Selling Info Products to the Military - - Part 2

Additional sales opportunities on the bases

Most bases offer a variety of services for the families of the people on active duty, all in need of books. These include family support services, employee assistance program, spouse clubs and family centers. For the contact information for specific military bases, go to http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?s=0-292258-locator.php.

Military associations

Military associations represent the interests of active, reserve, veteran and retired military members, and their families. The associations provide services to their members and use books to inform their members and the general public about issues of concern, and help bring together military communities with similar interests or backgrounds. Here are some of the armed services associations, what they do, and how to get in touch with them:

National Military Family Association (NMFA) - serves the families of the uniformed services through education, information and advocacy and is dedicated to identifying and resolving issues affecting them. 6000 Stevenson Ave., Suite 304, Alexandria, VA 22304-3526 Phone: (703) 823-NMFA Fax: (703) 751-4857 families@nmfa.org http://www.nmfa.org

The Retired Officers Association
Aims to benefit members of the uniformed services — active duty, former and retired, National Guard and Reserve — and their families and survivors through efforts to preserve earned entitlements and to maintain a strong national defense. Membership is open to active duty, retired, National Guard, reserve, former commissioned officers and warrant officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Public Health Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 201 N. Washington St. Alexandria, VA 22314; Phone: (800) 245-TROA msc@troa.org http://www.troa.org


United Armed Forces Association (UAFA) - Serves all ranks and branches of the armed forces - active duty, reserve, veterans, retired military and their dependents and civil service employees. P.O. Box 20672, Waco, TX 76702 Phone: (888) 457-7667 info@uafa.org http://www.uafa.org

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Provides programs and services that strengthen comradeship among members, perpetuate the memory and history of fallen soldiers, foster patriotism, defend the Constitution and promote service to our communities and our country. 406 West 34th St., Kansas City, MO 64111. Phone: (816) 756-3390 E-mail: info@vfw.org or go to http://www.vfw.org


(c) 2003, Brian Jud

Brian Jud is an author, seminar leader, book-marketing consultant, author of “Beyond the Bookstore” and “The Marketing Wizard CD.” Contact Brian brianjud@bookmarketingworks.com or visit http://www.bookmarketingworks.com or http://www.premiumbookcompany.com

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How amazed are you to find all these additional places to sell to the military? Certainly some of these possibilities are more appealing to you than others.
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Until next time,
Paulette - thinking of which places to approach for what

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Member Spotlight - Lynette Smith

You may have noticed the offer in the member newsletter to enjoy some additional exposure for your business here at the Publishing Prosperity Mastermind blog. Lynette Smith is stepping forward to accept that offer as the first Member Spotlight. Here is exactly what she submitted. After all, she's an editor, so I'm not likely to mess with it!! I've gotten to know Lynette. Give yourself that same gift. She's great.

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BACKGROUND. Lynette Smith has played—excuse me, WORKED—with words during her entire adult career: as an administrative assistant for most of the 1970s; as owner of a word processing and editing service from 1980 through the mid-1990s; as director of a trade association and managing editor of its manuals, reports, and award-winning monthly journal in the late 1990s and early 2000s; and now, since 2003, as professional copyeditor and owner of ALL MY BEST Business and Nonfiction Copyediting.

Lynette is a member of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), San Diego Professional Editors Network (SD/PEN), and Publishers & Writers of San Diego (PWSD).

Her copyediting clients appreciate her not only for her technical skills, but also for her efforts in helping them get the results and respect their writing deserves.

WHAT SHE'D LIKE FROM OTHER MEMBERS. Are you, or do you know, a writer or publisher of small, medium, or large nonfiction manuscripts or manuals--for print or Web? Ask Lynette to make sure all the final-draft details are correct--spelling, punctuation, grammar, usage, clarity, and formatting--so your words will shine for your readers. For documents of at least 100 pages, upon request she can provide a free work sample and no-obligation quote per 1,000 words; just send her five random but representative pages in MS Word (pre-2007 version, please), or send the entire manuscript and tell her which five pages you consider "random but representative."

