Looking Beyond The Booklet

When I began my first booklet, my entire “business” was that booklet.  It was all I thought about.  I had visions of selling that booklet in huge quantities – both to quantity buyers and to individuals.  It wasn’t until I decided to create a second booklet that my vision for my business began to evolve.

If you’re in the process of creating your first booklet, you’re probably very excited about it and filled with enthusiasm.  And you should be.  But keep an open mind about your future and the possibilities.

You are not just creating a booklet, even if you only write one and never create another.  You are creating a business (and in my case an empire!).  That first booklet is your starting point.  Once it is finished and on the market things will begin to happen quickly, and you’ll find that you’ve got many more ideas and new opportunities coming your way.  It’s like learning how to draw, and then discovering paint and clay.  There is so much more you can do that you didn’t know you could do when you started.

Your future may include many booklets, or your business foundation may be built upon one booklet.  But, either way you will be faced with many decisions that will shape your business into something you enjoy and can be proud of.

To your riches!

Kim

Never Say Never

A while back I made a bad decision and I want to share it with you so you don’t make the same mistake.  I foolishly decided not to market one of my titles to a particular market segment because I didn’t feel they would be interested.  They were not my main market for the booklet, and I based my decision on information I had gathered from a similar market.

I realized just what a foolish decision this was when I was contacted by a company within the market I had decided to ignore.  They were interested in the booklet and requested more information.  This has now opened my eyes to the possibility that there may be more riches in this market than I previously thought.

Let this be a lesson to you, too.  Never say never, because you just never know.  You can’t know whether a particular market will be interested in your title until you’ve marketed to them directly.  You may have no luck with one market, and find that a similar market brings you many sales.

Within every market lies rich possibilities.  The key word here is possibilities.  Nothing is certain.  But, if you ignore a market before giving them a chance to buy from you, you’ll never know whether that market holds riches for you or not.

To your riches!

Kim

Are You Ready To Be A Celebrity?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a celebrity? To have fans who look up to you and come to you for answers? When you write a booklet, you can realize this dream.

Writing a booklet tells others that you are in the know. It tells them that you are the go to expert when they have questions about your booklet’s topic. And people hold authors in very high esteem. They regard you as a celebrity, and that status will bring many opportunities to your door that otherwise might not appear.

Since writing my own booklets I’ve had several opportunities land at my feet, some of which could lead into other full time businesses or employment. When you write a booklet, it not only gets your name out there, it tells people that you’re someone who takes action. Most people admire that trait in other people.

One of the companies I’m working with told me back in June that they wanted 600,000 copies of one of my titles, but what really shocked me was that they wanted to leave my name on the cover. They had the option of pulling out all of my information and just putting their company name on the cover. But, they said they like to give credit where it is due. I had to pause for a moment because I didn’t know what having my name on over half a million copies would do. I was certain it would catapult me into a whole new category, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

Then again, maybe I was. It was easy to imagine publishers courting me for a full length book, or the company I was working with, and perhaps others, asking me to do commercial spots on tv. After all, my name would be pretty well known throughout their target niche and I would be viewed as someone that niche could trust.

These things may never happen, and I’m working with this company now on a new deal as the original one didn’t go as planned. It wasn’t that the company didn’t want my booklet. They just weren’t able to use it the way they had originally hoped, which meant finding a new way to use it. So, we’re working on it. But, one thing is for certain. When they do place their order, they’ll be ordering hundreds of thousands of copies and they’ll be leaving my name on the front.

How about you? Wanna be a star? Write a booklet!

To your riches,

Kim

How Will Your Booklet Adventure Unfold?

When you build a house, you don’t start by nailing boards together.  You start by digging.  That digging is where the foundation is laid, upon which the rest of the house will sit.

A booklet business is the same way.  You begin by digging into your memory or your files, or the resources available to you on the internet or at the library.  That information will form the foundation for your booklet.

Once your booklet is finished, though, it may become the foundation for an entire line of booklets, or perhaps for a company that offers booklets to a particular niche.

You may not realize it when you begin your first booklet, but you are actually stepping out into an adventure that will have many twists and turns, and offer many opportunities.  You can’t see them when you start, but as you move forward through the process they will appear.  If you choose to take advantage of those opportunities, your booklet business will evolve and grow.

You may choose to grow your business in a straight line, offering a single booklet and gathering customers who will order from you again and again.  Or you may choose to grow your business in many directions, offering different products to different markets.  There is no  right or wrong way to grow a booklet business.  This is one business where you truly can have it your way.

When I began my own booklet adventure, my original plan was to sell many copies of a single booklet.  Next thing I knew, I had two booklets to sell.  And today I’ve got six titles under my belt and I own a publishing company to boot!  And it all evolved from a single booklet, and a single vision.

The next time you sit down to work on your booklet think of the work you are doing as a seed that you are planting.  That seed will sprout and grow into something much greater than you ever could have dreamed.

To your riches!

