas that can be helpful to me and my clients in expanding into new markets in a big way.

I move fast in life, faster than a lot of people I know. This person made me look like I move at a snail's pace. All of that is moot UNLESS major things are lost and overlooked in the process. I sent the person some samples. Before the box was even opened upon receipt, the person was asking me for more, without knowing what was in the box. I cannot imagine how this person gets anything done or makes a living. Yet there seems to be evidence that it does happen.

It was very dsconcerting being on my end of this communication, not knowing what was truly being absorbed and what was flying by too fast to grasp.

You may be like me, and like him, moving at the speed of light or faster. This has all been a big reminder to me to slow down just a bit. Take note of what is happening with the other person. Make like as easy as possible to do business with you.

Until next time,
Paulette - taking a couple extra breaths along the way
www.tipsbooklets.com

Don't Say What Not to Do

One element of the tips writing formula I teach is to start the first sentence with a positive verb. That means telling the reader or listener what TO do. It's not uncommon for me to see at least a few tips of people's booklets starting with the word "don't" or "avoid." The challenge with that is it typically leaves the reader or listener without any idea of what to do instead. Telling someone what NOT to eat is less helpful (by a whole lot!) than suggesting what TO eat. Anytime you find yourself starting a tip with "don't" or "avoid," ask yourself what it is you want them TO do, and write that instead.

Until next time,
Paulette - telling you what TO do
www.tipsbooklets.com

Two Empty Pages

So what happens when you get to the end of writing your booklet and it's been professionally designed, and you find you've got two empty pages? You can do a range of things. Here's a few possibilities.

1. Come up with more tips.
2. Provide a list of ways to use your booklet as a promotional tool.
3. List your current products and services (without prices).
4. Inclue a relevant checklist.
5. Share some related motivational anecdote in narrative style.
6. Remove two pages of tips (since the pages need to be in multiples of 4).

I personally find two blank pages headed by the word "Notes" to be disconcerting at best. That's valuable real estate. Come up with something to fill it.

Until next time,
Paulette - challenging you to use all of what you've got
www.tipsbooklets.com

Did Your Niche Find You?

I've heard it said numerous times that a niche finds you, you don't find it. When it comes to booklets and topics for booklets, I think that's mostly true. I wasn't looking for the niche of creating a booklet or a business all about booklets. I did my booklet because it seemed like a good marketing tool and new revenue stream. And it became both of those. As things naturally progressed, booklets became my niche, because I responded to what people wanted. They wanted to know how to use my booklet as a marketing tool of their own, and they wanted to know about creating their own booklet to serve them as mine had served me. It all then snowballed, and before I knew it, over a million copies of my booklet had been sold, and I created many other products and services for people wanting to learn how to do what I did.

The niche happens from paying attention, being persistent, and putting one foot after the other. Before you know it, you're known for owning a niche. I'm not the only person who does what I do. I'm the only person I know who does it the way I do it and who comes up very high in the ranks when you do an online search for tips booklets, without my ever doing any search engine optimization at all.

Until next time,
Paulette - who prefers the metaphor of a grain of sand at a time instead of snowballing
www.tipsbooklets.com

Radio Interview for Your Listening Pleasure

In case you'd like to hear the soft dulcet tones of my voice inspiring you to take action with a booklet, you can now have that experience by going to this link, where you can download a radio interview I did.

http://www.recognizedexpert.com/expert/f9/paulette-ensign-how-profit-writing-tips-booklet-46/#post61

Please comment on the show. If you have a Digg or Del.icio.us account, you can use it to tell the world about this interview, too.

Until next time,
Paulette - appealing to those auditory learners out there
www.tipsbooklets.com

This Year

An electronic New Year greeting I received the other day brought a helpful perspective for me, and I share it with you.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
- Mary Oliver

I don't see that as the old tired New Year's resolution thing as much as looking at the bigger picture. Yesterday I spoke with two different people who are in the business of marketing in some way or another. Each said a variation of how they were always encouraging other people to do a booklet, yet they had not done one themselves. Each has indicated they expect to have their manuscript draft to me within a week. They are both highly enthusiastic people, and great achievers. It will be a stepping-off point for them, into a part of a wild and precious life they have not yet experienced.

So, what is it YOU plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Until next time,
Paulette - feeling great about how this year is starting
www.tipsbooklets.com

You've Got Mail, Again

I love it when prospective bulk booklet buyers simply land in the lap of a booklet author. The other day I got a direct mail piece from Tauk Tours. They invited me to request a free 2008 calendar and travel brochures. All I had to do was simply mail the enclosed reply card, visit their website, or call their toll-free number.

Does that jump out at YOU as a prospective bulk booklet buyer if you've got a booklet on travel tips? It sure looks that way to me. What else are you overlooking in your mail?

Until next time,
Paulette - giving you better vision for seeing things
www.tipsbooklets.com