A booklet is both a profit center and a marketing tool. Every time you sell a copy of your informational tips booklet, it brings you direct revenue while promoting you to a larger audience.

Every person who reads your booklet is a ready-made marketing representative for you and your company. As a single-copy buyer, they could be a decision-maker for buying large quantities of your booklet to use for their company's promotional purposes. A company or association who purchases a large quantity of your booklets as a promotional tool for their own purposes promotes *you* with each and every booklet they distribute. They have paid you to promote you. Life doesn't get much better than that!

They may also be or know of a reporter or producer to schedule you for an interview. The reader might have contacts in another country or a community in your own country who have interest in licensing your booklet into another language or different physical format. You may be just person to consult or train on an issue. Or, if you are also a speaker, they may need a series of speeches in different locations or departments within their organization. Any of that and more can happen from a booklet.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to how a booklet can serve your business. Write on topic you enjoy most so your client can have a choice of booklet or any of your other services when they are in buying mode. The client may want to purchase booklets first, and buy your book or your articles or hire you to speak later, or buy both product and service at same time. Everyone benefits either way.

What will your first booklet be?

© 2002, Paulette Ensign

Paulette Ensign has personally sold over 500,000 copies of her own tips booklet, '110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life', in 3 languages and various formats without spending a penny on advertising. She is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Visionary of her San Diego-based company, Tips Products International. Learn how you can easily leverage your knowledge into booklets to serve you as a marketing too, profit center, or both. www.tipsbooklets.com

Just remember to always focus your messages to emphasize 'what's in it for them,' showing what pain or problem your product/service solves.

2) Deliver a multi-part training or coaching course. Yes, this can be done on autoresponder. Again, key is that delivered information must be perceived as being valuable.

3) Deliver evergreen information in form of an ezine or newsletter. By offering value, and keeping you top-of-mind, this leads to a stronger customer relationship. When you have to choose between reading a message from someone you know and trust, and one from someone you don't, most choose friend, right? Use autoresponders to help create that bond -- this could lead to more sales!

4) Make existing customers feel special by developing a autoresponder series that offers a 'members only' exclusive of product bundles, limited-time discounts, holiday or seasonal promotions, etc.

5) Create a separate autoresponder series to 'upsell' paying customers on increasingly expensive product offerings. Never assume that they're automatically done with just one purchase! Don't underestimate a customer's ongoing desire for high-quality products and services.

One last idea for a creative use of autoresponders - timely customer relations. If you find that same questions are being asked over and over by your visitors, assemble their answers and load them into an autoresponder. Then add a place on your site to click for 'Answers To Frequently Asked Questions' - this will save a huge amount of time and energy, leaving your time open to come up with new marketing ideas.

Always remember to have a place for customers to contact you directly, however, if autoresponder FAQ did not answer their questions.

How many other autoresponder campaigns or applications can you think of?