Ready Yet?

You've read other posts here about the whole notion of readiness -- that you're ready when you're ready, and not a split second sooner. Someone who admitted tracking my work since 2003 told me yesterday that he knew, after meeting me in person and having numerous conversations with me in the past 3 weeks, that he should come to me only when he's really ready to move ahead and do the work. I realized he was quite right, and I made no apologies for giving out that message. It's how I best contribute to other people's success.

That is not to say everyone is ready at the same time, of course. The person on the phone yesterday is someone who is most comfortable gathering a lot of information before making decisions. There are many people like that. I don't happen to be one of them. It's more comfortable for me to get in motion and make course corrections along the way.

So, are you ready yet? Let's do it!

Until next time, Merry Everything!
Paulette - looking forward to contributing great stuff to your 2009

www.CollectionOfExperts.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.tipsbooklets.com
Follow me www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

Details Are ...

...what makes a huge difference in life, as you've probably noticed all too well by now. They often make me nuts!

And if you've also noticed this blog was somewhat or totally inaccessible to you in the past couple days, it was because of some overlooked details here in the office of Tips Products International. I didn't realize it until a loyal follower emailed me about it. Thank you, Kat :-)

The domain for this blog along with a number of other domains I own got moved to a different registrar a few weeks ago. Then the domain name wasn't forwarded to this blogger URL because I simply forgot it needed to be done. Oh, and then there were two little things that also needed to be changed on the admin page at the new domain registrar, which took two different customer service people to realize and get me all the necessary details handled on that, which I never would have discovered on my very own, in this lifetime or in any other.

You may know (or at least hope) that I'm leading up to something here besides giving you a seeming tale of woe, which it really isn't intended to be anyway.

Yes, I am leading up to sharing with you one of the major lessons for me that I've finally learned in 2008, that I think may be relevant for many of the readers of this blog. This applies to your booklets, other information products, you overall business and, in fact, your whole life. And it is this:

Even if you CAN do something, the better part of wisdom, many times, is to offload it to someone else to do it for you. Now, I CAN do a lot of these details, though recent events would seem to indicate otherwise. The fact is that those details are not and have never been my strength. It's not how I'm wired. They drain and dilute my energy, enthusiasm, and effectiveness. They make me weary, if not cranky(er). I have to work very hard to remember them, that they even exist many times. They keep me in a small place not an expansive place. My strength is big thinking. It's what I do well.

That is not to in any way speak poorly of anyone else who thrives on those details, as much as to point out the obvious. Do what you (and I!) do well, and invite others in to do what they do well. 2009 will be much more of that for me. It's already started. You will directly benefit from it, I am absolutely certain.

There are several virtual assistants who will be playing a much larger role with Tips Products International. And they each have different strengths, which is why there will be several of them. They will allow the company to grow without adding real estate, payroll, employees, or other overhead. As I've been doing a lot of strategic planning in the past month, and increasingly in the past couple weeks, there has been a legal pad to my immediate right, as I've been adding tasks for the different virtual assistants to do moving forward.

I'm also committed to having my wonderful Mexican cleaning woman come on a more regular basis. I excel at "neat" (big picture) and am lousy at "clean" (details). She spends two hours going over every surface in my kitchen, which is a galley kitchen, for cryin' out loud!! She does "clean" amazingly well, and I value that result. By the way, she speaks no English, and I've got about 6 words of Spanish. We manage to communicate extraordinarily well in spite of it.

So, as 2008 bids us farewell, I encourage you to re-assess your strengths and do them. Find other people to do the things they do well. Everyone thrives that way. Start by offloading even one thing, and add to it as you feel comfortable. It just makes good sense.

Until next time,
Paulette - who appreciates all the detail people in my life

www.CollectionOfExperts.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.tipsbooklets.com
Follow me at www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

Be Part of the Solution

A professional association's ezine arrived the other day and proceeded to start the issue with how their membership was declining because of the economy, and how they would have to pull back with this, that, and the other, and yadda, yadda, yadda, as Seinfeld so wisely added to the American English language several years back.

