So you think that how-to tips booklets are way down the food chain when it comes to publishing? They are if you’re thinking New York Times Bestseller List. However, that’s not the purpose of a tips booklet. It’s created for different reasons than a book.
Think about the highly successful study guides that have been published over the years, whether it was the Cliff Notes (are you old enough to remember those?) or other laminated 8.5″ x 11″ 2-sided guides currently on the market — all of which were how-to tips and notes about full-length books that were classics in some cases. The study guides were created to introduce the reader to the topic and to ease into a more in-depth treatment of the subject. Sometimes that was all the student ever wanted or needed to accomplish the end result of an overview and/or to pass the test. Other times it whet the appetite to want more.
The same is true with Executive Summary products that exist today for full-length business books. The summaries may be written or delivered as audio recordings, printed or downloadable. These also serve the same purpose as the study guides do for high school students. The full-length books were written, in many cases, with the goal of commercial critical success — New York Times Best Seller List stuff. The summaries were also created for commercial success, just without the goal of public awards and acknowledgements for their writing style or for the number of units sold.
In both cases, the guides often generated more sales than those of the books they summarized, yet not always. After all, textbook sales were based on a decision made by someone other than the end-user. The book sale is already a done deal.
Tips booklets often prompt sales of whole books that are also written by the same author as the person who wrote the tips booklet. The tips booklets often trigger sales of other products and services the author creates, and sales for companies and organizations who use the tips booklets as marketing tools for their own products, services, and causes.
A one-time leader in the consumer mail order catalog business generated a documented 13% sales increase of products in their catalog that they traced directly back to offering a tips booklet as a gift with any purchase in one edition of their catalog. That 13% increase represented millions of dollars in catalog sales. The booklet author licensed specific written rights to the company to use the booklet content, in exchange for a 5-digit licensing fee and lots of additional business because the author’s contact information was included in the booklet.
Still think a tips booklet isn’t sexy?
Who cared if the tips booklet got public recognition? The purpose of the booklet was solely to generate sales — sales of the booklet and sales of other products and services.
This is not to say the same couldn’t be done with full-length books, to use them to generate sales of other products and services. In fact, in some situations, a 200-page book is a better match for a particular campaign for a company. It depends on what the perceived value is of the product or service offer and the bonus attached to it. Think of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) model. There are different size bonus packages available at many programs they produce, providing something for everyone, at different price levels. The booklet can be the ideal match at one level of PBS donation, and the book, bundled with an audio or video of the program can be appropriate for a higher donation amount.
How would you feel about selling over a million copies of a tips booklet, which then prompted sales of thousands or millions of units of other products or services you have? Starting to look a bit different now, isn’t it? Yes, much sexier!
The tips booklet is not the great American novel, and was never intended to be. Its purpose is a marketing tool and/or a direct source of income. Yes, the booklet and the book are both words that are distributed to teach the reader something. In this case, it’s about learning how to use booklets and books as powerful tools for your business and the businesses who purchase your booklet from you.
“Turn your tips into products and your tips products into moneymakers. ™”
© 2012 Paulette Ensign
Source by Paulette Ensign
This site is using SEO Baclinks plugin created by
Locco.Ro
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario