Struggling To Make Ends Meet? Here’s Why

Are you struggling to make ends meet month after month?  There’s a good reason for that.  Below is a link to an interesting article about the median income in the U.S.  and where all the money goes.  You situation will be a little different, but this gives a great bird’s eye view of the situation as a whole.

There are two ways to help your current situation. The first is to pad your current income with a sideline income.  The second is to go into business for yourself, full time, so that you are not reliant on someone else deciding your income for you.

With booklets you can choose to do either one, or you can start out creating a sideline income for yourself and then work that into a full time income.  You might want to keep this in mind as you read the following article.

To read the article click here.

When you’ve finished reading the article, if you would like detailed, step by step information on how to create a booklet that will sell, click here.

To your riches!

Kim

PS:  Don’t forget to click on one of the links at the top right of this page to subscribe so you never miss a single, important post!  Remember, it only takes ONE idea to start the riches flowing to you!

The One Thing Most People Don’t Do That Can Make You A Fortune

How many times has this happened to you – someone says they’ll call you, or they plan to get together with you, and they don’t follow through?  Too many times to count, right?

Unfortunately, in our society today, this is a common occurrence.  In fact, it’s so common that it’s become the norm.  People say one thing, and do another.  They don’t follow through.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s your neighbor, your best friend, or the top executive at a mega corporation.

You can use this to your advantage.

It Starts With You

Knowing that most people won’t follow through gives you the opportunity to do the opposite.  It gives you the chance to stand out from the crowd and be remembered because you are true to your word.

Think about this.  When you’re talking with that executive and you tell him you’ll call him back tomorrow, he may be thinking, “Sure.  I’ve heard that one before,” even though he tells you he’ll be looking forward to your call.  When you actually do call him back, he’ll be happily surprised.  This is a great way to begin a business relationship.

Even in business most people do not do what they promise.  Sales people fail to follow up with prospects or show up for appointments on time.  Top executives don’t return calls, and the list goes on.  If you make the decision – a true conscious effort – to do the opposite, you will stand out as someone with integrity and this can make you a fortune!

Integrity is good for your reputation as a business person.  It lets people know that they can trust you, and trust is extremely important in business.  People do business with people they trust, and they avoid the people they don’t.

Beating Your Competitors

Following through and doing what you promise also gives you a HUGE advantage over your competition.  Who is your competition?  Anyone else who wants money from your prospect – whether or not they have a similar product to yours.

In today’s economy, people and businesses alike are carefully watching every penny they spend.  Your ultimate goal is to get them to spend their money on your product – your booklet.

To do this, you must be faithful and true in your follow up.  You must do what you promise.  Chances are your competition won’t.  This means you’re the one who will be remembered or favored when the funds become available to make a purchase. You will have endeared yourself to your prospect.

This is such an easy thing to do.  It’s amazing how many people miss it – and suffer the consequences of lost sales.

Business Imitates Life

What’s good for your business is often good for your life too. If you can be trusted to follow up in your business, and that carries over into your personal life, it will strengthen your personal relationships as well as your business relationships.

When your personal relationships are healthy, it makes you happy and gives you a sense of balance.  This carries over to your business in a couple of very positive ways.

First, when your personal life is going well it gives you the freedom you need to focus on your business. It’s difficult to conduct business when your personal life is a mess.  As humans, we tend to focus on the negative.  When our lives are mostly positive we’re better able to function in all areas – business and personal.

And second, when those we have a personal relationship with know that we are someone who has integrity and does what we promise, they will be much more willing and likely to recommend us or our product to others they know if and when the opportunity arises.

Conduct yourself with integrity in your personal life and in business.  Do what you promise.  It matters.  Without integrity, you’ll be just like everyone else – broke!

To your riches!

Kim

PS: Don’t forget to subscribe by clicking on one of the links as the top right of this page so you never miss a single, important post!  Remember, it only takes one idea to start the riches flowing to you!  Also, if you like this post please share it on del.ic.ious, StumbleUpon, or another social website of your choice.  Thanks!

Your Hidden Advantage In A Bad Economy – How To Use It And Prosper

There has never been a better time than right now to write a booklet and launch your own booklet business.  Now, you may be wondering how that can possibly be given the state of the economy.  But, the current state of the economy can actually help you to prosper rather than hinder your riches – if you know how to use it toward your advantage.

The Ongoing Quest For Information

From the time we are born, we seek information.  As small children we look to our parents and our experiences to provide information about the world around us.  Then, as we mature, we begin to seek information from peers and other sources outside our immediate family – such as teachers, television, books and magazines, and the internet.  Throughout our lives we have an ongoing quest for information.

As small children our desire for information is simple.  We wonder about the weather, nature, and our relationship to it.  When we reach our teens, we seek information that is more complex, such as how to attract the opposite sex, how to get into college, and how to find a job.  After college we may search for information on how to plan a wedding or how to buy a home.  And in our later years we may want information to help us slow down the aging process, or to help us be a better grandparent.

Same Need, Different Reasons

Just as information can be specific to our age, it can also be specific to our needs.  In a bad economy many people have the same needs across different age groups.  For example, teens, adults and seniors may all desire employment. But, each of these age groups may desire employment for different reasons.  The teen may need to save money for college, the adult may have a family to feed, and the senior may be retired but is now trying to re-enter the workforce in order to offset rising costs that their pension or government allowance doesn’t cover.  Each group has the same need – a job – but for different reasons.

What Creates Your Wealth In A Bad Economy

When the economy is bad, people look for information that is specific to their needs in the midst of the situation.  They will have all the same needs they had before the economy went sour, but some of those needs will now be more urgent.  They will also have some new needs they didn’t have before, which will also be urgent.  This urgency is what creates the power for you to attain wealth in a bad economy.  It is the hidden advantage that most authors don’t realize is there.  They miss is completely.  But you can capitalize on it.

To illustrate this point, consider the couple expecting their first child.  In any economy they will want information on child raising.  But in a bad economy they may be more desperate to raise their income to adequately care for their newborn, and perhaps start a college fund.  They may also want to buy a home for the first time, and with the economy in such a slump, they may be ready to make the move since home prices are much more attractive.  This couple’s urgent information needs might include topics such as, “How To Take Advantage Of Bad Economic Times When Buying Your First Home,” or “How To Use The Skills You Already Possess To Raise Your Income,” or “How To Start A Home Business And Make More Money Than You Did At Your Job.”  There are any number of ways you could tap into this couple’s sense of urgency regarding their needs and interests.

Urgency is what brings the riches to you in a bad economy.  It’s the hidden advantage, the ace up your sleeve, your trump card.  Your market, no matter who they are, has urgent needs for information right now because of the economy.  Never before have they felt such an urgent need to change jobs, or find a job.  Never before have they felt so anxious about the stock market and their investments.  Never before have they so desperately needed inexpensive ways to feed their families. Never before has there been a greater opportunity for YOU to write and sell your booklet!

To your riches!

Kim

PS: Please help me to help other writers like you by sharing this post at del.ic.ious or StumbleUpon, or the social site of your choosing!  And don’t forget to subscribe by clicking on one of the links at the top right of this page so you never miss a single important post.  Remember, it only takes one idea to start the riches flowing to you!

The Worse The Economy Gets, The Better Off Booklet Authors Will Be

I heard on my local news today that the economy may be leveling out and getting ready to turn around.  Have you heard this too?  Do you believe it?  Not me.  I’m not fooled for minute.  I believe we are simply in the eye of the storm, and when the back half hits us it’s going to hit hard.  And when I say “us” I don’t just mean the U.S.  I mean the globe.  If I’m wrong, great.  No worries.  But, what if I’m right?

I’m not sure who it was that coined the phrase, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” but I would say that is very good advice in light of our current economic situation.   Great, you say, but what does this have to do with booklets?  And here is the answer to that question.

As a writer and author, you have the opportunity to provide something that others are willing to pay for in any economic climate – information.  In fact, the worse the economy gets, the better off booklet authors will be.  Why?  There are two main reasons.

Booklets Cost Less And Save Time

First, booklets are generally less expensive to purchase than books.  This applies across the board to large quantity sales, small quantity sales, and single sales.  When people are pinching pennies, they’re going to want to find ways to get what they need or want for less.  A booklet provides them with the opportunity to get the information they need for less than they would pay for a book.

Booklets also save people time.  It is rare that anyone reads an entire book anymore.  Studies have shown that most people don’t read books, and of those who do most never get beyond the first chapter.  People are just too busy to sit down and read.  They’ve also been conditioned by our instant society to want everything right now.  Your booklet can satisfy their need for fast information.

Information Is Always A Best Seller

The second reason people will buy booklets in tough times is because people will always need information no matter what the economy does.  People will continue to get married, change jobs, lose jobs, have babies, buy new things such as homes or cars or computers, make repairs to things, and so on.  If your booklet provides useful information to someone, it will sell regardless of what happens with the economy.

Of course, you’ll need to understand something of the trend in your market to be able to fill the need for information.  You don’t want to write about something that people really don’t care about.   For example, a booklet on hair care may not grab attention during hard times, but you could come at this subject from a variety of angles so that people would not be able to whip out their wallets fast enough to buy it from you.  How about a booklet that tells women how to have fabulous hair on a frugal budget?  Or a booklet that tells people who have had chemo therapy how to find the perfect wig?  People still get cancer in a bad economy, and this little booklet might just bring a smile to someone’s face.  Or, what about a booklet that tells how to give your family haircuts at home?  You see, it’s not as much the information itself, as it is the direction you take it.

How To Be Prepared For The Worst

So, getting back to hoping for the best and being prepared for the worst, how does that really apply to you as an author?  To be prepared in this case means that you have a way to bring in an income, and a booklet is a great way to do that.  The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll be prepared for the possibility of an economic collapse the likes of which we’ve never seen before.  You’ll have something of value that people will want, and that will get you through the rough spots.  And should the economy turn around and the economic collapse be avoided, having your booklet on the market will be all the better for you!  Either way, it’s good to be prepared!

To your riches!

Kim

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Why You Can’t Blame Poor Sales On The Economy

When you decide to become a writer and an author, unless you’re a salaried writer for a magazine or you’re writing under some kind of contract, you’re in business for yourself.  You need to take your business very seriously.  If you don’t, nobody else will either.

When You Work For Someone Else Your Time Is Not Your Own

If business isn’t going well, it may not be due to the economy.  It may be that you are not acting like a business person.  If you have ever worked for someone else, you know that you were expected to show up at a certain time, to stay for a certain number of hours, and not to leave until a certain time or until your work was completed.  While you were working your time was not your own.  Someone else owned it because they were paying you for it.

When You Do Own Your Time, You Must Use It Wisely

As a booklet author your time IS your own, and sometimes that’s the problem.  What many people who are in business for themselves fail to realize is that time IS money, especially when YOU own the business.  This means that if you don’t spend your business hours wisely you won’t make any money.

When people start a business or a writer creates a book or booklet, they start out excited.  But, after a few weeks that excitement begins to wane as they realize that they ARE in business.  This isn’t play time.  Too many people would rather do anything other than work.  They talk on the phone, take long lunches, go shopping, go to the beach, and do all sorts of other things that take up their day.  Before they know it the day is done and they have nothing to show for it.

Don’t Give In To Your Every Whim

There are times when you should go to the beach, go shopping, and even take a leisurely lunch out.  But, this shouldn’t be the norm.  Most of the time you should plan your outings and errands rather than going out on a whim whenever you feel like it.  Of course, an occasional whim is ok, as long as it is not a regular habit and you take care of your responsibilities to your company and your customers first.  But, the rest of the time you should be writing, creating new booklets and products, and generally working on furthering your business.  If you’re not and your business fails to bring in money for you, you can’t blame it on the economy.  You have only yourself to blame.

Get Rid Of The Fun Seekers

Take your business seriously, even if others around you don’t.  When others complain that you work too much and they want you to join them for something that (probably) requires spending money rather than raking it in, just politely say no.  After a while, those other people will either get on board with you and be in your corner because they’ll see all the money you’re making, or they’ll leave you alone and disappear because you’re no fun.

You can have all the fun you want to after you’ve made your riches.  Until then, make sure you work when you’re supposed to – that is, according to the schedule you have set up for yourself.  Make sure you get something done every day to further your business.   All those fun seekers will be still be broke when you’re rich because you stayed the course – and who will be having all the fun then?

To your riches!

