One of the easiest ways to create content for your tips booklet
or other information products is right in front of you. You may never
have noticed it or considered it. And yet using this approach goes a
long way to accomplishing many things, and all at once.
Ask your clients or audiences for their best or favorite tips on what has worked well for them. Here are some of the things that can be accomplished:
1. You learn what already resonates with people you serve and want to serve.
2. You capture ideas you may never have known, with little research time and effort.
3. You engage your clients, creating relationship and two-way communication.
Realize that some of your content contributors are fine with you using their name in attributing the tip to them. Others may not be okay with it. Having them sign a simple release form is the way to go so you have a clear understanding of their preference, and an agreement from them that you can use the tip in whatever ways you'd like, online and offline.
The release is also the place to let them know that you may be paying them by providing a copy of some form of your publication as a thank-you if that is your choice. A copy of your publication is one of many non-cash ways you can compensate the content contributor. You may have something else that makes sense to offer.
However, paying any financial royalties or commissions can become a bookkeeping nightmare in a situation like this. Providing a copy of the publication is a well-established model of compensating a content contributor in this type of arrangement.
It could turn out that your content contributors will want to invest in copies to give as gifts or to sell, depending on how your product turns out and the overall mindset of the person whose tips you included. So not only have you gotten the information from a tried-and-tested source, you may even have buyers from among those same people, before you even start promoting the product for your own business purposes.
Be as clear as possible in your request. It could be a certain number of words, or on a particular part of your subject (organizing your kids, organizing your kitchen, organizing your desk, etc.), or a certain maximum number of tips. No matter how clear you are, expect to edit whatever you receive.
Besides making a blanket request to your clients to submit tips to you, you may also hear or notice something someone says or is doing that appeals to you to include in what you are creating. It is still crucial to ask for permission if you are considering attributing the information to that client.
ACTION - Map out a campaign of who you will ask for tips, how you will ask them, what you want the focus of the content to be, how you will thank the content contributors, and what your overall marketing will be for each form of the product. Then schedule the tasks so you know how it fits into everything else in your world.
© 2015
Ask your clients or audiences for their best or favorite tips on what has worked well for them. Here are some of the things that can be accomplished:
1. You learn what already resonates with people you serve and want to serve.
2. You capture ideas you may never have known, with little research time and effort.
3. You engage your clients, creating relationship and two-way communication.
Realize that some of your content contributors are fine with you using their name in attributing the tip to them. Others may not be okay with it. Having them sign a simple release form is the way to go so you have a clear understanding of their preference, and an agreement from them that you can use the tip in whatever ways you'd like, online and offline.
The release is also the place to let them know that you may be paying them by providing a copy of some form of your publication as a thank-you if that is your choice. A copy of your publication is one of many non-cash ways you can compensate the content contributor. You may have something else that makes sense to offer.
However, paying any financial royalties or commissions can become a bookkeeping nightmare in a situation like this. Providing a copy of the publication is a well-established model of compensating a content contributor in this type of arrangement.
It could turn out that your content contributors will want to invest in copies to give as gifts or to sell, depending on how your product turns out and the overall mindset of the person whose tips you included. So not only have you gotten the information from a tried-and-tested source, you may even have buyers from among those same people, before you even start promoting the product for your own business purposes.
Be as clear as possible in your request. It could be a certain number of words, or on a particular part of your subject (organizing your kids, organizing your kitchen, organizing your desk, etc.), or a certain maximum number of tips. No matter how clear you are, expect to edit whatever you receive.
Besides making a blanket request to your clients to submit tips to you, you may also hear or notice something someone says or is doing that appeals to you to include in what you are creating. It is still crucial to ask for permission if you are considering attributing the information to that client.
ACTION - Map out a campaign of who you will ask for tips, how you will ask them, what you want the focus of the content to be, how you will thank the content contributors, and what your overall marketing will be for each form of the product. Then schedule the tasks so you know how it fits into everything else in your world.
© 2015
Paulette Ensign, Tips Products International Founder, never
dreamed of selling a million+ copies of her 16-page tips booklet 110
Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life, much less in four languages and
various formats without a penny on advertising. She's made a handsome
living and cross-country move from New York to San Diego recycling those
same 3500 words since 1991. With over forty years' experience worldwide
with small businesses, corporations, and professional associations in
numerous industries
