Booklet Tips From Paulette

Best Booklet Ever Written

2009-07-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

The best booklet ever written is the one people find useful. You thought there would be some big announcement following that headline, didn't you? The fact is, like anything else that enhances your life, what you view as the very best thing or experience is the one you think contributes highly to your life in a positive way. There is no real way of knowing how what you have to say will be received by the person reading it. That does not, however, absolve you of the responsibility of sharing your knowledge with the world, starting right now. It could be one tiny thing that is a major "aha," and you may never know.

Until next time,
Paulette - cheerleading you on to bringing what you've got to those who will be thrilled that you did

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

Who Was the Last One You Told About Your Booklet?

2009-06-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

The ongoing discussion about the likes and dislikes of marketing sees no end to it anytime soon. You either like it or you don't. You find new ways to do it or new ways to avoid it. It gets easier for those who have trouble with it when you think about marketing as:

sharing
giving
helping
educating

Yes, that's really what marketing is. It's letting people know what you've got so that it can be useful to them in some way, either in their person or professional life. It's sharing a resource that helps them by expanding their education. You've given them the gift of a new tool. It then becomes their choice as to whether they want to invest any money in it now, later, or not at all.

And if you think you don't have time to do any of that, just think back on the last conversation you had about your booklet. You know, the one where it flowed out of you very naturally to tell someone what you're doing or just completed. That person could be a friend, family member, neighbor, co-worker, colleague, or complete stranger. You didn't schedule the conversation. It happened in the natural flow of your life. That's all this is.

Go tell someone about your booklet. See what happens.

Until next time,
Paulette - who encourages "visiting" that ends up helping all concerned

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

Pricing Presentation - Booklets and More

2009-06-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

There is a psychology to pricing. It is also both an art and a science. Our friend and colleague, Marcia Yudkin, has once again, presented very useful findings on how your sales are impacted by how your pricing is visually presented. See what you think and test it out for yourself.

===================

The Marketing Minute
by Marcia Yudkin, Marketing Expert and Mentor
http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm

*******************

A price is a price, right? Not really, according to Cornell
University researchers, who tested whether restaurant owners
would profit most when menu prices were formatted as $20.00,
20.00 or twenty dollars.

To their surprise, the 20.00 format netted the most, with
customers spending 8 percent more when menus used numerals
to represent prices, minus any dollar signs.

Without the dollar sign or the word "dollars," diners were
apparently reminded least that what they were ordering was
making them a tiny bit poorer.

Specialists in the field of "menu engineering" have also
discovered that menus bring in more revenue when they insert
prices at the end of each small paragraph describing the
item, rather than all lined up in a column that can be
quickly scanned from top to bottom.

Likewise, those who study these things tell us that we
tend to perceive $23 to be less than $23.00.

One more finding: When looking at menus, we take prices
like $20.00 as indicative of higher quality food than
prices like $19.99.

*******************

MARKETING COACHING CLUB: I didn't master marketing through
academic study. A key element of putting all the pieces
together on my own was listening to recorded "hot seats"
where a marketing wizard or two would apply timeless
principles for getting customers, packaging an offer or
closing the sale to a particular person's project.

You can listen to my own kinder, gentler version of "hot
seats" in a membership program that brings you a Feedback
Feast® on CD each month, along with a second CD where I
interviewed an expert on a related marketing topic.

Whether you look at the price as $37, $37.00 or thirty-seven
dollars, my CD Club is great value for your marketing
education. Sign up now so you won't miss any months!

http://www.marketingformore.com/cdclub.htm

*******************

MORE MARCIA...

Marketing Mastery CD Club:
http://www.marketingformore.com/cdclub.htm

Mentoring Program:
http://www.marketingformore.com

Naming & Tag Line Service:
http://www.namedatlast.com

Press Releases & Distribution:
http://www.pressreleasehelp.com

*******************

If you enjoy The Marketing Minute, please forward it to
friends and colleagues. It comes to you every Wednesday
from publicity and marketing consultant Marcia
Yudkin, author of Web Site Marketing Makeover and
10 other books. P.O. Box 305, Goshen, MA 01032.

For a free weekly marketing tip, subscribe:
http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm

====================

Until next time,
Paulette - who is about to test these findings, and who is grateful to Marcia Yudkin for her wisdom

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

Booklets and Blunders

2009-06-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever goofed in your business? C'mon, even a small goof? If you think you haven't, you're either smoothing over something (aka telling yourself a bit of a story) or you're one of the very cautious people who takes as few risks as humanly possible once you've taken the risk of getting out of bed in the morning.