Lynette can be reached at AllMyBest@earthlink.net or by calling (714) 777-1238 (Pacific Time Zone), and you can visit her website, www.AllMyBest.net, to learn more about how her services might be right for you and to benefit from the free writing tips you'll find there.

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Until next time,
Paulette - who highly values each of the detail people in my world, including Lynette Smith!

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Selling Info Products to the Military - - Part 1

The armed services represent an often-overlooked segment in which you can sell fiction and non-fiction titles in almost any genre and topic. It is a large niche of potential buyers made up of active duty personnel and their families, reservists, disabled veterans, civilians working for the Department of Defense and retired service people.

The place to start selling to the military is to search the “Selling to the Military Handbook” located at www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/publications/selling/index.html. Here you will find complete details on how to get started, department of defense contracting principles and practices, types of contracts, small business advisors and just about everything you need to sell to this market. Anyone who wishes to sell to the Department of Defense must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration database. For a guide to walk you through the registration process, go to www.growusapress.com or contact Sher Valenzuela at valenz@intercom.net.

Titles sought by military buyers are those selling well on the commercial market. In addition, there is an opportunity for creative, self-promotion. Find a niche in which information is lacking and then to develop the "how-to" book for that particular need. Discounting in the military also replicates that which occurs in the commercial world. However, you have some additional negotiating leeway with government buyers by providing an extra enticement for accelerated payment, custom books or cooperative marketing programs.

Reaching buyers for custom or existing titles becomes easier if you segment the military market into its unique purchasing opportunities. For instance, you may have titles that can be sold domestically or overseas, through base exchanges, to military libraries, Department of Defense Dependent Schools, onboard ships, and to military museums, book clubs, catalogs, bookstores and associations.

Selling to exchanges
The largest buyers of books of all types for the military market are the exchange services—Army & Air Force Exchange Service, Coast Guard Exchange, Navy Exchange, Marine Corps Exchange.

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) provides merchandise and services to active duty military, Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, and family members. You can download the entire AAFES Suppliers Handbook (pdf file - 3.22mb) at http://www.aafes.com/pa/selling/index.html.

US Coast Guard Exchange System Headquarters may be found at http://www.cg-exchange.com/. For an updated, complete list of Coast Guard Exchanges including addresses and phone numbers go to: http://www.cgaux.org/cgauxweb/memtable.shtml

While you can contact the exchange services directly, local distributors supply the exchanges with most books and publications. The list of current distributors and their points of contact may be found at http://www.aafes.com/pa/selling/books.html.

(c) 2003 Brian Jud

B Brian Jud is an author, seminar leader, book-marketing consultant, author of “Beyond the Bookstore” and “The Marketing Wizard CD.” Contact Brian brianjud@bookmarketingworks.com or visit http://www.bookmarketingworks.com or http://www.premiumbookcompany.com

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What titles do you have that the military people would enjoy for their spare time or to learn a new skill? This could be an entire new market you never considered.

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Until next time,
Paulette - reminded that there are so many more markets out there to tap into

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Why Companies Will Buy Your Books - Part 2

Continuing from the previous post...

5) Public relations. Companies may use books or booklets to establish, repair or improve their reputations. This may be accomplished by providing publications to volunteer groups or by donating them to a worthy cause. Companies celebrating an anniversary may also use related books or booklets to help promote and celebrate the event.

Charlene Costanzo sold her title, The Twelve Gifts of Birth, to children’s shelters to use as a fundraiser. But the image it created in the public’s mind was upbeat, creating positive word-of-mouth advertising for the shelters.

Companies may use information products to maintain or create an image, too. Many hospitals do this when they give a package of products to the parents of babies delivered there. If your title has information that is important to the first years of a baby’s life, it might be included in this package.

6) An addition to the corporate library. Some businesses have an internal library. If so, show the company librarians how your title could be appropriate to their needs. If it is on an applicable topic -- such as selling, industry information, motivation, or marketing – you might convince them to add your title to their collections.

