The Three Kinds Of Booklet Authors – Which One Are You?

Are you someone who gets an idea, and once you implement it the idea grows into something much larger than what you originally anticipated?  If you thrive on this kind of growth, a booklet business might seem like small potatoes to you.  But, your business doesn’t have to stay small if you want to do something on a grander scale.

A booklet is simply a vehicle to help you get from where you are to where you want to be.  There are three kinds of booklet authors – those whose business is all about booklets, those whose business has nothing to do with booklets, and those who are not quite sure what they want their business to focus on.  But, no matter which kind of author you are, a booklet can be instrumental in taking your business to new heights.

How To Grow Your Booklet Business When You Don’t Know What You Want

When you begin your booklet adventure, you might focus on one title, creating it and selling it.  You may not be able to see beyond that first booklet, and you may not want to.

At some point, however, new opportunities will present themselves and you will get to choose which direction you want your business to go.  You’ll be able to grow your business into whatever you want it to be.

At the beginning of your journey, you can’t see every twist and turn in the road.  A booklet may sound like a good idea to you, and you may be open to what lies ahead, but that’s as far as your “idea” goes.

You might not think about growing a million dollar business when you start.  You might just want some extra money on the side, or money might not even be part of the equation for you at all.  Perhaps you simply have a message you want to get out to the world and you like to write, and that’s your starting point.

You don’t have to have everything all figured out from day one.  All you need to do is decide which opportunities you’ll take advantage of when they present themselves, and your business will grow.

When You’ve Got It All Figured Out And It’s Not All About Booklets

Are you someone who knows where your business is going and it’s not focused on booklets?  You don’t have to sell booklets as a product in order for you to benefit from them.

You might use a booklet as a sample of your book, or it might be used as thank you gift to entice people to buy your main product.  Your booklet might be a promotional tool for you if you hand it to your audience for free when they attend your seminar.  Or, your booklet could be an easy way to test your market before you create the full blown product.

Creating a booklet doesn’t mean you must have a business that is focused only on booklets.  Your booklet may be a means to reaching an end that has nothing to do with booklets at all.

When It Is All About Booklets

If your plan is to create a booklet business that only sells booklets, you will still find that you have many opportunities for growth.  You may create a booklet about one subject, and then decide to branch out into other areas of your market by creating other booklets within the same subject area.

For example, your first booklet might be about caring for a newborn, which you market to new mothers.  You might create other, related booklets to sell to the same market, such as how to find the best daycare for a newborn, how to help older siblings adjust to the new baby, or the most common breastfeeding questions answered.  Your booklet business would grow in titles offered to your market.

Eventually, you may even decide to branch out into other, related markets such as parents of toddlers.  There’s no end to the opportunities that you can take advantage of.

Another option is that you might one day decide to venture beyond the booklet and create other products to offer your market, such as books, ebooks, cd’s or dvd’s.  It’s all up to you!

Of course, before you can take advantage of the opportunities that await you, you must first create your booklet.  It’s time!  Do it now!

To your riches,

Kim

PS: Need a little help to get started with your booklet?  Do you have questions that need answers?  I am available, by appointment, to consult with you on your project.  You don’t have to try to navigate through the process alone. I’ve been where you are and I can help you, and probably save you alot of time, trouble and money.

My fee is currently a paltry $149.00 for 30 minutes, and I guarantee that our time together will help you or I’ll refund every penny you’ve paid.  That’s right.  If at the end of our time together you don’t feel I have helped you, just say the word and you’ll receive a 100% full refund of every cent you’ve paid.

Why would I do this?  Because I’ve seen too many shysters out there who will take your money and if you’re not satisfied with the service they provide, that’s just too bad.  They win, you lose.  That’s just not fair, and I won’t do that to you.  I believe in running an honest business and treating my customers and clients fairly – the same way I like to be treated when I do business with someone.

What I will NOT guarantee is how long my price will remain this low.  Once my new product becomes available my consulting fee will go up considerably, so I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity now!  Just contact me by leaving me a comment here on the blog, and I’ll email you to set up an appointment.  It’s that easy and you’ve got nothing to lose, so do it now!

