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Booklet Tips From Paulette

Writing, producing, and promoting tips booklets for marketing, motivating, and making money.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Booklets - Say It Again and Again, and Once More

Ever get concerned about being too repetitive with your message in and about your booklet? It turns out that repetition is crucial in serving people well.

Multiple exposures are required to truly learn something. That means presenting the information in your booklet in different formats and repeatedly. Have you learned something the first time you were exposed to it? I know I rarely do.

And do you usually buy something the first time you learn about it? Okay, once in awhile maybe you do. More often than not, you think about it. Then it shows up again and you think about it some more. And then again, and maybe you're finally ready to invest in it because you know it will add something positive to your life.

Present your booklet information frequently and in different formats. If it's not a match for people, they will make their own best choice. If it is a match for people, they will make their own best choice, too!

Until next time,
Paulette - who is reminding herself as much as reminding you to remind the people in your world about what you have that can help them



Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Booklets - Marketing to Those Who Market to You

In the very early days of marketing my tips booklet,(now 20 years ago!) I noticed there was a lot of mail coming into my mailbox that was related to the topic of my booklet. That included catalogs and postcards and envelopes of varying sizes from companies who had products and services related to my then-business of being a professional organizer. I was somehow on a lot of direct marketing lists.

It occurred to me that turnabout was fair play when it came to marketing. So I started contacting the companies who were contacting me, to introduce them to my tips booklet as another tool they could use to market their business. It was a very successful method of marketing my booklet, and one I continue teaching to booklet authors.

While there is not as much direct mail today as there was then, the opportunities still exist to market your booklet to those who market to you. In fact, the options are now greater since you can also license the rights to use your content in digital format to companies who are web-centric, who market largely online.

Who is marketing to you that's related to your topic? You'll find step-by-step guidance on how to market to them in "How to Promote Your Business with Booklets" so you don't have to figure it all out like I did, so you can make more money with your booklet today.

Until next time,
Paulette - continuing to make sales to those who prospect me


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Booklets and Focus Groups, or Not

A future booklet author recently told me about the intention to use a focus group for guidance about developing the booklet and for ultimately mapping out the marketing plan for the booklet.

While I am not an expert on focus groups, the approach struck me as limiting if not ultimately becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

The future booklet author was thinking mostly about selling the booklet directly to end users. That immediately rules out the bigger large-quantity sales to companies and associations for them to use to promote their product, service, or cause. A focus group representing potential single-copy buyers would have no particular input to offer about the large bulk sales. Yes, it's possible to have a focus group comprised of more than one market, which can happen only if you are already aware of going in that direction.

What's YOUR thoughts about using a focus group for your booklets and your business?

Until next time,
Paulette - who has always viewed her clients as an ongoing focus group based on what they buy and what they want

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Booklets - Has Anyone Ever ...

...written a tips booklet about _____? That's always an intriguing question, and most likely gets voiced because tips booklets (and their authors) are different from books, movies, songs, and other media.

Could you imagine asking the same question, finished this way: "Has anyone ever written a cookbook of Italian recipes?" Or "has anyone ever written a murder mystery set in New York City?" Or, well, you get the idea.

It just doesn't matter if anyone has ever written a tips booklet on your topic. Your booklet reflects your perspective, your experiences, and your approach to marketing it.

Write yours anyway, and let the world know what you've got to share. It's uniquely yours.

Until next time,
Paulette - who has seen lots of booklets written on the same topic

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Booklets - Places They Don't Sell

A booklet author recently told me of her experiences at a local business expo where she had her booklets for sale at her booth. Not only did she sell none of them, the producer of the expo was surprised to know she was attempting to "sell her information."

None of this story was a big surprise to me. It's one of the many reasons I suggest selling booklets in large quantity to the producer of such a show, to give away to each attendee as a value-added item, imprinting the cover with the name of the business expo. That would have immediately repositioned and elevated the value of that exact same booklet and given the booklet author a substantial sale and a substantial marketing exposure.

Think twice or even three times next time you look plan where and how you will sell your booklets.

Until next time,
Paulette - teaching ways for everyone to benefit

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Booklets - Age and Preference

While it comes under the heading of "amazing grasp of the obvious" that larger font sizes are required for baby boomer and senior audiences of your content, something was recently brought to my attention about millennials. That is the trend to *use* rather than *own* things. Because of that, the concept of "the cloud" where files can be downloaded by any of a number of devices (computer, smart phone, iPad, etc.) is the current means of accessing words to read, sound to listen to, and images to watch rather than getting books, CDs, DVDs, or other *things* to be *owned."

How does that influence your product creation and distribution, if at all?

Until next time,
Paulette - a Baby Boomer who loves learning things like this since it just means more possibilities

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Booklets - New Topics, New Markets, or Both

Extend the reach of the booklets and other products you've created by taking them to new markets -- different industries or professions, different geographic communities, different age groups, or any other variation that makes sense.

Extend the reach to the clients you have by developing new topics and new formats. The same people who love your information might appreciate having it in a different delivery format. They might also want a more in-depth product or service on a topic you've already done. Or they could be ready for new topics that are related to your area of expertise.

You can go forward with both expansions pretty much at the same time or choose only one. Either way, it keeps you and your audience engaged and coming back for more.

Until next time,
Paulette - keeping our businesses interesting and lucrative

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Booklets - Big Picture and the Details

Do you live primarily in the "big picture," having difficulty breaking that down into do-able action steps, thinking you'll write dozens of booklets and create other info products, yet never getting started?

Or is your most comfortable spot doing task upon task upon task and not seeing the big picture at all?

While those details are crucial, the big picture is the starting point to success. Without that big picture, you are very unlikely to have big results.

Having trouble seeing that big picture? If so, you'll want to attend the free learning session I'm presenting on Thursday, April 14. While it will not be specifically about booklets, it will very likely trigger your thinking about booklets, about the big picture.

For more details and to register, go here NOW!

Until next time,
Paulette - bringing you new stuff to Brainstorm Your Business
www.tipsbooklets.com
www.CollectionOfExperts.com