Marketing - The Booklet
The Booklet Journey
Way back in 1991, when my organizing business was already 8 years old, I spotted an offer for a free copy of a booklet called “117 Ideas For Better Business Presentations”. Well, because I do business presentations, and because the price was right, I sent for it. My first reaction was, ‘geez, I could knock something like this out about organizing tips.’ Then I threw it in a drawer.
Six months later I was sitting in my office, bored, baffled and beaten down by the difficulty of selling my consulting services and workshops. I had no money. I mean no money!
I remembered that little booklet. I had no idea how I was going to do it, but something hit me, and I knew I had to produce a booklet on organizing tips.
I started dumping all those ideas I ever had about getting organized onto a file on my computer. These were all pearls that came out of my mouth when I was with clients or when I did a speaking engagement or a seminar. I could do one booklet on business organizing tips and another on household organizing tips. Two 16-page tips booklets, each fitting into a #10 envelope. The first one was “110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life” and the second one “111 Ideas for Organizing Your Household”.
My first run was 250 copies. That was the most expensive per-unit run I made, but I had to get samples to distribute to start making money. It took a few months to pay the printer only $300.
The only way I could think of selling the booklets was by sending a copy to magazines and newspapers, asking them to use excerpts and put an invitation at the bottom for readers to send $3 plus a self-addressed stamped envelope. I had no money to advertise.
Then the orders started dribbling in, envelopes with $3 checks in them or 3 one-dollar bills. This was great stuff. I remember the day the first one arrived. It was like manna from heaven:$3! Of course, the fact that it took about 6 months from first starting to write the booklet until the first $3 arrived somehow didn’t matter at that moment.
I cast seeds all over the place, hoping that some would sprout. I found directories of publications at the library and started building my list.
Finally, February of 1992 ‘the big one hit. A 12-page biweekly newsletter with 1.6 million readers ran nine lines of copy ABOUT my booklet. They didn’t even use excerpts!! That sold 5000 copies of my booklet. I distinctly remember the day I went to my P.O. box and found a little yellow slip in my box. It said, ’see clerk’.
There was a TUB of envelopes that had arrived that day, about 250 envelopes as I recall, all with $3 in them. In April, that same biweekly newsletter ran a similar nine lines about my household booklet, starting all over again. This time I sold 3000 copies.
Round about June, I stopped and assessed what had happened. Was I making any money? By then, I had sold about 15,000 copies of the business and the household organizing tips booklets one copy at a time for $3. When I checked my financial records, I realized I had tediously generated not a ton of money. And some of the lessons I had learned along the way were expensive ones. I didn’t realize my bank was charging me $.12 for each item deposited until I got my first bank statement with a service charge of $191. Some very wonderful things happened while selling those 15,000 copies though.
· A public seminar company ordered a review copy to consider building another product from my booklet. They did, and I recorded an audio program based on the booklet. I can sell that tape to my clients as well and it led to a 20-minute interview on a major airline’s in-flight audio programming during November and December one year.
· I was sorting through the envelopes, …$3, $3, ,$1000, $3, ….. wait a minute. Well, a manufacturer’s rep decided to send my booklets to his customers that year instead of an imprinted calendar.
· A company asked me to write a booklet that was more specific to their product line.
· I got speaking engagements from people who bought the booklet.
· I found out that the list of people who bought my booklet was a saleable product.
Things were starting to pick up. So, back to June and taking stock of where I was. You know those advertising card decks in the mail? Well, that day in June I was so bored, I opened one. Glancing through it, I said, ‘jeez, here’s a company that oughta see my booklet. And here’s another one, and another one.’ I sent booklets to each.
Less than a week later, a woman called. At first, it sounded like a prospecting call. Fortunately, I wasn’t too abrupt with her. She was calling to ask me the cost of 5000 customized copies of my booklet for an upcoming trade show. She wanted to know if I could match a certain price.
I slightly underbid her price, she was thrilled and the sale was a done-deal. I thought, ‘oh, this will be easy to sell large quantities now’. Wrong. It was another three-four months until the next large-quantity sale. But, the trade show they were attending was an organization I had contacted about getting my booklet into their catalog. They rejected it because I wasn’t in their industry. So, my buyer had bought 5000 copies of my booklet, with my company information in it, to distribute at that trade show. I loved it!
One day, a guy I know from a major consumer mail- order catalog company said, “Why don’t you license us reprint rights to your booklet. We can buy print cheaper than you, so if you charged us a few cents a unit, you wouldn’t have to do production.” Well, 18 months later after lots of zigging and zagging that sale happened: a non-exclusive agreement for them to print 250,000 copies. We exchanged a ten-page contract for a five-digit check.
They provided the booklet free with any purchase in one issue of their catalog and made a 13% increase in sales in that issue. They were happy. I was happy.
I looked for other licensing prospects (even though it took eighteen months for this sale to happen, and the five-digit check was low five-digits, not enough to sustain me).