PPS: Like this post?  Please share it on del.ic.ious or StumbleUpon, or the social network of your choice.  And don’t forget to click on one of the links at the top right of this blog to subscribe so you never miss a single, important post!  Remember, it only takes one idea to start the riches flowing to you!

Is Your Online Image Damaging Your Credibility As A Booklet Author?

Whether you’re still contemplating what to write about for your first booklet, or it’s already written and produced, there is something you need to know that is vitally important to your credibility and success as an author.  It may seem obvious to some, but it’s easily overlooked by most authors – at least for a while, often until it’s too late and the damage is already done.

You Are A Public Personality

Once your booklet is created and on the market, you are a public personality.  Most people will want to know more about you before they make a purchase, and the easiest way for them to learn about you is online.

A decade ago if you wanted to do some social networking, it meant meeting individuals face to face.  Now, there are all kinds of ways to network online – such as Twitter, Face Book, My Space, and LinkedIn.  Even websites such as Amazon are offering people the opportunity to put up a page and/or a blog, and participate in forums.

When you participate in these social networking areas, Google is keeping track.  Everything you do online is recorded in Google.  That means when a potential customer is contemplating buying your booklet, all they need to do in order to learn more about you is Google your name.  When they do, they’ll be able to see all of your social links, and they can click on any of those to view any information or pages you have created about yourself, or that others have created about you.  It’s a bit like being on candid camera all the time.

The Internet Is A Tool – Use It Wisely

For anyone in business, and especially anyone who is putting information into the marketplace or who is a public personality (such as authors and actors), the internet should be viewed as a tool and not as a personal playground.  You can create a personal blog or Face Book page, but if you do it should reflect on your professionalism.  You won’t want to post anything there that would give your market the wrong impression.

For example, if your booklet is about how to choose the right puppy for your family, your personal page or blog might show your relationship with your own dog.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be only about you and your dog, but you might want to make that an important part of your personal blog and post about your dog a couple times per week.  You might also post about your friend’s and extended family’s dogs, as well as anything you do in the dog world such as dog shows you attend.  You might even post about the dog food your dog likes.  In this way, your personal blog shows you as a dog lover and therefore someone who is qualified to write a booklet about how to choose a puppy.

Always Keep Your Market In The Back Of Your Mind

Everything you do as a booklet author adds up, and that includes everything you do online.  Every post you make or page you create should be done with your market in the back of your mind.  You need to remember that what you create will be seen by others, and quite possibly by others who are considering making a purchase from you.  Keep your online image professional.  That doesn’t mean everything you post or create online needs to be about your booklet’s topic, but it does mean presenting yourself in a professional and pleasant manner at all times.

When people Google your name, what will they find?  Will they see someone who is knowledgable and professional?  Will they see someone pleasant they feel they can trust?  Or, will they see a completely different side of you that will turn them away?  To find out, try Googling your own name and see what comes up.  You may find some areas where you need to make some changes.

To your riches!

Kim

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How A Man Living In A Tent Became A Multi-Millionaire Writing Booklets

During the great depression, a young man who was penniless and living in a tent came up with a great idea.  For the past few years, he had been collecting information on unusual ways people make money, and he thought he should put that information into a booklet.  His name was George Haylings.

George walked to his local pubic library to research and find the information he needed to make his booklets complete (he called them “treatises” and sometimes they are referred to as special reports).  He then typed his manuscripts using his manual typewriter.

George’s first booklet quickly became two, and then three as he continued to create new titles.  His booklets sold because they were timely and dealt with something that was on everyone’s mind – money!

It wasn’t long after George began his booklet adventure that he had enough titles to create an entire catalog of booklets for people to choose from.  By now, George had moved out of the tent and was making quite a hefty sum of money for his day.

After the catalog was created and booklet sales were still going strong, George wrote a book and created a home study course which skyrocketed his sales.  In the end, he became a multi-millionaire and it was all because of an idea for a booklet!

What George did is just as relevant today as it was then.  People today are still hungry for information that pertains to them, and right now in the midst of the economic recession booklets that help people find ways to make some extra money will do very well.  But, even if your booklets don’t deal with financial issues, your information will sell as long as there is a market for it.