7) Enhance other marketing campaigns. Laws and do-not-call lists limiting the activities of telemarketers will increase the use of direct mail to accomplish the same result. Businesses conducting direct-mail campaigns want recipients to open the envelopes immediately upon receiving them, and one way to do this is to offer a teaser on the envelope announcing a “free gift inside,” or an “offer for a free gift inside.” Statistics have proven this to be an excellent way to increase response rates, and your book or booklet may perform that function.

8) Sales promotional tools. Brand managers have bottom-line responsibility for their product line and are interested in increasing their sales. Show them how they could use your titles to make this happen and you will find an interested prospect.

Coupon. Manufacturers may offer a dollars-off, in-pack, on-pack, or near-pack coupon entitling the bearer to a discount on your product. For example, a pet food company might include a coupon in a bag of dog food (in-pack) for a discount on your video about dog care.

The manufacturer may offer the same coupon on-pack, printed on the exterior of the package and visible to the consumer. Near-pack coupons are provided at the point of sale (perhaps as a peel-off coupon or in a “take-one” container) in close proximity to where the item is being sold. For example, a coupon for a book containing holiday recipes could be placed near a display of Pfaltzgraff plates with Christmas décor.

Coupons serve another function whenever the customer is required to send any information to you. Your company garners information to build its database, which can offset costs of the free items.

Premium. When used as a premium (an item given away to attract, retain or reward customers or to motivate employees), a product may be offered at a relatively low cost (or free) as an incentive to purchase a particular product. If the dog-food manufacturer mentioned above included your dog-care video inside the package – instead of a coupon for it – your product would be considered a premium.

Attend or exhibit at appropriate trade shows. The Incentive Show (held in New York annually, http://www.piexpo.com/) is an excellent place to display your products for use as premiums. You may also find rep groups there willing to carry your titles.

Prize. A high-price or high-value book might be offered as a prize in a contest or sweepstakes.

Samples. Businesses may use your items to give to customers or the general public at no charge in order to build goodwill, and traffic to their stores. They might place a sample chapter of your book on their website, offering the complete version as a self-liquidator.

Hammermill Paper Company purchased over 5000 copies of Paulette Ensign’s booklet 110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life as a premium for their sales representatives to leave behind with prospects after a sales call. The only change to which Paulette had to accede was to allow Hammermill to print the booklets on their paper to serve as a sample.

Self-liquidator. When a book is sold at a price low enough to entice buyers, but high enough to cover it’s cost, it is being used as a self-liquidator. Many supermarkets use this tactic to entice shoppers to buy more at their store. Here, buyers may purchase a book at a discounted price with a minimum purchase. Or shoppers may be offered a continuity series at a reduced price.

Once you know how a prospective customer might use your titles, the next step is to contact and negotiate with them.

Brian Jud is an author, book-marketing consultant, creator of the Book Market Map directories for special sales, and author of “Beyond the Bookstore” (a “Publishers Weekly” book you got as a joining bonus to www.PublishingProsperity.com) and “The Marketing Wizard CD.” Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (800) 562-4357; brianjud@bookmarketingworks.com or visit http://www.bookmarketingworks.com

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What companies come to mind as likely places to benefit from your book, booklets, and other forms of information products? Who do you know who can introduce you to a decision-maker in those companies?

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Until next time,
Paulette - continuing to learn from Brian Jud's experiences, knowledge, and perspective

www.CollectionOfExperts.com
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Why Companies Will Buy Your Books - Part 1

Publishers and authors seeking sales in non-bookstore markets often think only in terms of selling to retail outlets such as discount stores, warehouse clubs, airport stores or gift shops. However, there is an often-overlooked segment made up of buyers that frequently purchase books in large quantities, pays in 30 days and does not require a distributor. This niche is comprised of companies that buy books and other information products not necessarily for re-sale, but to motivate their sales forces, educate their employees, improve their images or use as sales incentives to sell more of their products.

This market can be lucrative, if you know how to sell to the buyers. This begins with an understanding of why they might use your books to improve their circumstances, to make their companies more profitable. An appeal to traditional buying motives may not work under these conditions.