Round about spring 1993, I designed a class on how to write and market booklets and wrote an 80-page manual. The class was small and mostly people I knew. They paid me money, and I had a chance to test-run the class. So now, I had another new product, an 80-page manual, a blueprint of how I had then sold more than 50,000 copies of my booklet without spending a penny on advertising.
I like teaching and now I had a new topic besides the organizing I had been presenting. I also like traveling. So I took the 3-hour class on the road and had great fun doing it.
I toured the country for about 2 years, 6-8 classes a year. Many people have written interesting booklets on all kinds of topics. Some have hired me to write a customized marketing plan for their booklet or to coach them by phone to develop their booklet business.
Midway through that year (August 1994), I discovered CompuServe. My sole purpose for getting online was to market my business. The third day I was online, I saw a forum message from a guy from Italy who had a marketing company there. He told me his client base was small businesses and companies who served small businesses. I told him I had a booklet he might find useful. I sent it to him, he liked it and we struck a deal. He translated, produced and marketed it, and paid me royalties on all sales. This January he wired several thousand dollars to my checking account from Italy. He made the first sale of 105,000 copies to a magazine that bundled a copy of my booklet with one issue of their publication.
That meant I have sold more than 400,000 copies of my booklet, in two languages, without spending a penny on advertising.
One slow week, I posted a message on some CompuServe forums about the story of the Italian booklet as an example of an online success story. Even though blatant selling is not allowed, creating mutually beneficial relationships is. I had received money from someone I had never spoken to and had only communicated with online, by fax, earth mail and EFT.
Folks who read those postings replied that they would be interested in doing the same thing with my booklet, but in French and in Japanese. This never even dawned on me.
At this moment, I have discussions open with people in 10 different countries. Once these relationships are established, it makes sense to discuss brokering some of the other booklets I have access to among the people from my classes or whom I’ve coached or who have bought my manual. I’ve also discovered licensing opportunities for my booklet content in other formats.
· Two different companies who produce laminated guides (one hinged, the other spiral bound) licensed my content and will launch these next year. They are also interested in other content so I expect to broker the content of booklet writers.
· An in-flight video information service is interested in expanding their content and is looking at my proposal.
· I’ve created a new division in my company called Tips Products International.
· I’ve started writing tips for booklet production and other uses by developing three different packages of 25-100 tips and recommended uses. The tips packages are created from the clients’ materials recycled into tips or doing original research for them.
· I’ve been writing customized marketing plans for people’s booklets for a while now, which fits into the menu of services for this division.
I never could have written a business plan for how this has all unfolded.
————————————————————————————
Paulette Ensign has never taken a business course in her life. She taught string instruments in public elementary schools for eleven years, and did all her computer online work with no hard drive and a 2400 baud modem until recently. She has a complete how-to manual/video/booklet package and by-phone Tele-classes for the do-it-yourselfer, consulting services for those who prefer partnering, and full writing and production services for the delegator.
Paulette Ensign, President
Tips Products International
booklets@compuserve.com
http://www.tipsbooklets.com
12675 Camino Mira Del Mar #179 San Diego, CA 92130
Phone: 858-481-0890
Fax: 858-793-0880
Genealogy Name Listing
The hobby of genealogy — researching one’s heritage and family tree — has been going strong for the past 25 years and is showing no signs of slowing down. Each year hundreds of thousands of people buy books, software, consulting services, etc. in order to track down their family history.
One way that you can cash in on this phenomenon is by compiling a directory based on people with the same last name. Take the name Martin, for example. You could create a directory that has the names and addresses of thousands of Martins. The names and addresses can be found in phone directories. You can sell the directory via mail order by mailing a postcard or letter to people in your directory.
If you are successful with the first directory, you can compile more directories based on different names.
Business Anniversary List
Research and compile a list of companies that have upcoming anniversaries in 25 year increments. The 25th, 50th, 75th and 100th anniversaries are almost always celebrated by companies. And these companies will need to buy products and services to help them celebrate — advertising specialties inscribed with the anniversary and founding dates, printed items — such as invoices — that tout their 25th anniversary, new advertisements that work the anniversary into their marketing campaign.
If you can compile a list of these companies about 1 year before the big anniversary you can sell this list to companies that stand to profit from the anniversary celebration. These companies include advertising specialty companies, award and recognition companies, printers and PR firms.
A specialized list such as this could sell for $200 — $300 or more per thousand names. Contact a mailing list broker for lists of companies which would benefit from such a list. Then, mail these companies a sales letter that explains exactly how your anniversary list will benefit them.
Personalized Poems
“Roses are red
Violets are blue
It’s your birthday
And I love you.”
Let’s face it. Most people aren’t poets. No matter how hard they try, they always revert to the old standby of roses are red; violets are blue.
If that old worn-out old stanza makes you cringe, then you’ve got the opportunity to change the face of personal poetry. There’s a reason greeting cards are so popular. Most people want to send loving sentiments—whether serious, funny or off-the-way—to their loved ones on special occasions like holidays, birthdays and anniversaries and to commemorate life changing events like engagements, weddings and births. The problem is a lot of people either don’t have the time, the inclination or the knack for writing personal sentiments.