The fact is (and yes, it's a fact) that there are endless possibilities of ways you can blunder with booklets and, well, in your business overall. It can be everything from a typo, an upside down page at the bindery, a wrong color on a customized job, a misplaced whatever, and on and on. We need not spend more time or real estate focusing on what can go awry.

What matters and what will always matter is what happens next. How do you handle it? What do you do about the blunder? Some blunders provide the chance for a larger sale, a better relationship with the client, a new skill to be able to upgrade a product, a different way of streamlining your business.

Yes, things happen. What you do about them is really all that matters, even when you've done your best to have it all go smoothly in the first place.

Until next time,
Paulette - reminding myself that most things are forgotten and don't matter five years later

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

Learn About Bits and Booklets from Costco

2009-06-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

Because you are such a wealth of information, frequently the big challenge is deciding what to include in a tips booklet, whether it's one you're doing yourself, or a page of 5 tips in a Collection of Experts. After all, you've got all this stuff to share with the world, and want to give people the best of what you've got.

NEWS FLASH: The very best you can give your people is a small taste of what you have so they can digest that, feel great, and want more from you.

It's the Costco phenomenon. If you're unfamiliar with Costco, it's a large warehouse store where people pay an annual membership fee to be able to shop there for many different food and non-food products in bulk that often cost less than you'll find at other places. On Saturdays (and maybe other days of the week, too, I don't know), you can sample small bits of various foods Costco sells. It's all cut into small pieces, and each week it's a different range of products.

Why do they do this? So you'll literally get that taste in your mouth and want (to buy) more. Makes sense, doesn't it? After all, they sell thousands and thousands of items, yet they give small tastes of just a few each week. You can, too.

Give people a small taste of what you have so they will want more. It works for Costco and will work for you, too.

Until next time,
Paulette - who appreciates a business model that works

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

Blogs, Booklets, and PDF Tool

2009-06-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Two new resources to share with you today. One is about production and the other about promotion.

For production - www.mergePDF.net

It's a free and very, very, very easy tool to combine PDFs into one PDF, in about a quarter of a second. So, no cost, no time, no brainer. Why this is useful? What about bundling some of your booklets, special reports, or other products currently in PDF format to make one larger product -- one with a higher value and higher price? By the way, the topic of Bundling Your Products for Bigger Bucks is what our Expert Interview is about in July at www.PublishingProsperity.com However, I digress. Another reason to bundle your PDFs is that you can deliver multiple PDFs as one as a download through your shopping cart. I like that, and you will, too.

The other resource is for promotion. Since you're reading this blog, it means you have some level of interest in blogs, and, hopefully also about promotion. Cathy Stucker, the Idea Lady, has developed a great (also free) service related to blogs. You can be a guest blogger, request blog contributions, or ask for product reviews. Check it out for yourself at http://BloggerLinkUp.com

Until next time,

Paulette - who is very excited to discover both these resources because of the positive overall impact on business

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

Booklet Author with Great Vision

2009-06-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

See for yourself what one booklet author has done to leverage her expertise and her exposure. Standolyn Robertson is the immediate past president of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Marcia Yudkin and I share Standolyn as a client. Get to know both of them if you don't already.

-------------------------

The Marketing Minute
by Marcia Yudkin, Marketing Expert and Mentor
http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm

*******************

I was startled to see Marketing Minute subscriber Standolyn
Robertson (ThingsinPlace.com) quoted in Backpacker Magazine.

Standolyn helps clients get organized, a service I associate
with homes and offices, not hiking and the outdoors.

Backpacker's topic was how to get things done at work so you
can head out to the trail ahead of the Friday afternoon rush
hour, as well as how to keep one's camping gear ready for
action in a single closet.

Intrigued by this unexpected matchup, I asked Standolyn if
she'd received other surprising publicity mentions, and she
said she's given interviews on some aspect of organizing
to publications for dieters, single fathers, radio
broadcasters, the inventory industry, and job-hunting
engineers.

Are you thinking too narrowly about who might find your
expertise relevant?

When it comes to articles, press releases and content on
your own site, try going beyond the obvious examples and
connections.

Invite friends from different professions over for a
brainstorming party in which you suggest farflung contexts
for what you each do. Laugh at the improbable - then
consider whether there's a viable publicity strategy there.