Kim

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Why Booklet Authors Are Thriving In The Current Economy

People around the world are more tight fisted than ever.  And for many businesses this means they must either change the way they do business, or die.   But, for the booklet author, masses of tight fisted consumers are actually an advantage, and the best part is that everyone wins.

Advantages Of Booklets From The Consumer’s Viewpoint

For consumers, the advantages of a booklet are two fold.  First, they are getting the information they need, but they’re not having to wade through tons of information to find what they can use.  This saves them time.

Second, the consumer won’t have to pay as much for a booklet as they would for a book.  This saves them money.  They aren’t paying for tons of information, including that information they don’t need.  They’re only buying the facts, a portion, or certain points of information they want.

Advantages Of Booklets From The Author’s Viewpoint

For authors, the advantages of writing and selling booklets are many.  Like the consumer, you will save both time and money.  You will save time because booklets are quick to write and you can get them on the market much faster than you ever will a book.  And you can save money because booklets are far less expensive to produce than a book.  But, you have other advantages that are just as appealing and just as important.

Another advantage you have as a booklet author is that by giving only a small amount of information, you have the opportunity to create another booklet offering more of the same kind of information for your market.  For example, a book about dogs might include choosing a puppy, care and feeding of a puppy, training a puppy, and so on.  But, each of these topics could easily be a booklet all by themselves.  This gives you more products to offer your market, whereas the book author has only one.

When you have more products to offer your market by creating several booklets instead of a book, you automatically have another advantage built in.  You make more money.  While it’s true that your individual booklets won’t sell for as much as a full length book, when someone buys all of your related titles or your series, you will make far more money than the book author.

In all of this, there is yet another advantage to you as a booklet author that should not be overlooked.  You won’t have to work as hard as the book author does.  The book author writes their book, includes everything they can think of and goes to press.  You, on the other hand, will come up with many topics in regard to your subject, each of which could be a chapter in a book, but instead you will turn them all into booklets.  You won’t have to work as hard at having an array of products or booklets to offer your market.

While Other Businesses Die, Booklet Authors Thrive

Many businesses are finding it tough to survive now, and you’ve seen some go under already.  This is a trend that is expected to continue into the indefinite future.  But, the booklet author will thrive during these times.   Consumers will always need information, and they’ll be attracted to your booklets because a booklet won’t cost them as much a book.  But, once they like your information, they’ll buy more of it, giving you much larger profits.

Think of it this way.  Imagine yourself at the fair.  You buy a ticket to go on a ride.  That one ticket doesn’t cost you much, but nobody ever goes on just one ride, do they?  Before you know it, you’ve spent some serious money on those rides!  But, you had a good time and that’s what mattered to you.  Booklets are like the rides at the fair.  When they’re good, people will come back for more.

To your riches!

Kim

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

Why Writers Have An Advantage In The Current Economy

If you’ve been watching the news you’ve probably noticed that the economy doesn’t seem to be getting better.  In fact, it seems to be getting worse.  Unemployment is the highest it has been in the past 25 years.  For both the employed and the unemployed, the outlook is bleak.  But, for writers there is a ray of hope.

Writing Is Easy Work And Easy Money

Writing is mostly a skill, with a dash of talent thrown in.  To be a writer means you enjoy writing.  Not everyone does.  Some people hate to write.  But for those who are skilled at it, there is the unique opportunity to make money from something you enjoy.  From the non-writer’s perspective, ideas and words just seem to come to you out of thin air, giving you the ability to make money from nothing.  This isn’t exactly the case no matter how much you love to write.  It does take at least a little work or research to come up with a good written manuscript for a book, booklet, or article.  But, when you enjoy writing it’s easy work, and therefore easy money.

Booklets Put You In Control Of Your Income

The best thing about writing booklets is that it costs you nothing to start, and you can go at your own pace.  While it’s true that the faster you get your booklet on the market the faster you can make money, you are under no pressure to move at lightning speed.  If you prefer to give your manuscript more thought, carefully crafting each word of your masterpiece, you are free to do so.

Going at your own pace also means you don’t have to publish your manuscript until you are ready.  Don’t have the funds for printed copies right now?  You can wait until you do to go to print.  Or, you can take advantage of your freedom as the sole creator of your work and publish fewer copies, or publish your work as an ebooklet.

