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!
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