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How-to for Longevity and Profit and
to Promote Yourself and Your Business . Today, people seek more
and more information and specialized advice to get ahead. People
lack the time to research a subject—despite the Internet’s
powerful search engines. They seek expertise, often in the form
of a written product. In my experience, people will pay for solutions—tools
that provide answers, solve their problems, make their lives easier,
save them time or money, etc. This is why how-to information products
can be so profitable. With a how-to, you the author establish yourself
as the expert and draw people to your business.
To promote your business, you must
select the topic that is most central to your business. This could
be based on the questions your customers frequently ask. Or it could
be based on the benefits your products and services offer and what
your customers gain when they make a purchase.
Once you create your product—write
your advice on paper (or disk), etc.—you can sell it again
and again to different people (audiences). You can make money as
long as people demand your information and you market your work.
Once you complete your first edition, you can update it and create
new, updated and improved editions. These factors give you the opportunity
to cultivate your network and earn income for years.
In business, by giving your information
products to your customers or by selling them, you get in touch
with existing and potential customers, draw them to your business
and encourage them to make a purchase
Select the Optimal Topic.
An optimal topic means a genre or area in which you currently possess
or can develop expertise and emphasizes the core theme(s) of your
business. Preferably this is a subject that contains products and
information that are likely to be both in high and continuous demand.
The ideal market is one that contains a broad audience with many
potential buyers or a focused (specialty, niche, etc.) and loyal
audience—one that makes multiple or repeat purchases over a
long period of time. You can profit from a fad, but you are likely
to achieve greater long run success when you develop a stable and
solid long-term initiative. The most effective way to succeed in
this business is to select one or at most two topics that interest
you.
Case Study—What we learned.
Based on personal experience and market demand, I wrote 157 Ways
to Cut Your Grocery Bill. A number of events occurred that led me
to realize that I was wasting big money on groceries:
- A new grocery store opened near my commuter
rail station. When I visited the new store, I realized that their
prices were 15% less than my current store. By switching stores,
I captured big savings.
- On another occasion, I purchased cleaning supplies
and returned home only to find duplicates in the cabinet—another
waste of money. Then I started keeping shopping lists and taking
inventory of my food before shopping.
When I conducted an informal market survey, I discovered
that other people also wanted to save money on groceries. That led
to this guide.
To study a best-selling information product in booklet
format and to save money on groceries, and to learn more about
my booklet 157 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill, click on
the icons below.
 
This booklet helps us promote our personal finance
consulting practice.
Zero in on Topics. Where You Can Make
a Difference; add a new twist, special expertise, new information,
and new point of view
Case Study—What we learned. Our companies
publish books in several areas: small business, personal finance,
consumer information, and publishing (designing, marketing and selling
books and other information products).
My background is in publishing (marketing and selling
books), marketing, personal and corporate finance, and accounting.
That led to my Personal Budget Planner; Checkbook Management;
157 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill; and a number of other books
on personal finance. These books came out of my knowledge and education
in personal finance and money management and my interest in helping
consumers get ahead. These titles have broad and continuous appeal.
The sales demonstrate that.
After I had been publishing for almost eight years,
a number of people began asking me to help them publish, market
and promote their books. I gathered my experience and wrote Book
Promotion Made Easy; and then Catalog Gold—Make
Money Selling Your Books and Products to Catalogs and Promote
Yourself & Your Business with Writing and Publishing.
Consider your background, education
and experience
to see how you can create useful and profitable
information products.
My father, Joseph Gelbis a CPA and attorney.
In 1974, he founded an accounting firm. He wrote two books, Tax
Accounting for Small Business; and Building a Million Dollar Service
Business. He based these books on his years of experience as a CPA,
attorney, small business expert, and his building and managing an
accounting firm, one of the ultimate service businesses.
To start, manage and build a profitable service
business, and learn more about the best-selling book, Building
a Million Dollar Service Business, click on the icons below.
These books in turn promote our small business consulting
services and company Small Business Advisors, Inc.
Once you select a topic, develop a particular point
of view or special niche; present your material in a novel way that’s
useful, valuable and appealing to your audience.
Unleash Your Creativity Carefully. As a self-publisher,
you are the author, editor and publisher so you gain the freedom
of creativity. In other words, you can select your genre, topics,
content, point of view, and format, layout and design. You can craft
your content as you likeæmany people call this “editorial
license.”
While self-publishing gives you the power to disseminate
your words and feelings as you like, keep in mind two important
points:
- Never criticize or attack anyone in writing. You
are likely to face negative consequences, including tarnishing
your own reputation and getting sued. Your goal is a positive
one—helping others to do something.
- Create products that are commercially viable. In
other words, you must attract your target audience so they purchase
your existing products and eagerly await your forthcoming ones.
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