When you progress at your own pace, it means you move to the next step when you are ready.  You are the one in charge of your work and your profit from that work.  Not only are you free to move through the process at your own pace, but you’re also free to price your work at whatever the market will bear and you don’t have to split the profits with anyone else.  What you earn, you keep!

Writers Have An Advantage In This Economy

As a writer, you have an advantage in this economy that the non-writer doesn’t have.  People are more hungry for information now than they have ever been.  You have a skill that you can draw upon to bring you income, whether you’ve lost your job, retired from it, or you still have your job but need extra income to make ends meet.  You have the ability to make a profit from the skill and knowledge you possess – without having to go to anyone else to make it happen.  Most people have some kind of knowledge and skill, but they must rely on someone hiring them in order to use it.  As a writer, you do not need to work for someone else in order to use your skill.

Booklets Make Publishing Easy

Booklet publishing, as opposed to book or article publishing, greatly enhances this opportunity because they are so quick and easy to write.  To make money from articles, you must usually rely on a publication for payment.  And while you can self publish a book, it is a much more costly endeavor than self publishing a booklet.  This makes booklets the perfect vehicle for the writer looking for a fast, easy and inexpensive way to profit from their skill and knowledge.

To Your Riches,

Kim

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How To Write And Sell Booklets In A Bad Economy

With the economy being in a slump, you may have noticed that several businesses around you have closed their doors.  There are a variety of reasons for this, the economy being the straw that broke the camels back.  With so many businesses going under, you may wonder if this is the best time to write a booklet.  Will you be able to sell it and get your business off the ground?

The Economy Isn’t What Determines Success Or Failure

The businesses that have failed didn’t fail because of a bad economy.  They failed because of many other factors, such as pricing goods or services too high or too low, poor customer service, poor quality products, etc.  The economy has simply required that consumers make better choices, and that is what they are doing.  In the past, these failed businesses may have been able to get away with making their customers a number, but not now.   Now is the time when customer service counts more than ever.  Now is the time when price matters most to the bottom line.  Now is the time when products and services need to be top notch and provide the most value to the customer.  Many businesses have failed to get this right, and they are gone.

You Can Succeed In Spite Of The Economy

The information you have to offer consumers in your booklet is important.  Now, more than ever, people are looking for information.  If your booklet is a non-fiction work, it stands a very good chance of succeeding.  No matter what the economy does, people will always be looking for jobs, getting sick, moving to a new city or state, having babies, getting married, dying, and going on vacation.  These things and more happen for someone, somewhere every day.

For example, imagine you want to write a booklet about choosing the perfect puppy.  You might think now is a bad time to write that booklet because a puppy is an expense, and people are watching their pennies right now.  But, the fact is there are people who are buying puppies in spite of the economy.  Perhaps they will give the puppy as a gift for a birthday or holiday.  Or they might be buying the puppy to train as a helper for the blind or disabled.  Maybe the puppy will be going to hospitals to visit the sick, or to nursing homes to visit the elderly.  Or, a family may decide to buy a puppy for Christmas instead of buying alot of gifts.  So, yes, people are still buying puppies for a variety of reasons, and if they’re buying puppies, they’re buying other things as well, including booklets and other printed materials.

Give Your Customers Value And They’ll Keep You In Business

People will buy your booklet because it gives them a good value for their money.  This means that the information you provide to them is worth more to them than the money they are paying you for it.   As long as you give your customers a good value, they’ll be happy to buy from you.

But, good value includes more than the quality of information in your booklet.  While that is a large part of it, customer service also has a part in the customers perception of value they receive from you.  Customers expect to receive the products quickly, and to have issues resolved in a timely manner.  But, to provide real value you shouldn’t stop there.  You should add some personalization to your customer service so that your customers don’t feel like a number.  Everyone likes to be treated like a living, breathing human being.  Everyone appreciates being treated respectfully and courteously.  It will add riches to your bottom line and keep you in business if you remember this.

If you’re on the fence about writing a booklet in this economy, get off the fence and do it.  If you have already created your booklet, remember to add value to it by providing the best customer care that you can.  Without your customers, you have no riches.

To your riches!

Kim

PS:  Like this post?  Share it with a friend!  And don’t forget to click on one of the links at the top right of this page to subscribe so you never miss a single, important post!  Remember, it only takes one idea to start the riches flowing to you!