*******************

THIS WEEK'S SPECIAL: My most popular publicity service -
a press release makeover turning your draft into a polished,
newsworthy media magnet - is ridiculously underpriced at just
$195. Through June 16, when you place an order for a press
release makeover ($195) or for a release written from scratch
(only $395), you also receive a one-hour audio recording
explaining the ins and outs of the press release distribution
process.

In this recording, created for my Marketing for More
mentoring program, I answer common questions about
distribution options, timing and what to expect from sending
out a release.

Get informed as you reach for publicity, till June 16 only:

http://www.pressreleasehelp.com

*******************

MORE MARCIA...

Marketing Mastery CD Club:
http://www.marketingformore.com/cdclub.htm

Mentoring Program:
http://www.marketingformore.com

Naming & Tag Line Service:
http://www.namedatlast.com

Press Releases & Distribution:
http://www.pressreleasehelp.com

*******************

For a free weekly marketing tip, subscribe:
http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm

===================

Until next time,
Paulette - happy to spotlight a booklet author and glad another colleague did, too

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

Booklets - Got Media?

2009-06-09T09:44:00.001-07:00

You may be familiar with a free service called HARO (Help a Reporter Out) by Peter Shankman. They recently celebrated their first year anniversary in providing queries from journalists looking for people to interview. It's been a raging success. (www.shankman.com) In fact, your booklet many have benefited from one or more interviews you got from this service.

This week, the blog version of that service has been started by a long-time colleague, Cathy Stucker. You'll find details and free sign-up at  http://BloggerLinkUp.com/ There's a reason Cathy bills herself as The Idea Lady. This is yet another glowing example of one of her many excellent ideas.

Until next time,
Paulette - greatly admiring and appreciating these services and the people behind them

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

Where and How You Learn

2009-06-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Last week in New York, I taught three workshops and I learned from each of them. Some of that happened simultaneously, in fact, since my audiences and clients are always teaching me stuff I had no reason to know before they shared their knowledge. You may be like me, that your best learning is not necessarily in formal situations or when something is intended as a learning experience. I'll hear a phrase that someone uses to identify something, and realize it's the perfect label. That's how Collection of Experts got its name. Or someone will ask for the Word document format of a Collection of Experts so they can go sell it on mobile hand-held devices like the Kindle or Sony Reader or Moby Reader, all of which I basically know nothing about.

I heard a particular colleague speak last week for the umpteenth time. I always learn something new from him, no matter how many times I hear him speak or read anything he writes. After all, how could I possibly learn all that he has to share when I hear him an hour at a time in classes, or read articles or his book. There is always more.

Next time you worry about giving away all your knowledge in your tips booklet, think about the reality of that, would you? Is it really possible to share everything you know in a tips booklet? No, of course it isn't. Your people will learn something from you every single time they have contact with you in any format you present your knowledge.

Until next time,
Paulette - fascinated by how and where the learning presents itself

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

How Americans Do Business Relationships

2009-06-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had coffee with a consultant I met at a seminar. The consultant's specialty is in doing business in Mexico and helping others do business in Mexico. Over the years, I've known a number of consultants whose focus is on international business and what's involved in it. One thing that keeps jumping out is the difference in how Americans do business compared with many (most?) other countries.

This consultant explained it to me at a very basic level. It made so much sense. As Americans, we often see that there's a tree and go in to grab whatever fruit we see on that tree. You've likely heard the phrase "low hanging fruit." That usually applies to where to put your sales efforts. Go after whatever seems the easiest sale to make, the easiest fruit to pick. This colleague said doing good business in many countries looks more like going in, planting the tree, letting it mature, and then carefully harvesting the fruit it bears so that it continues bearing fruit over a long period of time.

Although I am not particularly known for my patience in many things, the seed planting and then harvesting carefully over time sure seems to make a whole lot of sense when it comes to building a long-lasting business relationship. In fact, it makes sense for building any kind of relationship, don't you think? It gave me great pause, as I've just returned from attending a publishing conference for the seventh consecutive year, where many relationships are taking every bit of seven years to produce fruit that can be harvested.

Until next time,
Paulette - wondering why I'm so surprised by all of this!