The people with whom you will be negotiating are skilled professionals, used to dealing with knowledgeable, competent sales representatives. The buyer is probably not the Purchasing Agent for the companies, but perhaps the Human Resources Manager, Sales Manger or Brand Manager. The content of your book will determine the prospective decision maker.

Many of these businesspeople have never thought about using books as promotional tools. So if you come across as a consultant with ideas to help them, you are more likely to make the sale. If you know how they could use your titles to sell more of their products or services you will find a willing ear. Below are suggestions to fuel your discussion. Use this list to help plan how they might best use your titles.

1) Human Resource planning. If you have a concept that would help employees plan for their retirement, ask people in the Human Resources department if they could use your titles in their retirement-planning programs. They might also consider titles that would help them implement other parts of their benefit programs.

2) Training and motivation. According to Frank Fochetta (VP, Director of Special Sales and Custom Publishing at Simon & Schuster), “Companies such as Herbal Life and Amway buy motivational and business books to resell to their distributors.” In many other businesses, managers regularly seek new ways to train and motivate their employees, too. Your titles on leadership, motivation, self-help, selling techniques or new business topics could be useful to these executives.

3) Gift to customers. Fiction and nonfiction titles may be the perfect gift for customers, employees or to recognize unusual events or special marketing periods. Mark Resnick (partner in FRW Company) tells us, “Some cruise ship lines, give passengers a thank-you gift upon departing the ship. Sometimes they use a book about one of the destination ports as the souvenir.


4) Sell through their stores. If companies have stores for employees, either on the premises or online, they may purchase your books for resale. Majors Internet Company provides a service called The Company Bookstore. This is a business-to-business solution for selling books to employees of corporations. In effect, Majors puts a bookstore inside the corporation. Purchasing managers, Corporate Library Professionals, and Information Service Managers can link to a customized version of the company bookstore to offer employees access to a comprehensive database of titles.


Majors customizes The Company Bookstore for the corporate intranet, processes credit card transactions, picks, packs & ships, and provides management reports. Majors is a vendor for the corporate employee as well as for information centers, training and development, and research departments. J.A. Majors Company - 4004 Tradeport Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30354; Phone: 404-608-2660, 1-800-241-6551, Fax: 404-608-2656, http://www.majors.com/corporations/corporations.htm.


Books Are Fun, Ltd. (A Reader's Digest Company) is a leading display marketer of books and gifts. They offer hardcover books, gifts, and educational products at savings of up to 80% off retail prices. Their book fairs and book displays supply innovative, premium quality products to corporations, schools, hospitals, and early learning centers throughout the United States and Canada. Books Are Fun serves over 60,000 schools, 12,000 corporations, 20,000 early learning centers, and many hospitals, universities, government offices and non-profit organizations in the United States and Canada through a variety of programs.


The Books Are Fun formula is simple. They buy huge, non-returnable quantities of books and gifts directly from publishers and manufacturers, and sell those products at deep discounts directly to end users through display marketing events. They typically donate a percentage of the proceeds in books or cash to the sponsoring organization or to a designated charity. Books submitted to Books Are Fun will not be returned. For questions regarding book submissions, email baf_submissions@booksarefun.com. Book submissions can be sent to: Books Are Fun Attn: Submissions Department, 1680 Hwy 1 North, Fairfield, IA 52556.


Brian Jud is an author, book-marketing consultant, creator of the Book Market Map directories for special sales, and author of “Beyond the Bookstore” (a “Publishers Weekly” book) and “The Marketing Wizard CD.” Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (800) 562-4357; brianjud@bookmarketingworks.com or visit http://www.bookmarketingworks.com

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What part of this article got you thinking about contacts you have, people you can speak with about selling large quantities of your books, booklets, audio programs, and other products? Who will you contact first?

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Until next time,
Paulette - bringing you directions you may have had no reason to consider

www.CollectionOfExperts.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.tipsbooklets.com
Follow me www.twitter.com/pauletteensign

Mix and Match Your Promotion

A carpenter knows that the right tool applied in the proper situation gets the job done most effectively. Similarly, you should use the correct marketing tools when building a successful promotional campaign.

