This is the « real » Money Maker in the Mail Order business – the
basic « How To » Report. It’s something anyone can produce, and
with all the proper ingredients at the right time, you can
become independently wealthy! The hard part, of course, is
getting all the proper ingredients at the right time.
Your basic « Money Making report » is usually two pages in length,
sells for $3, and outlines instructions, details, or a « How-To
Method » for solving a problem: making more money, saving money,
attaining greater happiness, or fulfilling an ambition or desire.
One of the most successful reports was and still is, a short
report on « How To Keep Moles Out Of Your Yard », by one of the
deans of self-publishing, Jerry Buchanan. Another of the most
successful and biggest money-makers ever written, had to do with
the many different ways to prepare and serve hamburger. Simple,
basic, grass roots kind of information is what we’re talking
about.
Any man, woman or child can write a saleable report on any
subject – providing he or she has knowledge of that subject
through personal experience, research, or both. A lot of women
write successful money-making reports based upon better ways of
solving household problems. And a lot of men write successful
money-making reports on how to get greater pleasure from
leisure time activities such as fishing, woodworking or other
hobbies. The list of subjects one can write about is endless,
and reports on how to make more money easier and faster are no
more limited to male authors than expertise in cooking is
limited to female authors.
Writing your report is easy and quite simple. However, it does
take longer, and requires more sweat, blood and anguish for some
people to produce a « finished » product than it does others, even
if they are equally intelligent and knowledgeable.
The best advice anyone can give you on how to write a
money-making report is to advise you to write as though you were
talking to someone – as though you were instructing your next
door neighbor via the telephone on the subject at hand. I use
the word telephone here to point out that regardless of how much
you wave your arms, point your finger, or even draw pictures,
you aren’t getting the message across, and your neighbor won’t
« see » what you’re talking about until you tell him in the kind
of language he can understand.
Write in a style similar to the book reports you used to give
when you were in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Do you remember
the « theme papers » you used to have to research, outline and
write for term finals? You got a good grade if you presented
your material in a straightforward style, had the facts, an
didn’t pad out your paper.
Be factual, and be clear. Know your reader and use the kind of
language he expects you to use. This does not mean that you
should drop to the level of military barracks talk or that you
should elevate yourself to the level of a pseudo Rhodes Scholar.
It just means that in writing the basic « How-To » report, you
should bear in mind that these reports serve as personal
one-to-one consultations between you and your reader, and that
your language should establish a rapport he can feel. Outline
what you want to say before you write it. This helps; in fact
I very definitely recommend it. Many writers « think » as they’re
typing or writing what they want to say, myself included. But
believe me, everything flows smoother, with a lot less rewrite
involved, and the finished product is always much better when
you’ve outlined what you want to say before you start.
When doing business by mail, these Money-Making « How-To » reports
we’ve been talking about are known by many names: folio,
booklet, pamphlet, guide, or even Personal Success Plan. In
reality, these reports are written guidelines that give the
reader more information on a subject he wants to know more about.
Money Making reports have been, and can still be written to show
other people how to start, develop, enjoy or expand a hobby;
how to learn and develop new or greater abilities; how to
start, develop and operate a new business, or even expand a
current one; how to develop and prepare for a new career; how
to make more money; how to save money, better one’s standard of
living and have more time for leisure; how to solve personal
problems and enjoy life more; how to attain success in any
endeavor.
You’ll find that the better selling reports are well researched,
authoritative, factual and helpful to the reader in the
achievement of his goals. Your report can be put together and
sold as anything from a two-page typewritten paper to a
multipage typeset and professionally bound book. an important
point to remember here is that the people who are going to buy
your report are going to be interested in the information it
contains – not how long it took you to put it together, the
reason you wrote it, or the number of pages you’ve written – so
long as it contains the information he wants.
Picking a subject to write about – one that has sales appeal and
that will sell well for you – is not as hard as it sounds. The
best rule to follow is to write only about something you already
know a great deal about. With this advice in mind, it will
follow that your best writing will be about those subjects that
particularly interest you. And remember, the more you are
involved or interested in the subject, the easier it will be for
you to write about that subject in a manner that will hold your
reader’s interest. Your knowledge and enthusiasm will show
through – causing your reader to overlook any technical writing
weaknesses.
How do you determine the subject that’s best for you to use for
your first report? Channel your thinking along these lines: If
you love to fish, you could probably put together a money-making
report on « How To Catch The Big Ones ». If you love to sew, you
could probably write a report on « Tips for Beautiful Sewing ».