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

Important Tools for Booklet Authors

2009-05-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

Depending on your personality style, you're drawn to particular methods of promotion and sales for your booklets. Email and the Internet have presented easy, endless, and economical possibilities to reach a broader audience of targeted decision makers. That's become so much the case that now the very "yesterday" approaches have turned into the more effective ways. Here's two cases in point, from among the many possibilities you can consider or re-consider:

* Telephone - when someone emails a question or comment to me about booklets, and their phone number or website address is in that email, my immediate reaction is to pick up the phone and call them. This has brought more sales and loyal followers than I can tell you. First, it shocks the living daylights out of them that I called, especially when the call was 2 seconds after they hit "send" on that email. The call personalizes the interaction and allows us to explore what it is that best suits their want at that time. Sales often happen, either immediately or sometime later.

* Face to Face
<> Workshops and seminars, either as an attendee or as a speaker, allow an interaction that's even better than telephone sometimes. People are there because of their interest in the event, which says something right away. And they paid something to be there, even if it was connected to the transportation.

<> Add food or drink into the mix and it makes the connection stronger. You also have the opportunity to show and tell with booklet samples in hand.

<>Formal in-person presentations to large quantity decision makers, without food or seminar involved are also warranted at times. You've probably done these, as have I. The conversation usually starts by phone or a face to face somewhere and moves on to the formal meeting.

<>And then there are the endless number of networking groups, which require great focus to accomplish the outcome you want.

While I love email and the Internet, and I'm likely to keep those as a mainstay of my marketing, it makes no sense to ignore the results that come and will always come from that more personalized one on one approach. Pick up the phone and see what happens for yourself!

Until next time,
Paulette - noticing how the old becomes new again

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

Describe Your Booklet

2009-05-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

If/when you describe your tips booklet, what do you say? Do you talk about the size of it in pages or dimensions? Do you use words that focus on how it will be helpful to the reader? Does it really matter?

Yes, it does. How it helps the reader/buyer is all that matters, in fact. Who cares if the cover is white and the title is in purple ink? And so what if it's 16 pages? The reader could find something important on one page, or on no pages!

Think about this the next time you describe your booklet. Say how it will be helpful instead of how it was constructed. That's how you best serve your buyer and how you best serve yourself with more sales.

Until next time,
Paulette - reminding you (and me) that it is always about how it benefits the buyer

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

Booklets and Other Stuff - Why Don't They Buy?

2009-05-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

You may know I'm a huge fan of Marcia Yudkin and her work. This week's Marketing Minute hit the nail on the head so precisely on an issue you've probably had that I couldn't help but bring it to you. Here's her Marketing Minute from this week, in full. Subscribe to it yourself. It's one pearl after another each week.
=============================

          ** The Marketing Minute **
    brought to you every Wednesday by Marcia Yudkin
       Marketing Consultant, Author, Speaker
         http://www.yudkin.com/marketing.htm
            http://www.marketingformore.com
            http://www.pressreleasehelp.com
              http://www.namedatlast.com
               mailto:marcia@yudkin.com

                *******************

If you've ever wailed "Why don't they get it?" because
people who clearly need your services don't flock to buy,
try this typology on for size.

Group 1:  They have a problem but do not realize they have
a problem.

Group 2:  They realize they have a problem but understand it
very differently than you do.  For example, you'd diagnose a
midlife crisis, but they consider their wild behavior and
anguish a marital problem or career dilemma. 

Group 3:  They know they have a problem and understand it
roughly as you would but call it something else.

Group 4:  They know they have a problem and understand and
name it as you do.

Members of Group 4 are the easiest to get in the door as
clients.  Group 3 are also easily snagged as long as you
discover and use their words.

Group 2 require more imaginative educational outreach, as
they are looking for a different sort of solution or tool
than you offer.

Stop trying to reach Group 1, the oblivious, as they will
never seek you out or respond to your marketing.

                *******************

RESIZZLE YOUR BUSINESS:  Last week's Marketing Minute
prompted several emails from readers wondering how they can
revamp their business with a more current rationale.  I'm
putting together an intensive "rebrand your business"
coaching program this summer for a limited number of
participants. 

To receive the description of the program in a few days,
press "reply" and tell me your marketing challenge.

Missed last week's Marketing Minute?  You can find it at
http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm .

                *******************

IMPLEMENT A PLAN:  If your business is properly positioned
but you're flailing (and therefore failing) in marketing it,
my mini-marketing plan gives you feasible, coherent to-do's
tailored to your goals and target audience.

Details:
http://www.yudkin.com/marketingplan.htm

                *******************
If you enjoy The Marketing Minute, please forward it to
friends and colleagues.  It comes to you every Wednesday
from publicity and marketing consultant Marcia
Yudkin, author of Web Site Marketing Makeover and
10 other books.  P.O. Box 305, Goshen, MA 01032.