If your curious as to the booklets George created, here are a few of his titles:

• 125 Ways to Make Money With Your Typewriter

• Discovered! 505 Odd Enterprises

• How to Make Money at Home

• Small Business of Your Own

• You Can Own a Business

• Vacations Unlimited: A Retirement Kit Comprising Plans, Data and Secrets Dealing With Early, Successful Retirement

• Profitunities: A Most Unusual Book

• Easier Ways To Easier Dollars

• Little-Known Ways To Lifetime Profits

• Hidden Dollars

As you can see, nearly all of his titles dealt with the one thing that was on everyone’s mind – how to make more money.  And notice that although his booklets all deal with the same topic, he comes at it from different angles with each new title.  This was how he was able to get repeat business.  A customer would buy one title, and then want the next one because it dealt with the same topic.

If a man who was penniless and living in a tent could profit from a booklet and go on to become a multi-millionaire, how much better can you do?  After all, money may be scarce but you probably are not living in a tent.  And you’ve probably got a computer to do your writing on, whereas poor George only had a manual typewriter.  I imagine it must have been quite difficult trying to type when his fingers ached from the cold.  He had no heat in his tent.

If George can do it so can you!  George was a man with a vision and the will to see it through.  How about you?  Will you see your vision through to the end?  Will you keep going?  Will you reach your goals?

To your riches!

Kim

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The Vitally Important Thing That Can Literally Make You Or Break You As A Booklet Author

Once your booklet is finished and proofread, before it goes through the editing process, you need to let it sit for at a least a couple of days.  Go and do something else.  Try not to think about your booklet too much.  Give your brain a rest.  When you do this, you’ll often find that something important will come to mind that you forgot to include in your booklet.

As thorough a writer as you think you are, going over your booklet again and again will only show your brain what is already on the page.  Sometimes it’s hard to think of what’s missing, because it isn’t there.  Looking at information others have written on your subject will help, but remember that their information is not complete either, and may be missing something vital.  There is no such thing as a perfect product, or a book that contains everything there is to know about its subject.

Your booklet is a small taste of the larger whole, or it’s just the facts or basics.  But, you still need to be sure that you’ve included all the most vital information for your readers.  You need to check and proofread your work, and do your best to come up with everything your readers will need to get started with your booklet’s topic.  Once you’ve done this, giving your mind a rest will often produce more results, and many times it’s something obvious that you’ve overlooked.

By letting your manuscript sit for a couple days or even a week or two, you may save yourself some later revisions.  It’s no fun to go through the production process and then realize that you forgot to put a key piece of information inside your booklet.  If it’s something minor, it’s not such a big deal.  You can sell out and then revise and go back to print.  But, if it’s something vital, you won’t look like an expert.  You’ll appear to be someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about, and this is death to your credibility as an author as well as to your booklet business.  This is why giving your manuscript a rest is so important.  It can literally make you or break you.

If, after a few days, your mind comes up empty, then go to editing and get your booklet produced.  You can’t afford to wait forever, but sometimes waiting just a few days will give you an extra tidbit that could be important.

To your riches!

Kim

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What To Do When You Have A Big Idea For A Booklet

Have you got a big idea for a booklet?  One where you really know you’re on to something, and you can see beyond that first title to a series of titles and perhaps some other products to go along with the booklets?  This is the way I think.  I rarely ever think of something as an end unto itself.  I’m forever asking myself the question, “what else?”  What else can I create to go with this?  What else can I do to make this better?

If you’re like me, you may find yourself getting overwhelmed at times.  After all, creating a booklet sounds so simple.  But, creating this massive idea in your head – with many booklets and other products – seems like more than you’re prepared to handle.  Put your fear aside and listen to me.  You can do it!  I promise you, you can.  You’re not going to write your entire series at once.  You just need to get started with your first booklet and let things grow from there.  And things will grow – ideas, sales, and your business – if you continue to put one foot in front of the other and take things one step at a time.

When you have a big idea, you need to take big action.  That means taking the bull by the horns and whipping out that first product so you can move to the next thing on your list.  And, if you really want to speed things up, you can take action on more than one thing at a time.  Perhaps you’ll create two booklets at a time until your series is finished, or maybe you’ll create each booklet with a product to go with it such as a cd.

Alot of people come up with great ideas.  Some come up with big ideas.  Most will never bother to do anything with their ideas because they don’t know where to start and they get frustrated or overwhelmed.  It’s easier to stay right where they are than it is to try to change things.  But, you know better!