If you have experience in advertising, you could write a report
on « How To Write An Ad For Best Results »; experience in
printing, a report on « How to Prepare Copy and Layout for Best
Printing Results »; experience in business, a report on « Better
Business Operating Techniques ».
It’s worth repeating: Whatever you write about, make it
something you know about, and are especially interested in. Art
Fettig writes about motivation and ideas for selling because he
has spent many years doing just that – motivating people toward
larger sales volume and « brainstorming » new ideas for more
sales. Doug Hooper writes about the power of positive thinking
because he has practice it and believes in it; it works for him
and he knows it can work for you. Paul J. Micali writes about
the techniques of closing more sales. He has spent all his life
teaching people to become better sales people, and he never
tires of talking about how easy and rewarding selling is with
the proper thinking and approaches. Maryanne Raphael writes for
all of us about the many and different writers’ markets open and
available to freelance writers, because she has spent many years
searching and learning all about these markets as a freelance
writer. Whenever we talk with her, she’s always « neck-deep »
with assignments from countless publications. She knows the
problems of the freelance writer, and she passes along
information of great value because she’s been there. Dottie
Walters writes about the opportunities for women in business
because she’s been « down to her last dime », started a business
on sheer determination alone, and knows the tremendous potential
of women in the business world. Today, she is one of the most
sought-after women in this country as an inspirational speaker
for women’s groups. She gets paid for speaking before these
groups, and sells thousands of dollars worth of books at these
engagements besides! I could go on and on – naming friends and
telling you how they have taken a subject they were interested
in, found out everything about it they could, and parlayed it
into a fortune by starting with the writing of a « How-To »
report. Rather than go on with these stories of how others have
done it, and are doing it, let’s get on with the task of showing
you how you can write your own « How-To » report and parlay it
into a personal wealth vehicle of your own!
Once you’ve decided on the subject you’re going to write about,
the next step is thorough research. Visit your public library
and « bone up » on your subject. Read as much about it as you can
find – newspapers, magazines, books – everything! Start
collecting clippings, talk to your neighbors, your friends and
relatives, and take notes on all information you gather from
reading and personal discussion.
When you’ve spent a good six weeks intensively researching your
subject, gathering notes and discussing it as often as you can
with as many different people as possible, you should be ready
for the next step – the sorting, compiling and assembly of your
notes. Simply read through all the notes and clippings you have
accumulated, discarding those that are repetitious, and
organizing those you’re going to use according to your « subject
coverage » outline. Don’t let the outline part of your project
become an obstacle. An outline is simply listing the order in
which you want to write about or discuss each aspect of your
subject.
Everything that’s written should have a natural beginning, a
body and an ending. When you outline your subject, and your
« subject coverage », which can be likened to a table of contents,
you’ll find it easier to say what you want to say. You’ll be
ABLE to say everything you want to say. You won’t have to worry
about forgetting or leaving out an important point you want to
make. The coverage of your subject will be more complete, and
your writing will be much smoother.
Once you’ve completed your research, organized your notes, and
have your « subject coverage » outline set, you’re ready to write
the money-making report that just might make you rich!
Start writing, and write as though you were talking to someone,
because writing, after everything has been analyzed, taken
apart, studied, improved upon, and put back together, is still
nothing more or less than a written conversation between two
people. Write your how-to report as though you were instructing
a high school graduate in how to do something his first day on
the job.
It makes no difference whether you write it all out longhand or
pound away at a typewriter. Just get it all written! Once
you’ve got your material organized, start writing and don’t stop
until you’re finished!
When you have finished, be proud of yourself! Take a break, go
out to dinner, enjoy a night on the town! In other words, put
this first draft of your report aside for a few days and allow
your brain, your body, and your creative juices to rejuvenate
themselves.
After a couple of days off, take up your report and go through
it with a sharp pencil, just as you imagine an editor would do.
Strike out, rewrite and polish each paragraph for clarity,
accuracy and flow.
This is the time to make sure that what you’ve written is easy
to read, easy to understand, and each sentence follows the one
before it just as surely as spring follows winter. The smoother
the conversation or the writing of your report flows, the easier
it’ll be to read, and the easier it is to read, the more copies
you will sell.
Now you have a money-making report that has the potential of
making a great deal of money for you. If you are a good typist,
go ahead and type it out in finished form. If you’re not a
typist, you can have it typed by someone who is, or even have it
typeset for a small fee.