Geeeee, where do I sign up?? Is this an organization I want to support or be anywhere near? Uh, nope, don't think so. Yes, I understand that there's all kinds of associations and companies who are having quite a go of it right now, needing to find other ways of operating than what worked before. And some are in the extreme, after the handiwork of a New York market manager whose name not be repeated here.

What good comes of solely focusing on the gloom and doom that a number of people are facing? (Not hardly everyone at that, I might add.) Where's the solution? What will turn things around for you and for others in your life? I once recall hearing that "if money can fix it, it's not a problem." Yeah, I think that pretty much says it, don't you?

What do you have that can bring a positive solution to companies and associations in the world, that is a positive solution for your own company? You've got something, I'm sure of it. In fact, you have multples of something. Pick one thing. It may be a new booklet content, a new market for information products you already have, a new price structure, bundling or unbundling what you've got.

Please, add to the solution, no matter what size or shape or duration your current contribution to the positive is. I am so excited by all the good stuff that's coming up in 2009 I can hardly stand it!! What about you? What have you got to add to the good stuff? Let the followers of this blog know in the comment section below, or Tweet me on Twitter.

Until next time,
Paulette - revvin' up for the new year now

www.CollectionOfExperts.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.tipsbooklets.com
Follow me: www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

2009 Declaration of Interdependence

I have declared 2009 the year of the fun, high level collaboration in my life, both personally and professionally. And it's already started! That's what I posted on Facebook and Twitter, and now here. It is truly the only way to contribute well to other people's lives, and, in the process, to my own.

You'll note two specific qualifiers in the collaborations I'll be doing this next year.

• Fun
• High level

There is every reason in the world to interact with fun, upbeat people who get it about playing large. And in case you're wondering, yes, there are still lots of people who, like me, are choosing to be part of the upside of things. Those who are committed to gloom, doom, drama, woe-is-me, etc. and so forth need to do it someplace else, not here, not around me or my people.

It amazes me when I see or hear how "everyone is having to tighten their belts" or some theme and variation on that. No, that's just not true. There are many people who are thriving, who are enjoying life, who are ready to explore the new horizons awaiting them. They are the folks I'll be working and playing with.

Remember this -- whatever you believe, you're right.

If you have a fun, high level collaboration you'd like to discuss with me, just say so. I promise I won't be shy in letting you know if it's a match. That includes introducing me to the right guy, even if that happens to be you! :-) Just no cold weather, no matter how wonderful you are/he is!

Until next time,
Paulette - ready for the next level with you

www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.tipsbooklets.com
www.CollectionOfExperts.com
Follow me www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

Booklet Biz from High Level Careers

Yesterday's open mic session for www.PublishingProsperity.com drove home a point that's been increasing lately. Some people on the call said they want to leave their highly credentialed, well educated careers and go into the information product business. The particular folks have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and many years to be in the careers they now want to leave several decades later. Tips booklets have become the bridge for them.

This is noteworthy because it indicates a shift in what's been a more typical phenom in the booklet business in the past. More often, people have used tips booklets to market the business they are in (and want to stay in), and to add information products as multiple revenue streams for their business which has usually been service based.

The fact is that it works equally well in both scenarios - as a full business of info products or as a marketing tool/revenue stream for a continuing business. This is, however, making me wonder about modifying or developing a different guide for the people who think that "How to Promote Your Business with Booklets" doesn't really apply to them. It actually does :-)

Until next time,
Paulette - reminded that perception is reality and that
leveraging knowledge is always a Good Thing

www.tipsbooklets.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
Follow me on www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

Tips Booklet - It's In Your Computer

A new client phoned the other day to place an order, saying she realized she was unlikely to ever get around to writing a book, and that she remembered that a booklet could be the ideal option for her. While justifying this all to me, she said "It's all in my computer, I know it is. Everything I want to write about. It's all in my computer."

Knowing her background, I assured her she was 100% correct in what she was saying, as she then proceeded to invest in a number of our products and services to guide her journey. She was especially eager on two levels. The first was prompted by her awareness that she could very quickly accomplish what she wanted to in having one or more publications out into the world. The other was that she wanted to lock in the current prices before everything jumps up at the first of the year!