Kim

Stop Wishin’ And Start Writin’

It’s been really crazy here these past couple days!  Yesterday I woke up at 3:15am and got ready to attend a huge seminar in Seattle, an hour from my home.  There were 17 thousand people in attendance.  With that many people , it meant long lines for everything from the bathroom to the latte stand (and then back to the bathroom!).  This gave me the opportunity I needed to talk with people and get a booklet into their hands!  I walked all over that arena and then some.  I climbed up stairs, down stairs, and back up again.  I was in constant motion, and by the end of the day my feet were really hurtin’!  But, I had a huge smile on my face because I had accomplished my mission.

Then, today I had another meeting up north, but not quite as far away as Seattle.  It was a much smaller, much more personal kind of business meeting and I quite enjoyed myself (except for having to wear shoes.  My feet were still sore from yesterday!).  My booklets were one of the focal points of this meeting today, and I got the opportunity to share them with everyone in attendance.  It was a prime chance to showcase my abilities as both a business woman and as a writer.  My head is still in the clouds from some of the wonderful comments I received!

During both of these meetings one word kept coming up.  That word was implementation, and it’s a very important word no matter what you want to accomplish.  When I started my booklet adventure I wasn’t a guru or huge celebrity.  I was just an average person.  But, I made a decision.  I decided I wanted something better in life.  I decided I didn’t want to be average.  I wanted to use my passion for writing in a way that would be both helpful to others and profitable for me.  I came up with a plan, and then I implemented that plan.  When you implement, you take action.  Sometimes the action you take fails.  That’s ok.  You just implement a new plan and try something else.  But, you keep going.  You don’t quit.

I hope you get how huge this is.  So many people sit around wishing and waiting.  They’ll never fail at anything because they’ll never bother to try anything.  It’s easy to wish – to sit there and think gee, I wish I could do that.  Well, you can!  This is your day.  Your moment.  Don’t let it go by without you doing something to make your dreams a reality. When you get an idea, you need to act on it.  Otherwise your dreams will always be dreams.

Nobody starts at the top.  Just start wherever you are right now.  The important thing is to start.  Starting puts you ahead of 90% of the people, because 90% of the people are wishers, but they are not implementers.

If you don’t implement your plans, you’ll never know what possibilities are out there right now, just waiting for you to take advantage of them. You can be average or you can be an implementer who achieves great things (and writes great booklets!).  It’s all up to you.

Now go and do something great!

To your riches,

Kim

There’s Riches In Joint Ventures

Hey!

Thanks for checking in with me today.  I’ve got some exciting news!  If you’ve been reading my blog since last month, you may remember me mentioning an idea I had for a joint venture with an acquaintance of mine.  His name is Keith and he owns a couple of businesses – one is a retail supply company and the other is a lumpy mail business.

I write booklets for a variety of markets, but my main markets are the business and medical communities.  Keith sells to the business community at large.  Since we’re both reaching out to the business community I saw an opportunity for Keith and I to make some money.

It’s simple.  He can offer my booklets through his lumpy mail business, which gives him a unique product to add to his line that none of his competitors have.  For me, it means getting my booklets marketed through another channel.  Keith’s marketing is solid and my booklets will be reaching people that I may not be able to reach on my own, even though I also market to the same community.

So, what’s my exciting news?  I talked with Keith this afternoon about my idea.  He liked it and he’s willing to give it a try!  Ya gotta love a guy that can make up his mind quick!  Keith’s business is a multi-million dollar enterprise and I’m betting he got his business to grow to that amount in revenue because he knows a good thing when he sees it.  He’s not one to procrastinate when it comes to decision making (there’s a rich tip for you!).

I promise I’ll keep you posted on how all this works out.  Oh, and by the way, you can do this with your booklet too!  Just keep your eyes open for opportunities.

To your riches,

Kim

Is Your Booklet Idea A Rich One?

Today, while waiting in the grocery check-out line, a booklet caught my eye. It was near the grocery counter where they keep the little packs of gum and mints. I don’t remember the exact title – something like “The Secret To Having Money.”

This particular title got my attention because I have authored two money related booklets. I couldn’t help but wonder what might be inside this booklet that I had missed putting into my own.

Not having much time before my turn at the cash register I picked up the booklet and quickly thumbed through it. To my utter amazement there wasn’t anything inside of value – at least not in my opinion. There was some psycho-babble about how to have a positive attitude in order to attract money, some mumbo jumbo about how to have the right relationship with money, and several other similar type chapters including, as I recall, one having to do with luck. If you were hard pressed for cash this booklet would do nothing to help you change your situation. In fact, it would further deplete your finances without giving you anything in return.

In spite of the fact that this booklet was devoid of any useful information, it is available to the public in grocery stores and probably some other places as well. This means it has gone through some special distribution channels and someone somewhere decided this booklet would sell – probably because of the title. I wonder if the booklet is selling, or if that person that gave it the go-ahead is now kicking himself for putting such an inferior product into the marketplace.