For a free weekly marketing tip, subscribe: 
http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm

=================

So, do YOU get it?

Until next time,
Paulette - who loves learning from colleagues like Marcia

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

Booklet Benefits

2009-05-12T09:16:00.001-07:00

What's the benefit of your booklet to the recipient? That seems like a simple question, yet one that many booklet authors never consider. It does get somewhat complicated, too, when your buyer is a corporation or association or website rather than the end-user.

So let's back up here for a moment. You write your booklet because you have information to share, whether from your professional life or personal life. You write your booklet because you want it to market your business and/or to bring in new revenue directly by selling it. Okay, so those are the benefits to you, the author.

Back to the benefits to the recipient. The large-quantity buyer and the end-user do have some similarities in how the booklet benefits them, or rather CAN benefit them. It will make their life more, better, or different in some way. The booklet can make the large-quantity buyer's life better as a vehicle to help them sell more of their own product or get their own word out there further. The booklet can make the end-user's life better by bringing new knowledge to them that will enhance their life.

It is ALL about the benefits of your booklet. Keep that in mind when talking with anyone and you are very likely to benefit by selling a whole lot more booklets.

Until next time,
Paulette - bringing good stuff to better serve people

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

Booklet on Tips for Parenting

2009-05-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Amazing grasp of the obvious alert: Some booklet topics have broader appeal than others. The breadth of the topic can be the good news or the bad news, depending on how you approach it. You've certainly heard about the importance of creating a niche, of narrowing your focus. Right now there is a Collection of Experts tips booklet forming, bringing together the respective niche expertise about parenting. It's a fascinating process for me to observe and to facilitate. The most obvious divisions are based on the ages they are discussing. Additional divisions are within those age groups, based on challenges to address. It becomes a matter of endless possibilities. Half the 14 slots in this booklet are filled, and going fast. If your expertise is about parenting, grab one of the places for yourself. And you get some freebie things for participating, too, along with 13 other people marketing you. Let me know any questions you have, or just jump right in through the link on Parenting Tips at the bottom of www.CollectionOfExperts.com

Until next time,
Paulette - grateful for the education my clients give me

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

Tips Booklets - Who Turned Up the Volume?

2009-05-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

The past two weekends have been unusual. It's been a lot of sensory overload, with tons and tons of ideas. Ok, so it's not possible to truly weigh ideas. That wasn't meant to be literal. Anyway, two weekends of multi-day events about marketing, attended as a student. The good news is the dozens and dozens of new connections (both nationally and internationally, by the way) and ways of looking at what can be done. Lots of "what," with some "how" thrown in.

Yes, I know I shared with you last week about the first of these two weekends. Read on to get the full dosage, though.

It's important to shake things up once in awhile, especially these days. One of several themes going on at these events was the importance, the requirement, of doing things differently than we've done before. It can take a lot to look objectively at what you (and I) do and have done for a long time. After all, I do booklets. That's what I do. Yeah, that's swell. And what ELSE do I do?

Years ago while doing my undergrad degree as a classical musician, the president of the college said "you go to a concert to hear two things -- what you like, and what you don't like." Same reason to get out of the office to events like these two. It's a golden opportunity to see some new ways to do things that I would like, and a great chance to see things I don't like.

I found contacts to explore doing international licensing of my booklet, and maybe act as an agent for some other booklets in that same vein. Another person asked if I was interested in customizing my home study course for two particular industries, in substantial quantity. Uh, hell yes! By the way, I had been all too close to that one for way too long to even see that possibility.

Then the Internet. Some of what was discussed has zero appeal to how I'm constructed and what appeals to me. Oher ideas were ones bearing more investigation because they initially resonated. There were speakers who were more and less appealing in what they offered and how they offered it. I went to one of the events because I wanted to meet some of the speakers whose names had been familiar for many years yet we'd never shaken hands.

If you're wondering whether I've decompressed from all of this yet, it's a resounding NO. Bits and pieces are getting done while savoring several of the ideas I want to implement sooner rather than later.

In a few weeks, I'll be in NYC for the week, presenting some workshops this time. You better believe you'll learn a whole lot more than the last time you were at one of my sessions! Here's the link to sign up today for the NYC workshop. You'll definitely want to be there.

http://www.tipsbooklets.com/nyc2009.htm

Next time you've run out of ideas or into a wall, go to a workshop. Meet some people. Get some new ideas. Then you can figure out what to do first!

