Tips Before Books, Except in the Alphabet
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and
I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Are you among the millions who walk through life muttering “someday I’ll write a book” or “people have told me I should write a book?” You have yet to write that book and maybe never will!
Or have you already written at least one book and puff your chest out proudly every time you or someone announces you as an author? Yet the content of that book is known to only a small number of people on the planet.
You dislike, don’t know how, or haven’t hired a professional to market your book. You (and millions of others) thought posting your book on Amazon or being a guest on several podcasts that may or may not have much audience was all you needed to get the word out about your book. You wished, hoped, dreamed, and sprinkled pixie dust on that book’s presence on Amazon to trigger an avalanche of book sales
Even if you sold what feels like lots of books, has it occurred to you that you have no idea who bought those books of yours on Amazon? That means you probably cannot directly invite them to purchase anything more of what you offer unless you give them a way to reach you within your book, which very few book authors do.
So what’s this deal about tips, you ask? And what ARE tips?
Think about how many times you share a suggestion that reflects your expertise? You answer the inevitable “what do YOU do (professionally),” you respond, and you almost-subconsciously offer a sample of your knowledge. A professional organizing and productivity consultant might say something like “You know those piles that keep accumulating in your life at home and at work? Well, take the biggest thing out of the pile first. It instantly shrinks the pile and motivates you to keep sorting through that pile.”
The organizer knows that piles are a generic and pervasive challenge in many people’s lives. The tip applies to laundry from the dryer, folders on a desk, and even processing a major problem of some sort. The tip is simple, easy to understand, and can seem like a magical idea the listener never considered. And that tip is the start of building trust and a relationship between the professional subject matter expert and the one who consumes the information. That tip can be shared in a social setting, from a podcast guest to the audience, in a media interview, to a seminar audience, in an audio or video recording, and in a collection of 52 related tips that simultaneously market the expert and are saleable in various delivery formats online, offline, and in different languages.
Yes, that 23-word tip on how to easily shrink a pile has a lot of power to it, for you and for your audience or market. Creating a 52-tip manuscript reflecting your expertise as a Word doc or Google doc is immediately saleable once it’s well edited.
The 52-tip manuscript can be licensed (rented in exchange for payment to you, while you continue owning it). Your tips can also be designed, printed, and sold in large quantities wholesale to companies and associations.
Ways an association or a company use your tips:
Drip a tip a week on a list they choose, staying top of mind with the recipients.
Position it as a revenue-generating paid subscription.
Offer a designed PDF of the tips as a bonus for subscribing to their mailing list.
Provide as a gift with purchase in a product promotional campaign.
Send as a unique holiday greeting, as a tips booklet printed or downloaded.
Distribute as a new member gift or when opening a new account.
Give as an incentive to complete a questionnaire or survey.
Post tips on social media platforms, adding their URL as a marketing tool.
Develop as a card deck for training programs.
Include on product packaging i.e. tea bag tags, cardboard containers, etc.
Add to wearables i.e. caps, sun visors, shirts, aprons, etc.
This list is to get you thinking and far from exhaustive. Yes, this is a quick dip into how-to tips, yet the title and beginning of this article mentions books. Why tips first?
How-to Tips:
Start a person’s Education on your topic earlier in the learning process than a book in many cases
Easily digestible amount for a newcomer rather than too much too soon of a book
Builds trust of you with the buyer and consumer
Less costly to purchase in bulk and ship than buying books in bulk
Leaves people wanting more of what you’ve got after digesting the basics in tips
Lays a trail of breadcrumbs as a marketing tool for everything you offer
Your bulk buyer or licensee markets you by distributing your tips
Provides you new income from the bulk sales and licensing deals
Gives you more time to write your book if you still decide to do so
Prompts you to create more tips products instead of writing a book
Use tips as an outline of your book or within the book itself
Tips BEFORE books can mean exactly that. Sell your tips products first. Then go back to those bulk buyers and content licensees who already see how the tips products support and accomplish their promotional, marketing, and sales goals.
You also now realize that single copy Retail sales of your products and services is a completely different business model and experience.
Our second year in business, 1992, our business model changed to bulk sales and content licensing. The only single copies are strategically given to corporate and association decision makers. No returns, transactions are substantially larger, you reach and help many more people at once, and your business is stronger.
NOW you’ve got a book your corporate and association buyers may want as a tool to take them even further in their journey. They are happy they found you; you are happy with recurring orders from them! Tips before Books!
© 2024, Paulette Ensign All Rights Reserved
