This vital step is the “How-To”. How will you target audience use your product or service? Are they clear about how it will benefit them? Do you have case studies or testimonials from people who have used what your offering? If you add the “How-To” element to your marketing matrix you will probably make more sales.

Teaching your target market how to use your product or service is as simple as writing an article, creating a tips booklet, or creating a video. Or it can be as complex as writing a white paper, report, or case study. When people know what you or your product is all about they will have more confidence in making the purchase.

The person selling a certain widget should have first hand experience about the product. If you ever look at infomercials you know right away how you should educate your audience. You do not have to have a film studio to do what the Ronco guy does but a simple how-to sheet is just as effective.

So if you are selling hair products create a tips sheet or booklet that tells the buyer all the ways to use your product. If you are selling candles give the customer safety tips or decorating ideas in a brochure. A speaker could document the expected results from hearing them and provide testimonials from satisfied event planners or attendees on their website.

When you show your potential customers how your product or services will benefit them or improve their lives, you significantly increase your chances of make new and repeat sales.

The first three ideas I shared were, write a book, teach a class, and blog. These activities are not just for people with 20 or more years of experience in a profession, but for anyone who wants to leverage their skills and abilities into a profitable new venture or side business.

Here are the last two ideas I came up with for my dad to profit from his expertise.

Sell Auto Parts
Everybody who has a car needs parts at some point in time. The fact of the matter is that all car parts wear out sooner or later. There are hundreds of auto part stores, in fact in some places there is one on every corner, kind of like all those CVS and Walgreens stores. Parts can be sold in one of three ways. He can buy a franchise, buy some land and start a junkyard, or buy parts for cheap at the local junkyard and resell.

Buying a franchise can be expensive with the hefty start-up fees and monthly or yearly franchise fees. Buying land, in reality, is not cheap. He will also need seed money to buy junk cars from individuals and a tow truck to haul them away. His best bet would be to buy parts cheaply from a salvage yard and resell on EBay, Craigslist or any other online classified ads website.

I heard of a man who only sells spark plugs he collects and cleans at one of the largest flea markets in California. He sells them for $1 each and regularly makes $300-400 before noon. Specializing in one or two parts may yield the same results but it will take testing it out to see what works.

Consulting
The final way that my dad or any other experienced auto mechanic can make money is by consulting. The clients he could serve are those people in the market to buy a car, particularly a used car. When the car is sitting on the lot looking pretty and the interior is immaculate it’s easy to forget about what’s under the hood.

Having worked around cars for over 25 years he can distinguish between normal and abnormal sounds. During a test drive he can know if the car needs an alignment or if that knocking sound is the sign of big trouble in the future. The sights, sounds, and smells of a used car can never be taken for granted so having a knowledgeable mechanic around can save the consumer money and headaches.

Knowing the true value of a used car is another area that a mechanic can advise a consumer about. Too often the unassuming buyer pays too much for a car. The way it looks and the features drive them to overpay for what could be a lemon. They don’t take into consideration the mileage, maintenance reports, or blue book values. They may not even know that those factors influence the cost of the car they have fallen in love with. An automotive consultant can be the voice of reason at this very important time in the consumer’s life.

These ideas can be used for any professional with years of experience in their field. What you know is valuable because you have spent the time to learn everything there is to know about your industry. As retirement nears or the economic crunch begins to change and challenge your level of income, it becomes necessary to think outside of the box and create alternative ways to produce income.

Well that’s the remaining two ways that my dad can make good money with his knowledge. Now it’s your turn to come up with a few ideas of your own. You may use mine, but see if you can put a little twist to it. I’m sure you will come up with a winner! Let me know how it’s going.

“Hi im interested in getting my book published can you give me some advice.” M. 

Here is my answer to her question…There are a few ways that you can get your book published. I’ll list and explain them as follows:
 
Self-publish
POD
You can publish your book yourself quite easily these days. There are many print-on-demand (POD) companies online that you can use. When you self-publish you are basically doing all the writing, layout, cover design, and getting an ISBN number. You then submit your book to a printer by uploading it to their system. Each system is different. When you self-publish using an online POD you pay nothing up front but the company will take a percentage of each sale.
 
POD companies that I can think of off the top of my head are LuLu and CafePress. There are probably others but these stand out because I have looked into them before.
 
Quick Printer
Another option it is to us a quick print company to print your book. There is usually a small set-up fee and you have to pay for your books up front. The cost per book varies depending on the number of books you want printed. The more you have printed the lower the cost.
 
I’ve used Instant Publisher to print my book. The process wasn’t hard and the owner is quite friendly. You have to follow the same procedure outline above for setting up your book to print. The time from upload to receiving your books is relatively short. The longest time for me to receive my books was two weeks.

The good thing about using a quick printer is that the minimum number of books you can print is small. Some printers require that you have a minimum order of 500 or 1,000 books. With many quick printers you minimum can be as low as 25 books. This is great for testing the market or using the books as gifts for family and friends.
 
eBook
The last way is to create an ebook. You basically save your manuscript as a PDF file and sell it online. You can take payments through PayPal so you’ll be able to get instant payment. You will have to either send the file as soon as you get the order or set up an automatic payment/send system through a company like eJunkie or Paydotcom.
 
Traditional Publisher
If you want to go through a traditional publisher you can expect to have to send a query. You are essentially trying to sell your idea to the publisher. They get thousands of queries a month so it could be months before you hear anything.
 
