Booklets - The New Year

The following was passed along to me today and speaks to the possibilities for you in the coming year.

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O'Donohue ~

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Until next time, which will be in 2011,

Paulette - eagerly anticipating traveling part of the journey with you

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Negotiate Now Not Later

While it can be difficult if not impossible to consider the whole range of "what if's" in a business transaction with your booklets or any other part of your business, anticipate the most basic desired outcome before you do anything and get it into a written agreement for review by both parties.

Be sure your ears perk up and your brain goes into gear when you hear words like "collaborate" or "increase your credibility" or "for exposure." Those are often euphemisms for "no money will be exchanged."

There are certain situations where that won't matter to you, where getting that exposure or increasing your credibility or working together with a particular person are all things that will take you further in your booklet journey than getting cash payment in that moment.

However, if you are well established, have lots of credibility, and are fully capable of creating a good product without the input of someone else, then those words are likely to be less appealing to you.

No matter which way you choose, get clear about it at the beginning of the discussions. Attempting to do so later can be difficult if not impossible to change the course of how your interactions are developing.

Until next time,

Paulette - reminding you of the value of saying no when appropriate

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Enough

What's enough? When your booklet reader's life changes for the better because of ONE tip from your booklet, is that enough?

Think about an experience you've had, where one thing from among a much greater scope of experiences became a life changer for you. You may have attended a week long workshop, yet one thing that one person said made the entire week worthwhile by every definition.

Next time you find yourself heading toward putting everything you know about your topic into a tips booklet, keep in mind that ONE tip can be the game changer for your reader. Make it easy to discover that one tip without sending that reader into overlook by having to dig through way too much information first.

Until next time,

Paulette - encouraging you to realize what is enough

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - As Soon As ...

"As soon as" can be a great scapegoat when it comes to writing, producing, and marketing your booklet. Here are some frequent "as soon as" hooks that would-be booklet authors have clung to, keeping them from moving forward.

As soon as...

• I learn how to do a booklet
• I have the time to write
• I have the money to get it edited/designed/printed
• the kids are back in school
• the holidays are over
• I have a website
• I finish all the other projects I'm doing
• I start my own business
• I choose my topic
• I know how I want to market it

... and, well, you get the idea.

Each one of those above bullet points can have some degree of merit and each one can be overcome once completing your booklet is a true priority for you.

That priority shifts when you see the benefit the booklet can provide to you and to those who will receive it. Next time you notice yourself going to some flavor of "as soon as," ask yourself the real question of what you want your booklet to accomplish. When that becomes clear, your priority is very likely to change and you'll find yourself getting your booklet done in no time at all, easily, effortlessly, and enjoyably.

Until next time,

Paulette - looking forward to seeing your booklet soon rather than "as soon as"

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - What CAN You Do?

If you're so inclined, it can be oh so easy to come up with reasons why things aren't working for you right now (or lately) in your booklet business. Here are just a few I've heard:

• December (or the summer or just about any time of the year)
• the economy
• your topic
• being a one-person business
• thinking marketing and sales are difficult
• believing you don't know how to do bulk sales or who your market is
• needing money for groceries, rent, car insurance before investing in business

Well, guess what, you're right. As long as you believe any one of the things on that list, you're dead in your tracks. There are ways to turn each and every one of the items on that list into a plus, into something you CAN do to move things forward. I've done it and many other booklet authors have done it.

There are booklet authors who thrive each and every month of the year, regardless of what the economy is doing, with topics that would amaze you, without having any employees. They determine what sales and marketing approaches make the most sense for them, make changes when things aren't working, look at what others have done as models, and turn it all around.

What stories are you telling yourself? And, as Dr. Phil on television would say, "How's that working for you?"

Until next time,

Paulette - ready to work with those who are ready to do the work

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets Are NOT for You If ...

Creating tips booklets is not for you if one of your favorite words or concepts is "because." You may feel the only way you can be helpful to your reader or audience is by giving lots and lots of explanation and information about something. In fact, that may not be the case at all, and it could be counterproductive to your intentions and to the desires of your readers and audiences.

While it's true that many people are very curious by nature and want to know all the ins and outs of a given concept, they may not want it all at once. There are many people who want to learn in small doses. Those folks will absorb the basics or a few ideas and then come back for more when they're ready.

One of the best ways to accommodate both learning styles is to do both a tips booklet and a more expanded product. That serves the range of styles while positioning you well when it comes to sales. You've got something for everyone from the start, and something for people to come back to when they want more.

Until next time,

Paulette - who often glazes over when hearing an implied or expressed "because"

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Print, Digital, or Both?

In grocery stores it's been a long-standing question of whether you prefer to have your purchases put into paper bags or plastic bags. Now the rage has become bringing your own re-usable bags to use instead.

The question in the tips booklet world these days has increasingly become print or digital. The answer is BOTH.

There are distinct applications for giving away and/or selling both the printed booklet and the downloadable PDF and other electronic versions. Yes, the online world is ever expanding as are electronic readers being invented and sold. The more that happens, the printed version becomes a larger point of distinction with the expansion of the digital versions.

The digital version is what you've got as soon as the graphic designer does the professional layout and gives you the PDF output. The print version comes from that. That makes two products for you.

Until next time,

Paulette - reminding you of some of the many choices you have to distribute your knowledge to those who want it

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - Questions or Statements

When you open a tips booklet about a topic that is new to you, do you find it more helpful to see a series of questions about the topic or, instead, lots of direct suggestions on things to do in a previously unknown realm?

A combination of suggestions and questions can be helpful if you feel questions are a necessary part of the publication at all. A publication that is only questions leaves the reader pondering rather than doing.

Here is an example of a combination:

Write a tips booklet that can be used as a marketing tool for your business and a new source of income. The booklet represents your expertise and increases your credibility and your bottom line. What is the first topic for your first tips booklet?

That's a stronger way to give information and prompt the reader/listener to take action than only presenting the question by itself. What do you need to do to strengthen your information products so they best serve your audience?

Until next time,

Paulette - who respects and appreciates the value of questions and loves to mix it all up whenever appropriate

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Booklets - The Same and Different

You've repeatedly looked at things you've written over the years and wonder what else you can do with what you've got. All the while, that nagging thought echoes in the back of your head, wondering if everyone doesn't already know all this stuff anyway. No, they don't, by the way.

Mix it up. Take your articles, tips sheets, workshop handouts, speaking outlines, case studies, books, and everything else you've got. Take pieces of those things. Make short tips. Put 3500 words worth of those tips into a booklet. Announce the birth of the new product and watch people clamor to what you've got.

New people are coming into your circle all the time. And the people who have followed you for awhile forgot some/a lot/all of what they learned from you in the past. Change a piece of something. No need to throw out an entire product or presentation.

Use parts of the same information you've delivered before and see different results now. The moment and the format are different. It can happen as quickly as you decide you want it to. Go on.

Until next time,

Paulette - who loves leveraging

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com