If you’ve got an idea for a booklet and you’re not sure how good your idea is, just think about this money booklet. It’s completely useless yet it’s in the marketplace. Chances are your idea is a much better one and if your booklet contains useful information that will help someone then you’ve got a rich idea, not just a good one. If that’s the case, by all means write it! The marketplace needs your booklet!

If that booklet in the grocery store is any indication, I’ve got a superior product in each of my money related titles. I can present them with pride to would-be buyers because I’ve seen the alternative and it’s a waste of paper and ink!

To your riches!

Kim

Why I Love Junk Mail!

Today was pretty much the same as any other until I checked my mailbox.  I’m telling you what – some of the greatest opportunities you’ll ever have as a booklet author will come right to you in your mailbox!

I pulled out what appeared to be two pieces of junk mail.  The first was an ad from a store.  I didn’t even bother to look and see which one.  I just threw it into the trash.

The second piece of “junk mail” had alot of pictures on the front of people I recognized – Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, and Suze Orman to name a few.  It took me a moment of looking this four page “ad” over before I realized it was an invitation to a business seminar.  Now that’s interesting!

I don’t know if this seminar will be worth the time and gas in and of itself, but they’ve got some top names appearing and the price is next to nothing.  Since I was always taught by my grandmother that you usually get what you pay for, I’m a bit skeptical.  But, one thing I do know is that this is a truly great opportunity for me as both an author and a publisher.

this seminar will be filled with business people and entrepreneurs and it just so happens that yesterday I came up with the idea for my next booklet (this will be #6 folks!) and it is for businesses and entrepreneurs!  The only thing is the booklet isn’t written yet, and I’m still working on title #5.  So, it’s crunch time!  I’ll get title #5 finished up over the weekend and then write like crazy to get #6 done by the middle of next week.  I can have it completed and produced in plenty of time for the seminar.

So, either I’ll go to the seminar and learn some great things and have the chance to schmooze with other business people, give them a booklet, and hopefully gain some new clients – or – I’ll go to the seminar and it won’t be so great but I’ll still get the chance to schmooze and network and gain new clients anyway.  Either way I win!

This really proves a point.  When you’ve got an idea for a booklet GET IT DONE!!!  Don’t sit around waiting and thinking because if you do you’ll miss out on some great opportunities.   I wasn’t going to produce #6 until #5 was finished.  I’ve got some other projects to work on that have to do with title #5, but I will now get them done simultaneously while working on #6.  It’s a fast, crazy pace, but then I’d rather make money fast than slow, and sometimes it does get a little crazy!

I love getting junk mail.  Often, it’s filled with new opportunities!

To your riches,

Kim

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An Opportunity I Just Could Not Resist

Last night I got the opportunity to plug one of my booklets to another writer.  She’s working on an article for a national women’s magazine.  This particular magazine has a subscription rate of about 1.5 million.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

The booklet in question is my “119 Ideas To Save You Money Now.”  The writer was looking for ideas from women on saving money.  It was a perfect fit for this booklet.  While I haven’t actively promoted this title in a while due to the amount of attention I’ve been gaining with my newest booklet, I just couldn’t resist this opportunity.

It was easy to type out a quick email to the writer, giving her some of the information from my booklet and letting her know that the full version could be sent to her upon request.  To my surprise, she responded to my email almost immediately, thanking me and saying she’d let me know if she uses my material.

There’s never any guarantee with writers or reporters that they’ll use what you provide to them, but I thought it might be fun to crunch the numbers just in case she does use it.  So, here then, is what I might be able to make from this one article in this one publication:

1.5 million subscribers (this doesn’t include newsstand purchases or other purchases)

Figure maybe 2% of them would send for the entire booklet.  That’s 30,000 copies sold.

Now, take 30,000 x $5.00 (the price of the booklet)

And you get $150,000!

Not bad at all for just a few minutes of typing out an email.  Of course, as I said, there is no guarantee my material will be used.  There is, however, a real opportunity here that I chose to take advantage of.  The key, of course, is that I have a finished booklet to offer.  Without that, I would not have been able to grab this opportunity.  And this won’t be the only one, so no matter which way this one goes I’ll have more chances down the road to capitalize on my booklet.

How about you?  Are you still thinking about writing your booklet or are you ready to do something about it?

To your riches!

Kim

Why Your Mailbox Is Really A Treasure Chest

I love Mondays! It’s the start of a new work-week, and that means new things happening, new possibilities, new opportunities, and new checks in the mailbox!

Today I got a piece of mail from a children’s charity organization I belong to. I’ve already got a deal in progress with this organization. They may order as many as 7,000 booklets. I’ll know more about that in July when we touch base again. I nearly threw their “letter” away without opening it, but for some reason I decided to see what was inside.

As I thought, it was a solicitation for money. But, as I skimmed their letter something caught my eye. It was a hospital they are working with – a hospital that is a prime target for my booklet!

Opportunities abound when you’re constantly on the lookout. Even your “junk” mail can be a source of riches by giving you new leads or new ideas or new possibilities you might not have thought of otherwise.

Until tomorrow….

Kim