She is obviously an intelligent person. And so are you. What do you already have in your computer that is screaming to be converted to tips booklets and other information products?
The world wants what you've got!

Until next time,
Paulette - who did just say that all prices at www.tipsbooklets.com will be increasing at the first of the year. You can lock in current prices now.

www.tipsbooklets.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
Follow me www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

PublishingProsperity.com new and improved site and biz

Yesterday, www.PublishingProsperity.com was moved. Yup, we moved and improved this site that was launched in September to support your success with creating an information product line and selling those information products in bulk.

The site has been streamlined, simplified, made more user-friendly, and looks a little (lot?) better. Companies now move sites all the time. What's the big deal here with this one? A few things prompted the move that are worth mentioning to you. The entire experience from setting up the site starting in August until moving the account yesterday was one big learning experience, as things tend to be when you look at them that way. The learning experience went way beyond what was involved with the original host's membership site software, which was plenty in and of itself.

The much bigger deal that's relevant in this discussion is their customer service. They started off being mostly responsive, with some very minor and forgivable moments of delay. The delayed replies increased in frequency and duration. Again, so what?

The more frustrated I got, the more I was reminded that I could stick it out and be miserable, stick it out and modify my expectations, or I could go elsewhere. The choice was mine. If I stuck it out, I had no one to blame but myself, and I knew that.

There were simple things they could have done to keep me happy and still with them. For whatever reason, that was not to be. The most fascinating thing was that they replied within 5 minutes when I canceled the account, with a brief "sorry to see you go, best wishes, we canceled the billing and downgraded your access." Seemed like a variation of "don't let the door hit you on your way out," which they really had no basis for.

And here I am telling you about it. Obviously I am not about to include the company name here. However, you know it won't take much for me to speak poorly of them from the little I've said here.

This whole thing was on the heels of an exceptional customer service experience with a different company.

This other company is all about customer service and going beyond, delivering more than promised every single step of the way. And that is not an accident. It's well calculated.

While there will always be people who don't agree with my advice in part or in whole, there is plenty of room for all of us and our respective approaches, and for being human. I'm grateful to be reminded of better ways to operate a business than how the hosting company treated me, that's for sure.

What do you want known about you out in the world? How do you want people to feel about doing business with you? I'm clear about those answers for all aspects of Tips Products International, and am recommitting myself to doing it better.

Until next time,
Paulette - staying awake and alert moving ahead
www.tipsbooklets.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.CollectionOfExperts.com
Follow me: www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

What's the Best Part of Tips Booklets for You?

Over the years, it's been fun, inspiring, and enlightening to discover what part(s) of the tips booklets business turn people on the most.

• Writing
• Creating a product quickly
• Starting a product line for a service-based business
• Leveraging the booklet content into other formats
  
• Marketing
• Selling (yes, that's different from marketing)
• Getting enthusiasm all over everyone else

These are a few of the many possibilities. What's the best part for you, and why?

Until next time,
Paulette - who loves doing something once and leveraging it like crazy
www.tipsbooklets.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.CollectionOfExperts.com
Follow me at www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

Tips Booklets and Television Commercials

Have you ever wondered about the purpose of immediately repeating a television commercial? And besides, what the heck does this have to do with tips booklets anyway? No, I'm not suggesting you advertise your tips booklets through television commercials. The point here is about repetition.

You (and I) don't hear all/any of the details the first time a commercial plays. It doesn't sink in the first time. Same thing with presenting your information only once, in one format. Your client doesn't absorb everything the first time they are exposed to it. More often than not, they also don't buy the first time you present the product to them.

There are many ways to repeat the content, as well as the request to purchase from you. You can do it in different formats, for instance. Record the tips booklet contents into an audio product. Yes, the exact same information you provide in written format. It increases the usefulness of your information and increases the odds of it being remembered.

Next time you notice a television commercial immediately repeated, notice how many details you picked up the second time, even if you were annoyed by the repetition!

Until next time,
Paulette - who sometimes needs a dozen exposures before it sinks in

www.tipsbooklets.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.CollectionOfExperts.com
Follow me on www.twitter.com/pauletteensign