I started out with one booklet.  It grew to two booklets.  Today I’ve got six titles and two companies, and I’m still coming up with big ideas.  I’ve learned not to fear, but to move forward.  When you move forward your fear will disappear and excitement will replace it as you see things begin to happen.

Keep coming up with big ideas!  Take big action!  And move forward!

To your riches,

Kim

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Are Booklets The Begining Or The End?

As an author myself, I am supportive of writers in any media, any genre.  But, booklets are an option most writers have never considered and probably never heard of.

A booklet is a great way to get started in the publishing arena.  It doesn’t require a huge amount of time or money to create, and you can get it on the market within a month or two.  It’s a great way to test the waters – your writing and marketing skills, and the receptiveness of your market.

Some writers who create a booklet will never go beyond writing booklets.  Booklets are a very lucrative niche, so there is no reason to write a full length book unless it is your heart’s desire to do so.  Once a writer creates a booklet and sees just how easy it is to do, and how fast it is to get that product on the market, they may very well decide they’ve found their calling.  For them, booklets are the end.  These writers have found a very satisfying career as an author – one that will bring them fast riches and many great opportunities.

Other writers may see a booklet as a stepping stone to writing a book.  They may use their booklet to test their market and see whether a full length book would sell.  Or they may want to write a booklet to go with their book, to create an up-sell product.  If the author is using the booklet as a stepping stone to a book, the booklet is the beginning for that author, and the book would be the end, or final result.

Whether you just want to write a booklet or a series of booklets and leave it at that, or whether you want to use a booklet as a way to get your foot in the door in the publishing industry and create a market for your book, one thing is for certain.  No matter which path you choose, a booklet will lead to greater things.  You’ll get opportunities you never expected, and in that case, booklets are always the beginning.

To your riches!

Kim

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The Two Big Advantages Booklets Have Over Books

Yesterday I attended a business meeting.  The room was filled with people from a variety of businesses, but there was one person who caught my attention.  He was an elderly gentleman with white hair.  When he stood he was a little stooped over, and although he spoke clearly there were awkward pauses between some of his words – as if he had suffered a stroke some years ago.

He was only given a moment to introduce himself to the rest of us, and he took more time than he should have.  He was an author, and he was there to promote his book.  I never caught his name nor the title of his book.  What I did catch was that a little over ten years ago this man retired from a very long, exhausting professional career which had nothing to do with writing.  He was searching for something else to do with his life and was inspired to write a book.

It took this man ten years to complete his book.  TEN YEARS!  And trust me, this is someone who does not have time on his side.  I turned to the gentleman sitting to my right and said, “I could have saved him about nine and three quarters of those years!”

Most authors probably don’t take ten years to write a book.  It’s probably more like two to five years, depending on the subject matter and how much research is involved.  Even so, that is a long time to wait to see a profit from your work.  And you may never see a profit after all is said and done.

Booklets give you two big advantages.  The first is that they take far less time to write and publish than a book does.  And the second is that they give you a way to test your market before writing a full manuscript (should you be so inclined) and therefore saving you possibly thousands of dollars.

The poor gentleman at the meeting yesterday had it backwards.  He wrote the book and now he’s trying to figure out how to promote it.  Had he written a booklet, he would have more money in his pocket for promotions and he could have tested his market to see whether a full length book might be profitable.

I must give this gentleman credit, however, because he did finish his book.  He had a box of printed copies with him.  Ten years is a very long time to work on any project, especially when you have no idea whether you’ll reap any reward for it, and he didn’t quit.  He saw it through to completion.

Don’t write a book.  Please don’t.  Not until you have a solid understanding of your market.  Then, if a book is your heart’s desire, go for it.  In the meantime, write a booklet.  You can have printed copies in your hand in about a month’s time depending on how quickly you write your manuscript.  And then you can test your market with your booklet and see how receptive they are to your subject and your content.  You’ll also be able to test your marketing skills before investing the time and money it takes to self publish and promote a book.

Sometimes, the riches are in time and money saved.

Here’s to your riches!

Kim

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Why A Good Booklet Won’t Make You Rich

Here’s a little secret about writing booklets.  Anyone can do it.  Not everyone will, of course.  Some people don’t have the patience to sit down and write one.  Some don’t have the desire.  Some hate to write and don’t consider themselves writers.