You could hire a literary agent to pitch your book to publishers but be prepared to pay them up front and a percentage of your book sales.
 
There are a few publishing companies that regularly call for submissions. You will have to research those companies, join mailing lists, and forums where authors hang out to find out more. Some are also PODs and require a large fee upfront. They don’t guarantee that your book will be picked up and you will have to market it yourself.
 
With a traditional publisher you will get some marketing assistance but at with all other forms of publishing you will have to do the bulk of the work yourself.
 
Marketing
Marketing is a requirement for the success of any book. You have to promote, sell, promote, advertise, and sell. It is an ongoing project after your book is printed/ published. If you don’t promote your book no one will ever know about it.
 
There are several books about promoting your book. I personally have John Kremer’s, 1001 Ways to Market Your Book. It is a comprehensive book about all the ways to promote your book. He started a social network on Ning that is frequented by thousands of authors both famous and not so famous.
 
Networking
Networking is a great way to get your book known among the people who know people. Look for author and book marketing groups on Ning, Yahoo Groups, Facebook, Myspace, and numerous others online.
 
Also look for local writer’s groups in you city. It is great for support, critique, and connections. A writer who has been published can tell you the pitfalls and successes they’ve had. They can also connect you with a publisher, graphic designer, publicist, or agent.
 
Cost
Be prepared to spend some money to make money. You may have to save up your pennies and dollars to get your book marketed to the masses or niche. If you are marketing to a niche you will probably have better success. With a specialized group of people to target you have a better chance of hitting the mark.

If you want to be a published author there are many ways to accomplish this goal. You have more options now than you ever had before. Just do your research, know that you will have to spend a little money no matter what option you choose, and know that you have to market and promote your book so people will know that your Great American Novel exists.

The major premise of the book is that you shouldn’t force learning. I translate this into; I shouldn’t force completing a project. I find that if I spend too much time trying to squeeze out one more word or come up with one more creative idea my brain goes numb. The remedy is to do things in 15-minute spurts.

The author of the book says that when the brain is overloaded it has a tendency to shut down. Nothing is comprehended. For example, if you are studying for an exam and have to read 20 pages, only the first 10-15 minutes of what you read actually sinks in. After that time period it’s like mental white noise. You see the words on the paper but nothing is getting through.

It is much the same way with working on a project for school or business. Even writing an article or paper can be mentally taxing. The ideas stop flowing after a while. So that is why spending a maximum of 15-minutes engaged in a single task is all that you really need to do to be productive.

That’s great news for us procrastinators. Just the thought of having to sit down and concentrate on one single task is mind numbing and overwhelming.

So instead of staring at your computer screen and torturing yourself for hours on end, shift your focus. Do this by going for a walk, going to the kitchen to get a drink of water, playing with your kid or dog for a few minutes, or playing a quick game of solitaire. These activities may seem counter-productive, but that is not true. Your brain is still at work on the task you just took a break from. It is still processing ideas, coming up with answers, and fleshing out those last few paragraphs left to write. After you short break youíll find that your mind is fresh and you can jump right back in and get 15 more minutes of work done.

For every 15 minutes of concentrated work take 10 minutes to distract yourself with something pleasurable. Before you know it you will have completed more in an hour and a half of quality work that you can be proud of versus two to three hours of mediocre work that you will have to revisit more often because you just weren’t into your task.

To make this work burst effective find an electronic stop clock for your desktop. You may be able to find a free one to download from the Internet. There are probably several widget applications available that will do the job nicely. Once you have your stopwatch just set it for 15 minutes at the beginning of your task. When it stops, you stop and either take a break, go to another task, or simply meditate for 5-10 minutes. After that time you are ready to get back to your task and continue on to completion or until another 15 minutes have passed.

This method may not work for everyone. Some people must maintain their momentum until they complete the task. It may be a right-brain versus left-brain thought process. So if you have trouble staying focused for hours on end or you are a procrastinator this article is perfect for you. If you lose focus because you take a break then itís probably best to skip this bit of advice and just move on to the next article.

Writing articles sets you apart from the crowd in your community and in your industry. Being able to communicate in writing is not for the faint of heart, but when you learn simple writing techniques this seemingly monumental task becomes a routine part of your week. When your future customers or clients see your name on the article they change the way they see you. You become an almost instant authority in their eyes. Writing allows your expertise to shine through.

Articles don’t have to be long or extremely formal, though they do need to be grammatically correct. A simple 300 to 500 word article is enough to give succinct information quickly. Your reader wants to come away with new information about you, your product, or service. Give it to them and continue to give it to them and they will begin to come to you for advice and recommendations.

Article topics can range from product information to industry developments to how to use or maximize the use of a product. You are simply sharing your knowledge with the people you want to do business with. Eventually you will become a trusted leader in your niche and authoritative voice to your current and prospective customers.

So why should you write? Well because you want to become authoritative and be set apart from the crowd. What’s in it for you? You become the go-to person for advice and recommendations. You also gain loyal customers who buy from you over and over again. Does it take a long time to write an article? Not if you know what you want to say. If you know how to talk, you can write. An article can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to write depending on the subject and length you want. The best way to write is from an outline. I’ll talk about that next time. Until then start thinking about what you know and can share with your current and future customers.