Until next time,
Paulette - happy to have gone

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

Booklets Worldwide

2009-04-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Do you view your booklet, business, and life as something that happens within a small range of zip codes or postal codes? It's almost impossible for that to be the case these days, whether you ever come out from behind your computer keyboard or not.

1994 was when I first got online. Within 3 days, a post on a forum jumped out from a guy in Italy. Several thousand dollars got wired directly to my checking account 18 months later to license my booklet into the Italian language. This past December, and again this past weekend, I met two different people from Italy at live workshop events I attended. Because the Italian language license had long expired, I was able to revisit the possibility of issuing another Italian license for that booklet. I have yet to visit Italy, though there are now some people to see when I do. My booklet, however, will be visiting Italy.

The same happened with a Dutch language license of the same booklet. A few years ago someone in Holland heard an archived audio file of an online radio interview I did. The Dutch person emailed to inquire about licensing the booklet into the Dutch language. This past weekend there was a different person from Holland attending the live workshop I attended, allowing us to discuss the possibility of a new Dutch language license for the booklet. While I've had the pleasure of visiting Holland once a couple years ago on vacation, these deals happened or may happen without ever getting on an airplane.

Someone was at the workshop this weekend from Singapore. I was able to make an introduction for that person to a client of mine who also lives in Singapore.

Think beyond, no matter where you are in your process. There's always more -- ALWAYS.

Until next time,
Paulette - open to possibilities worldwide

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

Booklets - Small Size, Huge Impact on Business

2009-04-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Many people have some level of interest in booklets. The interest level goes from ambivalence to over-the-top enthusiasm, and everything in between. The part that is often overlooked is the direct impact the booklets have on your business and on your clients' business. You'll be seeing more emphasis on this in weeks to come because that's really what this booklet phenom is all about and it's time to reinforce that.

So, for your business, the impact on your bottom line is both direct and indirect. Here's a few thoughts to jog your imagination some.

Direct

Sell booklets, one at a time, to people who hear you speak or want to know more about your business.
Sell booklets, many at a time, to companies who want to use them to promote their business.
Sell booklets, many at a time, to associations who want to use them as a member benefit or as an income generation for their group.
Sell rights to websites to use your booklet to drive more traffic and sales to their site.
Sell rights to companies, associations, and websites to have a different language version to use as a promotional tool.

Indirect

Position yourself as an expert so people will want to hire you as a speaker, trainer, consultant.
Help yourself build a platform for future sales of your products and/or services.
Allow you to donate a product for general publicity and good will.

Writing a booklet is the easy part of this, even if you view yourself as a non-writer. There are formulas to follow that make it do-able for even the most writing-challenged booklet author.

The most important part of this is not the size of the finished product or the small amount of time it took to write the booklet (compared to a book) or the small financial investment to get the booklet produced. The most important part is the impact the product has on your business' bottom line. That is huge.

Until next time,
Paulette - reminding you that small booklets have a huge impact on your bottom line

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

Booklet Formats - Variation on a Theme

2009-04-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Having a basic template for a booklet is often a good starting point, yet not the finish line. Tips booklets have had a distinct writing style and format for almost two decades. That said, some booklet authors have chosen to modify that writing style and overall format into a variety of presentations and for a variety of reasons.

Certain topics do better with illustrations to further explain the concepts presented in the text. That's one reason to change from text-only. Some booklet authors have made their booklet more interactive, with worksheet pages or checklists. That, too, works well for some subjects. Others have written in a more narrative writing style, which often moves away from being tips as much as philosophical statements. And now that the technology has advanced to the point it has, using more color is more affordable than it's ever been. The overall size of the booklet may merit something different than 4" x 9" if it's meant to be packaged with something that doesn't suit those dimensions.

Like any other business decision, modifying a basic template is a great idea when there's a strategic reason to do it. Does that apply to your booklet?

Until next time,
Paulette - who teaches the basics so they can then be tweaked to work best

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

Booklets - Now More Than Ever

2009-04-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

As companies and associations realize the importance of "staying out there" with their marketing, booklets and the contents of the booklets are the perfect match to use as marketing tools. While many organizations have used books (ala 200-250 pages) in the past as premiums and incentives to prompt sales, tips booklets are a better solution than ever because:

They cost less than books
It's a faster read of valuable information than books
The content is easy to slice and dice into other formats, especially for digital delivery

Look at the associations, companies, and websites you think would be ideal matches for your content and talk to the folks who will find your booklet(s) and your content to be the ideal solution for them, right now and in the future.