But, while anyone can write a booklet, it takes someone special who is willing to go the extra mile, to write an exceptional booklet.  An exceptional booklet is the one that will succeed.  This has nothing to do with talent.  It has to do with creating a product that goes beyond the reader’s expectations.  And to do that, you’ve got to dig just a little deeper than the average writer to come up with something really great.  It means getting into your reader’s head and figuring out what will surprise them, wow them, or thrill them as they read your content.

Anyone can write a booklet and include the basic information of who, what, when, why and how.  It’s not too difficult to make sure you’ve got all your bases of information covered.  This is akin to writing a report in school.  The average writer will then take that information and make it interesting or even entertaining to read.  But, the exceptional writer will go beyond that.  They’ll not only have all their bases covered and make it fun to read, they’ll include extra information the reader didn’t expect to find.

When you give your readers more than they expect it creates a good relationship between you as an author and your readers.  It builds your reputation as an author worth reading.  And If you’re selling to large companies like I do, the benefits from this are enormous.  My buyers are not my readers, but their customers are and when their customers are happy my buyers are happy.  That means these buyers will buy from me again.

The average Joe will never get rich.  Anyone can be average.  Anyone can do the minimum to get by.  This is what most people do when they get up in the morning to go to work, and this is why they have average jobs with average pay.  To get the riches, you’ve got to go above and beyond.  You’ve got to be willing to go the extra mile and give more than expected.  When you do, you’ll be an exceptional writer with an exceptional product and the riches will come to you.

You can’t just write a good booklet and get rich.  You must write an exceptional booklet.  Not only will this give you a better product, it will also boost your confidence when you market your booklet.

Don’t be average.  Don’t be good.  Be exceptional.

To your riches!

Kim

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Why Only 5% Of The People Are Rich And 95% Are Not

You’ve daydreamed and come up with your goals.  You’ve made a plan.  Now it’s time for step three – the final step toward achieving success as a booklet author.  You’ve got to implement your plan.

Your plan probably isn’t perfect.  Nobody’s is.  That’s ok.  You’ll make corrections along the way as you go.  The important thing is to start working your plan.  Do something.  Make something happen.

Most people are great at daydreaming.  A few might make it to the planning stage.  But only a handful ever make it to the implementation stage, and that’s what sets the rich apart from everyone else.  That’s why only 5% of the people are rich, and the other 95% are not.  Doing makes the difference.

If I had a nickel for everyone who has told me they had a great idea for a booklet, I’d be crushed under a mountain of nickels.  If I had a nickel for everyone who made a plan for achieving their goals with their booklet, I’d have a purse full of nickels.  And if I had a nickel for everyone who actually carried out their plan – put aside other things like T.V. and internet surfing long enough to actually implement and do something – I’d have a few nickels in my pocket.

I’ll say it again.  Doing makes the difference.  You can daydream all you want to, and you can plan everything out, but if you never act on your plan or do anything to achieve your goals you’ll forever be in the 95% group.

To your riches!

Kim

How To Create A Plan To Achieve Your Goals

Yesterday I told you that daydreaming is the first step to your success as a booklet author.  Daydreaming will help you come up with goals to achieve.  And I’d like to add that you need to dream big.  Why would you care about achieving small goals?  Why would you want to have only a little more than you have now?  Dreaming big is much more motivating, so dream as big as you possibly can.

Daydreaming is only the first step to your success, however.  Once you have goals, you need a plan to reach them.  Nobody takes a road trip without a map (or a gps).  Your plan is your map.

To create your plan, you need to think about your goals and decide the best way to achieve them.  For example, if one of your goals is a new car, decide which new car you want to buy.  This will give you a cost for the car.  Then, you know how much money you will need to achieve that goal.  Now you have something tangible you can work with.  Knowing how much money you will need will help you because you now know how many sales you need to make in order to achieve that goal. Now you can make a plan for making the sales you need.

The way you create your plan, and the plan you create will be different from anyone else’s.  It will be unique to you and your priorities and goals.  Once your plan is created, you will then move to step three.  And I’ll tell you about that one tomorrow!

To Your Riches!

Kim

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