Sometimes You Have to Reinvent Yourself - Paulette Ensign Retooled and Sold a Million Booklets

April 30, 2005 -- Booklet expert Paulette Ensign started out as a violinist and later taught stringed instruments to elementary school students. She loved the kids, but she found the environment very stifling. And she knew there had to be a better way make money than climbing the seniority ladder in the school system.

In fact, Paulette found the system so distressing she decided to leave teaching without having a place to go. There was no job in the wings, and no one to support her if she didn't find another way to make money. Paulette hadn't really even considered what she might do. She just knew she had to leave the school system. That was in the early 80s.

So for about a year Paulette floated along, doing a variety of temporary jobs paying about $200 per week. "And you know that had to change. I had two really good motivators," she says, "eating and having a place to live."

Then one day she offered to help a neighbor reorganize her home. The neighbor agreed, but only if she could pay Paulette for her help. "And so my first business was born," she says.

That was before there was such a thing as a professional organizer. Word of mouth and desperate needs of clients helped her succeed in the business. Always a teacher at heart, Paulette began speaking on organizing topics and continued to get business.

But as time went on, Paulette could see the writing on the wall. The 90s arrived with its hard economic times and Paulette began looking around for new ways to promote her business and enhance her income. To get some publicity and additional income, she wrote a tips booklet, "110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life," a 16-page, printed booklet which she sold for $5 a copy. And she soon began her labor-intensive promotion of it.

"I'd send a letter and a booklet to any media outlet that made sense," she says. And the publicity began to flow. People called her to buy the tips booklet one at a time and by the thousands, and they started to ask her to speak all over the world.

Soon the light bulb went on for Paulette and she focused on selling multiple copies of the booklet to corporations and associations. "I'd watch my mail and see what was being written to help me see the trends and ideas out there. And if someone was trying to market to me, I felt fully justified in returning the favor," she says.

One time she received a direct mail piece offering an "executive flashlight" as a premium for signing up for an informational product directed at businesses. She promptly wrote the company's executive and suggested her tips booklet might be a better premium. The company bought 500 copies of her booklet and tested it as an alternative premium. "As it turns out, it didn't pull better than the flashlight, but I still sold 500 copies," she says.

Since then, she has branched out into consulting by helping others write and market their tips booklets. She also joint ventures with individuals, businesses and associations to create new products or produce existing products for different learning styles. "Everyone learns differently," she says, "so I've expanded my original product into an electronic one, which sells for slightly less, an audio CD, manuals and workshops."

Since writing her original tips booklet, she has personally sold over a million copies in various languages and formats without spending a penny in advertising. She has also written "How to Write and Market Booklets for Cash," "How to Promote Your Business with Booklets," and "How to Make Huge Profits Licensing Your Booklet," all tapping into her 20+ years of experience in the business. All are available on her website, http://www.tipsbooklets.com

One of the challenges of being self-employed is finding a balance between work and personal time. Paulette says it's important to her to protect her private life.

Where will Paulette go from here? "I'll do many more joint ventures and find new ways to improve my income. For instance, if I speak at a conference or seminar and I have to travel to it, I'll offer a private seminar to an association or company in the area so I make sure my expenses are covered. I also couple traveling for pleasure with presenting my seminars so I have time to relax during the trip, and of course, the trip is paid for so my mini vacation ends up being free."