Until next time,
Paulette - passing along what I know to be true

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

Tips Booklets Business - from the Outside Looking In

2009-04-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Talking with one of my mentors this morning, Adam Urbanksi, he drove home a point that was important to hear. Adam has known of my tips booklets work for years before we ever met this past December. During today's monthly laser consulting session that's part of the year-long mentoring program I'm doing with him, I asked him, point blank, what he would say to describe my business. After a slight pause to gather his thoughts, he said he's always known me as the tips booklets person, and that no one could touch me on that niche, and that lately, making reference to "information products" instead of only tips booklets may be diluting the strength of my brand.

He addressed something I'd been wondering for awhile, in fact. Had I fallen prey to trying to be all things to all people, losing my edge in the process? Of course that's the last thing in the world I'd want right now, since it's taken a steady 18 years to become the Booklet Queen and I'm not ready to shift gears into a different business yet. There's still so much more to do with tips booklets. He gave me some excellent suggestions about some things to do to keep that brand strong. You'll be seeing signs of his input shortly.

What Adam accomplished with me in that short time on the phone today is invaluable. It's a sampling of the great stuff I've gotten from him since December. And it's why I'm attending his InfoProfit Success Bootcamp this month. Several of my clients/colleagues are also going.

How about you? Will you be there? Here's a link to take you right to all the details to make it happen. Let me know you're going so I can give you a gift of my own -- some personalized laser consulting that will be as powerful for you as Adam's input is for me. http://budurl.com/8sh5

Until next time,
Paulette - experiencing a year of unprecedented growth

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

Booklets, Books, and Bookstores - NOT

2009-04-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

The traditional publishing model has been ailing for decades. You know, the one where you have a great idea for a book, find an agent, the agent shops the book around to traditional publishers, a publisher offers you an advance payment against future royalties so you can live while you write your book, the publication is at least a year away, the publisher prints and distributes the book to bookstores, the bookstores keep small quantities of your book on the shelf for a limited amount of time, they return the ones that didn't sell (which are most of them, in unresalable condition), and you make no money. Oh, and you also got to plan and deliver most of the publicity about the book yourself.

Yes, that publishing model.

In fact, most of the components of that process are now dead or at least drastically modified. Yet many authors continue approaching publishing expecting it to be as it was decades ago, sick then and sicker now.

It makes no sense to me. Does it make any sense to you?

The authors and publishers who are flourishing now are doing it all differently. They are selling their books and booklets and other formats of their content to non-bookstore markets -- to corporations, associations, the military, gift stores, websites, and just about anything BUT bookstores. And they sell them in very large quantities for use as a promotional item and/or to distribute to their employees or other constituents. They are making them available as downloads so people can have the content instantly anywhere in the world.

Next time you have even the most fleeting thought of a bookstore, ask yourself why. And then think about the thousands and thousands of other places and ways to bring your knowledge to those who want it.

Until next time,
Paulette - encouraging bigger thinking

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

Booklets - Where Do You Start Writing and Marketing?

2009-04-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

Do you start your booklet prompted by what you determine as a need in the market place that you fill? Or do you start with expertise that you have, expecting to find buyers for it? Or is it a combination of both?

The reality is that it doesn't matter which of the above scenarios you choose. You can meet with challenges and meet with successes with each one of these approaches.

If you are a professional writer as your primary business, and do research as a way of life, you are likely to be prompted by what you see as a demand to fill. Your decision won't necessarily be driven by a passion about a particular topic as the motivating force for you to market what you've got.

You could be starting from the other end of the equation, with knowledge that you'll share with anyone, anytime, without being asked. And you want to get it all over everyone. You will succeed with that kind of enthusiasm, regardless of your topic. You want to write many booklets and put your information into other formats, to get your message as far as you can possibly reach.

And yes, in a perfect world, what your booklet is about is information that's in great demand, by buyers you can easily find and who easily find you.

The bottom line is that it really turns out not to matter where you start or what your motivation in writing tips booklets. There truly is a market for you.

Until next time,
Paulette - continuing to create "yes" answers

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

Who Is Your Mentor?

2009-03-31T10:48:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's true that it's easier than ever to teach yourself just about anything you want to learn these days with instant access to the Internet. And yes, it can also be more confusing than ever to know what teachers to follow, if any! This is especially true when it comes to the information products arena.