The Promotion Mix
Promotion is one of the most important functions of marketing. It makes people aware that your books exists, and makes them understand why they need to buy it. There are four general promotional tools you can use at different times to accomplish these goals.

1) Sales promotion uses items such as premiums, giveaways, brochures and coupons for generating awareness and stimulating demand through short-term awareness campaigns. They can easily be tied in with other promotional tools. Conversely, they usually have short-term impact, overuse of price-related offers may hurt your profits and competitors easily copy effective promotions.

2) Publicity, such as press releases, media appearances and reviews, is perhaps the most economical element of the promotional mix. It increases awareness and credibility through a third-party testimonial. On the other had, you have no control over what is printed in a review or article about your book. Also, an appearance on a TV or radio show is no guarantee of sales. You must perform properly.

3) Advertising, including direct mail and Internet marketing, can reach many consumers simultaneously with the same message, with a relatively low cost per exposure. It can increase awareness of your titles and educate people about the benefits of buying them. However, since your advertisement reaches many people who are not potential buyer you could waste a lot of money. In addition, consumers easily screen out advertising. Your website should be produced professionally in order to get the most out of it.

4) Personal selling can be the most persuasive selling tool because it allows two-way communication. Examples are presentations before groups and in-store events. It is the best tool for closing the sale. The major disadvantage is its high cost per contact.

Your job is to determine when and how to use each of these tools to optimize your sales. For example, suppose you are about to conduct a book signing. It will be more successful if you precede the event with an awareness campaign. This might include an enlargement of the book’s cover featured in the store (sales promotion), press releases sent to the local media or media appearances describing your event (publicity); post cards mailed to prospective customers (advertising) or personal presentations promoting the signing (personal selling).

Match your promotional mix to the circumstances
Creating and implementing a successful promotional mix will be more likely if you match your promotional mix to:

1) Your overall marketing objectives. If your title is in its introductory stage, mass communication techniques should be emphasized. Initially, people need to understand why it is in their best interest to purchase your book. Later, they need to be reminded to buy it. The people you are trying to influence may be acquisitions people at distributors, libraries, bookstores, or the consumers themselves. If your objective is to market nonfiction to specific niches, then direct mail might lead your attack. If you plan a heavy trade-show schedule then personal selling may prevail.

2) Your personality. Authors who loathe media appearances might be better suited to a promotional mix heavy in direct mail, publicity, Internet marketing and advertising. Others may thrive on national exposure and excel in performing on the air and in personal performances.

3) The nature of your product line. A list heavy in fiction lends itself to a mix weighted toward sales promotion, publicity and advertising where mass communication’s low cost per exposure stimulates demand most efficiently. Of course, personal selling in the form of a national media blitz is also suited to stimulating broad awareness and demand.

4) The nature of your markets. A nonfiction title destined for a tightly defined market niche dictates personal communication, perhaps implemented through a targeted campaign of direct mail, publicity and advertising.

When building a promotional campaign for a new or existing title, look at all the items in your toolbox before deciding which to use. Stimulating awareness of a new fiction title from an introverted author requires a different mix of tools than you would use for a nonfiction title written by an author who is a veteran media performer. Use the right tool and hit the nail on the head.

(c) Brian Jud, 2008

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Brian Jud now offers commission-only sales to buyers in special markets. For more information contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (860) 675-1344; Fax (801) 605-1344; brian@premiumbookcompany.com or go to www.premiumbookcompany.com

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Brian will be the Expert interviewed this month, March 5 at www.PublishingProsperity.com . He'll be sharing information from his many years of doing bulk sales (aka Special Sales) to corporations, associations, the military, airport bookstores, and more.

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Who have you considered selling your books, booklets, audios, and other information products to, in large quantities, who are "out of the ordinary?"

Until next time,

Paulette - who has been amazed over the years by which unlikely sources have bought tips booklets and other information products, in bulk

www.CollectionOfExperts.com
www.PublishingProsperity.com
www.tipsbooklets.com
Follow me www.twitter.com/pauletteensign