Lant - How to make a whole lot more than $1,000, 000 writing, commissioning, publishing and selling how to information

How To Make

A Whole Lot More Than $1,000,000 Writing, Commissioning, Publishing and Selling How To Information

Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Revised Second Edition

Published by JLA Publications A Division of Jeffrey Lant Associates, Inc. P.O. Box 38-2767 Cambridge, MA 02238 (617) 547-6372 fax (617) 547-0061

How To Make

A Whole Lot More Than $1,000,000 Writing, Commissioning, Publishing and Selling How To Information

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the small boy in Hans Andersens immortal tale The Emperors New Clothes, the boy who looked at the naked emperor and, alone, had the brains to say he has nothing on. This boy somehow knew what we all must learn again, namely that true knowledge begins with a recognition of the obvious, and a willingness to acknowledge and act upon it whatever anyone else may be thinking or doing. It is altogether fitting and proper that this of all books be dedicated to this hitherto unsung, nameless hero.

Acknowledgements

As always, many people have been generous with their time and specialized knowledge in the preparation of this book. Because they can also be of the utmost assistance to you as you create and market info-products, Im happy to include complete follow-up information about them in the text. A few, however, deserve extra recognition for all they have done. They include Professor Robert Dobson, Lucille Dube, James Duzak, Esq., Barbara Hagen, John & Lorraine Hamwey, Joseph LaRosa, Dr. Efrem Mallach and Dan Poynter. I am glad to be able to thank them publicly for their assistance.

Copyright 1990, Dr. Jeffrey Lant Revised Second Edition, 1993 ISBN 0-940374-26-9

Reproduction of any portion of this book is permitted for individual use if credit is given to Dr. Jeffrey Lant and Jeffrey Lant Associates, Inc. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution of any part of this book or inclusion of material in publications for sale is permitted only with prior written permission.

Contents

Thousands of people worldwide are now using this book to do two things: improve the quality of the how-to information they deliver to their readers and listeners and to make more money. In other words, with this resource they are doing well by doing good. Im delighted.

I wrote this book, as youll soon see, because I was very, very angry about the ocean of drivel being put out by how-to authorities and because I was tired of seeing well-meaning people fail to profit from what they knew... because they didnt have an idea how to package and market it properly.

There is still too much how-to drivel being published and too many people are still failing to profit from their knowledge because they approach the creation, packaging and marketing tasks the wrong way. But I am pleased to tell you that these avoidable errors are mostly made by creatures who havent troubled to study this book.

Indeed, Im delighted to tell you that over the last few years hundreds of people have contacted me to express their appreciation for this bookand to tell me how well theyve done because of it, producing superior audio cassettes, special reports, booklets and books and profiting accordingly. I am pleased, of course, but not surprised. For years Id perfected these methods with my own books and materials, and it wasnt until I was supremely confident of their value that I offered them to others in this book.

Now I am offering them to you, updated so you can profit faster in the difficult decade of the nineties. Now more than ever your customers are looking for value. They not only want you to know what youre writing about... they want you to present this information in the most usable format possible. Too, you want to get back not only the money you invest in your products but a substantial profit and as quickly as possible. In the pages that follow youll learn precisely how to achieve both objectives.

When, having studied these methods and produced your info-products, your readers and listeners start complimenting you; when you start making a steady income from what youve produced, stop a minute and rush me a wee note crowing about your success. And if this note contains a few words of praise for your production and profit mentor, why I shall accept them with humility (but without surprise).

I have written this book, my tenth, with a single objective in mind: to help you make money... yes, lots more than $1,000,000... creating, commissioning, publishing and selling problem-solving information in:

• booklets

• books

• Special Reports, and

• audio cassettes.

This is no pipedream, and this book proves it.

From the earliest days of publishing in this country, Americans have had a love affair with how-to information. We want to know how to do everything better... and so we have spawned a legion of individuals who spend their time delivering the facts on everything from how to outsmart the stock market, to looking younger as we get older ... to writing books on how to make money from booklets, books, Special Reports, and audio cassettes!

The problem is, most of these authors and publishers dont make much money with their products. Study after study shows just how few authors and just how few info-products make significant profit, or any profit at all.

Why do so many of these products and their authors and their publishers fail? Significant reasons include:

• not knowing the market. Too many info-products are egotistical productions. If you want to make money from such a product, you must direct it squarely at a large and growing market that has a pain you can take away ... or an aspiration you can help them achieve.

• not delivering useful information. Most how-to books and products are useless ... they dont provide the exact details people need to achieve the promise of the products title. But why should anyone pay good money for a product that doesnt deliver what they want?

• not producing client-centered marketing materials. If you want to motivate an individual to buy a product, youve got to tell him just what hes getting, all the advantages, benefits you have for him. But most info-producers talk about their products... not about client advantages. As a result, most of the marketing communications produced by info-entrepreneurs end up where they belong ... in the trash.

• not hammering home these benefits in an organized, efficient, relentless way. If you want to make money in the information business, you cannot be vague or obscure about the advantages youve got for your targeted market... you must be direct, pointed, persistent.

• not updating products, selling them for years. Most information publishers take a product out of circulation after a year, two at the most. Smart ones pinpoint a market in need, produce a valuable problem-solving product, and resolve to sell their product so long as this market has this problem. Updating is therefore inevitable.

• not creating a line of problem-solving information products. Information entrepreneurs who become rich do so because they dont put all their eggs in one basket ... or one product. They diversify, not only updating all products but regularly adding new products... both those they create themselves and those they get others to create.

To solve these, and a host of related problems, I have written this book, which I guarantee will help you crack them... and so launch you on your way to becoming Americas next millionaire information producer.