Depending on your personality and overall values you may be a lot like me, choosing to figure out as much as you can on your own, for all kinds of reasons. This person doesn't earn your trust because they aren't as smart as you'd like or that one has a personality too tough or too wimpy for you to feel comfortable following them. Or they don't feel authentic to you, just not the real deal. Yet another person teaches tons of theory without ever personally traveling the journey, in the trenches, first hand, and becomes unworthy of your time, resources, and attention.

Since you subscribe to my information (for which I thank you!), something about the content and/or my approach resonates with you. Otherwise you would have unsubscribed a long time ago. The great news is that there are many followers of this information who have been around from almost the beginning, going to new levels learning more all the time, experiencing successes they never imagined. You may be among them. You get what you want, implement it, go away for awhile, and then come back when you're ready for more.

Last Fall, I was antsy about where my business was going. I needed new oxygen, new ideas, a broader circle of people, and, yes, maybe a mentor. As things have a way of happening, I listened to one of many teleclasses, as much to hear the content as to learn new format and delivery methods. This particular teleclass was presented by a guy whose name was very familiar to me, though we'd never met in person in spite of living about an hour apart and traveling in many of the same professional circles.

Every time I'd ever heard his name, it was always in glowing terms. As you may know, it takes a lot to impress me. This guy did, big time. His name, by the way, is Adam Urbanski. Maybe you've heard of him, too.

Adam is smart, successful, personable, generous, and an outstanding business person. All of that and more made me decide to attend a 4-day workshop he gave in December and immediately go on to a year-long mentoring program with him. These were decisions I didn't make lightly, either. I cannot say enough good things about my experience and the results I've had in just these first few months.

Like any learning experience, I take what I want or need and leave the rest. There's been plenty to take, and yes, some things that just are not my cup of tea and didn't resonate for me.

In a few short weeks, I'll be attending another 4-day workshop that Adam is presenting, focused on Info Products. There's no question in my mind that it will be every bit as powerful and fun as the first one was. Besides learning directly from Adam, the connections and re-connections I made in December were worth much more than the time and money I invested, many times over. The event attracted people from throughout North America as well as Europe. These people are now business colleagues of mine in a range of ways.

Oh, and did I tell you my business has become more lucrative and more fun? Maybe you've already noticed that or figured it out.

As I said, I'll be at this next event, Info Profit Success Bootcamp, and would love to see you there, too. Adam makes it as easy as anyone possibly could for you to attend and even bring someone along with you. Go see what I mean at his site.

Info Profit Success Bootcamp

That's where you'll find all the details of "when," "where," "who," "what," and "how." You'll even discover more reasons about "why" than the ones I mentioned here.

In the past, I've told myself endless reasons why not to go to things like this and why not to have a mentor. All I can tell you is things have changed dramatically since I removed those reasons and showed up. My company, like other people who are thriving right now are educating themselves and marketing. This is an excellent opportunity for you to do both, and have a ton of fun in the process.

Let me know any questions you have. I'm happy to talk directly with you about how this has benefited me, and, in the process, benefited you!

See you soon at Adam Urbanski's Info Profit Success Bootcamp. He's got plenty of mentoring capability to go around and I'd love to help get some of that all over you.

Until next time,
Paulette - ever evaluating the resources to share with you

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

Booklets Reach More Digital Deliveries

2009-03-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

A participant in one of the www.CollectionOfExperts.com booklets contacted me to ask for her booklet as a Word document. Usually that would not be something I'd provide since it was already designed by our graphic designer, and a Word doc is vulnerable to all manner of unintended changes.

When the participant told me what was behind her request, I immediately obliged. This is what she wrote me:

I am working on publishing (selling) the tips book in multiple formats.
Sony Reader (LRF)
Kindle (.mobi)
Palm Doc (PDB)

Here is my issue, I have to upload the book as a Word doc , it’s then processed and sold in various formats, not offered as a Word doc. Can/will you supply a word doc?

This is the first request or mention of its kind with anyone participating in www.CollectionOfExperts.com booklets. Don't you just love it when a client teaches you something that is perfect to pass along for everyone else's benefit?

Yet one more way your involvement in a www.CollectionOfExperts.com booklet can benefit you and the other 13 people in your booklet.

There is one with 2 slots still available - Thrive in Business in Any Economy. Does that slot have your name on it?

Until next time,
Paulette - appreciative of my clients and their ingenuity

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