How To Produce & Profit From Self-Published Booklets
& Guides
When it comes to promoting your product or service business, most
people think of the traditional marketing materials such as
brochures, flyers, newsletters, and the like. Of course, these
materials work just fine when written and designed properly, and
targeted to the right market. What most people don't consider
and
something you might after reading this is to use a simple booklet
to promote your business.
You may even want to produce an informative booklet to
sell by itself or in a series. There are many reasons why
your should consider booklets. Let's first explore the reasons
why booklets can help you fatten your wallet!
One simple reason to consider a booklet: people are hungry for
information and are willing to pay YOU good money for it! Now
when I say they will pay you for information-packed booklets
that help promote your business, service, or attract new associates
to your networking sales organization, understand that your
booklet does not always have to be sent to a prospect for
FREE.
Rather, I suggest you consider a small fee or a regular
retail price for two simple reasons: to build value and
to weed out the freebie seekers that drain your resources. You
will use the information your booklet provides to spell out in
detail further information on your products or services!
Yes, it's a DIFFERENT, and little-used marketing tool.
But it works!
For example, a few days ago in my daily load of mail, I received
a
small booklet I'm looking at as I write this from my cluttered
computer desk. This little booklet, essentially a 24-page pamphlet,
is created by a well-known publisher of a wide variety of materials
on multi-level marketing.
This simple booklet has been around for quite a few years
and explains in the simplest of terms how multi-level marketing
works. And although I received it for free (someone trying
to recruit me into their MLM organization sent it along
with other sales materials), most people will pay a small
sum for it to send to potential prospects.
The writer/publisher gets more mileage out of this booklet than
sales revenues alone. He is also seen as an expert is his
field (MLM). And of course, this does a great deal to help
his publishing and self-promotion efforts. This booklet,
hence, serves a two-fold
purpose: 1), it makes money off the initial sale (and includes
an
order form at the back to receive more of the publisher's offerings);
and 2) The publisher is perceived as a knowledgeable resource
on
the booklet's subject.
You can see by this simple example that a booklet can help you
promote just about any product or service, while making a
tidy sum from the initial sale. And of course, I highly
encourage you to publish one or even a series of booklets
for an additional source of revenue to whatever products or
services you market now. Self-published booklets can be a very
profitable sideline business.
The added benefit of being perceived as an expert, or at least
very
knowledgeable on the subject of your booklet, will move your buyers
to purchase more of your products or services from you in the
future because they have in their hands a REAL, TANGIBLE
product that you produced!
Using a booklet to help promote your products or services is
an UNUSUAL promotion method. Maybe you've never thought of using
one.
Or maybe you've decided a brochure is the best way to spell out
the benefits that your customers get when they choose you
over your competitors. And don't get me wrong - I'm not
saying to use a booklet instead of a brochure! If a brochure
works for you, then stick with it.
For the most part, a brochure is a good choice when your products
or services require a very short amount of detail to help
"close" a
prospect. Consider a booklet when you want to cover a lot of ground, giving
your prospect/buyer a fairly large amount of detail. Booklets
can run just about any length - within reason - but be sure not
to go overboard and add to your prospect's information overload!
Usually, 8 to 12 pages will do the job nicely.
For instance, two clients of mine (partners) came to me recently
asking to evaluate the booklet they use to recruit prospects into
their MLM organization. The 8 1/2 x 11 booklet contained a great
deal of information - 16 solid pages!
The booklet explained their program in great detail, allowing
for their potential new distributor to make a decision whether
to sign up with them or not, based entirely on the information
packed into their 8 1/2 x 11 booklet. I suggested that an
edited version might work better. Too much information can
bog down your prospect. Be careful not to overwhelm your already-too-busy
prospect with too much material.
If you haven't considered a simple booklet to help promote your
products or services while bringing in additional income
_ maybe it's time to include one in your marketing plan!
The exciting thing about booklets is their ability to promote
just about any product, service, or organization you're involved
with. I have given several thousand of them away in various
promotions throughout the years _ plus, you'll make a tidy profit
from selling them, as well. Don't hesitate to give them
a try -- trust me, booklets can give you the boost you're
looking for!
|
