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