That’s where you come in.
You can offer personalized poems, for any occasion, to your customers. Best of all, you don’t have to limit yourself in how you present those poems. For example, you might sell them as greeting cards, or you could write the poem in calligraphy, mat and frame it. You could also create little pocket cards with the poem on one side and a “To: Name; From: Name” on the other side. You might ask your customer for a special photo and write the poem in script below the poem then frame it. If you’re good at wood burning, you may want to offer your poems that way. Your imagination will take you a long way.
Marketing is important all year around, but you’ll probably find your busiest time to be around the Christmas holidays. When you market—whether it’s through classified ads or flyers—really emphasize how unique a gift a personalized poem is. After all, anyone can walk into a Hallmark store and purchase a generic card, right? A personalized poem requires time and effort, thus making it even more special than a normal greeting card.
A great way to advertise your poems—in addition to classifieds—is to have a booth at a craft or church fair. You can showcase some of your previous work, and you already know the people at the fair are looking for something different. Offer to write the poems on the spot (this may be easier for some than others since all writers work differently), or get the customer’s information then write and send the poem at a later date.
In order to write the best poems for your customers, you may want to have them fill out brief “order forms.” On the forms, have them tell you what they want to say and whether they want the poem to be funny or serious. Also have them tell you a little bit about the recipient. Get as much pertinent information as you can, so you can write a poem that really fits the recipient.
“Your Town” Booklet
Did you know…
· The only state capital in the United States that doesn’t have a McDonald’s is Montpelier, Vermont?
· Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the home to the United States’ first zoo, erected in 1876?
· Juneau, Alaska, is the largest city in the United States at 3,108 square miles?
· Los, Angeles is the smallest American city at 458.2 square miles?
· Washington D.C., our nation’s capital, was built on a swamp?
· The first outdoor mini-golf courses were built in 1926, atop NYC roofs.
Every city and town has thousands of unique facts that are just waiting to be uncovered. Start digging into the facts about your hometown, or a variety of other cities, and publish a fun, fact-filled booklet called “1001 Unusual Facts about Your Town.”
You’ll find this booklet is a fun way to learn more about different towns and cities. Of course, it will require you to spend time on research, probably the most time consuming part of the process. Discover the 1001 facts by visiting the library, local historical society or thumbing through the archives of local newspapers. An online search may also help you during the research process.
Once you’ve compiled the 1001 facts, you’ll want to determine how to lay them out in the booklet. Will you include photos? Will you include artwork? How will you present each of these facts? Will you present them simply stated as the facts are stated above, or will you go into more detail, perhaps a paragraph per fact? These are all things you want to think about when you’re designing the booklet.
You can get the booklet printed at a local print shop or at one of the chains like Kinko’s. Once you finish the booklet for the area you’ve chosen, you may want to move on and start producing booklets for other cities and towns. Consider producing booklets on towns or cities that are popular tourist spots like Atlantic City, Washington D.C., Boston or Los Angeles.
Have your booklets stocked on the shelves of local bookshops, tourist, gift and novelty shops.
Specialized Who’s Who
Directory
There’s always that one point in time when a business owner or manager needs help—and fast. Maybe his computer has been infected with a virus, and he has absolutely no idea how to fix it. Worse, he has no idea who to call. After all, he’s just a small business owner, used to doing everything himself. Even in non-business settings, people run across this problem every day. There’s a leak in the roof or a broken pipe. Who should you call?
Finding reliable people—no matter what their profession—can be a difficult task, but finding someone right away can be even tougher. That’s where the specialized “Who’s Who Directory” comes into play. By publishing a “Who’s Who” directory, you’re offering business owners and employers a valuable service that will save them hassle, time and potentially money.
First, you’ll need to decide what professions to include in your directory. Think about the many areas in which employers may need help: administrative, computer, creative (including writing, graphic design, photography), and technical, to name a few. Brainstorming should help you come up with many more potential professions you may want to include in your directory.
Once you’ve decided what professions to feature, you’ll now have to find professionals in your area you’ll want to include. You can do a search through your local Chamber of Commerce’s website for local professionals. The Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) has a section called “Business Cards” where small business professionals list their contact information. You might also consider placing a classified ad, stating anyone who would like to be included in a professional directory should send the business name, services or product offered and contact information.
You can publish a variety of “Who’s Who” or divide the directory into several sections such as Administrative, Computer, Creative and so on. Make sure to list the name of each person, or their small business and their contact information including email address and website, if applicable.
Once you’ve got your list compiled, you actually have several options. You can publish the directory in hard copy. You can also publish it online with a password protected website. The employer can purchase a yearly (or monthly, however you choose to offer it) subscription to the directory, which you can update periodically.
Find a creative way to market the directory to employers in your area, keeping in mind that people are extremely busy. Whether you send a brochure or call employers, make sure you keep your message short and to the point.
